GET TO KNOW ME TAG // writer's edition!

This tag is ALL OVER the blogosphere right now. Usually I don't get around to tags until the "hype" over them has died, so I'm happy to actually be on top of one for once. XD

I was tagged first by Gray @ Writing is Life, then more recently by Julian @ Saver of Memories and Melissa @ Quill Pen Writer. Thank you so much, frens! <3

~RULES~

- link back to the person who created the tag (Savannah @ Inspiring Writes) - 

   - thank the person who tagged you - 

   - share the tag graphic (optional) - 

   - tag eleven bloggers - 

Let the tag begin!

~VITAL STATS AND APPEARANCES~

(pen)Name: Lila Kims

Nicknames: My real name has a few common nicknames, but I don't go by any of them. My dad used to say my first name and middle name, except instead of my actual middle name he used "Fred." And then my soccer friends used to have a nickname for me too, but let's not talk about that one. *cough*

Birthday: In the fall.

Hair color and length: I have wavy, dirty-blond hair that reaches about a third of the way down my back. Getting long...

Eye color: Blue

Braces/piercings/tattoos: I've never had braces and I'll never get a tattoo, but my ears are pierced.

Righty or lefty: Lefty!

Ethnicity: Caucasion. I have English and Scottish in me and probably a few others way down the road. But yeah, I'm your typical white American gal. XD

~FIRSTS~

First novel written: I was really young, and the story was around 70 pages, but I considered it a novel at the time. It was called "The Ruby Chronicles: Book 1." I never finished it, though as you can see, I fully intended on writing a whole series. It was about a girl and her best friend who found a ruby half-buried by the side of a walking trail. (Their constant chatter about MP3 players and American Girl Dolls clearly expresses my interests at the time. XD)

First novel completed: Probably the very first draft of Dusted Red, which I finished in April 2017 at a little over 100,000 words.

Award for writing: I won Finalist two times in a row in an annual essay contest I ended up submitting to a total of... three times, I think?

First publication: An article published in a local homeschool paper... thing. XD

Conference: Never been to one, though I would love to one day!

Query/Pitch: Not yet, my friends. Not yet.

~FAVORITES~

Novel (that you wrote): The complete rewrite of Dusted Red, which I finished not long after April Camp NaNo 2018. :D 

Genre: Fantasy! And also fairy tale retellings. <3

Author: Marissa Meyer and Jennifer A. Nielsen are at the top!

Writing music: It varies with each project, but I really like movie soundtracks such as the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Finding Nemo, and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Also Audiomachine (<3 <3), Lindsey Stirling, and occasionally Two Steps from Hell.

Time to write: Almost always the evening - except on lazy weekends when I have time to do it in the afternoons too.

Writing snack/drink: Just water, usually. It's hard to write while snacking because I hate the idea of getting my laptop's keyboard covered in crumbs or grease.

Movie: Rise of the Guardians, The Return of the King, and The Greatest Showman are big favorites! <3 

Writing memory: I absolutely LOVED writing the very last scene of my rewrited WIP - it got me sooooo excited that I literally jumped around my room giggling maniacally behind my hands.

Childhood book: Did anyone else grow up reading the Digby and Kate books by Barbara Baker???

~CURRENTLY~

Reading: A Middle Grade fantasy called Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard by Jonathan Auxier. The MC lives in a town where the authorities have - get this - GATHERED A HUGE PILE OF BOOKS THAT THEY PLAN TO BURN ON A "CELEBRATORY" DAY CALLED PYRE DAY.

But yeah, I like it so far.

Also listening to the audiobook for Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - a reread.

Writing: Well, I'm not currently first-drafting anything, but I'm trying to find the time to outline DR's sequel, gradually world-building for a novella I want to expand, and am about to dive into DR edits!

Listening to: At this very moment? Ride by Twenty One Pilots. XD

Watching: I'm not really watching any TV shows at the moment, since the next season of NCIS isn't airing yet. Sometimes I catch snatches of Charlie's Angels and Home Improvement, though. Oldies but goodies.

Learning: With God's help, I can have a peace that passes all understanding even when life is making my head spin and/or making me nervous.

~FUTURE~

Want to be published: You bet I do!

Indie or traditional: Traditional. I'm willing to fight for this.

Wildest goal: To one day be as popular (and widely beloved) of an author as V.E. Schwab or Leigh Bardugo or Marissa Meyer. It's a EXTREMELY wild dream, I know. :)

~~~

And that, my friends, is the tag! I had soooo much fun doing it - I hope you enjoyed! I don't think I'll be tagging anyone, seeing as most of my blogger buddies have either done it already or been tagged. Feel free to steal it. ;D

The Lord's Truly,

What is one of your wildest goals as a writer? Talk to me in the comments!