Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Poll Results... and an Award!


The question?

You have won an all-expense paid "Literary Giants" trip to one country. Which country would you choose?

My thanks to the 57 people who cast a vote. That number is significantly lower than in many past polls, but since no one voted to stay home, I think the choice of countries had everything to do with the fewer number of votes.

There were a few choices (besides staying at home) that received no votes at all: Canada, France, and Chile. With the earthquake in Chile, it's a bit understandable, but Canada and France were a bit puzzling.

The countries that received votes?

  • With one vote (1%) each: Germany and Greece.
  • With 2 votes (3%) each: Russia and Spain.
  • With 3 votes (5%) : Japan.
  • With 4 votes (7%); Australia.
  • With 5 votes (8%): the United States.
  • With 6 votes (10%): Ireland.
  • With 10 votes (17%): Italy.
  • With 23 votes (40%): the United Kingdom.
How did I vote? Russia. After reading Tolstoy, Chekov, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Pushkin and so many others; after knowing the vastness of the land, I just couldn't resist.

Did the poll contain any surprises for me? Yes. I was surprised that the US got as many votes as it did. This must mean that I have more non-North American readers than I thought! Italy was a surprise, too. Part of me wonders if some of those ten votes had more to do with the landscape and the food than Italian literary giants? (I'm smiling here and not being snarky.)

It wasn't a surprise that the UK was such a runaway winner. It's safe to say that most of my readers are from North America and are English speakers who've read Dickens and Austen and the Brontes (and many others) as part of their school curricula. If I'd broken it down into England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, I would bet that England would be the overwhelming winner.

What do you think?

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On a completely different note, I'm honored that author, Margot Kinberg, honored me with the Sunshine Award on her blog, Confessions of a Mystery Novelist. If you haven't ever visited her blog, please take the opportunity to do so!

The Sunshine Award is to honor "bloggers whose contagious positivity and creativity inspire others in the blogging universe.Wow, what an honor! Thank you so much, Margot!

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing the results and congratulations on your award!

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  2. Oh, well-deserved, Cathy!!

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  3. Congrats on the award!

    I admit I had to vote for the UK just because I know most of the authors I read are from either the US or UK. IF I had voted one where I wanted to visit regardless of authors, I would have voted differently, so that goes right in line with your thoughts regarding the voting.

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  4. Congrats on the award...looks like the results weren't as surprising as I expected.

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Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!