They say eleven is the perfect number ...

Wait, no, that's seven. Oh, well.

Anyways, I've been tagged by that elevens tag yet again, this time by Katie.

Rules: Post eleven random facts about yourself, answer the eleven questions the awarder has given you and make up eleven questions for your awardees to answer in return. Tag eleven fellow bloggers, and notify them of the award. Also, no tag-backs.

Eleven Facts:

1. I have this bad habit of reading the wikipedia page of any book/slash movie I'm interested in as soon as it comes out.
2. I also tend to skip ahead and read the end before I get there.
3. People say that this ruins the reading of a book. I don't think so. It's more like having a map so that you don't get lost. I don't do this with mysteries, as much as I do adventures.
4. I get to have thanksgiving twice. Once with my mom's side of the family (the day of) and once with my dad's side (usually a day or two after. This year it's today.)
5. My aunt was surprised the other day when she found out I knew about love triangles.
6. I lowered prices to the minimum price on all of my books for Black Friday.
7. I may leave them at those prices until after Christmas.
8. Madeleine and I look a lot alike.
9. I don't know if my hair is blond or brown. It's somewhere in between.
10. I like funky socks
11. I like singing Christmas Carols while watching fire works for the fourth of July.


Eleven Questions:


1. Do you outline before starting a novel? If so, how extensive an outline do you create?

The closest I've come to outlining is writing a one-page summary of Do You Take This Quest? (which I didn't follow in the least) and the notebook versions of some of the Rizkaland Legends, which were/are more of a rough draft than anything else. This doesn't mean I don't plan the book - I do, but I never put those plans on paper.

2. Do you profile your characters to flesh them out and make them as realistic as possible? If so, would you share the template or basic outline you use?

I've been known to interview them, and have, at times, written down every thing I know about a character in a notebook ... but that's not often. I prefer learning about my characters through roleplaying and the actual writing process.

3. How do you balance the busyness of life with your writing goals? (Give a girl some advice here.)

Frankly, this is a mystery I have yet to discover. I oscillate between periods where I focus on my writing to the detriment of my life, to periods where I focus on my life to the detriment of my writing. It drives my mom nuts.

4. Do you force yourself to finish a writing project before starting on a new one?

Sometimes ... I'm not often very successful at ignoring the other really interesting stories that I have in my arsenal

5. HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU CONTROL THE PLOT-BUNNIES?!

I allow myself to muse over for a while, give it a title, add it to my WIP list, scribble down snippets in notebooks, perhaps even give it a computer document ...

It depends how focused I am on other projects.

6. Once in a while, we all write characters that scare us for one reason or other. How do you deal with these characters and the emotions they evoke in you?

I give them a weakness in the the form of one of my pliable and/or cooperative characters. Example: Amber, the villain of the first two books of the Rizkaland Legends is ... well, not a nice character, and she doesn't like me. However, her husband, Granite, is still good, as his heart was not tainted by the evil that overcame her, and, he somewhat keeps her in line.

They're complicated ... which is one reason she is pretty much my favorite villain. (as well as my oldest, but that's beside the point.)

7. Bronte sisters or Jane Austen?

Austen. They're both good, but I prefer Austen's lighter style.

8. Peeta or Gale? (This has everything to do with everything.)

Despite my usual weakness for gray-eyed men (seriously, folks, among my FMC's Love Interests, there is an overwhelming majority of gray eyes) ... Katniss belongs with Peeta. She and Gale are too much alike, and it is my firm conviction that opposites ought to attract. Besides, she and Gale look too much alike, and, ever since reading chapter 11 of Elsie's Womanhood, I've not liked my literary couples looking like carbon copies of each other.

Just one of my quirks, ya know.

9. Do you people-watch? Do you find this inspires you to create more relatable, three-dimensional characters based on your observations?

Ummm ... I do people watch my family and close friends ... but beyond that, not really, or, at least, I don't do it on purpose.

10. Do you write best when warm and cozy indoors, or outdoors with the sun in your face and the wind in your hair?

When I have a notebook, I like to take it outside. But when I'm writing on my computer, I can't see what I'm writing if it's too bright, so I have to work on it inside or in the shade. And the shade doesn't always work.

11. How do you keep your writing new and original? How do you avoid falling into cliches?

Uhhhhhh ... I actually don't worry too much about it. Indeed, I'm as like as not to use a cliche for humor purposes. Although I tend to mix up my cliche's ... for instance, my warrior princess, instead of marrying a peasant, ends up marrying the dashing prince who's purpose in life is to rescue all of the innocent maidens.

But I really don't worry about it. If I have a story burning in my heart, I write it. There is nothing new under the sun, and I know that, no matter how hard I try to write something new and different, someone else has already used my idea ...

But that doesn't mean that, if I discover that what I'm writing is similar to someone else's, that I don't make every effort to make sure I'm not simply writing their story a second time. If I discover that there is another book that may or may not be what I'm writing, I will, if at all possible, get my hands on the book and read it, and make sure what I'm writing is different.

..........................................................................

Me Questions:

1. What is your #1 literary irk? (mary sue? RPS (rebellious princess syndrome)? Pink flowers?)

2. Do you have an accent?

3. How hard is it for you to imitate accents?

5. Ice Cream or Peanut Butter?

4. How long is your WIP list (P - planning)?

6. Kindle, nook, physical or other?

7. What is your opinion on arranged marriages?

8. What is your favorite number?

9. Pepperoni, Salami, Baloney?

10. What are you thankful for?

11. Did you notice anything strange about 4 and 5?

If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged. I don't feel like hunting down tagees.