Following the dark, often stormy, winter there couldn’t have been a better time to bring in some light! During the past few weeks I’ve seen several bloggers receive an award that brightens our days as well as theirs. Imagine the surprise, honour and delight when, within a few days, I received the double accolade of The Sunshine Blogger Award!
The Sunshine Blogger Award is a peer appreciation award given to bloggers who are creative, positive, and inspiring, while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.
Thank you so much to the two bloggers for thinking of me for this award. I deeply respect them and I always savour their posts, learning along the way, sharing their enjoyment of life, travels and books and I’m overjoyed for them and their publishing success! If you haven’t visited their blogs before, I highly recommend you head over … you’re in for a treat!
Darlene at Darlene Foster’s Blog mentioned me first. She is the author of numerous children’s books based around the central character of Amanda and she has also had several short story wins and some published in anthologies. She blogs about her books, writing, travels, family. She divides her time between Spain and Canada.
A few days later Brigid at Watching The Daisies also kindly nominated me for The Sunshine Blogger Award. Brigid’s posts resonate with wisdom and calmness, attributes reflected in her hugely successful book Watching The Daisies which is an Amazon no. 1 Inspirational Irish Memoir. On her blog Brigid shares news about her book, as well as articles on travel, health, book reviews, nature, gardening, recipes and healing.
Rules for the award:
- Thank the blogger who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
- Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
- Nominate (at least) 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
- List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog
Here are the questions I received and my answers:
What was the driving force behind the creation of your blog?
First and foremost I wanted to share my experience of writing my first novel!
What was your vision for your future in blogging/writing when you first started this blog? How has that vision evolved?
Within a couple of weeks I realised that this this single-minded focus for my blog was untenable. My blog would quickly become dull and dry. Also there was so much more I wanted to share so I happily started writing about books, travels, nature, traditions, my short stories. Later I shared the journey of the publication of my first book, a collection of short stories, entitled The Storyteller Speaks.
What age were you when you realized you loved writing?
I was at primary school in a small Yorkshire village and think I was about nine-years-old.
How has your life changed as a result of the electronic age? Is it better/worse/the same?
On many levels electronic devices has made life so much easier. As a gadget-nerd I’ve always enjoyed using the latest devices and remember my mother with one of the earliest Apple computers at work, as well as seeing the magic of a fax machine! The internet, although filled with so much dark material, is still a positive force and how many of us don’t ‘google’ something everyday. As soon as I saw the iPad I longed for one and had to wait for prices to fall … it is my go-to device, for news, blogging, reading, writing (with aid of Bluetooth keyboard).
What was the very last website you visited today?
I love the eclectic nature of the blogs I follow and just as I was writing this a I received a notification that GP Cox at Pacific Paratrooper had put on a new post.
If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be?
I was dreadfully unhappy in one school (an all-girls) for two years when eleven and twelve-years-old … one day I finally broke down and told my mother just how utterly miserable and depressed I was there and I never returned. I flourished at my next school and am still in touch with my friends from then.
How would your life be different today if that one thing from your past were to change?
To be honest, probably not too much as the warmth and love from home meant I recovered quickly and could see the problem wasn’t with me. It did steer me away from single-sex schools for life and I didn’t want that for my son either.
If you have children, tell me…how did your parenting change from the time you had your first child until the time you had your last?
As I only have one child I can’t really answer this one. I always used to joke that I would be far more relaxed and not so anxious with a second child – but I doubt this would have been the case! What I can say is that being a parent changed me absolutely and I could never imagine my life without my son. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I am so lucky and it is real!
Tell me about the funniest experience you’ve had in the past month.
Ever since I was a baby I have approached new foods with trepidation … and this is still the case much to the amusement of my family and friends.
Thinking it might be a good idea to go ‘healthy’ I decided to try Benecol and one Sunday morning the little bottle stood eagerly on my placemat. I looked on fearfully, my husband gulping his down enthusiastically, showing me how to do it!
Hmm… I sniffed the white liquid anxiously and still wasn’t convinced. I then went into my default mode and called my mother and told her I had a ‘scary prospect’ ahead of me! Concerned she asked what it involved and when all was revealed she just laughed and said, ‘That’s my daughter’. ‘Could I put it on my cereal,’ I queried? She wasn’t sure. I stared at the bottle and it glared back. The stand-off continued!
A while later I took a minuscule sip – it was delicious!! I now look forward to my new morning addition!
What do you have planned for the upcoming holiday season?
My husband and I are soon celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary (where did those years go???) and are travelling a few days to the beautiful island of Jersey. The hotel is just on the beach, overlooking the bay and I am already giddy with excitement!
Finally, to the nominations!
I am aware that some of you might have received this award before or have an award-free blog, in that case please view this award as a compliment. There is no obligation whatsoever to respond.
My questions are the same as those posed to me.
My nominees of bloggers who spread sunshine and inspiration are:
- Dr Mary Ann Niemczura
- Charley at booksandbakes1
- Barbara Vitelli at Book Club Mom
- Julie Holmes at Facets of a Muse
- Sue at Dreamswalker’s Sanctuary
- Pamela Wight at roughwighting
- Andrea Stephenson at Harvesting Hecate
- Jennie Fitzkee at A Teacher’s Reflection
- Khaya Ronkainen
- Curt Mekemson at Wandering Through Time and Place
- Mackey at MacsBooks
What are your favourite hobbies? Among my cerebral interests are reading, writing, current affairs and obviously blogging. Outside I enjoy walking and gardening (in warmer weather). Overall I love organising, be it work, trips, family…
Do you prefer coffee or tea or neither? Although I love the smell of coffee I don’t drink it, preferring herbal teas. Peppermint for the morning, ginger tea to take me through the day and a camomile tea in the evening.
Name a favourite something (eg. book, singer, band, author, poem). My current favourite writer is Rachel Joyce.I loved her previous three books (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect & The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy). Her latest book, ‘A Snow Garden’ is sublime, magical, poetic and humorous. It’s wonderful to see a short story collection becoming such a popular success.
What is a reference source that you use frequently? Was there life before Google?! Seriously, I use Google or such search engines many times during the day and can’t imagine what I did in pre-internet days. Oh yes, dictionary, encyclopaedia, thesaurus…Occasionally I will still use my Oxford English Dictionary when truly stuck.
What is a favourite journey, either travelled or planned for the future? This summer we are hoping to visit Florida so I’m very excited about this possibility. As a space fan a visit to the Kennedy Space Centre is a must!
1. I struggle to say the word ‘cinnamon’ properly – and people who know me wouldn’t want it any other way!
At nursery I orchestrated The Great Escape for myself and an group of friends, slipping through an unlocked gate after lunchtime break, heading towards the forest nearby. Alas we were spotted, kindly halted in our tracks and returned to the nursery.
I’m a secret (oops!) Netflix addict. In the past years I’ve gorged on: Breaking Bad, Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, Orange is the Next Black, House of Cards, Call The Midwife, The Good Wife, Better Call Saul…
7. When learning to drive my first attempt nearly ended up in the stone wall up on the moors as I proudly copied the drivers off the movies, swinging the steering wheel back and forth. My poor mother only just saved us!
9. When sad or angry I become a demon cleaner. Want your house to sparkle? Just catch me on one of my off days!
When young I dreamed of becoming an astronaut or tightrope walker – I practiced lots for the latter on our garden fence!
I’m a bag lady! In the lucky sense of the word – I love bags and can’t pass a bag shop without popping by for a quick look. What can I say – I’m addicted!
Annika Perry 