The Liebster Award

My thanks go to Brooklyn Hudson for getting me involved with this award..I encourage you to stop by Brooklyn's blog and check it out!

I copied this bit from Brooklyn, who copied it from Sherrie Lowe. 

The purpose of the Liebster Blog Award is to recognize blogs with fewer than 200 followers that deserve a look (and a follow). My job is to list 11 random facts about me, answer the 11 questions Sherrie Lowe chose for me, then to nominate 11 new bloggers, who should bask in the Liebster glow - which means doing the same as I am doing here. 

Rules: post a blog linking back to me, with 11 random facts about you, answer my 11 questions and nominate 11 new bloggers (and think of 11 questions to ask them - can be anything!). 

Here we go... 

Eleven random facts about me ~

1) I so wished I had gone to college to be a forensic pathologist. Watching how the research is done on TV fascinates me. I would have wanted to be a gun and bullet expert. But could not handle the blood and guts side of the research; I have a very weak stomach when it comes to that stuff. Can't even watch someone having surgery on TV.

2) My favorite alcoholic beverage is Chambord - a boysenberry flavored liquor. I figured it out being a bartender before, during and after I was in the miltiary.

3) I lived in Iceland for a year.

4) I have been to 38 of the 50 US states and lived in nine of them. I have also been to Canada, Iceland and England.

5) I want to visit Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Italy, France and Mexico, and all South America countries.

6) I want my next vehicle to be bright yellow like my 1995 Ford Mustang that was the last of the 5.0 Liter engines they made, and it was a soft-top convertible.

7) I love history, studying old maps, current maps and doing research.

8) I hate spiders, though as I have gotten older, I have gotten braver about killing them when I see them.

9)  I am both a cat and dog person, but if I could own an exotic animal it would be a black panther.

10) These blog hops are so hard to do....I equate them to having a tuperware party, lingerie party, or any other house party where you have to invite your friends and no one shows up.  Been there, done that many times.

11) My favorite color is purple and my favorite flower is purple rose, though I know they are hybrids, they are still the prettiest flower.

Now for the questions Brooklyn posted on her blog ~

1) What are you currently writing and when do you expect to release your next work(s)? 
I am working on a lot of different stories: a time travel historical romance; a series of romantic suspense/murder mysteries set in Alaska; a fictional mainstream my father and I started set in Alaska; and a non-fiction/fiction book about my great uncle and his short stories he wrote while a teacher in the village of Kotzebue, Alaska, and will also include life lessons my father learned, my comments to them and a sort of memoir about me. 

2) Do you believe the dead speak? If yes, how? 
I am not sure. I have never had one talk to me, but my grandmother claims she did.

3) What is the one thing that scares you most? 
Death and I am not going to expound on that...let's just say it scares me to death to even think about it. You will have to read about that part in my non-fiction/fiction book about my uncle, my father and me. :-)  And to top if off, my husband has a grim reaper tattoo on his left forearm I get to look at when he is home.

4) What is your totem (or spirit) animal? 
Is a hummingbird considered an animal?  I feel like a hummingbird because I like to travel and flit from place to place.

5) If your writing took off tomorrow and you suddenly found yourself very wealthy, what would be your most extravagant purchase? 
A home on the ocean on one of the Hawaiian islands with a float plane for my husband to fly and a yellow hummer for me to drive. I'd also buy the home still standing to this day in the Shenandoah Valley, VA that either my 5th great-grandfather built or one of his brother's built around the late 1750s.

6) What book or film influences your writing to this day? 
Probably anything by Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, Tess Gerritsen and Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (RIP) and June Lund Shiplett (RIP). 

7) If you could have penned one previously published book written by a well known author, which would it have been?  
The Flame and the Flower or the Wolf and the Dove by Ms. Woodiwiss or Ms. Shiplett's two time travel historical romances. 

8) If you could only watch only one television program, what show would it be? Why?
NCIS because of the characters, the shows information and Abby...I want to be Abby!  I think I could write an episode for that show since I was in the military and can relate.

9) If you could go back in time to any age and start over what age would it be? Why? 
29 because I wouldn't have gotten out of the Navy if I had known then what I know now, and I would have been collecting a retirement check for the past 12 years, which would definitely have helped being an in-home caregiver for my mom right now.

10) What has been your proudest moment in life thus far? 
Seeing my son graduate from Army boot camp in 2007 and having spent a year in Iraq.

11) The Ultimate Dinner Party: Which five people would you invite? Why?
Stephen King because of the great stories he wrote; Sam Elliott because he is so damn good looking in my opinion; JK Rowling because I'd like to know how she came up with all the stuff in the Harry Potter books; Brooklyn Hudson because I find her a fascinating and interesting person :-);  and my greatgrandmother, Nova Ward of Choctaw descent.   


Now, for those I've tagged, it's your turn to answer my questions. Here goes...

The people I nominate for The Liebster Award are: 

Elizabeth Black ~ coming soon!

Here are your questions…

1) Where is your favorite vacation spot?

2) Where would you most like to visit and why?

3) What was your happiest age and why?

4) If you could go back in time to the man/woman in your life who 'got away' and missed kissing that person, would you go back to kiss them? 

5) If you could meet one famous person and spend one hour with that person, who would it be and why?

6) Did you try tradition publishing first and get a publishing contract?

7) What is your favorite animal?

8) If you could own an exotic animal, what would it be and why?

9) If you could live any where in the world, where would that be?

10) What is the most exotic prepared food you've tried and liked or didn't like?

11) Could you eat the food they prepared on the TV show Fear Factor? If you haven't seen the show, then tell me what is your least favorite food you have eaten?