Tags: 5 Word Story Challenge + Liebster Award!

I was tagged by Daniel @ Page to Page to do his 5 Word Story Challenge! He actually tagged me quite awhile ago and I’m really sorry it took me this long to do it! Thanks for tagging me and I hope this isn’t a disaster because I don’t think I’ve written any fiction since I was in high school!

Rules:

• Thank the person who tagged you.
• Close your eyes, open to random pages, and point your finger on a random word in the last book you have read. Articles do not count.
• Repeat the above rule 5 times.
• List the 5 random words you have.
• Create a 5 sentence flash fiction using your 5 random words. Each sentence must contain at least one word from your list. You can change the tense of the word as needed.
• Tag 3 people.

My Last Completed Book: Paper Hearts by Claire Contreras

5 Random Words: eight | talking | drinks | maybe | decent

Story: 

As we stepped into the elevator, barely caffeinated enough to get our days going, my best friend asked me yet again if I’d made a decision about going out for office drinks that night. “It’s eight o’clock in the morning,” I grumbled. “Why are we even talking about this right now?”

I’d been trying to get out of this wholly unnecessary bonding exercise since it was announced, but she knew she had me when she smiled and said, “I just thought maybe you’d want to know that you-know-who from down the hall said he was hoping to see you there.”

“Excuse you, he said what, exactly?” I asked, the likelihood of me attending this workplace mixer suddenly increasing from “not a chance in hell” to “better than decent” as she filled me in on all the details.

Tagged:

• Lori @ Betwined Reads
• Siobhan @ Siobhan’s Novelties
• Gerry @ The BookNook UK

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I was nominated for the Liebster Award by Leslie @ Books Are The New Black! Thank you so much, Leslie! Definitely check out her blog when you get a chance.

The Rules:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you, provide a link to their blog and display the award.
• Answer 11 questions they asked you.
• Come up with your own 11 questions
• Tag 11 bloggers and don’t forget to tell them.

Leslie’s Questions:

Who is your favorite author? Why?
I think Jenn Bennett. I love her YA contemporaries! They’re the kind of YA books I wish I’d had when I was an actual Young Adult. The stories are unique, the characters are always really well-developed, and I love how sex-positive all of her work is! Back in the day, YA used to basically be Coach Carr from Mean Girls:

In contrast, Starry Eyes features a love interest whose moms own a sex shop and make sure he’s stocked with condoms, so…

What did you want to be when you were younger? Now?
What didn’t I want to be when I was younger? When I was very little, I wanted to be a doctor, a firefighter, a teacher, and a marine biologist. (Or possibly all four at the same time.)

In high school, I was convinced that I wanted to be a journalist. I had my whole career planned out and everything! (I was going to write for Blender, RIP.) I took journalism classes in college and found out that I really, really hate having my writing critiqued, so that didn’t really work out. I considered being a nutritionist for a minute, but I’m honestly not that great at biology and I would’ve had to add another year to take all the required courses.

Now, I would love to work in publishing! I’m hoping that this will work out someday. There are a ton of publishers near me and I just need to take the leap to apply.

What was the happiest day of your life?
This is such a hard question, but probably the day that my nephew was born! The day was actually super stressful since he was born in the middle of a blizzard and I had to take a train to NYC and then the subway to the hospital in Brooklyn (and I hate the subway and everything was delayed because of the snow) but it was all worth it when I got to meet him! He was so tiny and so perfect.

What’s your favorite book series?
Possibly the Calloway Sisters series by Krista & Becca Ritchie? I’m really bad at listing favorites since it all depends on my mood.

What’s your perfect “me” time?
A bath, a bath bomb, a candle, and a book. Bonus points if my boss doesn’t text me about something that can totally wait until the next morning.

Do you believe in Karma?
Sort of. I try to be a good person in hopes that good things will come my way. But I know that, realistically, it probably doesn’t make any difference.

If you were to name a child after a book character, what would it be?
I love the name Holland (from V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series).

Do you watch Booktubers? If yes, who are your favorite?
Not really! I mean, I have, but there aren’t any that I watch regularly. I actually try to avoid Youtube because I can easily get sucked into watching video after video for hours and then there goes my night.

What is one of your guilty pleasures?
I actually don’t believe in guilty pleasures! I don’t think that anything you really enjoy should make you feel guilty. But I guess that really trashy erotica might be considered a guilty pleasure?

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Hot stone bibimbap!

Close your eyes and think of the word happiness. What came to mind?
A perfect afternoon last September when I went to the Global Citizen Festival with a bunch of friends! We had so much fun getting to New York, hanging out in Central Park, listening to great bands (The Killers and Green Day were highlights of the night), and then we went out for tacos and drinks afterward.

My nominations (I’m not nominating eleven people, I’ll be here all night trying to figure it out!):

• Maddie @ Munch Reviews
• Teagan & Jess @ Fiction No Chaser
• Cynic On Wings
• Elissa @ Elissa Reads

My questions:

• What’s something ridiculous that you used to believe when you were younger?
• What’s your favorite musical?
• What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen in someone else’s home? (Side note: I have a great story about this one!)
• Do you have any pets? Feel free to share pictures and stories!
• What weird food combinations do you like?
• What’s one place you’ve never been that you’d like to visit?
• What’s your favorite word?
• What habit do you have now that you wish you’d started earlier?
• What would be the clickbait title of the last book you read?
• What’s your favorite smell?
• What’s the stupidest way you’ve ever injured yourself?

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As always, no pressure to participate in any of these tags! If I tagged you in one and you’d rather do another, or both, or none, feel free! And if I didn’t tag you and you wish I had, let me know to tag you next time — and I’d still love to see your answers!