The Sunshine Blogger Award Part One

Given this is the second time I’ve had to do this for The Sunshine Blogger Award, third for awards in general, you should know the drill by now.

I’ll be posting my answers for this tag in two parts, so if you nominated me for this award and don’t see your questions here they’ll be in part two. I was tagged by Dani at Perspective of a Writer, Namitha at Teen Memoir, and Kate at Reading Through Infinity. Thanks so much for the tag everyone, I had a lot of fun with this one so I hope you enjoy reading my answers just as much.

Rules:

• Thank the person(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
• Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or on your blog.

Dani’s Questions:

1. If you had to choose a dystopian world to be sent to, which would it be and why?

I don’t read many dystopian books so I don’t have a lot of choices for this question but I’d have to say the Penryn and the End of Days series by Susan Ee. I feel like if I kept my head down and stayed away from the angels I’d have a good chance at surviving, and if that fails I could just join the resistance.

2. What are your favourite blog posts to write and why?

Definitely my Reading Around the World feature posts. They take a really long time to put together, two hours or there abouts which makes them the longest posts on this blog to draft, but I love looking back at the photos from my past holidays. It never fails to make me want to hop on a plane going somewhere, anywhere, far away.

3. Under what circumstances would you DNF a book?

I’ve never DNF-ed a book before, but there have been a couple of times I’ve come close. The main reasons I would would probably be if I couldn’t get into the plot, hated all the characters, and if there were too many examples of tropes like love triangles and insta-love.

4. What types of characters do you love most? (i.e. like genre but for characters, examples: strong female, hot love interest, nerds, pirates, if you can group them and love them, name them!)

A little while back I did a Top Ten Tuesday post on morally grey/anti-hero characters, and they’re my favourite kind. Like AIDAN from Illuminae whose actions you fear but can kind of understand at the same time, like Kaz from Six of Crows who is never going to be called a hero, like Holland from the Shades of Magic series who have an incredible redemption arc.

5. If you could teleport to any city in the world which would it be? If you had to make your way home on you own would it still be the same city?

Amsterdam, simply because of all the cities I’ve visited so far that’s my favourite. It was a place that felt like I could have called it home if I’d stayed there longer. For me though home is always going to be Southend, where I grew up and where my family are.

6. If you wrote a book, what would it be about? (i.e. the premise, type of characters, world?)

I actually did write a book for NaNoWriMo, well, kind of. Normally the books I write are fantasy/sci-fi books, full of magic, gods, fairytale and mythological elements, strong friendships and family dynamics. Basically I write the books I love to read in my favourite genre.

7. If a band were to be featured in a fictional story, which would you want it to be and why?

Fall Out Boy simply because they’re my all-time, ultimate favourite band and have been for years. Granted I read fantasy books so I can’t imagine how they’d fit into a fictional story I’d read, but I’d be interested in seeing it attempted.

8. What book describes you best? (Is it a particular character, the cover or the story?)

The character I’ve always most identified with is Cress from Cress by Marissa Meyer. She’s a daydreamer, living in her own imagination, and dreams of travelling and exploring the world. Both things I can identify with.

9. Favourite book universe and why? (Is it the friends you would have, the world you would live in or the abilities/circumstances you would be in?)

If I had to pick one I’d have to say The Night Circus. I fell in love with the world Erin Morgenstern wrote. It was just pure magic, and the way it was described left me desperate to explore it for myself, discovering the magic and secrets each tent held.

10. What is your favourite book pet? Real pet? Ultimate pet?

Favourite book pet would be the Niffler from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Favourite real pet, and probably the ultimate pet as well, would be my greyhound Tommy.

11. If you’d humour me and look at this post I wrote about Korean dramas…which banner looks like it has a story you would be interested in reading/watching?

Probably the first one, the image you used for point ten. Nothing against any of the others but it was the only one I saw that made me curious about the story, and from the looks of that one picture it would tell an interesting story as well.

---

Namitha’s Questions:

1. Day or night?

Night.

2. Dogs or cats?

Dogs.

3. Introvert or extrovert?

Introvert.

4. Winter or Summer?

Winter.

5. Netflix or TV?

I don’t even have a Netflix account.

5. Dream holiday?

I’m going on it in June. Me and my sister are flying to Dubai for five nights and then heading onto Mauritius for another five. We’ve finally paid off the holiday itself, so now I’m saving for the fun stuff; spending money and excursions.

7. City or countryside?

Countryside.

8. Favourite dessert?

Chimney cakes. I discovered them in Prague and quickly became addicted, but I haven’t been able to find them in England since.

9. Which character would you want to be for a day? (Book, movie, TV show…)

From a book Lila from the Shades of Magic series because she can travel to different London’s, has magic, and us just an all-around badass. From a TV show anyone from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, probably Gina Linetti, and from a movie Newt Scamander from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

10. Paperback or Hardcover?

Hardcover

11. What is your most anticipated release of 2017 2018? (could be film, book, TV show, etc.)

(I changed this to 2018 because 2017 is over now.)

Nothing really in terms of TV shows, and while there are a few movies I’m excited for (mainly Love, Simon and Avengers: Infinity War) all my most anticipated releases are books. Vengeful by V.E. Schwab, Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor, and What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera are three of the main ones.

12. What was the last thing you Googled?

It’s really boring. This morning while travelling into work my trains were delayed, so the last thing I Googled was the name of the train company ‘C2C’ because I wanted to double check whether they were still delayed before heading home.

---

Kate’s Questions:

1. What first attracted you to blogging?

The fact that I would have more people I could talk to about all my favourite books. My friends either don’t read the same books as I do or don’t read as fast as I do, so before I started blogging I had no one to fangirl with over my favourite series.

2. Where do you buy most of your books from?

Either Waterstones or Amazon, depending on whether I plan to buy something or if it’s just a whim purchase (planned buys and pre-orders are through Amazon, whim buys are from Waterstones).

3. Which author do you find most inspiring?

I’m going to have to say V.E. Schwab, after all she’s my favourite author for a reason. Her stories are incredible and I’d love to be able to write as well as she can, to create a story and a world people love as much as they do the Shades of Magic series, however unlikely that is.

4. If you could learn any language at the drop of a hat, which one would you choose?

Italian. I am trying to learn it but it’s slow going so being able to pick it up at the drop of a hat would be a huge benefit.

5. What would be your ideal magical power?

I saw a post online about the ability to manipulate probability and thought it was a really amazing idea so I’’m saying that. Think about it, what’s the probability I’ll wake up tomorrow with a million pounds in my pocket? 0%, let’s change it to 100%. You could do anything.

6. If you insert yourself into any book which would it be?

Harry Potter, but maybe after Voldemort has been defeated so I don’t have to worry about him attacking Harry and Hogwarts at the end of every school year. I was never a massive fan of high school, for many reasons, but that would be different if my lessons had been Defence Against the Dark Arts, or Potions, or Transfiguration.

7. What’s the most exciting thing that’s happened to you so far this year?

Definitely my holiday in Romania at the start of this year. My friend and I went on a tour which took us from Bucharest, to Brasov, and to the top of the mountains to spend a night at the Ice Hotel there. It was freezing but a once-in-a-lifetime experience as well.

8. If you have a pet (and are willing) please post a photo of them so we can all weep at their cuteness. If not, feel free to pick a fun alternative photo.

I do have a pet; his name is Tommy and he’s a retired greyhound. There’s a photo of him above but below are a few more, because any excuse, right?

9. Which Harry Potter House are you in? (Asking the important questions.)

Definitely an important question. I’m in Hufflepuff, which is something my friend said she could have told me without me even needing to take the test.

I recently got my parents to take the Pottermore Sorting Hat quiz as well. My mum is a Hufflepuff like me and my dad, despite wanting to be in Gryffindor, got Slytherin.

10. Where’s your favourite place to read?

My favourite place is in bed, under the covers and surrounded by pillows with a cup of tea in reach. Unfortunately most of my reading is done on the train during my daily commute to and from work.

11. And finally, if you could have free tickets to any book expo or convention in the world, which would you choose?

San Diego Comic Con. No doubt about it. I’ve wanted to go for ages, and one day I hope I’ll get the chance to. I just need to work out how to control my slight claustrophobia and tendency to have panic attacks when I feel too crowded.