Jessica Bakkers has kindly nominated me for the Mystery Blogger Award. I’d like to start off by formally saying thank you Jess. Your posts are a mix of the insightful and the whimsical, and your dedication to writing is only matched by the generosity with which you share it.

What is the Mystery Blogger Award?
“The ‘Mystery Blogger Award‘ is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging and they do it with so much love and passion” ~ Okoto Enigma.

How Does it Work?
• Put the award logo/image on your blog
• List the rules
• Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog
• Mention the creator of the award
• Tell your readers 3 things about yourself
• Nominate up to 10 people
• Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog
• Ask your nominees any five questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question
• Share a link to your best post(s)

3 Facts about myself (Adam):
• I consider myself a slow writer. After approximately 15 years of practice it still takes me about an hour to write 500 words, but quality first. I’m hopeful that once writing becomes a source of income I’ll be able to dedicate more time to it, and improve more quickly.
• I have anxiety disorder and often second guess myself. I actually feel more comfortable communicating through the written word than the spoken.
• I always like to delve into a story, really consider the perspective of the characters and understand why I like or dislike the story.
• One of my more common sayings is “Good conversation can be hard to find.”

Jess’s Questions
1) What is your favourite word and what does it mean?
My favorite word would be satori. When I first found it the author defined it as “returning to one’s physical form after achieving oneness with all things.” The idea was that in that perfect moment of oneness, the mind comprehends all, but the mind invariably returns to the body, and in that moment of return the mind must carefully choose which few fragments to retain from the experience. I’ve definitely felt like I’m endlessly forgetting and relearning things, so this rings true for me.

2) What has been the happiest moment in your life?
I think in general the happiest moments for me tend to be the contented tired that comes just after I’ve finished an arduous writing session, the simple pleasure of swimming, and the heat of a good game of boffer.

3) Why did you name your blog what you named it?
I named my blog Write Thoughts because I feel writing is a two part process. We train and change our minds, teaching ourselves how to think in the proper way to create stories, and we also struggle and learn how to translate those thoughts into words on the page.

I forget exactly where I read it but someone proposed that the story in our minds and the story we write down are two distinct stories. Instead of struggling to perfectly capture our vision on the page, we should treat it like music, something that inspires us to create a story, but isn’t the story itself. I think that’s a very helpful idea.

4) What is your great goal in life?
To continue to grow and improve, as a writer/storyteller and as a person; to never stop exploring, to grow wiser without ever forgetting how good it is to let go and play the fool. To make adventures out of the everyday. To walk the path with another.

5) Hero, villain or anti-hero? Which are you?
I think I’m a hero who likes to play at being a villain or anti-hero from time to time.

My Best Post(s):
There are many ways of interpreting this, but I’m going to go with posts that, for whatever reason, I have a personal fondness for:
First, my condensed review of an HP Lovecraft anthology.
I’ve long wished that anthology reviews would offer a brief statement on each story, particularly since the back cover rarely has room to touch upon them all.
Next, three posts that in various ways all address the same issue:
103-01, Engaging Characters
105-03, Using Relationships
106/4, Revealing Meaning Through Conflict
Just as there’s “world builder’s disease”, I sometimes suffer from “character creation disease”. I get so caught up in getting to know my characters that I overlook how they relate to the story as a whole.
Lastly, I’m rather proud of my Harry Potter reviews. It felt like a real challenge to separate myself from the popularity of the series, and evaluate the stories on their own.

My Nominations:
This award is a way of both recognizing and thanking others who continue to share their work freely. Feel free to accept or not. If you do choose to participate please link to your own post in the comments. Thank you.

1.  Andrea Lundgren (https://andrealundgren.com)
2. Nichole McGhie at the Excited Writer (http://www.theexcitedwriter.com/)
3. Writer Unboxed (http://writerunboxed.com/)
4. D. Wallace Peach (https://mythsofthemirror.com/)
5. D at D Talks Anime (https://dtalksanime.wordpress.com/)
6. Karandi at 100 Word Anime (https://100wordanime.blog/)
7. Steve D at Red String Papercuts (https://redstringpapercuts.com/)
8. Melissa Caruso (https://melissacaruso.net/)
9.  Pages Unbound (https://pagesunbound.wordpress.com)
10.  Thoughts on Fantasy (https://thoughtsonfantasy.com/)

My Questions For You:

1. What is your favorite word and why?
2. What would be the title of your autobiography?
3. Describe one time in your life where you were terrified before and/or during, but grateful/proud afterwards.
4. What supervillain do you most feel a kinship with?
5. If you could bring one character from a fictional story into the real world, who would you choose, and why?