Tagged At Eleven

 Julie Fedderson from Gypsy in My Soul and Nancy S. Thompson were kind enough to both "tag" me with their versions of 11 Questions that have been circling around the blogosphere. I decided to combine the best questions from each of them, though this experience has made me miss my dentist.

1) What is your favorite scent?

Homemade chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven.

2) If you could go back and do anything over, what would it be?

I should have started flossing earlier.

3) What is your most bizarre beauty ritual?

I used to sleep with rollers in my hair when I was in college. Freshmen year I lived on an all girls floor so I'd parade around in them in the wee hours. One night a boy came over for a surprise visit, and actually asked me out on a date rollers and all. He started wearing glasses shortly after.

4) What was the weirdest moment of writing inspiration you've had?

When I was in the middle of a conversation with my doctor during a colonoscopy.

5) What is the best character name you've ever come across?

Lili Von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles.

6) Plotter or pantster?

My goal is to become a plotter, but I'm still a fledgling pantster.

7) What's your anger style?

I become very patriotic when I'm slightly perturbed. My neck turns red, my blue veins in my forehead pulsate, and the rest of me is as white as this page.

8) What is your favorite quote?

"All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them." - Erma Bombeck

9) What was your favorite book in 2011?

I really loved The Help, and was thrilled when Octavia Spencer won the best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of Minnie.

10) What moment in your life would have won the $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Video's?

When I was about 10, my parents took us on a family vacation to San Diego. We were standing in front of the orangutan cage at the San Diego Zoo when all of a sudden I felt a sharp pellet hit me. A few seconds later, it happened again, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Then my dad started singing, "Who got hit by orangutan mmm...?" Of course it took a while until I put two and two together, which is exactly what the orangutan was doing, before I moved out of the way.

11) What's the coolest thing you've ever done?

I was campus editor for our local radio station, when G. Gordon Liddy was promoting his book Will at universities all over the country. At the preliminary press conference, I asked him for an interview when his speech was over. There was a huge turnout and everyone wanted to ask him questions afterward. One chapter of Will was about how G. Gordon Liddy feared rats as a boy. In order to overcome his fear, he killed a rat, cooked it, and then decided to eat it. I had to stick around until everyone left before he finally gave me a midnight interview. My hands shook as I read the questions, but at least he didn't notice the charred pages in my teeth.

Thanks to Julie and Nancy for this nostalgic trip down memory lane. Julie has the unique talent of being informative and entertaining while delving into the most unusual subjects at Gypsy In My Soul. Nancy S. Thompson is always encouraging writers to reach their goals by sharing her thought-provoking insights, and has just recently signed on to have her first book published. Be sure to visit both of these exceptional bloggers for the sheer joy of it, and you might learn a thing or two along the way.