Sunshine Blogger Award
- Thank the person who tagged you. Thanks, Liv!!!
- Copy and answer the eleven questions provided. check!
- Tag up to eleven new bloggers to complete the challenge. um... not sure I can do that... we'll see when we get there...
- Write eleven new questions for them to answer. check!
The QuestionsWhich book on your shelf has the prettiest cover?I'm torn on this one as I'm extremely partial to Angelina's covers for my books... but that feels like cheating. So... um... is it still cheating of I pick the Five Enchanted Roses cover?
What is one of your all-time favorite fantasy novels?I can only pick ONE? What kind of question is this? Well, I'm going to go a little Gollum "Riddles in the Dark" on you here.The Hobbit and Lord of the RingsThe Enchanted Forest ChroniclesThe Death Gate CycleThe Song of Albion SeriesThe Chronicles of NarniaI cannot narrow it down any further than that... and even that is painful as it leaves out the Chronicles of Prydain and The Pendragon Cycle and Tales of Goldstone Wood and Ella Enchanted and Dragon of the Lost Sea and... you get the picture.Who is one author whose writing is SO GOOD that it makes you want to sit down and up your word count?Seriously, picking just one is hard, particularly since I would say there are different reasons that certain authors make me want to sit down and write. Timothy Zahn's plots and characters inspire me to write new adventures and not stick to a single series. C.S. Lewis and Janette Oke inspire me with their ability to evoke emotions with single lines of text that make my spirit soar. Diana Wynne Jones and her complex, out-of-the-box sorts of stories always make me want to sit down and write something totally new. Patricia St. John and George MacDonald make me want to write something heart-wrenchingly beautiful. Recently-discovered authors like H.L. Burke, Marc Secchia, and Lea Doue make me want to write something unique and magical.What is one of your favourite fairytales?Whew, finally, a question I can answer. The Apple of Contentment by Howard Pyle. (I love fairy tales, though, and have lots of other favorites, as well)What is one of your favourite fairytale retellings, book or movie?Hmmm, I really love Robin McKinley's "Beauty" retelling of Beauty and the Beast. And of course I really enjoy the retellings in the Five Something Something anthologies put out by Rooglewood Press. I also really enjoyed Cloaked by Alex Flinn.Is there a protagonist you just totally connect with? Who is it, and which book are they from?I have always felt a kinship with Cimorene, the princess in Dealing with Dragons. I love her practical, no-nonsense approach to things. She has dreams, but she also is willing to get her hands dirty and work hard. She is feisty and precocious, but she also does respect her parents and endeavors to obey them.Who are your top three to five favourite authors? Have you met any of them? Conducted interviews with them?J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Patricia C. Wrede, Timothy Zahn, Stephen R. Lawhead, Anne Elisabeth Stengl, and a few of the authors in the Fellowship of Fantasy are quickly becoming new favorites. I have met Anne Elisabeth at a book signing and conducted an interview with her a few years ago.You just learned that you are to inherit your very own ginormous library -- and it comes with a castle, too! Oh, and one more thing -- you get a magical creature (of your own choosing) to be your librarian/bookkeeper! What sort of creature is it?My magical creature/librarian would be a gryphon. Of course I'd love a dragon, but a gryphon strikes me as being better at book-keeping. 1) he would fit in the library better. 2) No danger of him getting angry and burning the library down. 3) Smaller claws might mean less tearing of pages/shredding of book covers.You are holding a very pretty book in your hands. Describe it.It has a fancy font and an obviously fantasy-genre title. There are some high-contrast colors... possibly black and turquoise or black and lavender. Some sort of symbol or image that speaks to a fantastical story within the covers... or anything with a dragon on the cover.(And now, I'm stealing one of Tracey's questions!) You're a princess (well done!), but there's a catch: You have to be (kind of) cursed for two years. To make up for the fact that you have an evil(ish) stepmother, your fairy godmother has sweetened the deal -- you get to choose just how you get cursed: Locked in a tower with a pet, books, and your very own room full of food and paper and fountain pens and other such wonders; trapped in a magic lamp, where you have the ability to be a mischievous li'l Faerie queen with an unlimited supply of (healthy!) cake; or sent into an enchanted slumber, from which you will awake to find your true love smiling back at you! Which do you choose?Finally, an EASY question!I'll take a lovely tower with books, food, paper and fountain pens, and my very own pet dragon. (If I can't have a dragon, can I have a dragonet?) Or possibly a very tame wolf I can curl up against like a warm pillow while I'm reading.(Last one, guys!) You just found out that you fell out of a book. Which book was it, and from which world have you come?Hmmm, well, when it comes to fantasy realms I'd love to spend time in, I'd have to say that I would really enjoy having come from H.L. Burke's "Dragon and Scholar" series. It seems like a lovely fantasy world with plenty of excitement and adventure (magic and dragons and the like) but also a world that doesn't have too many terrible dangers and villains to watch out for. It also seems like a place where a normal person can have adventures without having to be a princess or something particularly special. My Questions - Fantasy Themed1. What mythical creatures do you wish were featured in more fantasy books?2. If you had to spend a month in one dangerous fantasy location (Mordor, the Forbidden Forest, the Evil Queen's Castle... etc) which one would you choose and why?3. You suddenly find yourself as a side-character in a fairy tale. Which fairy tale are you in and what is your side-kick role?4. What is your favorite flavor of fantasy? (Fairy tale retelling, Epic/High Fantasy Adventure, Quests, Steampunk, Urban Fantasy, Coming-of-Age, etc?)5. Who is your favorite fantasy hero/heroine? Why?6. You are granted one fantasy ability or "gift" from a fairy godmother. What is it?7. You find yourself the hero/heroine of a fantasy story. What is your profession and how will it help you on your adventure?8. Who is your favorite fantasy villain? Why?9. Fantasy steed of choice?10. If you suddenly found yourself transported to a fantasy world, what weapon would you hope to be wielding? Tag Other BloggersZachary TotahChristine @ Musings of an ElfKaycee @ An Independent WillAnd anybody else who finds these questions interesting, consider yourself tagged! Or pick your favorite question and tell me your answer in the comments!