Liebster Awarded

I may have been Liebstered in the past already, but since the questions are always changing, I do not see why I should not Liebster again! (and yeah, I know, this is two questionnaire type posts in a row but they are different! so! there!)

Thanks to Michael Robinson for the awarding! You should all check out his blog, and also follow him on twitter (@mkronline), because he tweets interesting and thought provoking happenings, so get on over there post haste and hit the follow button.

His questions for me (and the fabulous Valerie Valdes, who you should also follow immediately):

1. You both have wonderful families. How do you balance being wonderful back to them and writing regularly? Asking for a friend.

I do have a wonderful family, as defined by El Husband and our cat(s). It's pretty easy to be wonderful back to my cat(s), because all they really need is for me to provide some lap to sleep on, and they even sometimes share it with my laptop without too much complaint. El Husband is also pretty low maintenance, and I do most of my work before he gets up in the morning and after he goes to work, so when he's home, he can generally capture my attention without too much trouble (assuming I am not mid-draft on something I need done yesterday, of course.)

I also live in pretty close proximity to my parents and one of my sisters (hopefully two of my sisters, soon enough), and some of my extended family -- Cousintry, I am looking at you! We're pretty tight-knit. And finding balance there is a little bit trickier, but mostly it involves me trying to clear my schedule for a block of time when people are around to do things, and beyond that saying "Look, I'm really sorry, but I have to write." Sometimes it works, sometimes I get behind.

I can't imagine figuring it out if I had more than just el husband and the cat to worry about, so I have a lot of respect for the writers out there who have kids and still manage to get words on the page. Seriously, it boggles my mind, you are all amazing.

2. How does the local climate inform your writing?

I do not always get to write things that are set in a climate which allows me to draw from my local climate experiences, but man, in Upstate New York, we get all four seasons, and they are pretty much all awesome -- with the possible except of Summer, which is a humid, energy-sapping beast, sometimes -- so it's pretty great. I have written a couple of short stories/novellas which are much more informed by my local climate and my personal experiences in that regard, because there are days that I go outside and breathe it all in, and my fingers itch to capture everything in that moment.

But I guess, it's more the natural world around me as a whole which informs my writing, more than just the climate.

3. What is your favorite Twitter hashtag and why?

#ThorLove

do I really need to explain?

Sidenote: it was Mr. Robinson who coined my catchphrase of "Come for Thor, stay for more!" so. Credit where it is due!

4. Thoughts on traditional publishing?

Um. Traditional publishing definitely has the advantage when it comes to distribution and marketing when they choose to make use of it, but it isn't quite so nimble and while I think it is trying really hard to remake itself and change with the times, it's a lot harder for the behemoth that is trad pub to switch things up and turn on a dime than it is for individual authors or small indie presses. Right now there's a lot of change in the industry, but I think that we'll come out the other side and traditional publishing will figure out how to make it work when things start to smooth out. It's kind of like the Catholic Church -- change is really slow, and really deliberate, but change happens. Of course, that doesn't always mean it's the change we WANT, but I have hope. For traditional publishing. And the Church, I guess, now that Pope Francis is social-justicing it up. TIME WILL TELL!

Now, I must choose two people and come up with some questions to ask them...

I'm going to point the finger at the awesome MIA HAYSON because zombies and hilarity and ZAK TRINGALI because The Five Kingdoms!

Questions:
1) Can you tell us about the project you are currently most excited about?
2) Facebook vs Google+ vs Twitter vs Tumblr GO! Which social media platform do you think is going to win king of the mountain for writers this year?
3) What is your favorite kind of storytelling? (interpret this as you like.)
4) Which literary character (or character of your own invention) would you MOST like to hang out with regularly, and why?