Writerly Link Up With Every Good Word

When my dear friend Meghan started the blog, Every Good Word, I knew the blogosphere was in for some fun...and I was right!

Here's my version of her wonderful link up idea.

1.       What was your first-ever piece of writing? My first ever published piece of writing was an article on Real Teen Faith somewhere around three years ago. {yikes!}

2.       How old were you when you first began writing? I've been 'writing' since I was small, but I've been producing readable words since my freshman year or high school, when I began my blog to share my thoughts with an unsuspecting world.

3.       Name two writing goals. One short term & one long term. Hmm. Those tricky things called goals. Well, I'd like to finish Arising, the second book in the Underground Trilogy, by November, and in the long term, I want my writing to inspire people's imagination, maybe spark a story idea of their own. I want to be an impactful writer.

4.        Do you write fiction or non-fiction? Oh the classic question....fiction or non? Well, both. I started with non, but I fell in love with noveling a few years ago, and now that's my primary focus.

5.       Bouncing off of question 4, what's your favorite genre to write in? Oh gosh...I am the wrong one to ask! I write everything under the sun. My first book was Christian Living, but the Underground trilogy is dystopian, and I have Chick Lit in the works...but I think my favorite so far is actually dystopian, because I get to describe emotion, I get to capture desperation and bring about a {hopefully} emotionally satisfying ending.

6.       One writing lesson you've learned since 2013 began. The fact that what I write has worth. My words are worth something. I as an author, should feel a healthy pride because I have accomplished that which I used to consider impossible.

7.       Favorite author, off the top of your head! Brian Jacques. He is masterful at bringing descriptions to live and making fiction feel real.

8.       Three current favorite books. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Unlocked by Karen Kingsbury, and Out with The In Crowd by Stephanie Morril.

9.       Biggest influence on your writing {person}: My parents, definitely. They have always been my biggest supporters.

10.    What's your go-to writing music? My writing playlist literally has two hundred and eight tracks in it, but Skillet and The Afters are always in there somewhere. :)

11.    List three to five writing quirks of your's! Little habits, must-haves as you write, etc. I have to have music, or some kind of background noise. I have to have a change of scenery often. I have been known to lug my laptop outside and sit in the pergola, surrounded by wisteria, out in the fresh air. ahhh....

12.    What, in three sentences or less, does your writing mean to you? My writing is everything to me. My release, my hobby, my escape...my purpose. My writing is my fufillment.

~Shannon