As I was sitting here, starting to write this entry, my sister Amy looked at it and asked, sort of surprised, "You got tagged and you're actually doing them??" Yep, that's right! I thought it might be fun for once. I know I have at least two more tags to do, but these two will have to suffice for now.

Hold on one minute while I announce something. I know I'm kind of late here, but... I'm writing the Animal Facts at the Backyard! And this week it's a Toucan Quiz (it's pretty easy -- you hardly have to know anything about toucans to figure it out. And you might even learn a few things!). I'd appreciate it if you just took a moment to do it. The only person to do it so far is my dad, and if no one else answers it I'll have to post it again next week. Thanks!

Okay, now the tags. First off, the Six Random Things tag, which I got from wonderland21 about a month and a half ago. The rules (I know you don't care, skip this part): Post the rules on your blog. Write six random things about yourself. Tag six-or-so other people at the bottom of your post -- and leave comments on their blogs letting them know they've been tagged. Let the person who tagged you know when you've written the post. So here we go:

1. I am crazy about lists. I have to make lists of everything. Everyday I make a to-do list so I know how much I still have to do and so I don't forget anything. I make lists of post ideas. I make lists of what to talk about on the phone with a friend. LOL! I make lists of things to bring/pack when we go on trips. I make lists of birthday presents each year. I make lists of all my e-mail pals (okay, so I did that once). Since I like to write, a while ago I made lists of all the boys' and girls' names I could come up with. Etc., etc.
2. I change favorite songs very often. I will listen to the same song over and over and go crazy over it for about a week or two, and then I'll get kind of tired of it and start listening to another song or CD over and over. Right now it's "Stayed on Thee" by Imperial Praise. Love that CD!!!
3. I make a little letter "J" on the date on my calendar every day I write in my journal. I like looking back over past months and seeing how frequently I wrote.
4. I used to say "I HATE COOKING!!!" and even said it when I was only making something simple, like a salad (btw, "used to" means about a week ago and back...). But now I think I'm finally starting to like it. I want to make something all by myself, though, just following some easy directions.
5. I love Algebra! Teaching Textbooks is WONDERFUL, MARVELOUS, AND SUPER-DUPER GREAT!!!!!!
6. I memorized the entire chapter of John 1 when I was seven years old. Since then I have memorized many other chapters of the Bible.
   

I tag: JessicaLetchford, BookLover, pokadot, cherryblossom, Liveforeternity, and forhimigiveall. If you don't want to do it, or if you've already gotten tagged, that's fine.

The second tag is the Author Tag which I grabbed from writer4him. It just looked like so much fun.

Do you have a pen/pencil collection? How many of those are chewed? No, I don't have a collection, but I do have a metal can (decorated) on my desk that I keep a bunch in. None are chewed -- I use the computer to write. And, no, I don't chew on the keyboard, either.

Do you prefer handwriting or typing furiously? Typing furiously, by all means. Handwriting is way too slow, and besides, I re-word things so many times that a word processor is a necessity.

How often do you get inspiration? It kind of comes randomly. Not even close to as often as I wish.

Are you blogging this on a computer or laptop? A laptop? I wish!!

Do you get inspiration more in the early morning or late at night?  Well, like I said, it's kind of random. I have no idea.

Do certain movies/books/music inspire you? I try to be original... The Sherlock Jones Series by Ed Dunlop was a great inspiration... well, at least to write first person, LOL! I'm not even writing in first person anymore, though.

How do you incorporate God into your stories? I either have someone get saved, or have someone learn a character lesson, etc. Oh, and my main characters always live in Christian homes, so far. I have a faint idea for a future book where the MC won't live in a Christian home, but I don't know if I'll ever get enough inspiration for that one or not. I'm not good at coming up with plots.

Do you kill off your villains or make them repent? Welllllll... my stories never have what you could call "villains." But I would probably make them repent. I'm not sure I could find it in my heart to kill them (let me tell you a little secret -- I like the villains).

Is the majority of your characters magical beings, humans or halflings? Or something else? Always human. Once in a great while it will be something else.

What genre of writing are you most comfortable in? If you were to step out of your comfort zone, what would you write? I'm most comfortable with Christian fiction for pre-teens. If I were to step out of my comfort zone, it would be historical fiction or even non-fiction. *shudders at all the research she would have to do*

Do you work better alone or with someone else? Well, I never have co-authored, although Amy and I did talk about it once. Or do you mean do I work best all by myself in the room, or with a bunch of noisy siblings? In that case, definitely in the peace and quiet (I really want a laptop...).

Do your stories make sense, or do they ramble wildly? I don't think they ramble wildly... Do they? If anything, I try to make them make sense so much that I nearly kill them.

Are your characters mostly Renegades, Peacekeepers or a mish-mash? Peacekeepers. I write very boring stuff.

Are you a sucker for good grammar? Yes, but my mom is even more so. She makes me change the order of words around so much that it makes it sound really weird sometimes (sorry, Mom).

How is your handwriting? I love it. But if I get in a really big hurry, I don't like it.

How evil are your villains? Not very. Remember, I don't have villains.

Are you long-winded or succinct? Somewhere in the middle, but I view myself as slightly redundant.

Do you have typical writer traits such as ink stains on your fingers or a pencil behind your ear? No. Once again, I use the computer.

Would someone walking past you on the street consider you normal? A teenage girl wearing an ankle-length skirt? Probably not. I don't think I look very authorish on first glance, though.

Do you write mostly poetry, stories, novels or a mixture? Mostly stories, but I want to write novels. Ah, I love how that word sounds. "Novels..."

Do your characters vary in accents, appearance and attitude or are they mostly the same? Ugh. This is getting embarrassing. Let's see. So far I have no villains, I have a terrible time coming up with a plot, I have a hard time getting my story to go anywhere, and, to top it all off, all the characters are similar! They vary some, but not as much as I wish.

Do real people and/or places inspire your writing? Oh, yes. So do real happenings. In fact, the car crashing into the retaining wall in "Kate Dunlap and the Stolen Watch" was something that really happened at our house in the middle of the night. If the wall hadn't been there, and our house wasn't on a hill, the driver might've gone right into Amy's and my room. Thank God he didn't!

How many blogs/websites/internet haunts do you have? Haunts? *thinks* Um, maybe one or two.

What is your favorite character? Or do you choose to remain unbiased in case of a revolt? In my book right now? It isn't far enough along yet to choose. I'll have to wait until closer to the end to see.

Do you talk to your characters? *rolls eyes at some people*

Are you more comfortable with girl or boy main characters? Girls. I don't know how guys think. It was hard enough making a teenage boy the MC in my prologue. He probably thinks and acts like a girl. It might help to have a brother.

Do you follow basic overused plot lines with new twists thrown in or do you depart from the norm all the time? Like I said, I try to be original. But I steal bits and pieces of other people's books right and left (without realizing it). I might try fan-fiction sometime. I think it would be fun. When I was about seven or eight I started a couple of books about the Boxcar Children. They were never finished, though (but neither was any other books I started back then. The only two books I've finished have been the two Kate Dunlap books. I'm really hoping and pushing to finish this current one -- The Unnamed Novel. I hope it will be long enough to consider a novel...).

Do you feel God has called you to be a writer/poet? Will you grasp the power of the pen? I don't know. But I would like to be able to serve him with it!

Whew. I am quite worn out. And my computer time is up. Oh, well, I'll have to notify my tagees later. Good night!