Rachel's Random Reads: Funday Friday - Truth or Lie? - Kendra Olson

Welcome to the second ever edition of Truth of Lie. My name is Rachel and I will be your host, for this exciting new game show. Each Friday, I will have one contestant, and they will be answering at least 14 questions. There is of course one small twist,

For three of the answers, they have to lie. It is your task as the viewer to guess which three answers are lies. You are allowed 3 guesses and I want them posted into the comments field.

Every 4 weeks, I will close the guessing, count up how many correct answers each of you has, and create a leaderboard. Anyone who is top of the leaderboard, will go into a draw for a paperback of the winners choice (open internationally).

Please do include a way for me to contact you (email or twitter or similar), so that I can let you know if you have won.

The weekend after a 4 week period closes, not only will I produce a leaderboard, and announce a winner, I will also let you know into the true answers, and which were the lies.

Closing date for this month is 11pm on 16th June 2016.

So without further ado, let's meet today's contestant.

Good morning Kendra Olson, please can you tell me your name and a little bit about yourself?

I’m an author, editor and blogger. I currently live in London but am originally from California. I write historical fiction and short stories. My first novel, The Forest King’s Daughter, was published by Pilrig Press last year. It’s about a young woman who is forced to choose between her traditional community and her freedom in 19th century rural Sweden. On my blog I like to talk about writing and books—any books that take my fancy really, as I read widely. Oh yes, and I’m also a book reviewer for Lothian Life.

Please to meet you Kendra, always good to meet a fellow blogger.

Now onto the show, and remember everyone, Kendra hasn't been entirely truthful with three of these answers, so it is up to you to guess which ones they are (only 3 guesses per person though).

1) Who is your favourite author?

Difficult question! Annie Proulx comes to mind, as does Amy Tan, Louise Erdrich, Daniel Woodrell, Alice Munro… the list goes on!

2) What book do you wish you had written?

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. She powerfully evokes the desolation of a rural, Icelandic winter.

3) Tell me about any really memorable dream or nightmare you have had.

I’ll never forget the nightmare I had shortly before my sixteenth birthday. In it I had just gotten my driving licence and was driving my father’s car for the first time on my own. Suddenly, a car came out of nowhere and rammed into me, causing my car’s engine to catch fire. Then I woke up. I’ll never forget this dream because a week after getting my licence in real life, I narrowly missed being hit when a pick-up truck decided to speed through the red lights at an intersection near our house. I believe the dream was an omen

4) What was your most memorable holiday ever?

Barbados, 2006. My partner and I stayed in a luxury hotel for four days to celebrate our fifth anniversary. Every morning we went snorkelling along the shore, and one day we saw a hawksbill turtle, who chose to swim beside us for a full hour. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it.

5) If you could be any animal what would you be and why?

A dolphin, because I’d love to explore the sea.

6) What superpower would you love to have?

I would love to be able to slow time down, life goes too fast for me.

7) What is your dream job, and have you tried to achieve it?

I’d love to live on a farm, or a ranch, and spend my days looking after animals, growing my own food and cooking from scratch. I’ve not tried to achieve it as I don’t think I’d know the first thing about how to do it, and I’m sure there’s much more to it than that.

8) If you could only read one author for the rest of your life (and I’m aware that’s a very scary world), who would you choose and why?

Shakespeare because his stories are timeless, and he wrote prolifically, so I’d have plenty to read. And, when I finished reading everything he’d written, I could be sure of discovering something new upon each re-reading.

9) Besides reading, which I am guessing is a given, what other hobbies do you have?

When I’m not reading/writing/blogging I enjoy singing in a choir. There’s something wonderfully relaxing about singing as a group.

10) What is your best childhood memory?

Playing outside for long hours during the summer with friends. There were lots of kids in our neighbourhood and we’d all get together to ride our bikes, make mud pies (and cakes, and cookies), have water fights and play hide-and-seek. The fun was endless back then.

11) Did you have an invisible friend as a child? If so please tell me about them.

Ernie from Sesame Street. He had to have his own seat next to me at the table, and an extra bowl of (imaginary) cereal.

12) What would your ideal pet be?

A walkable cat that could accompany me everywhere. I actually have one of these already, but we’re too worried that he might get beaten up by a dog if we actually allowed him to walk with us (we have to check that he hasn’t followed us when we leave the house).

13) What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to music?

Dolly Parton. Embarrassing, I know!

14) If you could only look at one view for the rest of eternity, what or where would you like to be to see this view?

At my father’s house in the Rocky Mountains, sitting in the front yard under the pine trees, looking out at Pikes Peak.

15) Can you let us in on an embarrassing secret?

I have no sense of direction whatsoever and get lost everywhere I go. I once got lost three blocks from where I live, and a tourist had to point me in the right direction!

Thank you so much for taking part Kendra, my sense of direction is also awful, although never got lost near where I live thankfully.

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Truth or Lie? I will be back next week with another episode, and in the mean time...

Don't forget to guess the lies, to be in with a chance of a prize!

Kendra Olson is the author of the historical fiction novel, The Forest King's Daughter, which is published by Pilrig Press as an ebook. She has an MLitt in Creative Writing from The University of Glasgow.

Author links –

Website: https://kendraolson.wordpress.com/

Twitter @KendrarOlson

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Kendra-Olson-1479392189025196/

The Forest King’s Daughter

The year is 1886 and Swedish teenager, Ingrid Andersdotter, is about to face a series of life-changing events. When Ingrid forgets to close the barn door one freezing cold night, there will be dire consequences for her family. To make matters worse, her attraction to the new school teacher leads to ostracism and shame. Ingrid’s strong opinions and the pressure of the powerful village church to conform to ideas she doesn’t believe in put her at odds with her traditional community.

Told through the lens of a Swedish fairy tale, this epic coming-of-age story, is both a page-turning personal account of one feisty young woman’s determination to seek a better life, and the tale of many single women who emigrated from Sweden to America in the 19th century.

Amazon UK

Amazon.com