I’ve been nominated again!  Thanks to Darlene  Foster at https://darlenefoster.wordpress.com/2019/03/02/the-sunshine-blogger-award/  for nominating me for the Sunshine Blogger  Award.  The Sunshine Blogger Award is a peer appreciation award given to bloggers who are creative, positive, and inspiring, while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.

The Rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.

Answer the 11 questions sent to you by the person who nominated you.

Nominate up to 11 new blogs to receive the award, and then give them 11 new questions, or cheat and give them the same questions.

List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or your blog

Here are the questions I received and my answers:

What was the driving force behind the creation of your blog?

In the days before I knew any better, I thought I could create a blog just about my books.  I’d add excerpts, then advertise them for sale and watch the pounds roll in…

What was your vision for your future in blogging/writing when you first started this blog? How has that vision evolved?

Reality struck, and it occurred to me after about 3 years that nobody could give a rat’s ass about blogs containing blurbs and purchase links to my books, and so I decided I’d better write about things that people actually did want to read.

What age were you when you realized you loved writing?

 I can’t really remember.  I wrote little stories and poems and kept a diary from a very young age, maybe from about 7 or 8.  I won an inter-schools’ writing competition when I was 11, which my mum told me had happened to her too at about the same age.  The win spurred me on to write more.

How has your life changed as a result of the electronic age? Is it better/worse/the same?

Better I suppose.  There’s word processing programmes on our PCs, but no typewriters, Tippex and carbon paper anymore so it’s easier to correct a mistake.  It’s also easier to communicate via email instead of writing out letters in longhand and paying over-inflated prices to post them.  When Sam’s abroad on business we talk on Skype to save on the phone bills.

What was the very last website you visited today?

Darlene Foster’s: https://darlenefoster.wordpress.com/

If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be?How would your life be different today if that one thing from your past were to change?

Like Darlene, I’d love to have gone to university.  If I could have gained an English degree, I might have been able to become a journalist.

If you have children, tell me…how did your parenting change from the time you had your first child until the time you had your last?

There are 3 and a half years between my first son and his brother.  I was much more relaxed with the second baby and more sure of my parenting skills.  I don’t know if that’s why my youngest son is more laid back than his brother, or whether my eldest son was just naturally more hyper to begin with.

Tell me about the funniest experience you’ve had in the past month.

I saw this last month on a friend’s Facebook page, and it cracked me up.  It might not be to everybody’s taste, but hey, it made me laugh.

Jesus

What do you have planned for the upcoming holiday season?

To spend as much time as I can at our holiday home on the Isle of Wight.

I nominate all the bloggers (apart from Darlene of course, who has already answered them) that took part in my ‘Share Your Short Story’ competition this month.  Thanks to all of you, and hopefully see  you all again in April:

H.L Carpenter: https://www.hlcarpenter.com/

Richard Dee: https://richarddeescifi.co.uk/

Julie G: https://storytellingdancer.com/

Phil Huston: https://philh52.wordpress.com

Shyamsree Lahiri: https://shoshinatplay.wordpress.com

Savu Makaar: https://betheflyinggirl.wordpress.com

Marisundays: https://unomaswriter.wordpress.com

Penjungi: https://millenialfiction479021743.wordpress.com/

Lisa Savitzky: https://lisasavitzky.com/

Gigi Sedlmayer: http://gigised.com

Abbie Johnson Taylor: http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com

Thefpiaf: https://thefpiaf.wordpress.com

Jim Webster: https://tallissteelyard.wordpress.com

Writer in a Hat: https://writerinahat.com