The problem with LJ:
We all think we are so close, but really we know nothing about each other. So if you like, ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away. Probably I’ll answer.
Then, if you like, post this in your LJ and find out what people don’t know about you.
How old were you when you first fell in love?
What are your three favorite bands and/or artists?
Is there one particular work of art – a painting or sculpture – that makes you fall to your knees in amazement?
7th grade. Oh wow….and I fell hard for the guy for about 4 years. He was a lot of firsts for me if you know what I mean.
Yikes…don’t know if I can pick just three bands/artists. Rod McKuen who is an old beat poet who is also an amazing musician and has written scores for many, many people. But I adore his concerts CDs which are part poetry reading and part singing in his raspy voice caused from vocal damage many years ago.
Dave Matthews Band and Five For Fighting lately but Beatles too. Crud, I spent all day yesterday ripping all my CD collection to my computer. I can’t pick just one.
I love your third question and feel bad that I don’t have an answer for you. I guess the answer must be no though Starry Night by Van Gogh hits me a bit in the gut. Interestingly enough, I’m disappointed that I don’t have a good answer for this one.
Are you going to write a book set in Louisiana?
Probably someday. When the pain isn’t so great. I know I will write of some of the things that happened to me there. For some reason I still think about riding the ferry and I think about the food and the people but I can never keep Louisiana in my thoughts for very long. It still hurts.
At what time of day do you feel most creative?
Starting at about 7pm and going til about 1am. Alas that really makes getting up at 5am tough so I am forced to work from 7-9.
If you had to go on a reality show, which one would it be?
I know, I know…I’m soooo deep ;).
Hey, a shrink could probably see all sorts of things inside a question like this.
I would like to pretend I’m the kind of person who would jump at the chance to do something like Survivor but I wouldn’t last a day. I don’t think I’d do much better at the Amazing Race.
How about the Surreal Life?
Skittles or M & Ms?
M & Ms, without a doubt. Chocoalte ALWAYS rules.
If you weren’t blonde, what color would your hair be? (Note – question carefully worded so as NOT to ask if blonde is your natural hair color!)
Hahaha.
I’d be blonder. I’ve always been blonde and can’t imagine being anything else. Ever. I do wish my hair was even lighter, like my sons, but as I got older, it’s gotten darker. But still blonde. Always blonde.
What’s the nicest thing someone (who isn’t a family member) has ever done for you?
I had to save this question for the last one because I had to really think about it. Erik, my husband, did a lot of really nice things for me before we were married.
But I think the nicest thing from a non family member was many years ago in my first marriage when I was horribly sick with shivers and shakes and the fever and I was sleeping in front of the wood stove because I couldn’t get warm. I don’t know how I ever got the kids off to school and my friend Lissa took my grocery list over the phone (and boy was it long) and did all my grocery shopping for me.
Awwww! That was sweet indeed!
Which one of those fabulous quotes down the side there is your favorite?
That’s an easy one. Although I love them all, this is my guiding light for everything I do.
“Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours!” Richard Bach
I’m a very fear-based person.
Green.
And I don’t know. Hmmm…I guess it is. I think my favorite color is still a certain shade of blue but it’s not right for the house. Green feels very fresh and rejuvenating and full of possibilities.
If we were having an LJ potluck dinner, what would you bring?
If my husband was available to cook, something marvelous – stuffed mushrooms perhaps. If he wasn’t around to cook, I would, er, well, hmmm….bring bread. I can usually make that without messing it up.
Favorite memory of childhood, and the place you grew up?
Oh man, that’s tough….how do you pick a favorite memory any more than you can pick a favorite pet or child. Hmmm…it would be a general memory of anything that had my grandfather in it. He died when I was 10 but before that I pretty much followed him anywhere. He was the closest thing to a dad that I ever had so any memory with him in it is a favorite one.
I grew up in Concord CA. I went to the same high school as my mom and my grandmother did.
When did you begin writing? What made you decide to write for children?
I have a hard time remembering a time I didn’t write but I guess I would say about 11. Then it was lots of poetry. I discovered YA romances in my 20s and started reading tons of kids books then. I think writing for kids began as a natural offshoot of having young children and reading with them but I continue to write for kids because it is still what makes me the happiest. And I read all kinds of kid’s books but rarely read any fiction for adults.