Category: Tags & Awards

It’s been a while since I’ve done a blog tag, hasn’t it? Well That is going to end right now! Not too long ago my good friend E. C. Colton tagged me for her blog tag, My Life in Books. Before I start, I just want to appologize for the inconsistent sizes of each of these book cover photos. I couldn’t figure out how to make them all the same size. WordPress is weird, and tech is weirder or should I say. . . wierder. . . hehehe. Now, let’s get started!

Find a book for each of your initials.

D.L.A? Alright, that shouldn’t be too hard.

D — Danny the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl

That was a personal favorite of mine when I was younger, and it shouldn’t be too hard to guess why 😉. But Danny or no Danny, it was a really fun and heartwarming book.

L — Lysbeth, by H. Rider Haggard

I didn’t even know this book existed in our family bookshelf, or at all, for that matter. It was one of the few books in our entire fam bookshelf that started with an “L”. The few other “L” books I found I had never read either.

A — A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle

A very good book, however confusing. I’ve read the version above, as well the graphic novel, and LOVE the graphic novel version. I’ve watched a play of AWIT (before I had even read the book), and I thought it was very good. I watched the recent movie too, and it is the MOST INACCURATE THING EVER!!! I recommend never watching the modern movie, unless you just want to make fun of it or write a review on how inaccurate it is. I’m not sure about the old movie.

Count your age along your bookshelf: what book is it?

Avengers, Age of Ultron, the Junior Novel

This was a book that one of my sisters got me when I was younger (because, as you can tell, I’m no longer a junior. . . I think. I never really know what they mean by “junior”, unless it’s for high school or college). It basically says what happens in the Avengers Age of Ultron movie (or at least, about half of what happens).

Pick a book set in your city/country.

Simon B. Rhymin’, by Dwayne Reed

I remember my dad reading, like, the first chapter of this book to me and some siblings, though I’ve never read it myself. It is set in Chicago, my city.

Pick a book that represents a destination you’d love to travel to.

The Trumpet of the Swan, by E. B. White

Part of this book is set in Canada, a place I would like to visit for several reasons. One being that I have friends up there, and another being that it is just such a beautiful country. Not to mention that I’m part Canadian. The Trumpet of the Swan was a very fun read, I have to admit.

Pick a book that’s your favorite color.

WHY THIS QUESTION, EM??? WHY?!?! That’s so vague!!! So many books have my favorite color, blue. You know what, I’m going to rebel and change the question a bit.

Pick a book that has one of your favorite color schemes.

Well, I do enjoy the color scheme of. . .

Elysium (the Tartarus Chronicles Book 1), by Keith A Robinson

(Agh, why is that photo so blurry?? Trust me, it looks so much better not blurry.)

Which book do you have the fondest memories of?

I don’t know. Define “fond”. Well, Google defines “fond” as “having an affection or liking for”. Well it can’t be any book in the Door Within Trilogy by Wayne Thomas Batson, because my love for those books is beyond “fond”, and I already mention Danny the Champion of the World, so probably. . .

Matilda, by Roald Dahl

Ah, I loved this book. It’s so fun, but that’s only one word to describe it.

Which book did you have the most difficulty reading?

Besides the Bible, there are several books that I found very difficult to read, among them was the Hobbit, but the hardest was. . .

The Eagle, by Rosemary Sutcliff

It was set a long time ago in Great Britain, during the rule of the Romans. It was just so boring, and the language and writing style was very confusing and draggy. I just gave up reading it, like, halfway through.

What book on your TBR pile will give you the biggest accomplishment when you finish it?

There are several, but the biggest is probably. . .

The Fellowship of the Ring, by J. R. R. Tolkien

I was reading it for school, and I probably would have been done reading it by now if a person who will remain anonymous hadn’t ripped several pages from our copy. So now I’ll have to find a different copy somehow. Hopefully our library has one.

Now it’s your turn!

Alright, time for the tags! The question is. . . how many people am I suppose to tag. . ? Eh, I’ll just do three.

Raegan @ Raegan’s Full Mind

Laurel @ Laurel Jean

Callie @ An Unfinished Story

And it’s not limited to those three. Anyone can take a stab at it if they want!

Note: This post was scheduled, because I am currently at a camp, so that’s why I won’t be responding to anything for several more days. 😉

With God’s help,

Daniel L. Amador

If you’re like me when I saw the title to my friend’s post and then my name near the bottom, you might be thinking, “oooh, an awwaaaarrd!” Yes. It is true. This is my first blogging award *awkward, short clap*! Thank you, Mia, for tagging me.

The Rules:

• Provide the link to the creator’s original post (Here)
• Answer the questions provided
• Create 7 unique questions
• Nominate 10 bloggers (noooo too much! Too much! *sigh*) Ensure that they are aware of their nomination. Neither the award’s creator, nor the blogger that nominated you may be nominated.
• At the end of 2021, every blog that pingbacks the creator’s original post will be entered to win the 2021 Outstanding Blogger award.

There. We are done with that.

Let’s move on to the questions!

1. If You Had an Unlimited Amount of Candy For a Day, How Much Would You Eat?

Honestly, I’d only eat a few candies. I’ve never been a HUGE fan of candy, not to mention it is super unhealthy. I honestly don’t know the exact number. Probably less than 11.

2. Does Anyone in Your Family Scrapbook?

I don’t know. I should probably ask.

*Asks* Yes.

-Wow, such an in-depth answer!

-Wait, you’re back?

–Yessirrr. You can lock me up for a bit, but never forever.

-Clearly.

-. . .

-What, you’re not gonna yell at me?

-Cut me some slack. I’m tired right now and don’t have the energy to yell.

-Okayyy. . .

Anyway. . .

3. Do You Like to Sing?

Hehehe. . . good question. . .

I enjoy singing to myself. I prefer rapping. I’m not sure if that would be considered singing or not. I’m fine if it is a small group of friends or family. I don’t like singing in public. Though, if I’m being honest, I would like to rap professionally someday.

4. Do You Know Your Vocal Range?

*Scoff* No.

5. Are You Homeschooled, or Have You Been? What Did You Take Away From it?

Yes, I am homeschooled. I also go to a co-op, which is basically school, but we ‘meet up’ once a week, and do homework for it throughout the week.

One thing I took away is that homeschool with a co-op can be just as stressful, if not more, than public or private school. It honestly depends on the classes one takes. A lot of people have the misconception that homeschoolers have little to no homework and can do whatever. That can be true, but most definitely not in all cases.

6. What is Your Dream Job?

Several things. A professional -isn’t it ironic how I misspelled the word professional at first, writing “porffecional”- author and blogger, as well as having a side community-serving occupation. And as we’re talking about dream jobs. . . it’d be awesome if I were able to be a rapper.

7. What Was Your Favorite TV Show When You Were Younger?

Hm. Probably either Phineas and Ferb or Avatar the Last Airbender.

My Questions:

1. What Accomplishment Are You Most Proud of Doing?
2. If You Could Go to Any Country for Free and for A Week, Where Would You Go?
3. What is Your Least Favorite Food?
4. If You Could Meet Anyone in All of History, Who Would You Meet?
5. Do You Collect Anything? If So, What Do You Collect?
6. Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?
7. What is Your Favorite Sport?

Finally, the tags!

1. Laurel over at Laurel Jean
2. Raegan over at Reagan’s Full Mind
3. Meg over at Heyo It’s Meg
4. Olivia over at Olivia’s Pen
5. Emilie over at Emilie Violets Essays
6. Alabama over at Alabama Rose
7. Callie over at An Unfinished Story
8. Callie (another one) over at Callie’s Corner
9. Josie over at Apple Blossoms
10. Aaand last but not least, Caleb over at Caleb E King

Whew, that took a while! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading! See you next week (unless something occurs making me see you sooner, or later . . .)!

With God’s help,

Daniel L. Amador

Quite a while ago I was tagged by my blogging friend Laurel Jean for the Reflections Blog Tag. Thanks, Laurel!

Anyway, here are some rules:

• Thank the person who tagged you (check!).
• Share 8 of the things God blessed you with or taught you in 2020 (alright, I got this…).
• Tag +5 bloggers (ayy, that ain’t so hard).

Alright alright, let’s get this thing started.

1. I started writing seriously.

I started writing seriously in 2020. Mid April, to be more exact, so my writing-seriously anniversary passed fairly recently. By taking writing “seriously”, I mean that I’ve started several writing projects and had the mindset of publication in my mind. I hope that makes sense.

2. I started blogging.

Blogging was something I don’t think I even knew about till 2020 after I joined the Young Writer’s Workshop in May. It’s been so awesome blogging, and I’ve learned so much through it! I’d like to thank God for helping me out with this. As I say every single blog post, I could only do this “with God’s help”. That goes for everything I do. I’d also like to thank all of my readers and followers! I’d be writing to empty Internet space if it weren’t for all of you.

3. I joined Ydubs.

I’ve told you all about Ydubs, YWW, the Young Writer’s Workshop, several times, so I don’t think I need to explain it again. Anyway, it has blessed me SO much. Along with learning so much more about writing, graphic design, blogging, and the like through it, I made some amazing friends as well.

4. I made the bold decision to take two high school classes.

You may have heard me say a few times that I am in eight grade, but also take a high school and college-level class. That is true. Officially, I am in eight grade, but I take high school literature and Advanced Placement Human Geography. Yes, this has been the most stressful school year of my life, but most definitely worth it. Literature has continued to hone my skills while APHG has dumped so much knowledge on me -a geography fanatic- I’m ecstatic! It is true that I hope to never take an AP class again, though! I only took the challenge because it was a geography course. 😉

5. I made a lot of good friends.

While COVID has limited my chances at in-person friends, I have made some amazing online friends through Ydubs.

6. A laptop.

Sure, this laptop is really old, has to always be plugged in, and I share it, but it has been INCREDIBLY helpful.

7. I see changes in me.

As I continue to grow older, I feel myself maturing. Yes, I know that might sound boastful, but it is true. While I’m most definitely not perfect, and I can be annoying and have other flaws as well, when I compare myself to my younger self, I do see some improvements. 🙂

8. I became extremely fascinated in graphic design and photography.

Both are just so fun, and I have figuratively fallen in love with those two arts! True, I’m not the best and I do lack a good deal of skill in them, but I’ve been improving and putting effort into them.

And that is all EIGHT! This gave me the opportunity to really look back at the good things of 2020, and not just… not-so-Lil’ Rona.

Time for the tagees! That’s a word. It is… maybe. Hehehe.

1. Shanessa over at My Days in Montana
2. Esther over at Esther Josephine Writes
3. Caleb over at Caleb E. King
4. Noah over at Life in Kyoto
5. Alabama over at Alabama Rose

That’s been done.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post! If you weren’t tagged, feel free to comment about your favorite blessing(s) of 2020!

With God’s help,

Daniel L. Amador

Grab your atlas, running shoes, (Spanish to English translator,) and a good book! You ready? Let’s go, fam!

My good friend Esther tagged me for a “Narnia Tag” (thank you!). The only thing I was wondering about was… What on earth is Narnia?

I had heard that word again and again, but never knew what it was. I assumed it was some Greek mythological place or whatever, and didn’t really put much thought into it.

Finally, I had to research it. After about 30 minutes or so I found out that “Narnia” was a place in a book series called The Chronicles of Narnia, by some guy named C.S. Lewis.

Clearly, I had never read it before, so I hopped onto this laptop to write out an explanation and apology…

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So, I apologize for those few paragraphs of false nonsense. I was just joking. Heehee.

That was seriously one of your worst jokes ever. Especially because HOW ON EARTH COULD YOU BE BOTH AN AMADOR AND A WRITER WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT NARNIA WAS??? You didn’t fool me for a second, Danny-Boy.

I know it was a horrible joke. Why do you think I apologized?

…Good point.

Of course it is. Now leave me be. You aren’t even supposed to be here. How did you get out of that cell anyway?

Secrets. And I will never leave!

You. Shall. Not. PAAASSSSSS!!!

*gasps, and flees in terror*

I apologize for that whole… scene, as well. *eyes him running away* He shouldn’t be back for a few posts, I think.

Anyway, on with the tag!

Below are the tag rules:

• Thank the person who tagged you (Done and done).
• Describe the rate of your Narnia fanatic- nostalgic, serious, or maniacal (…still to be done).
• Answer the questions below (will do).
• Tag 5+ other bloggers (okay).
• Have fun (I intend to)!

The levels of Narnia fanatic:

1. Nostalgic fanatic- You read the book and/or watch the movies as a child and the word “Narnia” gives you a warm feeling.
2. Serious fanatic- You rediscovered the wonder of Narnia after you were older and have read the books and watched the movies.
3. Maniacal fanatic- You have lived Narnia from childhood, hid in closets on more accounts than is healthy, and have read and watched all the movies, including the BBC version.

Hmmm… I don’t think I fit into any of those categories… SO I WILL MAKE MY OWN!!! AHAHAHA!!!

I call it… *drum roll*

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The ‘DanLA fanatic’! *gasps* Oooh, I like it, actually! Kind of… sort of… not really… Maybe! I could use that some time actually… Let’s just say it’s a work in progress that I’ll likely never work on ever in my future.

4. DanLA fanatic- You’ve watched all the Disney movies, and read through Prince Caspian. You never even knew there was a BBC version. You have hid in closets, but only for hide and seek, and you weren’t even thinking of Narnia at the time.

Now for the questions!

1. Who is your favorite Pevensie sibling?

Hmmm… I think I’m going to have to go with… Peter… or maybe Lucy… For this tag, I think I’ll just go with Peter. He just seems like a good older brother.

2. What is the most underrated book in the series?

It’d have to be The Magician’s Nephew. I don’t hear much about that book, but it’s honestly so good! Now they just need to make a movie… and make it accurate.

3. Who is your favorite Narnian king?

Peter. A brave, just, strong, fearless leader, he is.

4. Who is your favorite Narnian queen?

Lucy. A brave, kind, just, wise queen, she is..

5. Which non-human Narnian do you like best?

Reepicheep. REEP-I-CHEEP!!! REEP-I-CHEEP!!! Second place is Aslan.

6. Which book deserves a movie?

The Horse and His Boy. I’d love to see that as a movie- it would be so good! All they need to do is MAKE. IT. ACCURATE. FOR GOODNESS SAKES, ALL WE WANT IS THE ORIGINAL BOOK IN A MOVIE, OKAY, PRODUCERS??? PLEASE???? FOR ONCE??????

7. What is one thing you did as a Narnia fanatic you did not regret?

Uuuummm… I’m not sure. Read at least some of the books, I guess?

That’s all for the questions! Now for the tags.

Timothy Benefield

Caleb E. King

Mia Harden

Liesl Brunner

Felicity Wales

Please note that you do not have to do this if you do not want to!

Thank you for reading!

With God’s help,

Daniel L. Amador

Grab your atlas, running shoes, (Spanish to English translator,) and a good book! You ready? Let’s go, fam!

Wow, I haven’t posted anything in over a week! I hope this post is worth the wait!

Before I say anything, I need to say something (did you just say that, Danny-boy?)… I stole this tag.

You may be thinking, “A pastor’s kid stealing?? That’s like a firefighter’s kid being an arsonist!”

But, technically, it wasn’t stolen, it was more like… given. By Alabama “Montgomery” Rose. So, sí, gracias, Montgomery.

Now on with the post!

This is about siblings in writing. Here are the rules:

1. Numero uno: Say gracias to the blogger who tagged you (look above).
2. Answer the questions assigned by both the other blogger and you.
3. Only use your characters. Not anyone else’s. Billy’s, not Jimmy’s, not your next door neighbor’s, and not even Tolkien’s (as awesome as they are)!
4. Tag tres otros bloggers.
5. If any of your siblings happen to blog likewise, they are automatically tagged, but not counted as one of the three.
6. Add a question to the set of questions that already exist and have been assigned to you. For example, the person who tagged me answered 14 questions, one of which was her own, now I have to answer 15 questions, one of which is my own, then the person I tagged has to answer 16 questions, one of which is their own, and so on and so forth.
7. Close the post by honoring our Heavenly Father.

Now to begin!

Name the most annoying sibling character in any of your stories (Either annoying to you as the author to any other characters)

Um… I’d say… Brawny. He’s one of the three MCs in my book Beyond the Wolf, and he is a sort of kind and good character, but for some reason I am really annoyed by him.

Name the most caring sibling character in any of your stories

I’ve never actually written what I have so far for his book, because adding another book to all my other writing projects is what I would consider total chaos. But, I still consider it one of my book projects (I will refer to it as Book in My Head, or BMH). Anyway, the most caring sibling character in any of my books is Anna, older sister of adopted Luis and not-adopted Grace. She is 18, I think, and just really caring and nice. I can’t wait to write down her character when I finish one of my other projects! The runner up is Jewel from BtW.

Name the most entertaining sibling character in any of your stories

Ugh, I don’t know! Who told me to answer these questions anyway?? Oh, yeah, Montgomery. *sigh* Well, I would say the answer to this question is Rock? He is the older sibling of one of the three MCs, Yarrow, from BtW. I personally enjoy writing the squabbles between him and Yarrow.

Name a sibling character who was inspired in some way by an actual sibling

Hmm. Actually, for my stories, I usually make many of the characters based of, well, me. It really helps to express myself. You can ask a bunch of writers, and I bet you at least two out of five would say that they love to express themselves through their writing. Anyway, I’d say that I based Ember from BtW and Benedict from Somethingsomethingblablabla (the temporary name for the book I am coauthoring. I know, it’s an amazing name.;) The abbreviation is SSBBB) are based on my little, adorable, three year old sister Emma.

Name the largest character family (family, not family tree) in any of your stories

Elinor’s family from BMH and Meldor’s family from Warriors of Terocayl Trilogy book #1: The First War (WoTT #1: TFW). There are ten siblings in each of their families. I have seven siblings myself. People always say my family is huge, though I never thought so. I grew up going to a homeschool co-op where many of the families were “large”: 5-11 kids.

Provide one to three excerpts from your sibling characters’ dialog from any of your stories

Here you go (Sharpgrin is not a sibling, but a friend. Yarrow and Rock are siblings. All are wolves):

Yarrow rolled onto her opposite side as Sharpgrin nudged her, trying to get her up.

“Wake up! Ugh, Rock, get your sister to get up!” he complained.

“I can try…” He nudged her a couple of times, and then eventually decided to nipe at her ears.

“Ow, ow, ow!” she exclaimed, hastily getting up. “It works every time!” Rock grinned triumphantly.

Yarrow angrily walked to where the meat was at, with her head held high. Halfway there, she stopped, closed her eyes, opened them, revealing a green glow (all this with her head facing away from Rock and Sharpgrin), and then a vine shot out of the ground and whipped Rock in the side. “Ouch!” he cried, as he leaped back.

“She is clearly not in a good mood today.” grumbled Rock, as he licked his bruise.

Yarrow humphed. The vine whipped Rock again, then fell limp to the ground, as Yarrow walked away and began eating her piece of deer.

Now do you see why I love writing the sibling relationship between Rock and Yarrow?? Rock is older, but Yarrow has the power to control plants, AND IT’S JUST SO FUN TO WRITE!! XD

If I started actually writing BMH, I would have dozens of these. *wistful sigh*

Name three publish books which have an amazing portrayal of siblings or family

1. Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jiang. Sure, it is a very sad book (it is a memoir on Jiang’s life as a girl in communist China) but I love the relationship she had with her siblings.
2. The Chronicles of Narnia by if-you-don’t-know-who-then-I-don’t-know-you. -_- The Pevensies!!!
3. Ginger Pye by Elinor Estes. The Pyes are so fun to read.

Name another author’s character family that you wouldn’t mind jumping into

I DON’T KNOW!!! Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh I know! I wanna be the younger bro of Nock and Bolt!! They are from the Door Within Trilogy by Wayne Thomas Batson!

Provide an excerpt of sibling drama or camaraderie from any title (don’t forget to give the author credit!)

Ginger Pye, by Eleanor Estes. Historically, I think Boston is more important, but more recently, I think New York is much more important (CHICAGO IS IMPORTANT TOO).

Name two characters from two unrelated books that you feel would make for great literary siblings (whether in terms of getting along, or being in constant head-to-head combat)

Oh my, definitely Henry from Henry and Ribsey by Beverly Cleary and Jerry from Ginger Pye!!!

What sibling trope would you like to write in the future?

¡No sé! Umm… I like writing the older, sweet sister trope, I think…

Which of your own sibling groups would you love to join?

Eh… *taps foot* I give up. *facedesk* Am I allowed to give up? Uhhhh… I don’t really feel like I would fit in with any of my families, unless I replaced a character. So, I guess the Davidsons, and I would replace Luis, maybe…

If you could adopt only one of your fictional siblings as your own sibling, who would it be?

Ember! ‘Cause she’s a nice young wolf.

What fictional character most reminds you of yourself as a sibling?

As a sibling, maybe Elinor Lee from BMH. As a character in general, Luis Guerra/Davidson.

If you could revive (that is, bring back to life) any sibling character from another author’s book, who would you revive?

Captain Valithor/Grampin from the Door Within Trilogy!! Particularly Captain Valithor.

And that’s all of my answers! I will now tag…

1. Felicity “Lissie” Wales
2. Esther “Star” Lawe
3. Elisabeth “Beth” Hutto

I expect good answers from you three!

Las Preguntas

1. Name the most annoying sibling character in any of your stories (Either annoying to you as the author to any other characters)
2. Name the most caring sibling character in any of your stories
3. Name the most entertaining sibling character in any of your stories
4. Name a sibling character who was inspired in some way by an actual sibling
5. Name the largest character family (family, not family tree) in any of your stories
6. Provide one to three excerpts from your sibling characters’ dialog from any of your stories
7. Name three publish books which have an amazing portrayal of siblings or family
8. Name another author’s character family that you wouldn’t mind jumping into
9. Provide an excerpt of sibling drama or camaraderie from any title (don’t forget to give the author credit!)
10. Name two characters from two unrelated books that you feel would make for great literary siblings (whether in terms of getting along, or being in constant head-to-head combat)
11. What sibling trope would you like to write in the future?
12. Which of your own sibling groups would you love to join?
13. If you could adopt only one of your fictional siblings as your own sibling, who would it be?
14. What fictional character most reminds you of yourself as a sibling?
15. If you could revive (that is, bring back to life) any sibling character from another author’s book, who would you revive?

That’s all for today, friends!

With God’s Help, 

Daniel L. Amador

Important Side Note: Don’t forget my blog post/poll about whether I should have a snippet series for my book or not! So far it has six votes (besides mine). Gracias!

CREDIT TO DANIEL L. AMADOR FOR ALL PHOTOS IN THIS BLOG POST.