Eleven!

Carrie Butler and Lisa L. Regan both tapped me this week, for this ‘11 questions’ thing. I was getting all set to break out the Origins post for today, before realizing that’s actually next week, so I should play along.

Being a member of a particular generation I can never see the number 11 and not think of this:

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Now, I got tapped twice, and I’m not answering 22 questions, so I’ll do a coin flip. I read Carrie’s post first, so I’ll flip a coin for each question. Heads and I’ll answer Carrie’s question. Tails, and it’s Lisa’s. Unless I really don’t like the question, in which case I’ll switch. Or not answer. Right, here we go:

1. (tails, Lisa): What is the first line of your current WIP? Hmm, I’m not sure how you define ‘current WiP’…Is it the one I’m actively writing, or the one I’m actively revising?
2. (heads, Carrie):Plotter, pantser, or non-committed hybrid? I’m on record -somewhere, I just can't find the post - as objecting to the sound of the phrase ‘pantser’. I wing it. So I’m a winger.
3. (tails, Lisa): What is your favorite guilty pleasure? I’m not sure I should answer that in a blog that has my picture on it, hah hah. Snickers bars
4. (heads, Carrie. Wow, it’s true what they taught me in Statistics class) You’re stressed out – what snack do you turn to? I’m not much of an ‘eat to reduce the tension’ kind of guy, but my snacky bad habits are sweets like cookies
5. (tails, Lisa): What historical figure from any time period would you most like to meet and hang out with? Benjamin Franklin. I don’t think he would make me feel like an idiot. Or Jerry Garcia. I’ve seen interviews with him and he looked like he’d be really interesting and entertaining to converse with.
6. (tails, Lisa. Whoa, a break in the pattern!) Most consecutive hours you were without sleep because you were in a writing frenzy. I am quite fortunate that I am able to write during the day. I have never stayed up late because of this, though I think I did get up once or twice two or three hours earlier than normal because stuff was in my head trying to get out.
7. (tails, Lisa. This is a bona fide hot streak now) What are your three favorite movies? Eek. I hate picking favorites, because things change. I would say Pulp Fiction, Jaws, and….err…uh. Well, we’ll go with two.
8. (heads. Carrie heaves a sigh of relief): If you had to compete in the 2012 Olympics, which sport would you pick? Weightlifting. I’d get a gold for 12 oz. curls. Seriously, summer Olympics are not my thing. I’d go for the 100 meter dash, because I’d at least be able to finish it. Or steeplechase (the foot event, not the one on horseback), that looks like fun.
9. (tails. It’s surprisingly hard to flip a coin well when you haven’t finished your first cup of coffee). Would you rather have one book published that becomes a classic or have multiple books published that sell well but eventually go ‘out of print’? Yes. The simple truth is I feel like I’ve got more than one story to tell, so I think I’d go for the multiple books that sell well.
10. (tails. Lisa is coming up the big winner here) What was the weirdest moment of writing inspiration you’ve had? I don’t know that any of the ‘inspiring moments’ I’ve had are weird, really. Probably the moment that got me on what has become Parallel Lives. It wasn’t a weird moment, it was a conversation with my daughter, but what was weird was the way it got stuck in my head. It was not so much an explosion as a slow burn. I’ll talk about it sometime, if I haven’t already.
11. (tails again) If your life had a theme song, what would it be? Hmm. Okay. Err, let’s take a look at Carries question: Describe your current book, MS or WiP in three words. Err, Umm, okay, see question 1, hah hah. Alright, I suppose I would go with something like poignant, romantic, and optimistic.

Okay, at this point I’m supposed to come up with eleven questions of my own and tag 11 more people. It’s 6:30 on Friday morning, I’m still not entirely awake, and, believe it or not, I have not been planning this post out since Monday morning. So, here’s a question:

Would you rather be run over by a steamroller on a hot day on an empty stomach, or on a cold day on a full one? Answer here, or somewhere else. Have a great weekend!