Liebster Award Nomination!
I’ve never even been tagged for anything before so I was pretty confused/excited when I got this one. I was nominated by the extraordinary Mystery Date With A Book and I would like to sincerely thank her for that. If you don’t know her or aren’t following her already, I would suggest you follow her here and on her MDB facebook. What Mystery Date does is hide the covers of the books they sell, writing only key aspects of the story on the wrapping so you really can’t judge a book by its cover! They also sell some really adorable miniature book key chains and necklaces.
So, on to the 11 questions!
What is your favorite color? All of them? Is all of them an answer? If I had to pick, I think I’d have to settle on something in the brown family. Honestly, I’m more attracted to color combinations than individual colors. So an earthy brown with a deep purple or a pale blue with a solid black or white with a touch of red.
What made you want to blog and how did you get started? Well, I was already managing the social media for Cactus & Harker before I started this blog. I enjoyed a lot of what I was doing for our penny dreadful (every episode is on sale right now, by the way) but, because Cactus and I have some pretty big differences on options in quite a few subjects, I always had to be careful about what I posted and sometimes posted things I didn’t quite fully agree with but knew Cactus would. I started a sub-tumblr to spotlight other indie authors and post longer, more in depth reviews than what I had time/character limits to post on Amazon and GoodReads. I started this WordPress to utilize the community here to help other authors in whatever ways I could and to post some of the things I had written solo. I figured I might be able to get some critical feedback to improve my own writing. I fully separated my tumblr and decided Harker Books would be used only for my own projects and not Cactus & Harker works when Cactus made it very clear that they wanted my “A Rant On” series to have absolutely nothing to do with C&H. It’s been a bit tricky to juggle C&H tumblr, website, twitter (I have just blatantly neglected you, you poor baby bird), and facebook (I have learned that I really hate facebook), trying to advertise and get the word out for Bienvenue, with my own personal projects like reading books for reviews, seeking out authors for interviews, finding authors to spotlight, writing my own short stories for the anthology I’m working on, writing for Bienvenue and the side stories we have in the works for that, all on top of family stuff and work. It leaves my head spinning most days! But I really love helping other people who share passion for words and I love, love, love reading. So even if I rarely, if ever, manage to stick to the schedule I’d like to for this blog, I still love it.
A favorite place that you’ve traveled to? I’ve got two, actually. I’ve been lucky enough to have been to quite a few places in the world. Tokyo and London have been my favorite. I think the key to my heart is solid public transportation. I loved the mists of London, the long quiet nights, the diversity, the ability to walk long and far, the screech of the tube and the rush of wind that washed over me as lines pulled into stations. Granted, there were more than a few stations that smelled overwhelmingly like piss but at least the trains showed up on time. I loved the smell of rain and the sakura blossoms of Tokyo, the safety of the streets, the bustle of the people, the food, the voice of the woman announcing train stops in Japanese, the way a city so large could be so clean and not make me feel lost in the slightest, the secret streets and winding alleyways, the quiet. They are practically on opposite sides of the world and both very different from what I grew up with but I love them both greatly and hope one day I can visit them again.
Rather live in the city or in the country? While I love wildlife and animals and peace and quiet, I do not like the nosiness of neighbors and working from out in the country would probably kill my business. So I’d have to say the City. Hopefully I can find a place in the city with a nice little closed in back yard where I can feed birds, turtles, snakes, bats, and bees.
What’s your favorite animal? At the moment, my cat. But I’m clearly being bribed as he gives me cuddles frequently and is just generally adorable.
The best money saving deal you’ve come across? I’m not sure this counts as a deal but I use this Trip Cost Calculator a lot since I’m on the road so damn much. Help me figure out where the cheapest gas is along my rout to I don’t have to spend such a fortune on travel expenses.
A favorite meal you like to make? Pulled pork! I love making pulled pork, I love eating pulled pork. I also really love making breads and sweets. I haven’t made candies in a while but I really want to start once I’ve got some decent pots of the appropriate size for small batches of candies.
Would you prefer to live up north or down south? I live in the US and since I’m not into lynchings, gay bashing, or cross burning; I think I’ll stick to the north, no matter how tempting the southern weather is in the winter.
Tell me your favorite vegetable and describe your favorite way to cook it? If I had been asked this a year ago I would have probably answered “None of the above.” However, I have discovered the versatility of lettuce. You can put it on sandwiches to add a bit of crunch and if you put it in a dumpling filling, you don’t even know it’s there! I also occasionally like mushrooms but only as a vehicle for butter. Although, if peppers are a vegetable, then those are my favorite but I think they fall into the same category as tomatoes?
Would you prefer to take a cruise or stay in a ski resort for a week? The cruise is definitely out. I’ve heard way too many horror stories and they’re so shitty for the environment that I’m honestly not interested in ever going on one. However, I’m also not a huge fan of the cold. Is backpacking an option? Unless the ski resort I was staying at was super isolated/away from lots of noisy people, I think I’d ditch both to backpack around Europe again for a week.
Have you tried a DIY? How did it turn out? Less DIY and more fixer uppers and jury rigging. They usually work pretty well until we can get a replacement or the entire thing just dies.
And now for some random facts:
I can’t process the 3D effects of 3D movies. Brain just won’t do it.
I love swimming and want to learn how to free dive but I have asthma so I’m kind of terrified and honestly don’t even know where to start. It doesn’t help that I’m currently stuck living in a landlocked state.
I am terrified of fish.
I absolutely love hospitality and hope to some day get my feet firmly enough under myself that I can go back to working in that field.
I hate Disney world/land/whatever and Walmart equally. They treat their employees so poorly it just infuriates me.
I have serious issues with businesses that gouge and destroy communities rather than supporting them for the sake of “business.” All their goals are so idiotically short term that they can’t seem to see the forest for the trees. If they don’t invest in the community and in their own employees, the long term health of the business and the consumers that support them will crumble.
I have a bigger problem with consumers that support these businesses even knowing full well their poor practices.
I write death scenes now instead of self harming or veering towards suicide.
I hate, hate, hate sudden, loud sounds.
I’ve spent a good portion of my life between domestic abuse shelters and homelessness.
I have dyslexia so even though I love reading, it can be a rea pain in the ass sometimes.
And with that massive book of information written, it’s time to tag some other great little blogs!
Since I couldn’t find the contact form for a few of you, if you’d like to participate, just drop me a line at MinaHarkerOfficial@gmail.com or leave a comment below with a better way to get in touch and I’ll send you the rules and questions for you to answer.
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