Catching up: Blog Awards

I'm so honored to have received some lovely blog awards from really awesome people. I'm tickled to be included in the blogging community, and it's a pleasure to pay it forward.

Let's get right to it, then.

The wonderful Erica Chapman, whom I interviewed back in July, presented me with the Strange award. Very original, and quite fitting. I shall go forth and celebrate my strangeness every day, as a matter of fact.

Kelsey Sutton has awarded me a beautiful Life is Good award. This one comes with questions I'm supposed to answer, so I'll try to make them short and sweet:

Questions:

1. If you blog anonymously are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?
I'm perfectly happy not being anonymous. :)

2. Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side:
Hehehe, just ask my kids. I'm sure there's more than one incident there.

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?
A woman trying desperately to hold on to her youth.

4. What is your favourite summer cold drink?
Sparkling water.

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
Read a book.

6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?
Getting published is pretty much still at the top of my to-do list.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever , the shy person, or always ditching?
I was a gleek, actually. But I won 1st place in a talent show singing with my classmate who is now one of the members of All 4 One.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment of your life what would you see?
Poignant as in touching, not poignant as in sad: the births of my children.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?
I'm a Leo, so I'm all for sharing. ;)

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
Sit down and read. Enjoy the silence!

Okay, now that that's taken care of, I have two more super awards to share. The One Lovely Blog award and The Versatile Blogger award come to me by way of Marieke at Marieke's Musings. I'm supposed to add seven things about myself, but I figure I've probably covered that in the questionnaire above. ;)

A big hug and thank you to these magnificent writers/bloggers. You all rock.


These awards of course come with some rules, so here they are:

1. Add the logo of the award to your blog post. 
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Nominate seven other blogs telling us why you think the recipient is strange enough to deserve the award. 
4. Leave a message for those nominated on their blogs.


And here are my pay-it-forward recipients for all four awards:


Shelli at Market My Words: Shelli is so generous and helpful. Her blog is full of awesome and I love the contests she holds.
Eleni at La Femme Readers: Such a pretty blog (from a pretty lady) and her give-aways are fab!
JA Souders at Angels and Demons and Portals. Oh my! Talk about fantastic, this blog is a must-follow.
Anne Riley: She's a writer, she's having a baby, and she still finds time to share the joy. Oh, and I interviewed her back in March.
Tawna Fenski at Don't Pet Me, I'm Writing: Love Tawna. Plain and simple.
Jenn Johansson, whom I interviewed back in April. Definitely check her out.
Nikki Katz, whom I interviewed back in June. Nikki's great, so please visit her blog.


And there you have it. Whew!
.

Interview with Erica Chapman

Hello, everyone. Have we all been having a productive week so far? Well, let's toss in a little fun and inspiration for everyone hard at work. I happen to have just the thing, because today we're chatting with aspiring writer Erica Chapman.

Welcome, Erica! Tell us a bit about yourself.

Well... I'm a *cough, cough* year-old who works in a mall office by day, writing YA by night! Been married for 8 years, have 2 doggies and 3 kitties. I'm learning to play the guitar, love to golf and love alternative music, especially the Foo Fighters! I love to read and am a huge movie buff. Have you seen Inception yet? OMG. Soooo good.

I haven't yet! But it's definitely on my must-see list. Tell us, how long have you been writing?

I've been writing since I was 16, so about 17 years... dang, now you know how old I am.. LOL. I started with poetry and wrote that for years, began novel writing when I was unemployed in 2007. Started seriously writing November 2008.

(Don't worry, you're still younger than I am, lol.) What is the name and genre of your manuscript?

BELIEVE is the title (right now) it's a YA Paranormal.

I love me some Ya Paranormals. Here’s the part where you pitch it. What’s your story about?

*ahem*


When Snow Stansbury's sister died seven years ago in front of her, Snow's belief shattered. She's tested again when her best friend Liv, step-daughter of a prominent Senator, is murdered. She meets Vaughn, an amnesiac soul fresh out of Purgatory with a final task to solve Liv's murder. With only two weeks and threat of being sent to Hell, Vaughn seeks the help of the closest person to Liv, Snow. She soon finds out that even though Vaughn's past is a mystery, someone or something is determined to make him remember.


Snow's mortality and Vaughn's eternity are at stake and the clock is ticking.
It needs a ton of work. Still working on it ;o)


Sounds intense. I'd love to find out what happens. How did the idea of the story come to you?


It was my NaNoWriMo story. It stemmed from watching Glee (OMG how good is Glee? *squee*) Originally, there was a show choir element (something I knew about since I was in show choir in high school) it's been since taken out in the revisions. From there, it took off. I've always been interested in questioning what happens after we die. I love ghost stories, paranormal stuff too. It's all fascinating to me.

Awesome. And I love Glee! What's your next step?

I'm going to finish up revisions (someday) and send to 'da Betas. Then more revisions... then hopefully I can query this one, or at least get to that point. I'm well aware this may not get queried as it's only my second complete novel. I still need a lot of practice and work! I'm also going to participate in NaNo again this year!

Have confidence, you never know what surprises are in store for you. What else do you have in the works?

I'm working on some ideas for a YA sci-fi, trippy, mind warp type story. My leading idea is about a girl who has the ability to enter minds. She's hired by a psychologist to participate in some hypnotherapy, and while in the head of one patient she witnesses something unusual... I'm still working on the details. I'm not a pantser anymore, so I'll need to outline it!

Sounds cool. Sort of like Sookie meets Inception? Do you have a good group of beta readers, or do you rely more on self-editing?

Oh yes, I have three wonderful C.P./Betas at the moment. I'm sure I'll add more Betas when the time comes. They are fabulous and they each offer something different. They all write different genre's too. I do self-editing some as well ;o)

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

So far, the beginnings. I always thought it would be the middles for me. It's not. The beginnings are hard. Revisions are not the easiest either, but I know they will make the story much better. It's just never ending!! LOL It's all worth it though. I just need to pick up my pace ;o)

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Hmm, I'd like to be able to teleport. Or have the ability to pick up other abilities in less than five minutes. It would be like Chuck, or Heroes. Very cool... I'd need places to use my abilities too. That's where the teleporting comes in ;o)

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: tulips, orthodontist, and carousel.

The orthodontist carefully placed the tulips on top of the rusty, silver-maned carousel horse, the last place he remembered his daughter smiling.
(Jeez that sounds depressing. LOL)

Wow, yeah depressing, but what a vivid picture you just painted! Okay, here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Whom would you like to give a shout out to?

Oh man... anyone I've come in contact with online... the blogging/facebook/twitter community. They are always there and supportive of everything. My uber awesome C.P's Jamie, Regan and Brooklyn, and of course, my husband. He puts up with me staying up very late and he leaves me alone when I need him to. My sister Hannah, who is a YA herself, she helps with all the stuff I don't know! Also, big thanks to you, Dorothy for taking the time to interview me.

Aw, thank you. ^_^ And finally, where can people find you online?

ericachapman.com is a great place to find all my haunts ;o) I'm on twitter every night (@ericawrites,) I'm on facebook and I blog too!

Thank you so much for letting us get to know you, Erica. I wish you lots of success with your books. Be sure to let us know when you've made your next step on the publishing journey.

Thanks Dorothy! Your blog is awesome and I love that you interview aspiring writers! Can't wait to see who's next ;o)