A few weeks ago I was nominated for the Ideal Inspirational Blogger Award by my lovely Twitter friend and favey blogger Amber's Diary.
This is an award to recognise great and inspirational bloggers, and is an amazing way to spread the love and support your favey bloggers! (For more info and the rules for the award, click here!)
Given that my blog is still in its infancy AND I've been thoroughly inconsistent since going back to work I was absolutely thrilled to even be considered for such an honour. Thank you so much Amber! Now, onto the questions... (I feel like such a pageant Queen).
If you had the opportunity to go on a solo mission to Mars, would you go?
Not a chance! I am a homebody through and through and don't like to be more than two hours drive from my mum if possible. Yes, I know, that is very sad but that is the reality of my life. I've always said if there was a zombie apocalypse I want to be patient zero because I would be absolutely terrible at surviving and I think the same logic applies here. I wouldn't be good at it, I wouldn't like it and I wouldn't go.
If you could only go on one holiday ever again, where would it be?
Florida to Harry Potter world. Yes, I know, "the creator" as I've taken to calling her is very problematic and needs to learn to keep her mouth shut. But I have spent many many many hours of my life wrapped up in those books and that world and I want to be able to go and spend far too much money on a wand and feel like I could actually perform the magic. I want to sit in The Leaky Cauldron and drink a butter beer. I want to go to Hogwarts, dammit.
I've never been to the USA and, actually, most of the holidays I've ever been on have just been lying by the pool, reading a book drinking a few (read: a lot of) cocktails kinda holidays. But I don't think I can choose a nice beach location when I've not fulfilled all my Slytherin dreams yet!
What is your biggest life ambition?
I'm afraid that this might be a very boring answer, and so I will preface this by reminding you all that I am nearly 30 and thus most of my dreams have been suitably pissed on by this point!
My biggest ambition is to make enough money from writing so that I can go part time at my work (I'm thinking 3 days a week would be ideal!). Obviously, being some kind of bestseller and not having to work a "real job" would be excellent, but I don't think that is my path. And I actually do quite like teaching - I just fear the rapid ageing and weight gain that is associated with the profession on the whole!
I suppose my other big ambition is to have a child. I'm at that point where a lot of my friends are married or getting married and thinking about starting families and it's kind of made me put a magnifying glass up to that aspect of my life. Don't get me wrong, I'm over here all Miss Independent with my well paid job and I'm buying a house, writing a book and living various other dreams. But I would really like to be a mum in the next ten years. So I guess that counts.
In summary: my ambition is to be a part-time teacher/published writer/mum.
And, ya know, world peace.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes. Without a doubt. My mum's house was built in 1830 and there is definitely a ghost in the attic. My sister and I used to be very afraid of this other-worldly presence but I have come to the realisation that this spirit must be of the benign variety because it hasn't ever done anything bad to us.
I've never seen a ghost but I do believe that spirits have made themselves known to me in other ways. My granny and I were incredibly good friends and spoke most days. Now that she's gone she comes and visits me - not in the regular ghostly way but in my dreams. Whenever there is something bit rubbish going on (like when I broke up with my ex last year) I have these vivid dreams that we're having a conversation about the problem. I realise this could just be my subconscious conjuring her up, but you weren't there so you couldn't possibly comment on whether or not she was visiting me from the afterlife or not. Ha!
What is your favourite all time album?
The Colour and the Shape by the Foo Fighters. I heard it for the first time going on holiday to Cornwall with my best friend from school when we were about 12. We listened to it one earphone each on her walkman and it was probably the first time I chose to listen to music that wasn't like Gareth Gates or Britney Spears. To this day one of my favourite songs is Hey Johnny Park, which is an album track on that album. The first line is pure poetry, I don't care what anyone says.
That album conjures up a really specific feeling somewhere between nostalgia and angst and is one that I come back to over and over again and I highly recommend that you give it a listen. It's a good sound track for writing moody scenes.
And now, for my nominations...
C.M. Ramsburg (fabulous creator of Ramstrology) and Courtney (of the equally fabulous Court's Library) you are both up!
Questions:
You're stranded on a desert island and you can summon three of your possessions. What do you choose?
What is your all time favourite movie?
Do you believe in any crazy (or not so crazy) conspiracy theories?
If you had to trade lives with a character from a book, who would you choose?
What inspired you to create your blog?
And remember to check out Amber's blog here.