Sunshine Blogger III

Today’s Sunshine Blogger Award is brought to you by Journey Bloomfield!! Huzzah!!! She has included a good amount of writing questions, and while I have not quite joined the dark side and written full-length fiction, she has told me that I can use my poetry and/or bloggerly writings to answer those particular questions, if possible.

Onward!!

That which Must be Followed:

• Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog.
• Thank the person who nominated you.
• Provide a link to your nominator’s blog.
• Answer your nominator’s questions.
• Nominate up to eleven bloggers.
• Ask your nominees eleven questions.
• Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.

What’s your favorite Lord of the Rings character? (Or top five?)

Well, Aragorn of course. He’s the Ranger king we all adore. He even has a poem!! All that is Gold Does Not Glitter!! Is that epic, or is that epic?!? (ooh also I wrote him a poem a while back and not to brag, but it’s pretty darn cool)

But also Gandalf is essential and Legolas is Legolas and Frodo is such a determined little fellow and…I don’t know who my fifth person should be. Taking suggestions, I suppose.

What books inspired your very first novel or writing project?

hmm, this is hard to adapt to poetry/blogging. *consults old file folder of stories*

You know what, I wonder if my dad reading Treasure Island to us inspired that one pirate-captain tale I wrote when I was smol. There was a plot hole that I knew about therein, but when I asked both parents how I could make it better, neither of them commented on it, so I figured no one else would notice and left it in hehe.

How do you handle writing ‘dry spells’? Do you have a good way to re-motivate yourself?

I kind of embrace it, I suppose. No poetry inspiration?? Welp. Looks like we’re not writing anything for a while. So sad. Let’s go read a book.

Has a music track ever inspired one of your novels or stories?

Semi-related happening that we’re going to pretend answers this question:

Yesterday I was pounding out a five-page paper in order to be done with my classes (I’M SO CLOSE) and ofc I was listening to music the entire time. The sheer amount of music I listened to yesterday was wild, I tells you. Anyway, I was listening through my liked songs list on Spotify to start out, and when I got to this song, I was highly motivated, inspired, and overall in an enthusiastic mood regarding said five-page paper.

What are you currently writing?

A blog post titled, “Sunshine Blogger III,” ofc. It has roman numerals in the title and is thus superior to all other Sunshine Blogger posts.

Ok, but also this epic poem from the perspective of my old journal. I kind of finished the journal before finishing the poem…but hey it’s going to be great. It starts out, “My name is Emily St. Claire and I know too much.” I got stuck with a proper rhyme for “much.”

Are you a flat earther? Do you know any flat earthers? Do YOU live in a round world?

*pops off to do some preliminary research on flat earthers*

I rather think science has proven that the earth is round not me almost typing flat instead of round lol

But I DO know some flat earthers!! Isn’t the world canonically flat for Tolkien’s elves?? Or did I make that up??

What is one way you have grown this year? What is one way you wish you would have grown this year? (I missed New Year but just cast back to 2025).

Ooh, this is getting kinda deep…allow me to pontificate…

(I was tagged for this much closer to last year and this question made much more sense then)

Darn it, I don’t know!! I didn’t sign up for you to probe my psyche, Journey!! I thought I was just getting some fun questions to answer!! *sobs*

Umm, I don’t know, maybe just starting to become someone apart from my family, growing up a little. Figuring out how to manage my own time, arranging my own playdates, and making decisions about my future (future being college 😬). Ways I wish I had grown…idk, just growing with more confidence in myself and God’s plan, probably. I want to be in charge, but I also have no idea what I’m doing, so that’s a stellar combo.

In an entirely ideal situation, what would your daily routine look like?

Entirely ideal, you say. Well, I wouldn’t have to get out of bed until eight if I didn’t want to, for starters. I would get up, eat breakfast (homemade bread?? please?? 🥺), and compose a list of what needed to get done that day. And then!! We do the list, I suppose. Oh and this is ESSENTIAL!! it is summer in this hypothetically ideal situation. and. it is STORMING!! HUZZAH FOR SUMMER STORMS!! Anyway, we’re doing the list, which probably involves writing a letter to someone, cleaning my room, taking a shower, watering my plants, making sure I’m not ghosting anyone in the blogosphere, doing Bible Quiz…umm… *consults mental list of things that need done* practice piano, fetch the mail, etc. A leisurely but efficient day is the ideal.

What is one really insightful piece of advice or wisdom you’ve received this year? (Again, 2025. Unless you’ve gotten some stellar advice this January, of course).

Hmm…more probing questions from Journey…

I suppose one common theme I can recognize at the moment is to just be yourself (this specific bit of advice comes from a conversation or two with Journey about blogging personas and a high-stakes scholarship interview, for those of you who are curious).

Just be yourself!! There’s no one else like you, and you’re gloriously unique, beautiful, and delightful. People would much rather interact with someone who is unapologetically themselves than someone who is trying to fit into a box of someone else’s creation. If others don’t appreciate who you are, the real you, then they probably aren’t people you need to be impressing or striving for attention from.

If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one person for three hundred and twenty seven days, who would you pick?

Only one person?? For three hundred and twenty seven days?? I have questions. Including but not limited to, why that specific number?? Is the point of being stranded to survive, or hang out with this person??

Hmmm…Emma M. Lion, Gandalf, the apostle Paul, TOLKIEN, Josiah Queen, Emlyn DuLaine…honestly, at the end of the day I would just want to hang out with my bestie Madi forever. Irregardless of all the other cool peoples. We may not survive, but we would have a blast anyway.

What is the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?

Ok, well, I kinda teased this dream in my previous Sunshine Blogger post…here we go.

Once upon a time, Ava’s bestie (eyy, Madi makes an appearance again!!) got her to read all the Left Behind books. If you’ve never heard of them, they’re basically what Jerry B. Jenkins thinks the book of Revelation looks like in a practical sense. As in…the Great Tribulation. Lots of people die (I’M STILL MAD). Bc it is, after all, the Great Tribulation.

Anyway. Ava had been reading these books before bed. Along with the Books of the Infinite, bc who reads only one series at a time?? Psh. That night, Ava dreamed that she was Ela of Parne, off to tell the antichrist himself that he was going to be a father. Creepy…his name is Nicolae Carpathia, btw. Now we’re mentally rehearsing as we walk across this office-type place, like what are we gonna say to him?? So I get up to him, and he’s all creepy, and I call him MISTER CARPATHIA. The Supreme Potentate, the devil incarnate, and I called him…mister. The literal lowest title I could have possibly called him. GAH. THAT WAS DUMB. Anyway, I think he already knew, and he was all slimy and evil about it, and then we went and closed ourselves in a cubicle to unwind bc that was sTRESSFUL.

Perhaps not my weirdest dream, but it was very memorable. And book-influenced, which is always amusing and appreciated.

They Who Shall Be Tagged

Well well well, look where we are: the part of the post in which Ava struggles to tag the Perfect People^tm. *consults previous posts to see who we’ve tagged before*

Sydney Witbeck has a very tight posting schedule, what with her delightful serial story, but at the very least this tag shall let her know that she is loved.

Iona!! She is such a ray of sunshine and I love receiving her posts in my inbox. She’s also created a bookish magazine, which you should totally check out!!

Hannah Ruth Johnson always has such fun posts, whether it’s about what she’s reading or writing. We have somewhat similar book tastes, which is fun 🙃

And ofc, anyone who wants to answer my questions, have at it.

The Questions that Shall Be Answered

1. If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?
2. What are you most looking forward to this next month? this spring? this year?
3. If you could build your dream house and money was no object, what would the end result be? (and can I come visit you?)
4. What’s your favorite obscure holiday? (Pinterest has recently informed me that the Gondorian New Year is March 25, so here’s hoping that I can remember that when the day comes)
5. What’s one fact about yourself that you think is fascinating and would love to share, but can never work into a conversation in an un-awkward manner?
6. Do you live up to any stereotypes?
7. What song(s) are you currently obsessed with?
8. What’s the title of the current chapter of your life?
9. What are your opinions on thunderstorms?
10. Describe your favorite outfit (or make one up that you wish you owned)
11. Why do you blog?

Coda

And that is that, my friends. This concludes our third Sunshine Blogger post!! Huzzah!! *throws flowers and blows kisses to the crowd*

Always,

Ava ✨