I’m very honoured to be nominated for this award by Summer at xingsings. Thank you so much for the nomination Summer, it means a lot, especially coming from a brilliant blogger like you! And sorry it’s up so late. This is indeed the “long post” I’ve been referring to for the last few months. Between coursework and the haiku question, I’m lucky I got this up by the end of this year…

The To Do List

1. Put the award logo on your blog.
2. Answer seven questions asked by the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate any number of bloggers you like, linking to their blogs (and ask them seven of your own questions, presumably).
4. Let them know you nominated them

7 Questions I Got Asked

1. Do you have any pre-blogging rituals? (Such as grabbing a cup of tea to rest near your side, outlining to help gather your thoughts, opening your notebook/novel full of notes/stickies, etc.)

I actually don’t have a proper pre-blogging ritual. I suppose the most consistent thing I do before I start blogging is playing some sort of Youtube video in the background. I have one open right now. 😀

2. Please share a song that perfectly describes your life. Like a song that makes you go “story of my life.” If you aren’t recalling any good ones or do not want to give away too much about your personal life, your current favorite track will suffice as well.

The song I immediately thought of is ‘Home’ by Gabrielle Aplin.

Home has always been a puzzling concept to me because my birth country is not the country that feels like home. I hope you give this a listen; if you do, let me know what you think of it!

Also, if there is a song called “I’m Running Late,” that is the song of my life because I am perpetually like this:

Via Giphy

3. If you had one day to do something and know that all remnants of that something would disappear the next day when you woke up, what would you choose to do? (For example, owning a pet unicorn, getting a tattoo, having a baby or being married, visiting and seeing what heaven or the center the earth is like, etc.) Think of it as beta testing something or a scenario.

Oh man, I only get to do one thing? If I had the chance I’d travel the world on foot and open my own cafe, spend some time in the worlds of my favourite books and maybe get a tattoo, then take a peek into the afterlife and possibly get Roald Dahl’s autograph, after which I’d go to the moon and travel back and forth in time. All in a day’s work.

Or maybe (and this is significantly less exciting), I would spend the day as an archeologist. This is a career that I’ve been interested in for a while but have been too scared to pursue (yes, I’m trying to be an author but being an archeologist is scary to me). I’d try it in this case because the next day, any potential embarrassment I might’ve suffered would be forgotten.

4. If you could create your own language, what would it be called and describe what it’d be like.

I actually tried doing this a while back, as I was getting tired of writing in the Roman alphabet. This is the question that has taken me so long to think about, and I still haven’t finished. I’m probably taking this way too seriously but since I love languages (and don’t want to delay this post any longer) I’ll make a separate post about it. Coming “soon”!

5. If you were to become sole ruler of a country, what country would it be, why, and are there any policies you’d implement? It doesn’t have to be a serious, politically-correct answer; you can totally have fun with it! (For example, if I was a ruler of the Summerians (not Sumerians!), my rule is that before a citizen visits me I’d expect a jar of sprinkles for my stable of unicorns upon castle entry.)

The rules of my country Abecedaria would be as following:

• There is a national bookshop for both new and used books. Anyone can take/donate books, although you are encouraged to do an exchange each time so books don’t run out.
• Once a year is National Reading Day, which citizens basically spend like this:

Via Giphy

• Anyone can come and live in Abecedaria. No passport required.
• When visiting the castle ( I will of course have a castle) the visitor must recommend a book they’ve been reading. Bringing anything sparkly is also acceptable.

6. What are your strengths and weaknesses (in terms of blogging or in general)? (Sorry, I’m really running out of ideas and this is a very common interview question that I get asked a lot…)

I don’t think I have many strengths in blogging, haha. I guess I’m quite organised and work hard to make each post the best it can be. On the other hand, I find it difficult to post regularly. I’m also a perfectionist and a procrastinator. That is not a good combination…

7. Write a haiku with book titles/author names. (Okay, so I stole this from Joey at Thoughts and Afterthoughts, but I feel like if I had to suffer through that challenge, you all should at least try it too. Plus, most of the bloggers I nominated are writers/readers and I’m sure you all can do it!)

Nineteen Eighty-Four
A Passage to India,
Appointment with Death.

This took me two months. *sigh*

7 Questions I Am Asking

1. What do you love most about blogging?
2. What is your dream job – a career you would pursue if there were no consequences?
3. If you had to listen to one song for the rest of your life (sorry) which would it be, and why?
4. Describe your favourite place/space ever, and why it is so. It can be something general (like any bookstore) or something specific (like Antarctica).
5. If you could speak any language, what would it be and why? Go ahead and make up your own if you want. 😀
6. If you wrote a book, what would the cover look like?
7. Finally, I am going to pass Joey’s haiku challenge along: write a haiku with book titles/author names.

I Nominate…

To be honest I’m slightly scared of this part! Of the bloggers I regularly follow and know quite well, I’m not sure which ones have already done this, or who is willing to accept the award. I also nominated a lot of them in my last award post. So this time, I’m nominating some more bloggers I admire, but only those I’ve been keeping up with recently.

1. Bhavika at Manikui
2. Emma at BluChickenNinja
3. Kristi at Writerish Ramblings
4. Norma at Emovere
5. Swati at Lost in Maps

I’d just like to clarify that this nomination doesn’t mean you have to do anything! There are no ‘rules,’ nothing you have to do if you don’t want to. It’s just a way for me to let you know that I think your blog is awesome. 🙂

And that concludes this l-o-o-o-ng post! If you’ve stuck with me this far and you’re a blogger, I nominate YOU for this award, too. As cheesy as that sounds, I really would love to read your answers to my questions.

Thank you for reading and happy holidays!