It was a Dark and Stormy Morning.

And I can't think of anything better to call this post. Because it is a dark and stormy morning. And this post is basically answering a bunch of questions that got passed onto me by a fellow writer at an AW messages board. (Btw, if you are interested, AW would have to be one of the most useful places for finding and discussing stuff about writing on the internet. I can't understand why I didn't find it earlier.) Anyway, this bloke was very mysterious about getting volunteers for this, so I stuck my hand up.

So, on a dark and stormy morning, in an empty house in the middle of spring (why is it a dark and stormy morning anyway? What happened to spring weather?) I give you eight slightly interesting questions:

1. If you could have any superpower, what would you have, and why?

I can't decide between the ability to read minds, purely because I would be able to tell what everyone was thinking and understand their motivations/worries/angst better, and immortality. Ever since I saw Groundhog Day, I thought it would be quite cool to have all the time in the world to learn everything that you ever wanted to learn.

2. Who is your style icon?

I wasn't even aware that style had an impact on your quality of life until about six months ago. That realisation was brought upon me by a Courtney Lovegrove, so I would have to say that she is about as close as it comes, style wise, to being an icon.

In writing and stories - it depends. If your talking stories and characters, then I would say Tamora Pierce. I devoured her books like nothing on earth when I was a kid. Also, as I started writing, and became aware of the mechanics of writing, I became aware that her earlier books weren't all that well written. (Comparatively speaking, when you hold them up to the rest of literature) Then I got to her later books, which were better written, and I felt as if she was evolving along with me as a writer. (Even though she wasn't - she'd written these books about three years ago - still, it felt nice.)

However, for a person who I am in awe of due to the sheer style of writing alone - you cannot beat Markus Zurak. He's Australian, he writes literary novels which are amazing, and his style is so hauntingly beautiful that it was almost like a character in itself. The Book Thief is something everyone must read.

3. What is your favourite quote?

Curiosity hurt the cat, and satisfaction brought it back. Pretty much a justification for my life, really.

4. What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?

This is a strange one. Living where I do, and working the job I do, I get to meet almost the whole town. So a lot of people only see the "nice polished" side of me (I work at a supermarket - I like to be nice to people in my job, it makes time go quicker.) So probably the best compliment I ever got was from a lady who I had served a couple of times, and the last time through she asked me if this was full-time work for me (i.e was I going to be doing it for the rest of my life). I told her that no, I was going off to study medicine next year. She sighed in relief and said : "I knew such a nice person couldn't be destined to work here their whole life."

It was quite odd. Because as friends and family will attest, I'm not always nice. And this lady was a complete stranger, that I'd only seen three or four times, and she genuinely cared. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

5.What playlist/CD is in your CD Player/iPod right now?

Celtic music, I'm not sure by who. I've resorted to listening to music in languages I don't understand when I'm writing, because otherwise the music detracts me. Even if I only know three words in the entire song (say if it's in Chinese) my brain will try and switch over to understand the rest of it.

6.Are you a night owl or a morning person?

I used to think I was a morning person, because I used to get up at 5am and write before school. Now that I don't have any school, and I never go to work (unless I'm called in) before 1pm, I tend to stay up late and write. It'll probably switch back when I head off to Uni.

7. Do you prefer dogs or cats?

I like dogs if I have the time. At the moment, I do, so I can't wait until our new puppy arrives. Cat's are good if you want companionship that can deal with your absence. When I was at school, and busy, I loved our dog, but I never had the time to do that love justice. Cats don't care - as long as you feed them, they'll put up with your hugs and leave you alone when you're busy.

8. What is the meaning behind your blog name?

I work better under antagonistic pressure. If someone says I can't do something, I will go out of my way to prove that I can at least try. So I was hoping that the title would remind me that not many people thought I would ever be published, so that was my antagonistic pressure, and I should go out and prove them wrong.

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That was interesting. I think the common courtesy is to pass this on, but I don't have anyone to pass it on to, so I'll leave that up to others that have come across it *sniff, sniff* all alone in the blogverse.

Nah. I'm pretty sure I'll survive. And I really should be writing. Bye,

Sian