The Liebster Award - 11 Fun Facts About Me and The Next Nominees

I'm so excited to have been nominated for the Liebster Blog Awards by my awesome writing partner and friend, Tina Moss. What is it, you ask? Well, I have to tell you 11 fun facts about myself, answer 11 questions and then tag 11 wonderful writers to do the same. What a great way to get to know the writing community and connect with other writers!

So here goes.

11 Fun Facts About Me:

1. I was born in Kiev, Ukraine and came to America when I was 13. Even though I'm fluent in Russian (speaking and reading), I now think entirely in English and sometimes have a hard time finding the correct Russian words when I use them more in English.
2. I'm a 2nd Degree Black Belt (2nd Dan) and hoping to go for my 3rd Degree soon. The style of Martial Arts that I practice is called Shotokan Karate and it is a traditional Japanese karate. I've always been fascinated with all things Martial Arts, since I was a child.

Training with my niece, who's a brown belt     

At the Dojo

3. I got my Masters in Publishing but I've never worked in publishing.
4. My hubby and I recently bought our very first house. We still haven't moved in but hoping to in the next couple of weeks and I'm very excited.
5. My baby is a 14-year old Siamese cat, who is the last of the three cats we had. This is the first time in his life that he's by himself and the first time he's an alpha cat. He's enjoying all the attention being lavished on him.

Bones. Look at that beautiful face...

6. When I was little (around 10-12 years old) I was writing a half autobiographical story and I would have family readings of my progress.
7. I met one of my dearest friends and now my writing partner, Tina Moss, at the Dojo. We took all the tests together all the way to black belt.

Dangerous chicks. Tina Moss and I.

8. I also met my hubby at the Dojo (that he's the owner of).
9. I'm a Gemini and my interests are very varied and come and go in waves (although, most interests are ones that I maintained throughout my life).
10. I want to travel all over the world. So far, I've been to Italy, France, Mexico, Greece and Poland.

With hubby in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome

My dream of visiting Louvre in Paris came true last summer!

11. I try to always see the best in people.

Eleven questions:
1. Who is the author you admire most? Too many to list. Michael Bulgakov, Ray Bradbury, Ilona Andrews and many others.
2. Why do you write (in five words or less)? Because it makes me happy.
3. What is your favorite genre to read? I'll give you two - Urban Fantasy and Historical Fiction
4. Who is your biggest inspiration? Again, I'll mention two. My hubby, Thomas Casale and my writing partner, Tina Moss. They both achieved so much in their lives, despite of numerous roadblocks and challenges. And they both taught me to never give up.
5. What advice would you give to new writers? Don't ever give up on your dreams.
6. What is your favorite hobby? Reading.
7. Are you a cat or dog person? This one is tough. I'm both. Used to be a very dog person until I met my husband who had 3 cats at the time. They all became my babies. We only have one now.
8. Where is your ideal vacation spot? A tropical beach anywhere.
9. What is a place you want to visit, but haven't yet? This one is no brainer - definitely Japan!
10.What is the meaning of life in one word (or number) *wink* I'll answer this one with a picture:

11. If you're on a deserted island, what are three things you must have? 1) My Nook (with an abundant source of battery power that never runs out 2) Pad and pen or pencil to write and sketch the island 3) A big knife, a versatile tool as well as a weapon to defend myself.

 New Nominees for the Liebster Award:

Brenda Corey Dunne
Vicki Lemp Weavil
Hope Adon
AL Jackson
Carrie Butler
Lilly VanHorn
Allison Duke
Tee Tate
F.J.R. Titchenenell
Ebony McKenna
Tierney Fowler


You new questions:
1. When did you start writing?
2. Who is the one author you'd like to sit down with and talk if you could?
3. Who is your favorite fictional character?
4. Beach house, country house or city appartment?
5. What is your favorite time of year?
6. What is your favorite sport or fitness activity?
7. What is one bad habit you have?
8. Tea or coffee?
9. What is your favorite TV show?
10. If you could only own one book, what would it be?
11. What is your favorite fruit?

The Liebster Rules:
1. The Liebster Award is given to bloggers by bloggers.
2. Each blogger should post 11 facts about himself / herself.
3. Each blogger should answer the 11 questions that are asked by the nominating blogger.
4. Choose 11 new bloggers to nominate for the Award and link to them in the post.
5. Create 11 new questions for your nominees.
6. Go back to their pages and tell them they’ve been nominated.
7. No tag backs.

If you were already tagged or don't have time to do this, please feel free to skip this :) If you want to play, please follow the rules listed above and have fun!

All Kinds of Awesome Awards - Want to Know More?...

I've been so lucky to receive a couple of awards in the past few weeks! As I have been very busy recently, I haven't had a chance to post about them so I think today is the day I do it and also to tell you a bit more about myself through the questions that I have to answer.

Sunshine Award

 First, a big thank you to the wonderful Lady Gwen and A.J. Locke for giving me the Sunshine Award - it brought a little more sunshine into my day! Here are the rules of this awards:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
• Write a post about it.
• Answer the questions below.
• Pass it on to 10 bloggers who you think really deserve it and let them know.

Here are the questions:

Favorite color: Purple and Burgundy

Favorite animal: I'm a huge animal lover so it's a hard question for me, so I'll give you 3 of my favorites - cats (small and big), dogs and wolves.

Favorite number: 7 and anything that includes it.

Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Hmmm...I would have to say tea.

Facebook or Twitter: Both, but with the writing community, more Twitter.

My passion: Reading, writing and martial arts.

Getting or giving presents: I love giving presents and seeing the joy on people's faces. Though I always worry the gift might not be good enough.

Favorite pattern: Can't say I have one.

Favorite day of the week: Friday because I have the whole weekend ahead. And Saturday, because I still have a weekend day ahead :D

Favorite flower: Lilac - I love the color and the aroma of it. But I also like tulips and daffodils in the spring because they remind me of sunshine and make me happy.

 
Awhile back, I also received the Kreativ Blogger Award from Kevin Hiatt. Thank you, Kevin! A couple of week ago, I also received this award from A.J. Locke, so a big thanks to her as well!

For this award, I have to give you 7 facts about myself. I've done this once before and you can find those facts here. So here's 7 more:

1. I just got my 2nd degree black belt (Nidan) in Shotokan Karate.

2. I can't sleep with TV on - a point of constant contention with the hubby, who needs TV on to sleep!

3. My Masters degree is in Publishing but I've never worked within the publishing industry.

4. I'm a chicken when it comes to horror movies and I hate torture flicks. But if a horror movie has a premise that's interesting to me, I might watch it and then freak myself out for many nights afterwards.

5.One of my favorite bands from the time I was 12 and to this day is Depeche Mode.

6. I love to dance but wonder if I have any rhythm. Watching professional dancers, especially salsa and ballroom is very enjoyable to me.

7. TV shows that I currently watch and love include The Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, True Blood and Supernatural. My favorite shows of all times include La Femme Nikita (the original USA show, not that crap they have on CW11 now!) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

And now I'd like to pass both awards to the following people (if you have already being tagged with these awards, sorry and please feel free to just accept them and ignore the questions and pass-alongs).


Hildred of the Musings of a Procrastinating Author
Lori M. Lee
Susan Kaye Quinn
Carrie Butler at So, You're A Writer
SA Larsen
Cassie S. at The Anfractuous Bookaholic
Ashley Nixon at Writerly Stuff...and pirates

Congratulations and Have Fun! :)

(I still have to do the Lucky 7 meme, for which I was tagged by the fabulous Elise Fallson. Will get to that by next week!)

Presenting Stylish Blogger Award (plus 7 random facts about myself)

Even though I haven’t had a lot of time lately to post to the blog as often as I want to, I love coming up with new fun topics for it. This post, however, was a no brainer, because my blog got nominated by a very cool person – my awesome writing partner Tina Moss – for my first blog award and I’m extremely excited about it. Please check out her own stylish blog: http://www.tinamoss.blogspot.com/

 And now, with much pleasure, I’m passing on this award to other wonderful bloggers, with the following rules:

1. Thank and link to the person(s) who nominated you;


2. Share seven random facts about yourself;


3. Pass the award along to five blogging buddies;


4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

And the award goes to these awesome and stylish bloggers (I’m breaking the rules and nominating 6):

1. TS Tate http://tstate.blogspot.com/


2. Lela Gwen http://www.fullfrontalfantasy.com/


3. Karen Strong http://www.karen-strong.com/


4. Roberta Walker http://frobertawalker.blogspot.com/


5. Dearhart aka Eri http://www.dearharts.com/#v


6. LM Preston http://lmpreston.blogspot.com/

And now for the 7 Random facts about me:

1)      I’m a black belt in Shotokan Karate, a traditional Japanese Karate and I’m an internationally licensed instructor. I teach women’s and other classes in the Japan Shotokan Karate Association. My husband is a 6^th degree black belt.

2)      I was born in Kiev, Ukraine and came to America when I was 13 years old. I haven’t been back since, but hoping to visit in the next couple of years.



3)      I learned to dive before I could swim. My dad taught me both.

4)      I use to paint with watercolors all my childhood and into my teens. I was best at painting still-life and nature but always wanted to learn to draw people. It is still one of my goals when I get some free time (hmmm…when will that be?)

5)    

[caption id="attachment_93" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Kirk"][/caption]

  My husband and I had three cats named after the original Star Trek characters – Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock and Bones. Kirk and Spock passed away within the last year and so now Bones is learning to be the alpha cat. Kirk was always the alpha cat and was like a son to my husband especially. I was always a dog person but these three cats became my “children” and I cannot imagine my life without them now.

[caption id="attachment_94" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="Bones"][/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)      One of my absolutely all-time favorite books is “Master and Margarita” by a Russian writer Michael Bulgakov. The book has been translated in many languages and I strongly recommend it to everyone. Here’s the link to it on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Mikhail-Bulgakov/dp/0679760806/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305492440&sr=1-3

7)      I wanted to be an archeologist and almost majored in it. My grandfather’s good friend is a prominent archeologist and I always wanted to go on a dig. It still remains an activity to do. But I love everything ancient history.

Now please visit the award recipient blogs’ and don’t forget to subscribe to them and spread the word in support. I love being a part of the writer and reader community – it’s one of my dreams come true and I thank you all for that!