One Lovely Blog Award: 7 Interesting Facts About Me

I was given a One Lovely Blog Award by S. C. Flynn.  It's one of the awards that goes around the internet as half introduction, half chain letter (where you nominate other blogs to do the same).  This one asks the recipient to tell 7 interesting facts about themselves.  While there are rules to do so, I won't be passing this on.

So, here are 7 - hopefully - interesting facts about me.

1. I taught English as a foreign language in Japan for 2 years at a private conversation school.  The school I worked for encouraged us to hang out with our (mostly) adult students, so I got to know a lot about Japan, Japanese culture, and interesting places to visit.  I lived several hours North of Tokyo, so I got to see a lot of areas most tourists don't generally go.

2. When I came back from Japan I used some of the money I saved to travel around Europe for 4 months.  I used it as a research trip to supplement my medieval studies BA.  I saw an amazing number of castles and cathedrals, gardens and towns.

3. I've completed 2 novels that aren't worth publishing, but which taught me a lot about the craft of writing and the dedication and drive necessary to be an author.  I spend my time reading, rather than writing nowadays.  It's much easier.

4. I was lucky enough to work Ad Astra (a small Toronto sf conference that's focused on the art and business of writing) the year Terry Brooks was a guest of honour.  He's the author that got me hooked on fantasy and I had the privilege of selling him a copy of his own Elfstones of Shannara.

5. I started interviewing authors for displays at the bookstore (and then published them on this blog) to show customers how much time and effort went into writing a book.  The Canadian dollar was high at the time and we were getting a lot of complaints about the high cost of books in Canada when compared with their US prices (both of which are printed on the backs of the books).  Things got so bad I actually had one customer throw books at me when I was working cash.  Aren't people wonderful?

6. I love travelling and have an ever expanding list of places I want to visit.  I love learning about new cultures and trying new foods.

7. My non SF/Fantasy hobbies include photography, cooking, and making my own greeting cards.  I was pretty crafty/artsy as a kid.  I taught myself how to draw, but need a model to do it well (aside from faces).  My hobbies are all time consuming, so I don't get to do as much artsy stuff as I'd like especially since I started reviewing a book a week for this blog.