The wonderful K E Garland from Kwoted by KE Garland nominated me for the Sisterhood of World Bloggers Award. You wouldn’t believe how I cool I think that is! Sisterhood is something I advocate. I really believe we women should stick together more.Here are the five rules: (1) Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to her site; (2) Put the award logo on your blog; (3) Answer the ten questions sent to you; (4) Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer; and (5) Nominate ten blogs. In this post I’ll answer to the prompts 1 to 3, the 4th and the 5th I will answer in a next post.
K E (or Kwoted as I like to call her) asked me ten questions to answer for this award and I just had to tell you more than just answer in few and short sentences.
1. Do you have children, and if so, how have you managed to balance motherhood and other life activities?
I became a mother at 26. Motherhood was easy then, as the sleepless nights from clubbing seamlessly changed into sleepless nights from a waking baby. At 34, I had my second son and changing back to those baby routines was harder because I just got used to my happy kid that could do things on his own and who was easy and fun to talk to.
My kids love me and my youngest son would happily stay with me all day. So I carried him. I still carry him. And as long as it not completely impossible, the motto is “Where ever I go, my kids go.” So I take my baby running in the stroller, I let him dance with me as I’m learning my classes and I’ll let them help me cook.
I do take the much needed me-time though. Working out and even work are times I can feel like I am more than just the goddess at their disposal.
2. Do you have any pets, and if so, how did your pet come to be a part of your life?
Apart from a tank with 3 goldfishes that Junior’s father stood us up with when he moved to Curaçao, nope. Our house is a mess already without them.
3. Do you have any other passions than writing?
My first passion was acting, until I realized I sucked at it. I love singing and I used to sing in a band, but honestly, I suck at that too. My true passion is dance. I love it, it sets me free, it makes me glow, I can connect with others through it. Again, I’m not So-You-Think-You-Can-Dance material and I wouldn’t want presume I’m a dancer, but in my heart, I definitely feel like one.
On a more philosophical level, I’m passionate about women’s rights. It is still such a men’s world we live in! Breastfeeding, working or staying at home, gender neutral parenting, healthy body image… I want to chip in writing about these topics but I still don’t know quite how.
4.How did you become a blogger?
Uhm. It’s yet another title that feels funny to call myself. Yes, I blog. I set up an account and url with WordPress and pressed publish. Does that make me a blogger? Or is it the first time somebody new read my post / liked my post / commented on my post? Or that moment that I reblogged some one else’s post / ping backed to someone else’s post / joined a blogging course? Or maybe that moment I was paid to add a link to commercial site, write a sponsored post or was offered a product to review or give away? I really don’t know.
5. What genre do you prefer to read?
Historical fiction. I love traveling back to the past and having history brought back to life in a dramatized way. Umberto Eco, Monaldi and Sorti, Philippa Gregory and Arthur Golden are authors that I love to read.
6. In what genre do you generally write?
Uhm. I wish this was a multiple choice question. But I looked some genres up on Wikipedia and I’d choose a new genre I’d call Real Life Fiction, because life through my eyes can be pretty dramatic. Or maybe Slice of Life, as I don’t seem to be able to connect to dots between my posts to a coherent motive.
I’d would love to write a family saga too, but it would involve crossing the privacy boundaries of my family. And maybe it’s just my fling with Vikings.
7. Do you have a spouse or significant other, and if so, how does this person complement you?
I met The Love of My Life 12 years ago, but it wasn’t until 4 years later that we got together. I’ve never been so in love with anybody and I’m in love with him still. He’s my rock I cling to, the one who keeps our family on course, who makes sure we finish the things that I initiate for our family. Together, we get things done.
8. What is your writing process?
There’s not much romance about it. Mostly it’ll be typing a first draft in Evernote during my morning commute for 30 minutes, editing it after dinner and posting. If it involves pictures, I mostly take the pictures beforehand and then write about it later on the train.
9. Are you a morning or night person?
I like the mornings for working out, the nights for writing. The Love of My Life feels lonely turning to bed alone, but that hour for writing, reading and commenting on other blogs when the house is quiet and the dark surrounding me, it really gets my writing juices going.
10. Have you ever won any writing awards?
Apart from the Pulitzer price, no. O wait. Does the Liebster award count too? And the Versatility award and the Creativity award too?
Stay tuned for my nominations and questions for the next 10 sisters of the sisterhood of world bloggers!
xoxo – Irene
Finkelstein & sons 
Love these answers Irene!
Thank you, and thank you for your questions. I had a blast anwering them!