Outlander Fun Facts, Tolkien and Jo Bourne, Sam Sykes, and Eleven More Questions

riday fun facts! That's the name of the fun new weekly feature Karen has on her Outlandish Observations blog. They're all Outlander-related, of course, but interesting even if you haven't read the novels, including titbits about 18th Century printing presses, poisonous tomatoes, what a bodhran sounds like, electric eels, and more.

[Don't forget the Campaign Challenge! My post is below the post about Talli. If you like my entry, please click on Like on Rach's page - I'm number 24]

I've been distracted by reviewing former blog posts for Pinterest, and noticed that I barely knew how to format a blog post when I first started, in 2007. Some of my links are spelled out, and there are hardly any images - some posts are only one one sentence long! One of the first to feature an image was the post where I talked of discovering a photo of my character Austin, from the MG The Face of A Lion. Along the way, I found a quote from Joanna Bourne, featuring Tolkien, on the sillier side of "write what you know" advice.

C. V. Marie tagged me with eleven new questions!

1. Plotter, pantser, or a rad combination of both?

Definitely the latter. I pants my way through the initial two drafts, then start drawing up lists and charts and timelines, and edit in a (s l o w) but organized fashion.

2. Which two fictional characters would you want to see get in a fight?

How about an argument that leads to a kiss? It happens to my characters quite often.

3. What is the first line of your current WIP?

"The two women were disguised in men's clothes." (from Rome, Rhymes and Risk)

4. Two things within arm's reach:

My older cat, sitting on the printout of my wip. (I'd share a photo, but the batteries need recharging)

5. Describe your current book, MS, or WIP in three words:

Rome, Rhymes and Risk

6. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

All over the rest of Scotland and Wales that I haven't seen.

7. Favorite past time?

Reading. Of course! And knitting.

8. If you were trapped in an elevator, who would you want to be trapped with?

Let's choose someone literary... and not from history... Diana Gabaldon or Neil Gaiman (with Amanda Palmer).

9. Favorite fictional character? male/female

Faramir / Luthien Tinuviel (daughter of Melian, for whose enchantment I named the blog)

10. Favorite time of the day to write?

Early morning if I can get up, late at night if I'm home alone.

11. Who inspires you to write?

All my favourite authors, but especially the ones that write short stories.

If you'd like to answer some questions, you can take any of these, or any of the 22 questions I've already blabbed answers to!

Speaking of questions, Sam Sykes' Denaos and Kataria recently answered some Valentine's Day questions, including one that Devran asked!

And now, the latest Wordle for the blog (the last Wordle was in 2008):