Out of this World Blogger Award

As we approach the end of the year, let’s go out of this world for the tag by the same name. I was nominated by the wonderful Neko Neha from BiblioNyan, and you can find their post here. They nominated me back in August, so I am sorry that it took this long to write and publish this post.

The purpose of the Out of This World Blogger Award is “to celebrate the exceptional work being done within the blogging community.” Thank you, Neha, for nominating me for this award.

---

The Rules

1. Thank the blogger(s) that nominated you, and link back to their post.
2. Answer the questions.
3. Don’t forget to grab your badge! (It looks absolutely awesome!)
4. Nominate 3-5 bloggers for the award.
5. You may use the header image from the post, if desired.
6. Please, be sure to link back to the original post and the creator of this award: Reader Voracious Blog.

---

The Questions

1.  What (or who) inspired you and why?

I get a lot of inspiration from the books I read and movies I watch. Because it’s the holiday season, I’ve been getting very inspired by the bakers on Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship and Christmas Cookie Challenge. I get inspired by the designs of their confections and the flavor combinations. It doesn’t do much for this blog, but it’s entertaining and makes me excited for the holidays and challenges my own mind to think creatively where food is concerned.

2.  What is your favourite thing about blogging?

I like seeing when blog posts inspire other posts or good comment-based discussions. I like seeing discussion and building of ideas. It’s very interesting to me to watch bloggers respond to other bloggers’ ideas through their own thought out posts. As bloggers, we’re here to talk about our passions with others who share those passions, and that requires more a dialogue. It’s important to me to see how issues evolve and see that we connect more than just by “liking” a post. Let’s have a dialogue.

3.  If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be and why?

The problem I have with this question is that I have read a lot of fantasy and dystopian novels, and the characters in those books often have been through a lot of terrible things that I don’t want to live through.

Many a time I’ve said I want to be Hermione Granger, but I want to change it up. If I could be any character in fiction, I would be Gil Pender from Midnight in Paris. He and his fiancée Inez visit Paris with her parents, and one night he wanders the streets alone. Then a car comes to pick him up and takes him back to the 1920s, where he befriends famous writers, like Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein. They have intellectual conversations, and Gertrude Stein reads his manuscript of a novel that is largely based on his life. While I don’t want his relationship problems with Inez, I want to visit some old city, like Paris, go back in time by accident and regularly chat with these classic writers that I admire.

4.  If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do?

Assuming those six months start now, I would like to travel around the world. I would first go to Portland, Oregon, to buy $100 worth of books at Powell’s Books. At some point, I would pay someone to make me the bookshelf version of Joanna’s shoe closet in Overboard. Then I would go to Mackinac Island, Michigan, to buy the fudge they’re known for and visit Fort Michilimackinac. I would count that as three or four days of fun.

Then I would spend a few months living in Germany to work on my language skills. I would visit the Black Forest and some famous sites in Berlin. I would also like to go to Japan for a few weeks in the winter. Two things I would like to do is go to the Iiyama Snow festival and eat Noroshi Nabe and then feed the bowing deer in Nara.

5.  What is one piece of advice that you would give a new blogger?

Blog hop. Visit other blogs and read their content. If you like a post you found or want to say something about it, leave a comment for that blogger to start a discussion. This starts conversations and helps everyone get to know each other. Over time, this can help everyone involved see more interaction on their blogs because everyone is starting to read and comment more. Particularly for book blogging, it’s very important to talk to other people in the community because, as Krysta from Pages Unbound puts it in a post about book reviews and blog traffic, “Book blogs seem unique among blogs in that their primary audience is other book bloggers.” When you comment on other people’s blogs, you start conversations and getting to know others on those blogs, and many will visit your blog in turn to comment back. Then you’re talking back and forth, generating ideas and getting to know people.

6.  Optional: Freebie Question – Share something with us!

I love spicy, hot food. I was annoyed for a while about food that promised some level of heat and then wasn’t hot. Then my coworker introduced me to ghost pepper chips that are actually hot. I highly recommend Paqui Ghost Pepper Chips if you really like spicy hot food.

---

Nominations

Satou Johns @ Inkish Kingdoms

Dani @ Perspective of a Writer

Lucy-May @ Writing with Wolves

Sam @ Will Read for Booze

Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight

---

Thank you again, Neha, for this nomination.