The caveat to receiving these awards is that I must share ten random facts about myself. I’m sure these will be old news to close friends, but I’ll try to pick at least semi-interesting tidbits to share. Let’s see…

1. I’m fascinated by fringe science, the paranormal, and the supernatural. More than anything else, I’m intrigued by extraterrestrials, especially stories of close encounters. The result? Unidentified.

2. You can sort of see this in my author photos, but I’m tattooed. I have a chest piece, a full back piece, and tattoos on the back of my neck and behind both ears. I have plans for a small tattoo on my right wrist and a half-sleeve on my left arm.

3. When someone asks me where I’m from, I’m not sure how to answer until I know what they mean. I have a different answer for where I was born, where I attended high school, where I attended university, where my parents live (neither of whom now live in any city where I grew up, which frequently changed) and where I live now. Sometimes someone is asking about my ethnicity, which is yet a different answer– I’m from a mixed-ethnicity household. And no, I wasn’t a military kid.

4. I’m a bit of a neat freak. I find clean, organized spaces comfortable and soothing. Fortunately, my husband feels the same way.

5. I don’t like window shopping. I find it boring just to look at merchandise with no intention to buy. Unless we’re talking about books. I can browse the aisles of any bookstore for hours.

6. I’m a nut for unsweetened iced tea and espresso drinks. My drink of choice: soy or nonfat latte, extra hot. No sugar or fancy flavors, thanks!

7. I love anything macabre, strange, or dark. New Weird? Horror? Yes, please. Apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic fiction? Dystopian societies? Gimme. You wouldn’t necessarily know it by meeting me, either; I’m quite happy and optimistic.

8. I live and breathe storytelling. It’s almost all I think about. I’m always working to improve my craft, and I’m committed to success in this career. I won’t ever give up.

9. I’m a very spiritual person, but my views on the nature of reality don’t really fit into any one pre-existing religious or philosophical tradition. I derive many of my spiritual ideas from reading books on physics and cosmology.

10. I collect gemstones and minerals. I’ve loved them since I was a kid, and now my collection is huge. I have no idea how many I have, but I’d say a couple hundred at least.

If you’d like to share some interesting facts about yourself in the comments, I’d love to find out more about my readers!

I’m supposed to pass these awards on to other bloggers, so let’s see. I’ll list six people and you can choose which award you’d like to have. List ten facts about yourself when you post the award.

• Laura Vasilion
• Sarah Diemer
• Shel Ashman
• Mercedes M. Yardley
• Damien Walters Grintalis
• Annarkie

First, thank you to paranormal romance writer Courtney Reese for the Best Blog Award. Courtney is one of my Twitter buds and I encourage you to check out her blog and website. As blogging award tradition goes, I’m passing along the Best Blog Award to:

• Sarah Diemer at Seeking Light/SeaHeart. She’s one of my dearest friends and a talented YA author. There’s no doubt in my mind she’ll see publication and success in the years to come.

• Leah and Mark of LeahAndMark.com. Their blog showcases their ever-expanding photography portfolio, and boy, do they have an eye for it. They play with light in beautiful ways.

• Gabrielle Morabito at Kinnaree, where she posts art and tidbits about life as a budding illustrator. I love her style and I’m excited about an upcoming piece featuring Elizabeth Hughes and Aspect from Unidentified.

The second award, the Blogging Writer Award, is from the lovely Anne Riley. She’s another talented writer friend from Twitter, and her blog features one of my favorite topics to read about: the quest for publication. Thank you for the award, Anne! I’m passing it along to…

• A Mancuso at Unorthodox Creativity. If there’s one word I’d use to describe her fiction, it’s unique– and I mean that in the best of ways. Elements of sci-fi and fantasy? Expansive worldbuilding? Yes, please.
• Monica Emme at It’s Never What You Expect. From slices of Alaskan life to musings about the craft of writing, Monica’s voice shines through in every piece.
• Trish McCallan at One Step, one step. Trish has been a phenomenally supportive Twitter contact, and her recent post about her journey as a writer hooked me on her blog.

Check them out– they’re all worth subscribing to.

In the meantime, I thought I’d recommend a couple of Twitter hashtags for writers. Debbie Ohi has a more comprehensive list here, but these are the hashtags I most frequently follow:

• #amwriting- Johanna Harness has provided a great explanation of #amwriting on her blog. Basically, it’s a way for writers to talk about their works in progress throughout the day.
• #writechat- Weekly chat. Sundays, 12:00 -3:00 PM PST (3:00 -6:00 PM EST). Frequently topic-driven, but the conversation meanders to a wide spectrum of writing topics. I find it’s easiest to keep up with if viewed through TweetChat. Hosted by @WritingSpirit.
• #pubtip – Publishing tips offered by literary agents and editors. This is a great hashtag to follow if you’re interested in the business end of writing.

If you’d like to connect with me on Twitter, I’m @jkoyanagi.

Happy December!