Sara Letourneau nominated me for the Libster Award and I can’t tell you how excited I am about it! Receiving an award, especially from a fellow blogger, is always such a fulfilling feeling, so Sara, thanks so much for this beautiful award!

Of course, it comes with questions.  You can read Sara’s answers here. She’s quite an interesting gal, isn’t she?

Here are the rules for this version of the Liebster Award:

1. Once you are nominated, make a post that thanks the person who nominated you and links back to their article.
2. Include the Liebster Award sticker in your post.
3. Nominate 7 to 10 other bloggers who you feel are worthy of this award. Let them know they have been nominated by commenting on one of their posts. You can also nominate the person who nominated you.
4. Answer the 10 questions asked to you by the person who nominated you.
5. Make 10 questions of your own for your nominees.
6. Lastly, copy these rules in the post.
7. All of the nominees are free to accept or reject the nomination.

Sara’s Questions

1. Pick one of your favorite writers. What do you admire most about their work?

Well, if you go back a few months on my blog, you’ll find that I dedicated the entire month of March to my favourite writer: Sherman Alexie. You can read why I like him in the opening post.

It’s quite strange, because I know I’ll never write like him. He writes stories completely different from mine. He has a very different feeling for storytelling and style. He’s probably the first among my favourite authors I won’t try to imitate (all my favourite authors before him were tutors for me, in the sense that I learned to write by imitating them).

But even if I won’t imitate Sherman Alexie, there’s a lot that inspires me in his stories. The sense of wonder. The way the spirit world and the human world merge naturally one into the other. The way our inner self becomes entwined with our life in his stories. The quest for one’s true self in spite of all the negotiations we have to do with life. The poetic way his words act. And his sentences. The sound of his prose and poetry.

Fine, I’ll stop.

2. Do you have any weaknesses or guilty pleasures when it comes to food? If so, what?

Spicy dark chocolate.

There have been people who asked me how can I ever eat chocolate which so dark it nearly taste bitter and with chilly pepper in it. Well, I wonder how they can not!

3. What was the most daring or adventurous thing you did as a child?

I know this will sound stupid, but it was starting to write.
I was roughly 10 when I wrote my first story and after that one, I’ve never stopped. I distinctly remember that my father was shocked. One day, he sat me on his legs, my notebook with my story in his hands, and asked me, “Why do you write?”
I knew back then exactly the same thing I know now: I don’t know it.
So I hesitated.
The story was about talking animals, so my father asked me, “Is it because you like animals?”
And I said “Yes,” not because that’s was true, but because I saw my father needed an answer.
It’s so strange that I remember that moment so vividly.

4. If you could visit any city, country, or landmark in the world that you’ve haven’t been to yet, where would you go?

What? What you mean I can only choose ONE destination????????
Well, then. Assuming I won’t be stopping at it, the first place I’d like to go is Iceland.
Maybe because I’m a Mediterranean woman, I’ve always been fascinated with the Northern countries. I love their history and cultures, especially their legends. And Iceland is simply such a beautiful place, so magical. So different.
Only thing, I was told they’re going to kill me with their prices…

5. What is your favorite type of setting? In other words, do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, cities, forests, etc.?

I love the sea, it scares me. There’s such power in it. You can really feel the power of nature when you’re near it.

I remember once, I was in one of those touristy beaches here in Italy, but it was in the law season. It was night. I and a friend of mine went out for a walk and we stopped by the water.

I looked out into the sea. The sky was overcast, there were no lights. No stars. No moon. No electric lights. No lights from houses. It was a pitch black expanse and waves formed into that darkness and lapped towards me standing on the sand.

I felt such a sense of being tiny and vulnerable that I had to turn toward the town and see the lights of houses and treets. It was such a strong feeling. It scared me… but somehow I felt as if I had been touched by a power that I could barely understand and that was… I don’t know, it was a very strange feeling, a feeling like being part of something a lot bigger that I don’t understand but it’s still part of me.

But, ok.. I don’t want to become too philosophical (grin!)

6. What literary trope are you most tired of reading about?

The fighting virago.

This trope seems to be very popular now. Everybody talks about writing and filming ‘strong female characters’ and then you realised that by ‘strong’ they mean women who act like men.

I really hate it. I don’t see why a female character can’t be strong by just being a women doing what women do. I don’t think I need to be a woman going around kicking men’s ass to be considered a strong woman. I don’t think I need to be in charge and give shit to anyone (especially men) to prove my worth. And I don’t like when stories suggest that’s what ‘strong female characters’ are supposed to do.

Come on, grow up, people are more complex than that.

7. On the flipside, what is one thing you’d like to see more of in published novels?

There was a moment, some ten years ago, when fantasy was taking a truly interesting path. Stories were more political, in the sense that people in those stories acted on political, economical, anthropological, cultural, even historical inputs. I thought then that fantasy was finally coming of age. It was ready to speak about reality in a way it had never done before and with the same language.

Then Stephanie Meyer came around and this kind of stories disappeared to make space to an avalanche of teenage vampires with a lot of love problems. Don’t get me wrong, Stephanie, I don’t hate you. I don’t love you either, though. And I know the economic crises had a role in the changing market too, and probably you were just at the right time at the right place and things would have changed anyway. I’d still like that fantasy would pick up where it left off back then.

8. What birthday or holiday gift do you cherish most?

It’s a holiday present I did to myself. I bough it on my second stay in Ireland, the first time I went back there to work. It was always said that if you found a penny it would bring you luck. It was 2001 then, the euro had just entered our life and pennies were disappearing. I bought this key-ring with an Irish penny in it, with that strange picklock-like bird on it. I’m still using it.

9. If you could invent one thing (technology, household appliance, computer program or app, etc.) that currently doesn’t exist, what would it be?

A washing machine that washes, dries, irons and folds cloths. And maybe put them away too.

10. What’s your favorite kind of weather? Do you prefer rainy days over sun, snow over heat, etc.?

I like stormy days, I don’t know why.

But I also like days like today, when the sun is bright and polish and the light is beautiful.

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So, there you have it.

Now let me think. This is always the hardest part, nominating someone. I’d like to nominate everyone, but since this is an award I think it’s fair to choose. People I’m not choosing, I’ll make up for it as soon as the occasion presents itself, it’s a promise.

Ali Isaac @ Ali Isaac Storyteller

Celine JeanJean @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Sue Coletta @ Crime Fiction Writer Sue Coletta

Alex Hurst @ Alex Hurst – A fantasy author in Kyoto

Sara Snider @ Sara C. Snider

The Chinese Quest team @ The Chinese Quest

Lupachi @ A Smile and a Gun

CW Hawes @ CW Hawes Blog

Jack Tyler @ Beyond the Rails Blog

Anabel @ Ababel’s Travel Blog

And now for my questions

1. If you’re a writer, what do you like most about writing (if you are not, what do you imagine is the best thing about being a writer?)
2. If you’re a writer, what do you like least about writing? (if you are not, what do you imagine is the worst thing about being a writer?)
3. If you could write part time, but you needed another job to make your ends meet, what would be an ideal job? (If you’re not a writer, what do you think would be a good job for a part-time writer?)
4. Blogging is nearly as good as writing stories. Do you agree?
5. What do you like the most about the place where you live?
6. What do you like the least about the place where you live?
7. Where else would you like to live?
8. Your book is extremely successful and you earn a lot of money. (If you’re not a writer, you can still win or otherwise earn a lot of money) What do you do with it?
9. If you were a fantasy creature, what would you be?
10. What is one thing you would try to fit in to your daily routine to improve your quality of life?

  

Hey, guys, the question are non-exclusive. Even if you’re not nominated, feel free to answer them on your blog or in the comments.