Thanks to Marian at JustMuddlingThroughLife for nominating me for the Sunshine Blogger Award. The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award given by bloggers in order to award their blogging peers.  Each blogger nominated is asked to nominate 11 other bloggers that they admire or are inspired by.  It’s an honour to be recognised, and a wonderful opportunity to encourage others to keep doing what they love.

Marian is a married working mum with two children.  She is writing her first book.

Rules
Thank the person who nominated you and provides a link back to their blog so others can find them.
Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you.
Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions.
Notify the nominees about it by commenting on one of their blog posts.
List the rules and (optional) display a Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or your blog site.

Here are my answers to Marian’s questions:

What advice would you give to someone considering writing a blog?

I would say don’t publish too many blogs in one day and therefore overload readers.   Also I’d say it’s a good thing to leave comments on others’ blogs in order to build up some kind of rapport.

What are your hobbies other than blogging?

Reading, listening to music, walking along country footpaths around my village, and spending time with my family.

Who are your favourite authors?

Mark Edwards, Virginia Woolf, A.J Finn, Jack London, Emma Donoghue, Adam Kay and Bill Bryson, to name but a few.

What do you do to help you relax?

Walking as far and as fast as I can.  Also country dancing.  It’s a great way to forget all about the stresses of the day.

If you were an animal, what would you want to be and why?

Probably an old lady’s cat.  I’d be pampered for the rest of my days!

What is your favourite food?

Savoury and not sweet.  I’d say salmon, broccoli and new potatoes.

How long have you been blogging for?

About 6 years I think.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

I’ve been to many countries in my time, but now the only place I want to go to is our holiday home on the Isle of Wight.

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Are you a cat or dog person?

Neither.  Animals make me itch and sneeze, and if I touch them my skin tends to come out in weals.

Marmite.  Do you love it or hate it?

Hate it.  I tried it once and only once.  It made my mouth and lips burn.  It’s disgusting.

Would you rather go forward or back in time, and why?

Back to the 1960s when I was a kid.  Oh to do it all over again, knowing what I know now!

I nominate the following 11 bloggers who have all commented on my blogs at some time or another (some of them many times!) to answer the 11 questions below:

Miriam Hurdle

Ellen Hawley

Julie G

Kevin Cooper

Jessica Bakkers

Suzanne

Jim Webster

Robbie Cheadle

D.G Kaye

P.J MacLayne

Janice Spina 

  1.  Do you think authors having many social media accounts is a good idea?
  2.  Do you submit your work to agents, or are you happy staying self-published?
  3.  Do you think authors should give away their work for free?
  4.  If you have an email (mailing) list, how do you gain more followers for it?
  5.  If you had to be confined to one social media account to promote your books, which one would it be?
  6. Is book promotion worth it?  Do you gain sales by your promotion efforts, or is it all just a time suck?
  7.  What’s the best part of a doughnut?  I would say it’s the hole in the middle, but I’d love to hear what you think.
  8.  How would you go about ‘kissing the sky’ like Mr Hendrix did?
  9.  Can you dance the Tango?
  10.  What strange phenomena have you experienced?
  11.  Do you want to live forever?