5 To Me

One of my favorite reads (not linked...yet...but a favorite nonetheless) has this meme up:

Here are the rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you 5 questions of a very personal nature.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them 5 questions.

As usual, I reserve the right to only interview people I know well enough to ask intelligent questions of.

My response was that I didn't think we knew each other well enough for him to interview me and yet, if there was something he wanted to ask, I'd be happy to answer. These are what he came up with. Some people who have been reading Pobble Thoughts for a while may already know the answers but hopefully I can put a twist on them that will be new to most people.

1. What prompted you to begin blogging?

The Lovely Cats actually inspired me to start blogging. Reading hers was a great way to keep up with her world and her life. Things were NOT good with my biofamily at the time and the people I consider my family were scattered. This seemed to be a good way to keep them in the loop while working out some of the issues that were arising with my biofamily. Once I started blogging, I discovered it was also a really good way to keep my writing skills honed.

2. What line of work are you in?

I'm a writer. My background is hugely varied and I have only been a full-time writer for about three years now. I can, however, say I am actually, really and truly a writer. I write both fiction and nonfiction ~ anything they will pay me to write. Over in my links section under "Places You Should Go" is a link to PT's Site. That's my nonfiction persona. My first novel comes out early next year. In fact, just today, we finally decided on a title: Falling In Love. Because yes, I write trashy romance novels. It doesn't suck.

3. Ghandi once said "Be the change you wish to see in the world" and you've done that by trying to enlighten your stepson. How has that fared?

Depending on how you wish this question to read, it is either going quite well or slowly and frustratingly. In terms of being the change I wish to see in the world generally, I do well with that. It is, in fact, one of the quotes by which I live my life. I am proud to say that I don't just talk the talk. Am I perfect? Aw hell no. Can I say that I walk it more often than I don't, even when it's not easy or convenient? Yes. I can. If you mean how is it going with Timber, the answer is different. That is harder. His mother and I have very different views on so much that I am having to be subtle and diplomatic. In trying not to trash his mother's views and thereby alienating him and/or making him feel he has to choose (which will only send him running towards her belief system that much faster, in my opinion), I am having to phrase things very differently than I would and do with, say, my 15 year old nephew. So I model as much as possible and say what I can when I can and work on presenting him with an alternative view. Again, I walk the walk and hope it makes an impact. I'm also getting really good at the stealth maneuver, where I can bring something up and teach a lesson where he isn't expecting one and doesn't realize it's happened until it's over. >:)

4. You've lived in different parts of the country. Any favorite place to live?

This answer is layered. First, Boston. Then Massachusetts. Then New England. Then any of the major cities in the northeast (Philly is a favorite.) However, first and foremost, favorite of all places, home of my heart is Boston. To the point that, if I don't live there or close to it, where I live is really irrelevant.

5. Any longterm plans or goals?

Oh Lord...how long do you have???? In no particular order and certainly not all-inclusively: Best selling author. Continued happiness. World travel. Eating spaghetti in the Medina of Morocco. Living in a gothic monstrosity. Being the eccentric writer who lives up on the cliff in the gothic monstrosity. A weekend with all my favorite people in one place. Peace and self-actualization. Living a life that gives me the greatest deathbed stories ever. Impacting the youth in my life positively. Earning my epitaph ("It was all true.") Feeding marsupials in Tanzania. Living in another country and a completely different culture. Adapting to a completely different culture. Continuing to live with integrity. Being in a position to give generously to causes that mean a great deal to me. Being "famous" (quotation marks intentional because I believe that fame is one of those things that can be defined differently by different people) enough that an appearance for a cause that means a great deal to me will matter and help bring about whatever they need it to. To be evacuated from a foreign country. To continue to cause people to think, feel, react, know, consider differently than they would otherwise. To continue to challenge myself to think, feel, react, know and consider differently. To go out every night, to somewhere or something different, every night for thirty nights in a row. To avoid complacency. To nap in the sun more often (or at least under a shade tree.) To experience as much as I can squeeze into this life I've got. Another one of the quotes I live my life by is Emile Zola's, "If you ask me what I came here to do, I will tell you I came to live out loud." Which really could have saved us all a lot of time and me a lot of typing because, really, that sums it all up, don't you think?

And as a footnote to that last question, I realized I was able to leave several goals off of it that would have been there just five years ago because they have been accomplished. Which really doesn't suck. :)

Those are Pobble Thoughts, with a little nudge from and especially for Denny. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.