The Liebster Award

Much to my surprise, fellow writer Emma Barry nominated me recently for the Liebster Award, which, in her words, “is less an award than a way to connect with other small and medium-sized blogs (fewer than 200 followers) and to share random things about yourself.”

Thank you, Ms. Barry! I was honored. And touched. And a little baffled. (I’m always somewhat baffled, so nothing new there.)

As a recipient, I must:

1. List 11 random facts about myself.
2. Answer 11 questions posed by the blogger who nominated me.
3. Nominate 11 other blogs for the award and link to them.
4. Notify the bloggers that they are awesome and have won a shiny pink blogging logo.
5. Pose 11 new questions for my Liebster nominees.
6. Thank the blogger who nominated me and link back to their blog.

Eleven Random Facts About Margaret …

1. I have double-jointed elbows. People often go “Ewwww!” when they see them.
2. My favorite numbers are 37 and 17. It’s eerie how often those numbers pop up in my life.
3. My husband and I met online back before meeting online was cool. It was 1996. Elvis was involved.
4. I skipped 1st grade. I’m pretty sure that’s only because the man who did the school testing was SUPER handsome, so I worked really hard in order to impress him.
5. I’ve never broken a bone. This might be a sign I’m not adventuresome enough. I have, however, had numerous stitches.
6. I used to run a website in the 1990’s called “Elvis Lives In Evil Levis.” It got fairly well-known. In Elvis circles at least. One time People magazine mentioned it.
7. I’ve lived in Germany twice: 4 months in 1989, and 4 more months in 1999. Ich liebe Deutschland, und möchte wieder dahin reisen.
8. Anxiety is the bane of my life and colors almost everything I do.
9. One time I won a free turkey from the local radio station.
10. I have a serious Merlin addiction.
11. Margaret Locke is not my real name. It is a pen name composed of my daughter’s and son’s middle names.

Answers to Emma’s Questions …

1. Your favorite post from your blog’s archives? Well, I don’t have many yet, since I’m a newbie blogger. I suppose it was when I posed the question “What compels you to write?” Partly because I’m genuinely curious as to what fuels others’ passion to commit word to paper (or screen), and partly because I need to remind myself when anxiety rears her ugly head that there is a reason I’m doing this.
2. Jacob or Edward? Oh my God, Edward, hands down. Snaggle-toothed men are trés sexy. (Although I preferred Edward in the books, too, long before I’d ever seen Mr. Pattinson.)
3. Least-deserved television cancellation in recent memory? MERLIN! MERLIN! MERLIN! Of course I only discovered this show once it had already ended its run on the BBC, but still – an excellent, excellent, fun, quirky, moving reinterpretation of the Arthurian legends, with beautiful acting. Watch it! (Seasons 1-4 are on Netflix here in the states.)
4. Favorite “I don’t feel like cooking tonight” supper? Ordering pizza. Only now my son and I are off gluten, so that doesn’t work anymore. Fish sticks and chicken nuggets (sans gluten and artificial stuff) and fries seem to be a quick family favorite.
5. Least-favorite Beatle? Ringo. Too much drama. Silly name. (Sorry, Ringo. As if my opinion matters to you.)
6. Favorite “bad” movie? My sister and I couldn’t get enough of “Can’t Buy Me Love” (starring Patrick Dempsey!) back in the day – is that a ‘bad’ movie?
7. The last song to which you listened? My son is playing on some website in the background as I type, so technically it’s something he played. Otherwise, the same son playing “Heartbreaker” on the piano.
8. Aaron Sorkin, brilliant or smug? Both.
9. The drink you’d want if you were to be stranded on a desert island? Water. Well, actually, I’d love some Diet Coke, but I gave up soda in 2012 in order to get an iPhone (that’s the bargain I struck with my husband. I was a serious caffeine-free Diet Coke addict), so I guess that’s out. Then again, if I’m truly stranded that means I have no iPhone, so bring on the soda!
10. The historical period in which more books should be set? Ancient Rome. Medieval Germany. Which I guess means I could try to write something in those periods, but I still seem to be enthralled with the Regency period. Too bad I couldn’t have studied THAT in grad school rather than the Middle Ages. No, scratch that. I love the medieval period. I just haven’t felt compelled to write a novel in that period. Yet.
11. The come-back of white jeans: They never should have happened in the first place. I refuse to believe they are returning. (My eyes! My eyes!)

My 11 lucky nominees (apologies if you have way more than 200 followers – I don’t know all that many bloggers yet and some of y’all just seemed really cool. Plus I may have been too toopid to figure out how many people are already digging your awesomeness):

1. Emma Lai
2. Sara Ramsey
3. Angel Nicholas
4. Miriam
5. Katharine Grubb, aka The 10 Minute Writer
6. Andi Newton
7. Olivia Kelly
8. Maggie Murphy (O.K., I know you have more than 200 followers, but you’re cool – and I don’t know that many blogs yet!)
9. Merry Farmer
10. Ainsley Wynter
11. Kristin Walters

No biggie if you’re not interested/don’t have time for this – it was fun to find your blogs and read about you as I was figuring out who to include. And a big thank you to Twitter for introducing me to all of you to begin with!

Here’s my 11 questions if’n you feel like answerin’!

1. What are your top 3 favorite books of all time?
2. If you could go back and relive college again, would you?
3. What’s your biggest pet peeve?
4. If you could have dinner with 3 other famous people, dead or alive, whom would you choose?
5. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
6. Dogs or cats?
7. What’s one of your favorite memories from childhood?
8. If you could give one piece of advice to other writers/bloggers, what would it be?
9. Twilight or Vampire Diaries?
10. What one current celebrity do you feel is least deserving of fame?
11. If you could speak any other language fluently, which would it be?

That’s it! Tschüßchen!