Only you...

Today's post is all about You. Yes... you. 

A while back, the lovely Amanda Saint nominated me for a "Liebster Blog Award", which is a chain-type gesture of bloggy appreciation (thank you, Amanda!), and I was asked to answer 11 questions and nominate other bloggers to do the same. I'm going to nominate five blogs I've particularly enjoyed throughout the A to Z Blogging Challenge this year (and some go back long before that), but I also nominate everyone who reads this post, so there you go.

Anne Mackle of Is Anyone There fame.

Wayne Kelly of  Kelly's Eye fame.

Maria Smith of First Draft Cafe fame.
Barbara White Daille of The Daille-y News fame.

Rosalind Adam of Rosalind Adam is Writing in the Rain fame.

I'm including it as part of my writing warm-up collection as I believe some of the questions stimulate the memory and imagination: perfect for limbering those writing muscles! 

So lets get to it: Y is for You. Here's a picture of Irene & I on our 1st birthday. Just because...

1. Feel free to answer as many (or few) of the following questions about You. My answers are below, if yer interested:

1.    What do you do to relax when you suffer from insomnia?
I listen to Meditation Oasis podcasts. They are amazing. Try them.

2.    What's the worst holiday you ever had?

I’m fortunate enough to have enjoyed every holiday I’ve ever been on, though I have to admit… it wasn’t fun having food poisoning when I went to Turkey a few years ago. *shudder*

3.    Where's your favourite place to write?

The Mitchell Library.

4.    If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

Directly opposite The Mitchell Library.

5.    White, dark or milk chocolate?

White. I can inhale a large Milkybar in seconds. Though I'm also partial to dark/milk...

6.    What's your favourite thing to have on toast?

Lashings of salted butter.

7.    Which book do you wish you'd written and why?

The Alchemist, because it is an absolute masterpiece. Or anything written by Roald Dahl.

8.    Film adaptations of novels - love them or hate them?

Depends on the film. Some films butcher the original story, but other films steer me towards a book I'd never have considered reading beforehand!

9.    Do you think Al Pacino is overrated as an actor?

No. I've only seen him in The Devil's Advocate & The Merchant of Venice and he was fabulous in both.

10.  Coffee or tea?

Both. And Roobois. And Nettle Tea.

11.  Would you ever do a sky dive?

Yes, although I’m terrified of heights!

2. Sketch a mind-map using the key word as the nucleus, then branch out in whatever direction you please. You might find yourself going in completely unrelated paths (which I personally prefer). Do a five-minute freewrite incorporating as many (or few) branch words as you like. Here is my mind map (created using the SimpleMind app on my phone).

3. Choose one of the following sentence starts and freewrite for a few minutes, letting the words tumble out without a second thought:

• How could she accuse me of only thinking of myself? She's the selfish one...
• I studied the child in the photo. So many things I wish I could've told her...
• They made me fill in the questionnaire, saying if I didn't do it, they'd...

I find it best not to read my freewrites for at least a few days. Why not stuff them in a drawer and surprise yourself? It's blatant evidence that our minds work in mysterious ways. Plus, I defy you not to find an array of story seeds amongst your work.

Do you have any writing warm-ups you'd like to share?

Take care,

Catherine x

Note: All photo prompts in my A to Z Challenge 2013 are my own. Feel free to use/copy/share to your hearts content. Help yourself. :)  

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Only you...