The Creative Blogger Award

The fantastically awesome Julia Byers nominated me for the Creative Blogger Award (click on her name to check hers out). Look how pretty it is:

The Rules:

• Nominate 15-20 blogs and notify all nominees via their social media/blogs
• Thank and post the link of the blog that nominated you 
• Share 5 facts about yourself to your readers
• Pass these rules on to them

My Nominees:

• Deborah Kreiser
• Anne B. Cole
• Rachel Stevenson
• Carissa Taylor 
• Laura Pohl

If I didn't nominate you (it's either because I couldn't find your blog link or because my brain is still dead from finishing finals), I still encourage you to nominate yourself! Who doesn't love awards?

Here are my facts:

1. I started out as a fanfiction writer (for Spirited Away, if you were wondering). Initially it was just something I did for fun, and I didn't really treat it seriously. But then the story got longer and longer, and the number of readers I had exploded, and suddenly I realized how important the fic was to me. Unfortunately, once I turned my focus my own original stories, I lost momentum for the fic. It's currently at 140k and waiting for me to write the last two chapters (hides from readers). 

2. This is related to number one, but I love the stories found in anime. They are really different (as are many works of art based in other countries) and a huge source of inspiration. Obviously, like many things, there is good anime, bad anime, really good anime, and really bad anime. But the good anime have plots and characters that are worthy of having novels written about. And beyond that, I love the art and the soundtracks. I will probably spend some of this summer catching up on all the anime that I missed during the school year. 

3. I like to chase pigeons. I also like to chase squirrels. You do not want to be walking with me in a city because I will inevitably end up looking like a weirdo and a sadist when I go running after the critters. 

4. If I couldn't write and had no college degree, I'd probably try to open my own bakery. It would feature primarily cupcakes, but I love all baked goods. The downside to having my own bakery would be a decline in my health, because who can resist???

5. My writing style changes from novel to novel. There's still that constant backbone that makes my writing mine, but I find that compared to authors who have published multiple series/books of different genres, my style changes more drastically. Depending on the POV character, the type of narration, the tense, the pace, and the genre, I fluctuate between The Hunger Games-esque writing style (minimalistic and punchy) and Daughter of Smoke and Bone-esque writing (richer and more description-heavy). 

Hope you enjoyed learning a little about me (and hope fact #3 wasn't too weird)! And a huge thank you to Julia for thinking to nominate me :)

Inner Peace and Sunshine Awards

My lovely fellow blogger/novelist/epically-awesome-friend Julia (whom I met online during Writeoncon's Pitchfest this past spring AND in-person during WDCE--twas fate) has recently nominated me for the Inner Peace and Sunshine Awards.

I am super excited to reveal seven things about me that you won't be able to find on the About Cynthiarox66 tab! Hopefully, they won't be too boring because my life is pretty mundane and undramatic :)

1. My inner storyteller first manifested when I told fortunes for my friends and for friends of my parents. I got in trouble for it once, because I basically told this guest at a dinner party that he would get run over by a car sometime in the distant future. No malicious intentions, I promise you! I did love the Hunger Games, though, so I'm not sure what that says about my streak for violence. Even now, I don't know whether or laugh or cringe at the memory.

2. I've never filled up a diary. The closest I've come to doing so is with one that I got in 2005 at Borders (oh, the nostalgia). That's basically filled with mush about the boys I had crushes on from elementary school through middle school. I can't make myself read it.

3. I'm a pseudo-vegetarian. So, if I were starving, I'd be fine with food touching meat. I'm fine with drinking chicken soup and leaking behind all the chicken bits. I'm not a true vegetarian, however, because I have no real love for vegetables. More of a carbohydratarian.

4. I LOVE Hayao Miyazaki and all of Studio Ghibli's movies (Spirited Away, anyone? Howl's Moving Castle? Kiki's Delivery Service? Princess Mononoke?). The artwork is just mind-blowing, as are the details and the scores and the characters. I have a 140,000 word fanfic on Spirited Away--basically what got me into writing longer works. It's two chapters from being complete, but I haven't updated in ages just because original work seems to grab my attention more than fanfic nowadays :( If any of my fanfic followers are reading this, I promise that I will finish it someday!

5. I'm freakishly scared of bugs. Especially crawling things with lots of legs. Millipedes are the worst...*shudders*. I don't think I'd survive for more than a week in a jungle.

6. I can bake a mean cupcake. If I can ever find a baking partner, I'd definitely audition for Food Network's Cupcake Wars. In fact, my life plan goes like this: get an education, get a job that makes a decent living, retire with saved money, open a cupcake shop/be a full time writer.

7. I enjoy writing by hand. Sometimes. Just to bask in the beauty of my handwriting. Haha just kidding. I'm volunteering this summer at this program for middle schooler who need a little boost and sometimes I find myself with free time. I COULD just bring my laptop and type my writing, but hey, old-school looks more academic, right? Have to set a good example for the kids ;) It really is a different experience--slower, but I'm more concise with my words.

Now for nominations! If you don't see your name below, it's because I'm scatterbrained, not because I forgot about you, so feel free to hop in! Have fun, guys :)

Deborah Kreiser 
The Loony Teen Writer
Carissa Taylor
Zara Hoffman
Sarah Faulkner
Avon