Scribes & Archers

I was just nominated for the Leibster Award by Kaylan over at No Two Paths. Her blog name was inspired by Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken,” and specifically these lines:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

That’s really cool.

Thanks for the nomination, Kaylan!

What is the Leibster Blog Award?

In short, it’s an award for small blogs that’s passed between bloggers to explore growing blogs. Those who accept the nomination answer a list of questions given to them by whoever nominated them, write a bit about their favorite blogger, nominate 5-11 other blogs that have fewer than 200 followers, and provide 10-11 random facts about themselves. The official rules can be found here.

Nominees:

Melody at Melody Jackson, Author

Val, Remi, and Spanner at Our Mind Palace (I’m actually a fourth collaborator over there, so I’m not sure if this counts and I’ll post a sixth nominee, but I’d love to see their responses.)

Vinnie at Scribbles Playground!!!

Elyra at Two Roads Diverged (I highly suspect the name was derived from that same Robert Frost poem…)

Mandy at Jumping In the Puddles

Ruby at The Sea Calls Us Home

My Favorite Blogger

I follow quite a few writing blogs, but I think my favorite is Well-Storied (formerly known as She’s Novel). The author, Kristen Kieffer, does an excellent job of giving helpful writing advice in a number of areas. She has posts on publishing, editing, planning, writing, character development, etc. I think Well-Storied was the first blog I followed, and I’ve found Kristen’s posts helpful on numerous occasions, particularly as I get deeper into the writing process and am working on marketing. Marketing is something I know nothing about, and it’s really nice to have somewhere to go to find guidance in that.

11 Random Facts About Me

1. I’ve been homeschooled my whole life.
2. Autumn has been my screen name since September of 2015. I started using it when I joined the forums on the NaNoWriMo site and needed a nickname.
3. I derived my pen name, R.M. Archer, from my initials.
4. I’ve been in choir for nine years.
5. I have yet to read Harry Potter. But I just checked it out from the library, so soon I can finally answer yes to the incessant question of “Have you read Harry Potter?”
6. The question “Have you read Harry Potter?” kind of grates on my nerves at this point.
7. My favorite author is Wayne Thomas Batson.
8. I have about a dozen writing notebooks, and only three of them are full. Why? Because when I first started writing I would leave space between the current end of one story and the beginning of another so that I could finish the first one later. And then… I never finished any of them.
9. I have finished about nine first drafts, two second drafts, and one third draft.
10. My “pending” writing folder holds 375 files. My “archives” folder holds 171.
11. My favorite villain is Loki.

Kaylan’s Questions

What’s your claim to fame? (It can literally be anything. Star of the class play in kindergarten? Go for it!)

I was one of the fastest runners at camp this year.

How do you relax after a hard day of school or work?

I read, write, or listen to music.

What could you give a 30-minute presentation on with no preparation? (In other words, what is something you totally geek out about?)

As my best friend can attest, I can rant on for half an hour at least about the Eragon movie or about The Maze Runner. She can also tell you that I repeat myself a lot when I’m ranting, so it would be half an hour long, but it would only be about ten minutes worth of information.

What city would you most like to live in?

Hmm. Is this real or fictional? For a real city… London? I don’t know, honestly. I’m pretty happy where I am, I think. And it has my choir and my youth group and some of my extended family. As for a fictional city, probably Minas Tirith. That place is just cool. But then again, so is the Shire, and it’s more peaceful, so maybe a home in one of the Shire’s cities would be a better fit. I’m almost short enough to fit in a hobbit-hole, too. ;)

What fictional place would you most like to travel to?

Middle Earth, The Seven Kingdoms, Erilea, The Four Lands… Probably most The Four Lands, since I’ve been immersed there so much through the dozens of Shannara books. But then again, maybe that’s a reason to choose a different one. I don’t know. Shannara is almost home for all the times I’ve visited, and I’d kind of like to know more about The Seven Kingdoms, so… I guess either one.

What job would you be terrible at?

Um… Pretty much anything… Sort of kidding. Um… I guess I’d be particularly bad at cooking. I can’t cook without totally going into panic mode. It’s really sad. So I guess I’m going with that.

What takes up too much of your time? (Sleeping? TV? Staring at a wall?)

Procrastinating. Browsing social media even when I know there’s nothing interesting going on. It’s awful. A friend of mine said she can’t imagine me wasting time, but oh man do I waste so much time.

What’s your favourite type of physical activity? (Sports? Hiking? Walking? Sitting outside in the sun?)

I like running, but I can only do it for a little while. “We dwarves are natural sprinters.” ;) Another one is swimming, even though that one tires me out pretty quickly, too. Call me cliche, but I love pretending to be a mermaid.

What’s your favourite Bible verse or quote, and why? (Your explanation can be brief, this is not an interrogation)

Acts 17:16-32. The altar to the unknown god. I don’t know exactly why, but that story always just fascinates me. I guess because Paul was able to use something pagan to point to God and the truth, and it’s always cool to me to find things that aren’t Christian, but yet still point to Christ, and maybe are even against Christianity but still point to it in some way. I made that observation with Wonder Woman, and when my little sister read it I thought her response was really deep: “This is how we know God exists; He’s reflected even in secular stories.”

I have to throw this one in here: what’s your favourite book? (I can never answer that question when I’m asked, but just name the latest one you read that you loved)

Well, it’s not the latest one I read and loved, but Heartless by Marissa Meyer. That one was so good!

What movie can you watch over and over without getting tired of it?

The Princess Bride. No contest.

Questions for My Nominees

1. Who (other than God, of course) do you look up to?
2. How long would you survive the apocalypse? Justify your answer! (Credit to somebody else for this question (who credited someone else) ’cause it sounded cool)?
3. Would you rather have a book signed by your favorite author or an album signed by your favorite singer/band?
4. Do you like writing prompts or would you rather not use them?
5. Who is your favorite superhero and why?
6. What is your favorite era? (Medieval, colonial, Civil War, WWI, WWII, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, etc.)
7. What is your favorite play?
8. Give a brief description of an old project you cringe at now.
9. What is your favorite character name? (An existing one, and not one of your own.)
10. What would your reaction be if your favorite author read and reviewed your current novel?
11. What would your ideal playlist look like?

You know what’s annoying? When I make these lists of questions I then want to answer them. XD

Thanks for reading! Go check out the blogs I nominated, ’cause they’re awesome, their authors are awesome, just overall awesomeness. And if you have your own blog, link to it in the comments so I can check it out!