Extra post today, because I I received the nomination for one of these 🙂
The Sunshine Blogger Award Rules:
-
Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog.
-
Thank the person who nominated you.
-
Provide a link to your nominator’s blog.
-
Answer your nominator’s questions.
-
Nominate up to 11 bloggers.
A Big Thanks!
Thank you so much to nth for the nomination, check out her blog Artiranth Fields. The indie author community on Substack is honestly one of the most uplifting and supportive spaces I’ve ever been part of. Love you all!
Artiranth’ questions:
1. If you could simultaneously have one sentence whispered into every single person’s head, what would it be?
Pre-order my debut book, Humans Don’t Have Horns 😜
2. Is there a recurring theme or question that you find yourself exploring in your work, even when you don’t intend to?
I keep getting back into gender inequality and humanizing SA survivors. A friend once asked me why I’m so obsessed with these issues, and I had no good answer to give her because I always cared deeply about this, way before being SA myself. She’s the kind of person who loves animals deeply and would do anything to help them, and she couldn’t explain why. Maybe it’s the same: maybe different people just lean to different injustices they feel the need to fix.
3. What’s a theme or a story that you want to read about, but not one you want to be the one to tell?
I want to read about the “accessories.” I want to read something that starts with that guy—like Leonardo DiCaprio—going through all these women who come across as vapid. And then the camera or the author focuses on one of those women and actually gives her a personality. I feel like so many women in what we watch or read about are very young and beautiful and look the same and exist to serve one thing. Their very existence is the male gaze. And I want to read about women like that: women society often looks at as if they’re just sluts with no self-respect. I feel like they shouldn’t be the background. They should be the main POV. The closest thing that comes to mind that was something like that is the Pamela Anderson’s documentary. Suddenly, she was more than a prop.
4. What’s a phrase or words someone spoke to you, that made a huge impact and echo in your head sometimes years later? Even though you are pretty sure that person doesn’t remember even speaking them.
When it comes to huge impact, I’m afraid what comes to mined are not inspiring or growth-inducing sayings, but rather those small insults people say to kids without thought that create beliefs it takes decades to separate yourself from.
5. If you could pick one Pokémon to have as your constant companion, which one would it be and why?
This question makes me feel so old 😂 I really had to ask my kids in order to answer because I’ve never watched Pokémon. My son says Charizard – because he can fly him around and fire is cool 💁♀️ After googling the name, I approve this Pokémon because dragons really are cool.
6. What’s a book or series you wish you could wipe your memory of, so that you can read them all for the first time again?
I know this might sound corny, but I think al of Sarah J. Mass’ series – I would like to re-read her. While I have some criticism about her writing that I’ve shared in previous posts, I think that she managed to create a world that you really want to live in, and that’s not an easy task.
7. You are transported in the first scene of the last book you read or wrote as the main protagonist. You keep your memory of what happens in the book, and you gain all the memories of the character. Do you act to change what happens or try to follow the plot?
It’s a rare thing that I would want to change a plot. I usually give in to the plot of whatever I read or write, so I would say I’m definitely gonna keep things going. I don’t want to try and change them, even if it would help out some of the characters, because I’m invested in the story.
8. What do you miss that you’ve never actually had?
A healthy, loving mother who accepts me for who I am. (I did have a loving mother who loved me the best she could, but that is not quite the same.)
9. If you could hand a personal “user manual” to every person you meet to help them talk to you, what would you put on the front page?
This person’s affection can be bought with good food.
10. Describe a moment that you felt like you saw happen in slow motion.
This is a very heavy ending, but I think that when you are fearing for your life and for your physical well-being, then things really do go into slow motion. Your brain goes into fight-or-flight mode, a primal mode, and even afterward, when processing the scenes feel like they’re lingering in that slow-motion phase.
Nominations
You’re next, my sunshine bloggers: 💛 💛 💛 💛 💛 💛 💛 💛
-
What’s a hill you’ll die on when it comes to romance (tropes, endings, character behavior -go wild)?
-
When was the first time you realized a book could make you feel seen?
-
What’s something in the writing or blogging world that low-key gives you the ick?
-
If you could have dinner with one fictional character and one real author (dead or alive), who are you choosing and what’s on the menu?
-
Which trope do you hate in theory but somehow devour every time it shows up in a book?
-
If your Substack disappeared tomorrow, what would you miss most, and what would surprise you that you missed?
-
What’s something about you that would totally surprise your readers?
-
What’s something you’re still unlearning, even now?
-
You’re handed a magic pen. Anything you write into your life comes true. What’s the first wildly impractical thing you manifest?
-
Describe your dream scenario: What’s your Substack or writing life like in five years?
