I was nominated for the Sunflower Award by Shantelle of A Writer’s Heart. I let you in on 11 facts about myself, and answer 11 questions from Shantelle. You ready? Here we go … I’ll try to make the answers short and sweet!
Facts About Ashlee
1.) I am the oldest of two.
2.) The doctors told me my son would die before he was born. God had other plans! My little bug is now 7 … healthy, smart and, quite possibly, a genius 😉
3.) I have been married 11 years to a “blind date” my best friend set me up with.
4.) Soccer is my favorite sport (only because my husband informs me that ballet is NOT a sport …).
5.) I love creating crochet patterns, and have an Etsy shop where I sell them.
6.) I am a home-school graduate.
7.) One side of my family came from France just 3 generations ago. On the other side of my family is an ancestor who was a Native American Princess. So, yeah … I’m royal 😀
8.) The first full book I wrote was called The Moon’s Test (also a fairy tale … whadya-know?!), when I was about 12 years old. I proudly hand-wrote it and stapled the pages together in “book” form to offer to my charmingly doting parents, who promptly pronounced it a classic.
9.) I am quite nervous of flying, therefore often wonder how I am to visit all the places I long to, since my husband stubbornly refuses to voyage across the Atlantic in a ship …
10.) That being said … I have flown a plane before. Not just flown in a plane … flown a plane! But I was 16, and as you know, teenagers fear nothing 😉
11.) I have a weakness (big weakness!) for British comedy.
Shantelle’s Questions and My Answers
1.) What is your favorite book?
Cruel, cruel question! As Danielle from Ever After says, “I could no sooner choose a favorite star in the heavens.”
2.) What is your favorite book genre?
Fantasy is top, of course. But I have a definite weakness for historical fiction (especially anywhere in the 1100’s-1500’s England), and cozy mysteries.
3.) Do you prefer winter or summer?
Fall … (is that cheating?)
4.) Who is your favorite historical figure and why?
I admire many historical figures. One of my favorites is Eleanor of Aquitaine. She lived such an amazingly bold life!
5.) A few movies you enjoy …?
Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version, please!), Little Dorritt, I Capture the Castle, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter.
6.) Do you like cake or pie better?
Pie!! My grandma’s gooseberry is the best! But I’ll take any kind 🙂
7.) How would you rather read, with Kindle or paperback?
Paperback. Absolutely no competition.
8.) Who are two of your favorite authors?
C.S. Lewis and Juliet Marillier (an apologist and a druid … how’s that for an unlikely combination?)
9.) If you could live in any time period (past, present, future) what would you choose?
I’ve always loved the idea of living in the days of Henry II (also around the time the Arthurian legend began). Days of knights and towers and chivalry …
10.) Which do you like best, bright colors or pastels?
Pastels. My 7-year-old is constantly nagging me to paint our house interior in more “fun” colors.
11.) Are you more of a casual type, or do you like to dress up?
There are times I like to dress up … but they don’t come very often 🙂 For the most part, I stay very casual.
Ta-da! Now you know me a bit better … perhaps more than you ever wished to! Feel free to list your own 11 facts in the comments below … I’d love to see them!!
Ashlee Willis, Author of Fantasy 
You asked for it Ashlee. =)
Facts About Brent
1.) I am the oldest of three boys. My two children are Canadians, living in Chetwynd, British Columbia.
2.) My oldest son, Dustin, nearly died at 12 weeks from an infection. At 21, he still has scars on his arm from infiltrated IVs.
3.) Since my divorce, I have been single as many years as I was married (11).
4.) Windsurfing is my favorite sport http://windsurfing-legends.com
5.) I love playing the piano, as well as creating music with Garageband.
6.) I graduated from East West College as a massage therapist in 2002.
7.) I am English, Dutch, and German, with a smattering of French Canadian and American Indian. I can speak Swedish and Spanish.
8.) The first book I published (on Blurb in 2008) was a book of poems called A Picture Frozen. I gave it to family and friends for Christmas
9.) I became a pilot my senior year in high school, but haven’t flown a whole lot since.
10.) I love water, whether it is diving in it, floating on it, or just doing the dishes.
11.) I have a weakness for Christmas.
Ashlee’s Questions and My Answers
1.) What is your favorite book?
If we can exclude the Bible from this question, The Lord of the Rings is clearly at the top.
2.) What is your favorite book genre?
Fantasy, and historical fiction is a close second.
3.) Do you prefer winter or summer?
Summer! Can’t wait to go on “into those ‘high mid-summer pomps’ in which our Leader, the Son of man, already dwells, and to which He is calling us.”
4.) Who is your favorite historical figure and why?
CS Lewis, because he has challenged my mind in countless ways.
5.) A few movies you enjoy?
The Sound of Music, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, A Christmas Carol (Alistair Sim & Jim Carrey versions), The Polar Express, Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden (Hallmark), V for Vendetta, The Matrix, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Shadowlands.
6.) Do you like cake or pie better?
Pie! I don’t like cake much…
7.) How would you rather read, with Kindle or paperback?
Paperback, hands down.
8.) Who are two of your favorite authors?
Two? How about seven: C.S. Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Peter Kreeft, Ellen White, John Eldredge, Ty Gibson, and Stephen Lawhead.
9.) If you could live in any time period (past, present, future) what would you choose?
Like I’ve always told my boys: The good ‘ol days are here and now. We live in an amazing age!
10.) Which do you like best, bright colors or pastels?
Pastels, especially water colors.
11.) Are you more of a casual type, or do you like to dress up?
Casual. I don’t wear a tie to church.
There you have it…
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Awesome, Brent! So many interesting things about you!! So glad you participated 🙂
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Yours were cool too. Especially your royalty, the pictures of your miracle son beneath his monster sunflowers, and your favorite book! =)
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The windsurfing website link above should be http://windsurfing-legends.org
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Fun! I’m doing one of these next week 🙂 But I’ll see if I can’t come up with 11 other random facts about myself here…
1. I’m the oldest of 4
2. I was homeschooled through 8th grade
3. I love reading fantasy and prefer watching sci-fi.
4. I love puns. And cheesy movies.
5. I learned how to piece together quilts when we moved to NC, because I wanted to get to know my mother-in-love better. I hate most of the process, but love the finished product… so I keep doing it.
6. My favorite sport is baseball. (And your husband is right, ballet is not a sport… but then I like to be fairly precise in my definitions… so I also don’t think a lot of other things are sports, and I mean those things absolutely no disrespect when I say that!)
7. My favorite seasons are fall and winter… it’s a toss-up, really.
8. I wish I lived in Alaska.
9. I’m proud of my mid-western roots and proudly order “pop” in restaurants and don’t even care that the waiters give me odd looks.
10. I hate dusting.
11. One of my dream occupations would be to test-fly fighter jets. I know that makes me sound crazy…
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Love it! I always enjoy hearing trivia from other people’s lives! Thanks for these 11 glimpses of you, Jenelle! … I suppose I’ll have to concede to both you and my husband on the ballet issue! 😉
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So fun to read this, Ashlee! I’m glad you did it! 🙂 As for my “cruel question”… that’s why I had (or one of them) in the original question, because I agree(!), it’s impossible for me to pick an actual favorite of all book!! Haha! 🙂
Oh, and I love ballet too! If it WAS a sport, it would definitely be my favorite… 🙂
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It always feels a bit like torture to pick a favorite book. Yet it’s somehow a good torture … I’m sure you understand that!!
I suppose a “sport” has to be more competitive – ballet is usually more of an entertainment than a competition. Ah, well … 😉
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