On October 20, Fiction and Fantasy was nominated for the Unique Blogger Award by my friend, Curtis! Thanks so much, Curtis, and thanks to all of my lovely readers! You inspire me every day to keep writing.

Ah, but there is a catch! In order to qualify for this award, nominees must:

-Mention and link to the person who nominated your blog
-Answer 3 questions from the person who nominated your blog
-Nominate 8-13 other people
-Give three new questions to those you have nominated

Without further ado, I hereby nominate the following blogs/bloggers (in no particular order):

1. Mary Corbet’s Needle ‘n Thread
2. Kate Wolford’s Enchanted Conversation: A Fantasy Magazine
3. Satchell Drake’s Satchbag’s Goods (Yes, they’re video essays, but that’s basically a blog, right? He’s too good to keep off my list. Check him out if you’re interested in video games.)
4. Digibro’s My Sword Is Unbelievably Dull (Buyer be warned, there is some language here not appropriate for little ears)
5. Out of Context DnD (Buyer be warned, there is some content here not appropriate for little eyes)
6. Ferisae’s Art Blog
7. Matt Colville’s Squaremans (Limited language not appropriate for little eyes)
8. CT Chrysler’s Annie Mei Project

And a bonus mention/nomination to Curtis for his spectacular work at all of his blogs, including Iridium Eye Reviews, C. M. B. Bell’s Writing Universe, Ospreyshire’s Realm, and Autumn Peal Media! He may have already gotten a nomination, but he certainly deserves it for his hard work and his dedication to the arts, whether it be prose, poetry, songwriting, instrumentation, photography, film, and more. If you’re interested in foreign film, microfiction, indie/experimental music, or photography, check out one of his blogs!

Curtis asked me the following questions:

1. What was the bravest article you’ve posted on your blog(s)?

2. Which creative hobby would you most like to try? (keep the answers civil, please)

3. If your blog was a meal or dish, what would it taste like?

I’ll admit, every article takes a little bit of courage for me to post. I’m naturally a pretty shy person, so even just gathering the courage to start this blog took a while (if you couldn’t tell by my first post). But I think the “bravest” article I’ve ever posted was the first post in which I mentioned my faith and talked about God: my post on insecurity. Faith and self esteem are both incredibly sensitive and important topics, and for a while, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to write the post at all; it felt like I was opening up an incredibly controversial topic. However, I know that as a writer, I have to speak the words on my heart–words that I believe God has placed there. I know there are so many people out there that, like me, need to hear how precious–how vital–they are, even at moments they feel at their lowest.

There are so many creative hobbies I’d love to try, but the top one on my list so far has been beaded embroidery. I’ve learned a ton about hand-stitch embroidery from Needle n’ Thread, and it makes me excited to branch out from simple hand embroidery with only thread to beads. I’ve loved beads since I was a kid; there’s something about them that makes them feel like tiny glittering jewels to me. And what girl doesn’t like bling?

If my blog were a dish, it’d be a taco: comfort food with lots of flavors, textures, and ingredients. You never quite know what you’re going to bite into when you open up the new Fiction and Fantasy post, but I hope it’s always fresh and delicious.

For my nominees, I’d love to know:

1. What got you started blogging? Was it a desire to share a newly-discovered hobby, out of frustration at the lack of content on the internet, or something else?

2. What was the most memorable experience you’ve ever had with your blog (a notable article you wrote, an interesting piece of research you came across, etc.)?

3. What’s the best piece of blogging advice you’ve ever received or learned?

Thanks again, Curtis, and thank you to all the nominees for producing such quality content!

And not to worry, beloved readers. There will still be a new post this Friday! 🙂