Birds of a Feather?

         A fellow author I’m acquainted with posted a quiz like this on her Instagram a while ago and I thought it was a fun idea.  I’ve been waiting quite some time to do it, and since I’ve just started posting things for March Meet the Maker, it finally seemed to be the right moment.  Here’s how it works…

        I’ve chosen all kinds of little trivia facts about myself, and for each thing that you share with me, give yourself a point.  At the end, tell me how many points we have in common!  According to my calculation there are a total of 48 points possible, including bonuses, but admittedly there’s probably some ambiguity in how one could choose to count things.  That’s fine - the exact score doesn’t matter; it’s just about seeing how we connect.

        The funny thing about putting this together is that of course it’s very difficult and fairly arbitrary to try to pick a handful of things to share.  How can I choose just 9 favorite books, for example?  I first sketched these cards out quite a while ago and if I were starting from scratch today I’d probably make some different choices.  For example, it’s been a while since I even thought about “Ted Lasso,” but I left it on my list because I did enjoy it very much while it was on (and I don’t watch a ton of TV).  So while any list of this sort is woefully incomplete and hardly a perfect reflection, everything on here is certainly true and I stand by it!

I should also note that the items are in no particular order on each card.  So, are you ready?

        Here we go:

1. BOOKS

     Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

     Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess

     Becky Chambers, A Psalm for the Wild-Built

     Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

     Dorothy L. Sayers, Lord Peter Wimsey Series

     Josephine Tey, Brat Farrar

     J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

     Terry Pratchett, Night Watch Series

     Ursula K. LeGuin, The Tombs of Atuan

2. ON-SCREEN

     “Casablanca”

     “Raiders of the Lost Ark”

     “Much Ado About Nothing”

     Wallace & Gromit

     “Ted Lasso”

     Brokenwood Mysteries

     Archaeology Documentaries

3. MUSIC

     Dvorak (especially Symphonies 7 & 9)

     Simon & Garfunkel (especially “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” and “The Sound of Silence”)

     Vivaldi (especially The Four Seasons)

     “I Will Survive” Gloria Gaynor

     Mendelssohn (especially Symphonies 4 & 5)

     Cheesy 80s Music

     Beethoven (especially Symphonies 5 & 9)

     Big Band/Swing

     Assorted…

     +1 Bonus if you play the cello

4. RANDOM LIFE FACTOIDS

     Artist (+1 Bonus for relief printmaking)

     Author (+1 Bonus for writing poetry, speculative fiction, or happy endings)

     Parent (+1 Bonus for twins)

     Quaker

     Teacher (+1 Bonus for teaching middle school or art)

     Amateur Linguist (+1 Bonus for having a degree in linguistics)

5. ASSORTED LOVES & INTERESTS

     Libraries

     Backyard Wildlife

     Mythical Creatures

     Octopuses

     Quiltmaking

     History

     Daffodils

     Purrs

     Houseplants

        (And of course since these are things I love, many of them have shown up in this blog before, so I’ve linked a few things that seemed related.  And if you want to do it on Instagram, that’s coming tomorrow.)

        How did you score?  I can’t wait to hear how much we have in common!

#MarchMeetTheMaker2026 #MarchMeetTheMaker