Liebster Award Part 1

So the amazing Nicole Evans has tagged me as part of the blog-hopping Q&A extravaganza that is the Liebster Award, and I am super excited to take part! (Nicole also tagged Joyce, who, in her own Liebster Award blog post, also tagged me, so I will answer both of their questions in two separate posts. See my answers to Joyce's post here.)As one of Nicole's  victims nominees, I'm supposed to give 11 facts about myself, then answer 11 questions, and then I have to nominate another 11 bloggers and give them new questions to answer. Let us begin, shall we?Le factoids:1) I'm an American ex-pat living in London. (And before London, I lived in Scotland.) I'm super homesick though, and I'd love to move back to the states in the future, but for now I'm trying to make my way over here.2) Even though I'm living abroad, and had to travel a lot for my PhD, I HATE flying. As in, I've had to go to therapy to help me with my anxiety. I'm a bit better now, but I still, y'know, hate it with every fiber of my being.(Oh I also have a fear of heights, and anything that has more than four legs. I mean, come on Mother Nature, what the eff?)3) I struggle with depression and anxiety. I've talked a little about this in earlier posts, but I'm trying to be more open about it, because it's not something to be ashamed of. It comes and goes. Some days I'm ok and can function. Other days I can barely get out of bed. But we just have to keep taking things one day at a time.4) I used to be really sporty and tom-boyish. In school I played volleyball, softball, and soccer.5) I am a huge music geek, to the point where I will start conducting a piece if I'm really feeling it. In high school I was the drum major for our marching band, and I used to play alto sax and cello. I also used to do musicals and plays, but I haven't really done much singing since then.6) (Oh boy, we're only on 6? I'm running out of things. I need to get out more...) I'm obsessed with dogs. My first dogs were a golden retriever and a Newfoundland, so I love bigger dogs. Hopefully someday I'll be able to have one (or three) of my own. Right now I'm obsessed with Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers:7) I can write in Viking runes, aka Futhark. Kinda random, but I had an amazing history teacher who was an expert on the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, and he taught us all kinds of cool things like that.8) I don't like horror films, or things with zombies. (Ok Shaun of the Dead was funny, but that's about it.)9) I hate fennel, rye bread, and raw onions. I can't handle that sour, bitter taste they all have.10) My comfort food is mac and cheese.11) My drink of choice is a nice cocktail, or Scotch.The Questions for Me:

1. If you could choose one author to be your best friend (we’re talking giggling at sleepovers and having brunch on Sundays to talk about the latest tabloids kind of best friend), who would you choose and why?
   1. Ooh this is tricky. Not gonna lie, my first thought was J.R.R. Tolkien, because how funny would it be to see him at brunch in his tweed suit with his pipe, chatting about all the latest gossip over avocado toast and mimosas? But I'd have to say Hermione Eyre. Her book Viper Wine featured lots of intrigue at Charles I's court, and Eyre was a journalist here in London, so I feel like she'd have all the good gossip and insider info.
2. Favorite kind of cheese?
   1. Parmigiano reggiano, or a really good cheddar.
3. This is a choose-your-own-adventure kind of question. Path A: What book series should be adapted into a video game and why (I’m thinking a la Witcher here)? Path B: If you don’t play video games and thus can’t travel down Path A, please tell me how you function without such soul-sucking enjoyment in your life?
   1. (Pause for a brief fan girl moment: OMG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is incredible. So immersive, such great characters and storytelling. Also it's just a gorgeous game, and the music is so good. You guys should play it if you haven't.) Ok, I'm going to have to go with Lord of the Rings. I loved the playstation games that came out with each film, but IMAGINE an open-world version, with beautiful graphics, where you could choose which member of the fellowship to play as, and you had ALL of Middle Earth to explore? You could stick with the main quest of heading off to Mordor, or you could go on side quests and get drunk in the Shire with the hobbits, or hitch a ride with the Eagles somewhere. Just imagine the possibilities....
4. If it were my birthday and you were buying me a puppy, what kind of puppy would you get me (pictures preferred)?
   1. Ok goldens are hard to beat, but I'd like to present this dapper looking fellow (even though he's no longer a puppy, technically). I'd name him Gandalf, because he is looking for someone to share in an adventure.
5. What are you most excited about writing wise right now?
   1. I'm brainstorming a few things right now. I'm working on the sequel to HONORS, so it's set in the 1650s during the Scottish civil wars. I'm also working on another historical set during the Revolutionary war, and I'm super excited about it because I'm in love with the characters, and with that time period. I'm still doing research for both of them though, so the writing is slow-going right now.
6. What is the plot of the ultimate dream story you want to write (or have written or are too afraid to write)?
   1. Probably the Revolutionary war story above, because some of the themes scare the be-jeesus out of me, but I'm going to try and do my best to honor them, and the characters. I have a few other ideas that are a bit far-fetched or scary. One is a sci-fi epic that I've been daydreaming about for a while, but I've never written sci-fi, so that would be boldly going where I've never gone before. (I'm so sorry, I couldn't resist...)
7. How do you plan to better the world?
   1. Hopefully by giving back some of the joy and wisdom that others have given me, whether through my writing or teaching, or just by living and loving.
8. What “rule” do you break in writing (purposefully or otherwise)?
   1. I sometimes (often) throw in an adverb or two, but I try to use them sparingly.
9. Which fictional characters make you question whether you’re actually fictosexual, i.e., who can I swoon over? (Also, adapted this one from R.K. and I don’t apologize for it).
   1. I'm reading SONG OF ACHILLES by Madeline Miller right now, and Achilles is pretty damn dreamy. Some others that come to mind are Lila Bard (thief, magician, pirate), and Alucard Emery (pirate captain, magician, lovable rogue) from V.E. Schwab's A GATHERING OF SHADOWS. Lila is bold and enigmatic at the same time, and Alucard is well, a lovable rogue. See also: Prince Rhy. OH and Donna from the show Suits because hot damn, can you say 'girl crush'? She's sassy and smart and loyal as hell, and I want to be her when I grow up.
10. What fictional language do you wish was actually commonplace?
    1. Tolkien's Elvish would be lovely, it's such a mellifluous language. But I'd also argue for Dwarvish, because their swears sound better/are more fun to say.
11. Lurtz (see below if you’re not on a first name basis) is about to kill you. What do you do?
    
    1. First I'd be like 'OH HELL NO' and dodge out of the way of that massive arrow. Then I'd tackle him, stab him in the thigh with my Elvish knife, block it with my sword when he threw the knife back at me, and then I'd slice his head off. (As you do.) Then Aragorn would run up, all out of breath like, 'Hey you stole my moves' and I'd be like 'You snooze you lose bro!' And then he'd shrug and we'd smooch ride off into the sunset together to save the hobbits. THE END.

That's all for now. If you'd like to see my answers to Joyce's questions, and who I've nominated, check out Part 2 here. Thanks again for tagging me Nicole!~Meredith