It’s been soooo long since we had coffee! I’ve missed you! But alas, it is not possible to sit down and drink hot beverages out of pretty mugs in zero gravity. You see, Robin and I were on a space mission for the Blogging A to Z Challenge. Our theme: 3, 2, 1… BLASTOFF to Stellar Writing! Every day except Sundays we wrote and posted writing tips to help your stories lift off and reach new heights. All-in-all, it was a successful month! For the details, check out Robin’s Mission Debriefing and this list of all our A-Z posts.
Now we are back to our regularly scheduled programming, with me posting on Mondays, Robin on Wednesdays, and alternating Weekend Coffee posts between us. We’ve even got a couple guest bloggers lined up this month – Natacha Guyot, who just released the book A GALAXY OF POSSIBILITIES, and Shawn Griffith of the wisdom-laden blog DownHomeThoughts.com.
Speaking of Shawn, he has nominated WriteOnSisters for the Real Neat Blog Award. Thanks, Shawn! In this blog hop, the nominator creates original questions for the nominees. As we sip our tea/coffee, Robin and I will mull over our answers to Shawn’s questions…
1. What is your Quest?
H: I have two. The first is to be a best-selling author. Obviously. The second is to be capable of executing a kip, cast-to-handstand and giant on the high bars by the time I’m 40 (just a few years away). It would look like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x89uM45VZ_g. Admittedly, that last part (the giant) might be pushing it (it’s really hard), but dream big, right?!
R: My main quest is to raise some kick-ass kids. I know my boys have a ton going for them already, but I see every day as a challenge to help them grow stronger.
2. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
H: What??? I feel like I’m back in high school and this is a trick question on a math test, and my answer is sadly blank. Robin, can you answer this?
R: This one stumped me for a few minutes too, but eventually it sunk in. Not much Monty Python and the Holy Grail in my house lately; I’ve moved over to reruns of other British comedy shows like Red Dwarf and Absolutely Fabulous. I’m a total freak for Patsy and Eddy.
3. Why or why not is character important to you?
H: Because I’m a writer, I immediately thought this question referred to fictional character. Then I realized you might be asking about my own character, which I don’t think about very much since I’m too busy developing my novel’s heroine’s character. Both are important to me because I believe growing and changing is an essential part of being human, but clearly I’m neglecting my own character development. Now I feel I need to go rectify that…
R: I took this meant to mean personal character, at least that’s how I’m answering it. I started dating my husband because he was the most decent, loyal and ethical person I have ever met! My choice was not popular at the time; our friends thought we were too different to make it work. Now those same friends are all divorced and working on second marriages, or in some cases second divorces. I’m reminded everyday of the value of character.
4. Is it okay to lie, even a little white lie?
H: I believe it is, though I am really bad at lying and sometimes wish I was capable of delivering a “kindness lie” but I just can’t. PS – Please never ask me if I think your newborn baby is cute.
R: I’m a mom; white lies are in the job description. Who can look down into the tear-stained face of their bloody kid and not tell a lie? When my youngest almost died two years ago, I stood beside his hospital bed reassuring him that everything would be “okay” and smiling down at him so much my face hurt for two days. But I will never lie about writing! If someone asks me what I think, they should expect the unvarnished truth.
5. What is the hardest thing you have ever had to do?
H: When I was 25, I broke up with my boyfriend of six years. According to my small town friends, I had it all – a handsome, smart, considerate man with a good job who loved me, wanted to marry me and was my best friend. But for no reason anyone (including me) could understand, I was unhappy. So I took the leap and broke it off, and discovered the life I wanted to lead – and it was definitely not marriage+kids+suburbia. The lesson: lifestyle is an extremely important factor when deciding who to spend forever with!
R: Can I say these questions? Way to put me through the wringer, Shawn! : ) I’m an absurdly private person. I don’t naturally embrace social media or instantly think of witty things to say the way some people can. Plus my kids have been cyber bullied and that makes me wary. Starting WriteOnSisters was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Running a blog is unnervingly public, and I still fight the impulse to lurk.
Wow, now you know so much more about me and Robin! Without further ado, we nominate Melissa Barker-Simpson, Sue Coletta, Sara Letourneau, and Jann Alexander. Here are your five questions:
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What book, show or movie do you wish you’d written?
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If you wrote fan fiction, what would you write for and why? If you already write fan fiction just say why.
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What famous author (living or dead) would you most want to team up with to write a book?
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If you could have one day to use a time machine to go forward or backward in time, where would you go and why?
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Have you ever written anything that you wish you hadn’t?
Of course, you don’t need to be a nominee to answer the questions! Drop us a line in the comments. We’d love to get to know you better!
Thanks for stopping by for coffee. It’s been great catching up!
If We Were Having Coffee is a blog hop inspired and run by the lovely and talented Diana at Part Time Monster. Please drop by her place for coffee. You can also see what other bloggers are up to by checking out her hashtag: #WeekendCoffeeShare on Twitter.
I love the answers ladies. Robin I get the privacy thing 🙂 That is something I have been working on myself. Heather, I agree, one must be happy with the whole lifestyle thing otherwise, dis-satisfaction creeps in and begins to eat away at your happiness, perhaps even your very soul. Glad you had the strength to make a good decision.
If you want the official Monty Python response to “What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?” It’s African or European?
Oh Monty Python, always nonsensical! 😉
Thanks for the Blog Award, Shawn. The questions were soul-searching and fun at the same time!
Your A to Z theme was awesome as we’re the posts. I think I made it over to almost all of them. Looking forward to you being back on your regular schedule.
Thanks, Corina! I think you did make it to most of the A-Z posts and we appreciate all your comments and likes very much!
Hello, ladies! Enjoyed your interview with Shawn.
Posted my first #WeekendCoffeeShare at Life & Faith in Caneyhead!
Thanks, Barbara! Welcome to Weekend Coffee Share!
Humbled by your nomination, Heather, will read and mull and get back at ya! Thanks.
You’re welcome, Jann!
So glad that you ladies are back for the coffee share! Those April posts were awesome—sorry I didn’t get to do much commenting over here! Excited to see what’s coming up, too.
And what a fun way to make your re-entrance, with these questions and a nomination! 🙂
Indeed! We can thank Shawn for the fun questions that marked our return to coffee share. It’s good to be back. 🙂
Oh wow! Thanks for the nomination, ladies! 🙂 I accept, and will let you know when I’ve responded on my blog. And I’ll be sure to return the favor in the future, too. 😉
As for the questions and answers… HA HA HA, I loved the Monty Python reference!! Though I don’t remember the answer from the movie, either. *giggles*
Heather, I loved your answer to #5. It’s hard when people don’t understand the choices we make for our own happiness, but that doesn’t change how right those changes still feel for us. My mother reminds me constantly how much she wants to see me get married and have kids and so forth. But not only am I not ready for that yet, but I want to make sure I find the right person who understands my goals and my choice of lifestyle. He hasn’t entered the picture yet – but I keep faith that he will one day.
Robin, your answer to #3 was beautiful. I agree, a person’s character is crucial when it comes to bonding and building relationships of any kind. 🙂 And for #5, I understand where you’re coming from. There are certain things I still feel uncomfortable sharing online, too. And like you, I’m not very witty when it comes to online posts and such. I’m just… me. And you’re you. And that’s all we need to be, I guess. Right?
You’re very welcome, Sara! And thanks for the lovely comments. Looking forward to reading your answers!
Cool you have the guest bloggers coming. I am loving all the friends posting on other friends’ blogs I am seeing these days.
I’m mostly back from April, too. Good thing it only comes once a year.
Scheduling a Twitter share for you to go tomorrow. I’m trying to share all the coffee posts this weekend if possible, and sending a LOT of them to #SundayBlogShare tomorrow roughly an hour apart.
I second that “good thing it only comes once a year.” Fun but exhausting! See you at #SundayBlogShare!
That was a fun chat over coffee. Congratulations for that award! 🙂
Thanks! If we were having coffee in person we could try to converse in French and you could laugh at my atrocious accent. 😉
Thank you for the nomination. You two are full of surprises! I really enjoyed learning more about you guys. Robin, I too am a very private person and often struggle with opening up. But, as writers, we have no choice, right? I can say it’s gotten a bit easier for me. I hope the same for you. Heather, I never wanted suburbia either! That’s a slow, painful death, IMO. Though, like Robin, I wouldn’t trade my hubby for the world.
You’re very welcome! Looking forward to your answers and learning more about you too.
I should probably say that I ended up finding great guy who shares my downtown lifestyle and approach to life, and we’ve been together almost 7 years. So taking a scary leap paid off! I wouldn’t trade him for the world either. 😉
Congrats on your nomination for a Real Neat Blog Award. Great answers!
@dino0726 from
FictionZeal – Impartial, Straighforward Fiction Book Reviews
Thanks, Diane! Since Robin and I are on separate coasts and have never actually met in person, we learned more about each other too. 😉
Hi, Heather. It’s so good to see you today. I really did miss the chats over coffee. I’m not sure if I’ve had the chance to tell you, but I loved your theme for A to Z. An extremely successful mission!
I loved your answers to Shawn’s questions (and Robin’s too). Congratulations on the award – you blog is indeed (extremely) ‘neat’. Thank you for the nomination. I really appreciate it, and will ponder on your questions 🙂
Have a great weekend, and I look forward to catching up soon.
Thanks, Melissa! It’s good to be back on solid ground and chatting over coffee. 🙂