Abby tagged me and ran off to Idaho

I must be It. Abby Annis tagged me, and there appears to be a Santa-sized list of questions to answer. So here goes:

1) What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?

Most recently I've been working on a YA novel--a contemporary supernatural/fantasy set largely in the sea.

I still have a chapbook from a writing course that includes some of my poetry, as well as some magazines that published my early haiku.

2) Write poetry?

Always. Have written sonnets, free verse, haiku.

3) Angsty poetry?

Oh, yeah. But that mostly stays buried in a drawer unless ritually burned.

4) Favorite genre of writing?

Fantasy--all forms.

5) Most annoying character you've ever created?

Was it the petulant princess or her bossy mother? Both are better off in the drawer.

6) Best plot you've ever created?

I'm still working on it.

7) Coolest plot twist you've ever created?

It's got me tied up in knots.

8) How often do you get writer's block?

I don't get writer's block. I can write by demand. What I get is plot block when I get stopped because I'm not sure what I want to do next.

9) Write fan fiction?

No, my mind is too filled with its own creations.

10) Do you type or write by hand?

Type. But I will write by hand--if that is all that's handy. Ha.

11) Do you save everything you write?

Since some of my files have ancient parchment in them, I guess the answer is yes. Unless it was something I ritually burned.

12) Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?

Oh, yeah.

13) What's your favorite thing you've ever written?

People should never be asked to choose between their babies.

14) What's everyone else's favorite story you've written?

My critique group seemed to be very fond of a YA fantasy I wrote last year about a girl whose magic stemmed from music.

15) Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?

Tried to write romance and never got past opening chapters. I guess it's not my genre, but I do toss romance in my stories. I think of it as seasoning, not the main course.

16) What's your favorite setting for your characters?

Where they are at home. Addendum: I don't mean the characters are in their houses. I mean I set the place to suit the characters. I usually send them to the ends of the earth, however.

17) How many writing projects are you working on right now?

Two novels, assorted short stories and the occasional poem. Mostly, it's the sea novel.

18) Have you ever won an award for your writing?

Yes, I took third place in an online fiction contest, and I received an honorable mention at a SCBWI event. I also received runner-up in a haiku contest and some awards for non-fiction when I was a newspaper reporter.

19) What are your five favorite words?

I don't have favorite words, but I love the name, Daggett, a desert town. Let's see. Mangle and malicious are descriptive. Obfuscate is hilarious.

20) What character have you created that is most like yourself?

I'm sure they would all argue they are nothing like me.

21) Where do you get your ideas for your characters?

Synaptic connections?

22) Do you ever write based on your dreams?

Yes but not as linear stories. I may get an idea or character from a dream.

23) Do you favor happy endings?

I don't want to be left miserable but neither do I think happily-ever-after is satisfying. It's somewhere in between--the place we all live where bad things happen but hope returns.

24) Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?

If I see a mistake I fix it, but I don't obsess over it.

25) Does music help you write?

Sometimes it really keeps me in the flow. It must be the right mood and nothing that makes me want to get up and dance or sing because then the song wins, the story loses.

26) Quote something you've written. Whatever pops in your head.



I posted this not long ago. The character is a twelve-year-old boy who responds to another character telling him "it's just a story."
"Never is just a story. Ma was always a'tellin' me, 'Samuel, remembers you that a story is the bones of the past, and worlds are built upon those as was and ever will be.' The stories be all around just waiting to come alive. Can't you see?"

And now. Drum roll. I must tag!

Bish Denham

Robyn Campbell

Victoria Saavedra

Search those writing souls. Have fun!