Ha! I’m putting a date on this, because the more I think about it, the more I’m sure that I’ve done this before, but it is still begging me to do it again…so, why not? I’m sure something’s changed since the last time. What? No? Are you sure? Never mind. Talking to myself. No, not you. Me. You. Myself. Aha! Gotcha. Feel free to swipe and fill in the blanks yourself–it’s loads of fun! (found recently over at Vonnie’s blog)
–Do you have a pen/pencil collection? How many of those are chewed?
Sort of. I have a bunch of assorted ballpoint pens and pencils and a crayon collection! Do the crayons count? Please? I actually just have a jar of pens and pencils, three spacemakers of pen and pencils, ending with a small gift bag (decorated to be a pencil holder) filled to bursting with more pens, pencils, a marker…and probably a tweezer. I used to chew pencils, but only the Eagle #2’s and when I ran out of those, I quit. Tic-Tac tastes better.
–Do you prefer handwriting or typing furiously? Depends on which one is available, I type ridiculously well, in spite of myself and write at virtually the same rate in my own shorthand. I like to type, because when I’m done, I can have a printed copy, but nothing beats frantic scribbling on a blank piece of paper. Seriously.
–How often do you get inspiration? When I blink. No, I’m serious. Inspiration is not something I sit around waiting for it to happen to me, if I have to hammer something out, painfully coaxing it out with an itty-bitty pliers of deliberate thought from the center of my brain…then yes, I do that. Once in a while I see a blank piece of paper and empty my head. When it’s empty…the inspiration comes, if you call it that…and then it depends on when I can clear my head out again. *shrug*
–Are you blogging this on a computer or laptop? Laptop! Most definitely.
–Do you get inspiration more in the early morning or late at night? Late night. Ugh. It could kill me, lol, but somehow I survive. Interesting things are always coming to light at that mysterious eleven in the night, drifting over to the three in the morning gap. As long as I can get away with it, I write–until my eyes are closing or I’m making more typos than words(or my wrist starts screaming at me–it has this really squeaky voice and, what, you don’t want to hear about it? Okay…)
–Do certain movies/books/music inspire you? Ah, yes. Star Wars–always. I just love the line “Anakin, why do I have the feeling you’re going to be the death of me?” “Please don’t say that, Master, you’re the closest thing I have to a father!” “Then why don’t you listen?” Great question Obi-Wan…I’ll work on an answer to that. Meet the Robinsons–the whole character and creative touch, umm…cartoons! I love a ton of them, too many to list and that is always a great source of inspiration. Currently, I watch Wordgirl and The Electric Company (the new one) most afternoons. Hilarious fun that doesn’t twist my head in a knot. Books–classics, usually all by Frances Hodgeson Burnett. Music…that’s what the shuffle function is for, but Enya/Enigma and Conjure One are excellent.
–How do you incorporate God into your stories? A praying character. Either the MC, a secondary MC or someone of influence. Then I work in the personal relationship and pick an issue with something, either physical or emotional.
–Do you kill off your villains or make them repent? Well…uh…die. Most of them are the kind you really ‘want’ to die, so they kinda have to, but I usually always have an alternate ending for them. Sometimes they’ll turn good, sometimes they’ll just kind of fall into a cycle of endless…something or the other. Bad. Good. Mixed up. Villains were my first start into writing, so I really work them out.
–Are the majority of your characters magical beings, humans, or halflings? How about…not quite human? lol. I don’t really ‘do’ magic, I prefer powers derived or having some root from science and when not possible or being gifts from God, things that are inherited or they are born with, or something they can accept. Magic works too though, I just don’t use it as a fallback. If that even makes sense.
–What genre of writing are you most comfortable in? Fantasy. Then some non-technical sci-fi, followed by inspirational shorts and mystery. Adventure is working its way in there as well, it’s less work plot-wise. But I’ve written across most genres.
–Do you work better alone or with someone else? Solo is best, but I’ve done well with combined projects. Plenty of silliness and interesting writing. Just me is best though, because my ideas are pretty out there.
–Do your stories make sense, or do they ramble wildly? Most of the time they make sense to me and rambling to others. I love it when it all makes sense to everyone.
–Are your characters mostly Renegades, Peacekeepers or a mish-mash? Mish-mash. They are half angle, half rebel and pretty proud of it. It makes them unique. Once in awhile, I’ll stereotype them though.
–Are you a sucker for good grammar? What I know, yes…beyond the basics, um, no. LOL. Wish I could, but only commas and capitalization (and quotations marks and, and…) bug me. 😛
–How is your handwriting? Lovely. It changes every year. Pretty stick-shaped, with curls on a few spots here and there.
–How evil are your villains? Can’t purify bad blood kind of bad. But I know them and some of them could possibly in another realm, life and time…be good. Maybe. I thin. Not. Probably.
–Are you long-winded or succinct? Long winded. I can make a story out of anything and then explain that something out of nothing and…well, you get the picture.
–Do you have typical writer traits such as ink stains on your fingers or a pencil behind your ear? Those aren’t typical anymore…I don’t think. lol. But, I do have calluses on my writing hand, short fingernails to type quick and I like chocolate. All the modern writer traits. ^_^
–Would someone walking past you on the street consider you normal? Depends. Most of the time I look slightly normal. 😛
–Do you write mostly poetry, stories, novels or a mixture? A mixture. Everything–I’ve probably written it/tried it at one time or another. Mostly stories though, short fiction and novel-length.
–Do your characters vary in accents, appearance and attitude or are they mostly the same? Vary! Most of the time extremely different–a nice, subtle example at present is the Eira and Dark Phoenix serial currently running and then characters such as the Trial by Fire short piece.
–Do real people and/or places inspire your writing? In villains yes–well, no, I’m not telling. lol. Actually, I only pull traits from actual people, but mostly, it’s a soup from the giant simmering brew in my head. The salt would be visiting places close to nature, I love natural beauty and memorials. Bittersweet.
–What is your favorite character? Or do you choose to remain unbiased in case of a revolt? Unbiased! Sort of, but I love Scarletfury(still!) and am now partial to her apprentice, Dev. Second to that, is Mekki Hunter and Dervy(adorable, still, lol) and Layla.
–Do you talk to your characters? Do they talk back? Yes. Oh yes, sometimes they talk too loudly and get me all mixed up. The conversations can go on for awhile. I love getting deeper into their heads and seeing where they come from.
–Are you more comfortable with girl or boy main characters? Mostly female, but I’m told I do fairly well in both.
–Do you follow basic overused plot lines with new twists thrown in or do you depart from the norm all the time? Unless I’m stuck, I use new twists on the old plots. I like the play on emotions or a specific time thing.
–Do you feel God has called you to be a writer/poet? Will you grasp the power of the pen? Yes and with His help I will continue to use this gift for Him.
And done!!!! yay…only took me…wait…for real? ^_^
~Sara