Surprises are great to receive, well as long as they are special like this one. Recently I received a Liebster Award nomination and I am very grateful to my blogging friend Jennifer Chow. This nomination inspires me to keep this blog going, even though there are days when I am ready to quit. Don’t we all have those down moments?

Although I have seen blogs that have received the Liebster Award, I was not fully aware of what it entailed or how it had come about.

Jennifer’s friend and nominator, Evelyne Holingue says, “Liebster comes from the German verb Lieben, which means to love. Liebster is the superlative form of the adjective lieb, which means kind, likeable, lovely. As a noun liebster also means sweetheart and boyfriend. Ah the complexities of the German language! As I understand it, the Liebster Award is like a little gift from one blogger to another.”

The Basic Rules are:

1. Write a post about the nomination and link back to the nominator’s site.

2. In that post, explain the meaning of the award and answer the questions given to you.

3. Create questions for your nominees.

4. Nominate 5 blogs with fewer than 1000 followers.

5. Contact nominees and let them know that you have nominated them.

6. Post the award button on your blog.

The Questions to me:

    Do you remember your first blog post?

It was back in 2011, when I asked “How Green Are The Squirrels?” on the first Blog page started with my wife, The Duskweald. Since then the site has changed and this site, ‘Writing Wings’ has appeared – in May 2012 – and evolved. The squirrels blog was more about our home, lifestyle and dealing with the squirrels who were digging up our tomatoes, than about writing.

Why are you blogging?

Too keep my brain active. On ‘Writing Wings’ I try to focus on blogging about my writing journey, the ups & downs, but also about things that inspire or annoy me. Lately I have been trying to interview some of the characters in my first soon-to-be published novel, “Spiral of Hooves”.

    What do you like best and least about blogging?

I enjoy being inspired to write short pieces that are a change from my novel-writing; even the interviews are a break. I can spend a day or two focused on a piece, and then have it published online in a short time. However, I hate feeling the need to write a blog every week or more often. It is worse when there are other things impacting on my life, whether it’s health issues or just other assignments – like the Course Assignment from last week, to design a computer game. But that might make an interesting blog post, sometime soon.

    What blogs do you like to follow?

I tend to follow blogs by other writers, whether they are ones by authors giving invaluable advice or by writers setting out on their journey, like me. We are always learning, however much we already know or have had published. I also follow a few sites by avid readers, mainly in the crime and fantasy genres. However, if I find a blogger who writes about inspirational topics then I will follow that site.

What would you like to share with your readers that they might not know about you?

Hard question as ‘Writing Wings’ as a site is riddled with home truths, as well as an About Me that tries to fill some of the gaps. Some of you might be unaware of my link to North America, beyond the fact that part of my education was at a British school north of Montreal. While there, I went on a white water expedition, the first known descent by ‘white-men’ of the Beaver River in the Yukon. By linking to my wife’s Duskweald site, you will know that she is from Idaho, USA, and her family are there and in Utah. Don’t you?

If money, job and family weren’t an issue where would you live and why?

Ever since I gave up my landed-immigrant status in Canada – yes I should have mentioned that one – I’ve had an urge to go back and live there. Visiting Idaho with its mountains, made me want to stay, but with my health that would be a non-starter. Mountains though are not confined to North America. We have them in the British Isles. So having resolved the money issue, retired and received the blessings of the family, we are moving to North Wales next spring. There we will have fresh air, the sea, a castle and Snowdonia. And there are ways for the family that count to visit.

  Have you learned more from your successes or failures?

The failures feel more prominent at times so I suppose they are the strongest lessons. But every twist and turn in life is part of the learning, and none are more important. It’s the overall experiences that we gather as our life quest unfolds. A perfect opportunity to point you all to the poem “Ithaca” by C.P. Cavafy.  This inspirational article on “Ithaca” also links to Sean Connery reading the poem, with music by Vangelis. Inspiration for a game perhaps, or at least a blog post.

    What is your idea of a day lived to its fullest?

An inspirational day spent outdoors with my wife, enjoying the majesty and richness of nature, preferably in the mountains or by a tumbling river. Ending with a fine, light meal watching “Lord of the Rings”. Then getting up next day refreshed and inspired to write thousands of words.

    What one key message do you want your readers to take away from your blog?

That it’s never too late to start doing something that you really feel the need to do. In fact, start before it slips away and you regret the lost time.

Do you prefer the book to the movie or the movie to the book?

I tend to prefer the book, but a clever film-maker can capture the essence of a book and give it new life. “Lord of the Rings”, for instance, is my all-time favourite book but Peter Jackson and his team managed to create an image of Middle Earth that resonated with me. However, a film can never have the depth of a book as it is restricted by cinema time. When done well the two media complement each other. Remediation has been happening since the first stories were told, then written down. Words, paintings, tapestries, films and now video games all combine to create a rich milieu.

On to my Questions:

Why did you choose your Blog name?

What are your aims and ambitions in writing a Blog?

Where do you find your inspiration?

What do you like best and least about blogging?

What inspires you to follow another Blog?

What is your favourite book and favourite movie?

Is a book always better than the movie? Can they be compared?

What is your best quality?

Where have you dreamed of living and why?

Are you always learning from life?

What one key message do you want your readers to take away from your blog?

My Nominees:

1. Another writer’s journey, one-step ahead of me. Vikki is one of my inspirational Municipal Liasons for NaNoWriMo: http://the-view-outside.com/

2. The author of one of my recent best reads, “Oracle”, J C is the fighter-writer that keeps me plugging on: http://jc-martin.com/fighterwriter/

3. Elizabeth is a versatile writer tackling non-fiction, short stories and now a novel. Always thoughtful words: http://elizabethducie.blogspot.co.uk/

4. Ailsa is an author, biker, knitter and shaman, which means there is never a dull moment… just plenty of fun: http://ailsaabraham.com/

5. Nicole’s adventures in Science and Science Fiction are informative and entertaining. A prolific reader and knowledgeable about science:  http://nicolepoweleit.wordpress.com/

Finally, although Jennifer Chow had told me all she knew about Liebster, I Googled the Award and found this interesting link: http://lorrainemariereguly.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/the-liebster-award-the-official-rules-my-first-blog-award-and-a-few-personal-secrets-revealed/

I haven’t abided totally by these rules – sure some of the nominees have 1,000+ followers – but I feel that variety is meant to be the spice of life. If I have nominated you, then you might want to try your own version of the recipe.

Here then is one version of:

The Official Rules Of The Liebster Award

If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)

3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.

4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)

6. Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.

7. List these rules in your post. (You can copy and paste them from here.)

Once you have written your post, and published it, you then have to:

8. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

The post adds that you can nominate someone who already has been given this award, as long as they have less than 1000 followers/subscribers.

Until next time this is the Silver Scribbler signing off and getting in his wheelchair.

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• Wales…Operative word? Green! (baandmatownsend.wordpress.com)
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• What its all about? (emilierappeneau.wordpress.com)
• My favorite fictional heroes and more: Liebster Award (bekindrewrite.com)
• PAR Article: 40,000 students worldwide are studying Lord of the Rings Online and you can too (penny-arcade.com)