Merrilee Faber posted this amusing little meme and — since I’ve been remiss in posting personal updates — I thought I’d give it a spin.
1. If you could have any superpower, what would you have? Why?
I have never dreamed of being a superhero, helping the oppressed etc. Perhaps that’s bad of me. I have however debated numerous times what superpower I would like to have; top contenders include the ability to commune with animals, invisibility, teleportation, or some kind of mental kinetic power. But perhaps the trump card is the ability to shapeshift.
Why? Maybe it appeals because I grew up reading Animorphs. My reasoning is that by being able to shapeshift into a bird, I would have the power to fly. Shapeshifting into something small would be similar to being invisible. Even better if one can shapeshift into inanimate objects! To be able to escape my own skin, even for a short while, is very appealing.
2. Who is your style icon?
I’m not one for icons, branded goods, trend-following, etc. But living in London means I’m surrounded by fascinating street fashion and makes it easy to keep up-to-date on what’s popular and what’s not. So I pick and choose depending on what suits me. If I had to classify my style, perhaps it would fall under the category of urban casual with a dash of London’s East End.
3. What is your favorite quote?
I would be hard-pressed to pick just one. I’ve actually started collecting quotes on Goodreads.
Out of them right now, the one that stood out was Philip Pullman’s
“…But it gradually seemed to me that I’d made myself believe something that wasn’t true. I’d made myself believe that I was fine and happy and fulfilled on my own without the love of anyone else. Being in love was like China: you knew it was there, and no doubt it was very interesting, and some people went there, but I never would. I’d spend all my life without ever going to China, but it wouldn’t matter, because there was all the rest of the world to visit… And I thought: am I really going to spend the rest of my life without feeling that again? I thought: I want to go to China. It’s full of treasures and strangeness and mysteries and joy.” -The Amber Spyglass
4. What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?
I don’t know which the best one is, but the one that touched me the most was to be told that I am a very good listener. Not sure why it touched me so much at the time.
5. What playlist/cd is in your CD player/iPod right now?
Currently listening to The Presets because they are awesome! I’ve got an account on last.fm if you want to see the kind of music I like.
6. Are you a night owl or a morning person?
Night owl, all the way. I would much rather stay up till 2-3am writing, than go to bed early and get up in the morning a bit earlier. Yuck! Mornings are not meant to be seen. There’s something about the stillness of the night that helps me focus. Plus I am very much a party girl. :-)
7. Do you prefer dogs or cats?
I like all animals, but I think I’d have to pick dogs. Because you never know where you stand with cats — they come up all purring and happy and “pet me!” and then all of a sudden turn around and scratch you. But on the other hand, lolcats are way funnier than loldogs. It’s a dilemma….
8. What is the meaning behind your blog name?
I haven’t been very original — it’s just my own name! I do also run quillsandzebras, my book review blog, but the name just comes from me looking at the three leftmost letters on my keyboard and coming up with a meaning for the acrynoym. And my publishing project qazyfiction sprang from there — took the same three letters (q, a, z) and turned it into an adjective. It helps that it was a little inside joke with myself that I almost write fiction.
If you are reading this and haven’t yet completed this meme, consider yourself tagged. Ha!
A.M. Harte 
I loved Animorphs too, when I was a kid. I was already reading “high-brow” lit at that age, thanks to my Dad forcing his Vonnegut and such on me… so I used to sneak the Animorphs books out of the library and read them in secret under the covers so he wouldn’t be embarrassed by my love of pulp :)
Haha! My dad was the exact same, but my best friend of the time owned the entire Animorphs series, so whenever I’d stay over I’d end up with my nose in a book. (She was a bookworm too, so it didn’t really matter, although her mom found it odd that we’d both hang out reading.)
1. Invisibility, no question. Flight sounds tempting. 2. Patsy Stone 3. ‘Give me luxuries and I can live without necessities.’ 4. ? 5. Mixture. Leonard Cohen, Stones, Janis, Jimmi, Queen, Dire Straits, Bob Dylan, Melissa Etheridge et al. 6. Nightowl 7. Cats, only just. Horses, also. 8. Celtic for success + Coyne is obvious, no?
Woop! Fellow nightowl. So many people are morning people; I don’t understand why.
Actually, shapeshift would be pretty cool. I’d love to be able to change my looks at will. But it begs the question of identity – who are you if you can be anyone?
You’d be someone who could shapeshift! :-D Surely your identity would be the non-shapeshifted you?
Those “what kind of superpower would you have” questions always snag my attention. Shocker, huh?
That was a lovely quote.
I’m a sucker for quotes about love. Especially sad quotes above love. And sad things in general!
So what superpower would *you* choose?
It’s hard for me to pick one. I’m pretty sure I’d choose a mental power over a physical one (physical effort to be avoided generally). Obviously, I’m a fan of telekinesis. Mind reading is cool. Things like mind-reading and influence could easily become a burden, morally speaking. Thinking too much and spending too much time in a world where superpowers mean imprisonment probably don’t help me actually answer the question myself. But I like reading other people’s answers.