Awards! Awards! Awards!

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter weekend.  Mine was fabulous until I got food poisoning on Saturday night.  So Sunday was not so fun--a three-hour drive from Austin back to Dallas, feeling like I wanted to die.  For anyone who has ever had food poisoning, you know what I'm talking about.  Poisoning is definitely the appropriate word.  This is the second time I've gotten it and if I never get it again, that will be too soon.  

So today I am going to take it easy by alleviating my blog award guilt.  I've been a bad blogger, hoarding awards.  So here is the ones I've received over the last few months.  (If you've given me one that I haven't mentioned, please email me to let me know, so I can add you to another post.  But hopefully I've covered everyone.)

Alright, on to the awards...

 
from Alicia at Eyes 2 Page and Tina Lynn at Sweet Niblets, thanks ladies!

And the rules are as follows-
1) Five recipients.
2) Make up something about the people you give the award to.
3)Link to the people you give it to.
4)Link back to the original award post.


My Crit Group Soulmates
1.  Gwen Mitchell--because she is secretly a Zyne witch and I need to stay on her good side.
2.  Dawn Brown--because she hasn't left her attic in five years.
3.  Lynnette Labelle--because she has mind-melded with me so we can post about the same things simultaneously.


My Twitter Soulmates because they are not afraid to have a conversation about the word "suckle" at midnight.  Wait, that's not a lie.  Hmm... (see what you're missing if you don't follow me on Twitter? This is highly intellectual conversation, people.)  
1. Tina Lynn 
2. Sierra Godfrey 
3. Natalie Murphy
4. Alicia Frey 
5. Melissa at Chasing the Dream
6. Kristen Yard

Thank you to Stina at Seeing Creative!

I'm giving this to the people who always take the time to read and comment on Beta Club posts.

1. Amber Tidd Murphy 
2. Christine Danek
3. Christine H.
4. Sarah at Falen Formulates Fiction
5. Julie Cross
6. KayKay
7. Oddy at Dani's Letters
8. Anne at Piedmont Writer
9. Tere Kirkland

From Stephanie at Hatshepsut: The Writing of a Novel, thanks so much!

1. Laurel at Laurel's Leaves
2. Summer
3. Stephanie at The Writer's Cocoon
4. Georgia at Gypsy Ray

From Laurel at Laurel's Leaves, thanks!

1. Stephanie at Chronicles of a Novice Writer
2. Stephanie at Hatshepsut: The Writing of a Novel
3. Julie Dao at The Silver Lining
4. Tamika at The Write Worship
5. Elizabeth Craig at Mystery Writing is Murder

And from Alicia at Eyes 2 Page, thanks, chica!

This one goes to all of my followers who are fellow writers!

Thanks again to everyone who passed these along to me.  Sorry it took a while to get them up here.  Also, I've passed the 400 follower mark!  Woohoo!  So thanks to each one of you for following and commenting.  You guys are the best and make me happier than you know.  :)

And one last announcement: I made the Writer's Digest list of of Best Tweets For Writers this week (twice!).  Go here to check it out and to get links to a whole bunch of great writing articles.


**Today's Theme Song**
"Thank You" - Alanis Morissette
(player in sidebar--go ahead, take a listen)

WIP, Award, and Q & A

 

I actually have progress to report! Okay, well 800 words isn't so wonderful, BUT it's the first pages and those seem to be the hardest for me. And now that I'm reading Hooked, my self-inflicted first line/page/chapter pressure has increased exponentially. (Great book so far, btw. I'll do a post on it soon.)
So I'll count this as progress and post the new WIP in my sidebar even though it's not that many words and probably 300 need to be cut because I had a character show up and try to trump my hero--not good. How does that happen? I just intended him to strode into the scene to add a bit of information, and all of sudden he's exchanging witty banter with my MC. Down boy, you're not supposed to be the hero.
On a different note, I wanted to thank Stephanie at Steph in the City for the Honest Scrap award. I know most of you follow her, but if you're not, you're missing out. She has the uncanny ability of coming up with a topic every day that I can't help but comment on. Thanks again, Steph!
I'm passing this on to five people who I feel are great at being open and honest in their posts.
1. Stacey @ Stacey's Respite
2. Donna @ Donna Hole
5. Tina Lynn @ Sweet Niblets
And speaking of honesty, instead of listing ten honest things about myself, I'm going to steal an idea that a few bloggers around town (Stephanie, Stacey, and Sierra) have been doing. The inquisition! Okay, well not that harsh, just q&a.
I don't share a ton of personal information on here, so now's your chance to ask any questions you may have for me. Nothing is off limits. Although if you ask me my weight or something, your comment may be "accidentally" skipped. ;) So ask away. I'll answer them in a future post.
So what do you want to know?

**Today's Theme Song**
"Welcome to My Life" - Simple Plan
(player in sidebar, go ahead and take a listen)

 

Face Off Friday: Free Expression or TMI?

 

Susan at A Walk in My Shoes posted last week on knowing the purpose of your blog. Some blogs have a defined niche, some are a mishmash of topics, and others are web style diaries. For me, I stick to writing/book related topics with the occasional personal post because, really, my life ain't that interesting. :) But obviously, the beauty of having your own blog is that it's yours and can be whatever you want it to be. And I love reading the variety that is out there.

However, when you're trying to get published, should you consider what agents might think if they click over to your site? There are some obvious things like the book review issue I already discussed, listing your rejections which Susan covered, or bad mouthing the publishing process. But I'm thinking more about the personal information issue. Is it okay to post things that, say, you wouldn't want your employer to know? Because ultimately an agent or publisher relationship will be a professional one. And if we are lucky enough to be published one day, is this information we would want our readers to know about us?

"Well I can delete those posts," you say. Ah, but the internet has a long memory called Cached Copy. Hop over here to see an example of how you can't really take something back.

Of course, the flip side of this argument is that a blog is a place for personal expression, so should be open to whatever. And if an agent doesn't like what's in your blog, then maybe they aren't the agent for you.

 

So what are your thoughts? Where do you draw the line on your blog or is there a line at all?

Also, I would like to thank Bob and Bess over at PlainOldBob Answers for this awesome award. I love the name. :) Make sure you go check out their site and say howdy.

**Today's Theme Song**
"My Wena" - Bowling For Soup (I ♥ this band)
*this song is TMI about his dachshund, um yeah*
(player in sidebar--go ahead, take a listen for a laugh)

 

WIP Wednesday & Award

 

It's that time of the week again. I feel like kind of a slacker because I'm now in revising mode vs. writing mode so I don't have a word count to report. However, I have done a first round revision on five chapters of my romance so that I could submit them to my crit buddies. So I feel pretty good about that.
I also have been doing a lot of critiquing for others which has been a nice break from staring at my own words incessantly. :) Critiquing is hard work and being critiqued can be painful, but I think both sides of it are invaluable learning experiences. Hopefully, we will all come out the other side stronger writers.
This week I think I'm going to attempt to draft a query letter for the romance. The novel is, by no means, ready to be sent into the world, but I want to have that letter done and waiting once I'm through with revisions. Last time I waited until the end and my brain was so fried that the query letter seemed beyond overwhelming to write. I'm hoping *crossing fingers* that this second query letter will be easier. The story is WAY more straightforward than my YA. No supernatural, no mythology, no world building. So we'll see. I have a feeling I'll still end up half-bald with hair-pulling.
So now for an award. Lazy Writer and Anna C. Morrison have passed along the Splish Splash award to me. This award is for a dazzling blog. I'm so excited to find out that my little site dazzles. I'm like a vampire, oh wait, that's sparkles, never mind. :)
Thanks ladies! Both of their sites received the award as well, so if you haven't checked them out, I highly recommend it.
And now to pass it on. I'm picked five people that I read regularly but that I haven't passed along an award to yet.
2. T. Anne at White Platonic Dreams
4. Mandi at Smexy Books
5. Weronika at Weronika Janczuk
So how's your WIP going? (Feel free to leave a link in the comments section for your WIP Wed. update.) Is anyone else going through the critiquing stage right now? What are you critters catching that you totally missed?
**Today's Theme Song**
"Misery Business" - Paramore
(player in sidebar--go ahead, take a listen)
Okay, so only the title works and not the lyrics when referring to querying, but it's a good song anyway. :)

 

Super Comments Award



Rachel over at Book Wars (a great book review site--go check her out!) was kind enough to nominate me for the Super Comments Award. I haven't heard of this one before, but it's pretty cool. So thanks!

There doesn't seem to be any rules except to nominate 5 others (I have 6). Since it is a comment award, I went through my last few posts and selected the people who can always be counted on to leave me a comment. These ladies are very busy with their own blogs, so I appreciate the fact that they take time out to comment on mine.

So without further ado, I nominate...

1. Stephanie Faris at Steph in the City
2. Susan at Lazy Writer
3. Tess at Tess Hilmo
4. Strange Fiction at Ranch Girl Ramblings
5. Anna at Anna C. Morrison
6. Jody Hellund at On the Path


Ladies, do not feel obligated to repost this, but do so if you like. :) This is more a thank you than anything else.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I will be beating my head against my laptop, cursing the creator of the synopsis trying to whittle down an eight page synopsis to 2-3 pages.

Awards Make Me Happy


Novice Writer Anonymous at Chronicles of a Novice Writer and Quixotic over at Step: 1 Write, Edit, And Revise have passed along this super cute award to me. Thanks you guys! If you're not following the two of them, you're missing out. Go follow, go on. I'll wait. Okay, now about the award:

Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Seven things about me:
1. I have career schizophrenia. I have a MSW to be a social worker, a PHR certification to be an HR professional, and am certified to teach K-8th (any subject) and high school english. I've done the first two in actual jobs, I have not taught as of yet.
2. I ♥ college football--go LSU Tigers! (my alma mater)
3. I'm going to turn thirty in a few months and am a little freaked out about it
4. I've ridden on a Mardi Gras float with a bunch of drunk firemen.
5. I'm terrified of all bugs. I once stripped off my shirt in the middle of the street when a friend told me there was a caterpillar on me.
6. Both my dad and stepdad are named Earl
7. I'm allergic to coke (the drink, not the drug--although I haven't tried the drug, I could be allergic to that too, who knows)

And now for those I would like to pass the award to. It's so hard to pick just seven of you guys!


1. Susan at Lazy Writer (I know she already has one of these, but she always has great posts, so she gets doubly awarded)
2. Jenna Alexander at Turn the Page
4. Jody at On the Path
6. Lianna at Lianna Brooks
7. Tess at Tess Hilmo

That's it! Have a great weekend everyone.

Who me? Thanks!


I had family in town all weekend and was behind on my blog reading. So this morning, when I went about catching up, I was so excited and surprised to see that both Novice Writer Anonymous and Quixotic of Step 1: Write, Edit, and Revise passed along the Superior Scribbler Award to me after they (deservedly so) received it themselves. Thanks ladies!

The rules for this award are as follows:

1. Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.

2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

3. Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.

4. Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visitThis Post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!

5. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

So here is who I would like to pass the award to:

Warrior Writer because the info is always helpful

Laura Best because it's nice to hear a perspective from an author going through publishing for the first time

Fumbling with Fiction because her story reminds me that landing an agent doesn't mean the struggle is over

As the Plot Thickens because I love hearing a teen writer's point of view

Booknapped just because I like her posts