Friday Funnies and a Few Awards

Happy Friday!!! First, a couple items of fun business :)

I am guest blogging today on the blog of the fabulous Matthew Rush - so head over to The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment to check out the query for my one of my fiction projects. I ended up shelving the book, but received quite a few requests beforehand :)


Annnd next up, AWARD TIME! I have been blessed to receive two fun awards in the last few weeks. The incredible Amanda Sabourova over at So Many Story Ideas, So Little Time passed the Creative Blogger Award to me.

The rules - post six fabulous lies and two truths about myself. Now, as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, I should be able to come up with six lies and two truths. But I'm telling you, this is harder than writing a query letter LOL Okay, here goes....


1. My brother once told me I could get curly hair if I stuck eggbeaters in my hair. He was wrong - eggbeaters turned on high and placed in your hair will cause baldness, not curls. My mom had to cut most of my hair off to get them out.


2. I have a small Celtic tattoo on my back that not even my mother knows about...unless she's reading this blog :D


3. I know how to say "Shut up" "I'm going to spank your butt" and "Watch what you're saying, I speak Samoan" in Samoan...I used to know more, but I've forgotten everything else. But at least I remembered the important stuff :D


4. My first fiance used to have entire conversations with me using only his eyebrows. Yes, I speak fluent eyebrow *takes a bow*


5. My favorite t.v. show is Yo Gabba Gabba - I lie and say I'm taping it for the kids, but really, I sit up late at night when no one can see me and rock out to their awesome tunes.


6. I spent nearly every summer of my childhood at Space Camp, determined to be an astronaut. I enrolled in the aeronautics program at my first college with great expectations. But, since I flunked out of all my math classes, was terrified of heights, and claustrophobic, my guidance counselor suggested I try something a little less...challenging. I should have stuck with the aeronautics program - it would have been easier.


7. As a cheerleader at my high school, I got to the be top of the pyramid at the homecoming game. I fell. I decided not to be a cheerleader anymore. (See #6 regarding my fear of heights - this is where it alll started) :D


8. I have a weird obsession with the number 3 - everything in my house is arranged in groups of 3, I buy fruit in multiples of 3, my children have 3 names, I always knock 3 times - I'm not crazy, I swear, I just like threes, so shoot me :D


Okay - there you go - I will let you know next Friday which two are true :) You may leave your guesses in the comments. I'm sure you will all guess correctly :D


I think I will pass this one on to:


Stephanie McGee at Chronicles of a Novice Writer
JEM at Can I Get a Side of Reality With That?
Caledonia Lass at Writings, Musings, and Other Such Nonsense
Zoe Courtman at No Letters on My Keyboard


And, the lovely and talented Stina Lindenblatt at Seeing Creative gave me the Awesomesauce Award - thanks so much Stina!!!

And, I think I'll pass this one on to a few awesome people:


Lydia Kang at The word is my oyster
Matthew Rush at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment
L.T. Elliot at Dreams of Quill and Ink
Bonny Anderson
and the ever awesome Christine Fonseca


And now on to our Friday Funnies!

"A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." -Thomas Mann

"After being turned down by numerous publishers, he had decided to write for posterity." -George Ade

Friday Funnies and an Award

First of all, I wanted to send a huge thank you to Zoe Courtman over at No Letters On My Keyboard, and Cheree at Justified Lunacy. Both lovely ladies gifted me with the Sugar Doll Award. Thank you so much! Totally made my day :) I'm going to pass this one along to five of my favorite people:

1. Christine Fonseca, without whom I'd never survive...seriously
2. Bonny Anderson, who I am missing like crazy
3. Bethany, who I am also missing like crazy, and her lovely sister Suzy
4. Kate, for always being a huge help with Blog Chain stuff
5. Cole Gibsen, for always being there when I need her

And now! On to our funnies for the day :)

Best Newspaper Headlines of 1998

1. Include Your Children When Baking Cookies
2. Something Went Wrong in Jet crash, Experts Say
3. Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
4. Drunks Get Nine Months in Violin Case
5. Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
6. Is There a Ring of Debris Around Uranus?
7. Would-be Women Priests Appeal to Pope
8. Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
9. British Left Waffles on Falkland Islands
10. Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
11. Clinton Wins Budget; More Lies Ahead
12. Plane Too Close to Ground, Crash Probe Told
13. Miners Refuse to Work After Death
14. Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
15. Stolen Painting Found By Tree
16. Two Sisters Reunited After 18 Years in Checkout Line
17. War Dims Hope for Peace
18. If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last a While
19. Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
20. Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge
21. New Study of Obesity Looks for Large Test Group
22. Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Space
23. Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
24. Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
25. Typhoon Rips through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer.

When asked to define "great" he said, "I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, howl in pain and anger!"

He now works for Microsoft, writing error messages.

A Contest, An Award, And a Blog Chain, Oh My!

Happy Monday! Okay, we've got a couple fun things going on. First off, Elana Johnson is running an awesome book giveaway contest, so head to her blog for all the details! She's giving away SEVEN SIGNED BOOKS (most of them personalized). Definitely go check it out :)

Next, the very sweet Laura Diamond awarded me with The Honest Scrap Award :D Thanks Laura!!! For this award, I'm supposed to tell 10 truths about myself. Soooo....

1. I prefer even numbers to odd - to the point that odd numbers kinda drive me nuts, especially when it comes to buying fruit - I always buy 6 apples, never five...weird stuff like that LOL

2. When I hit 30, my hair went curly instead of gray

3. It took me almost 10 years and 4 colleges to get my Bachelors degree...I didn't get kicked out or anything, I just moved a lot and kept losing credits LOL

4. I'm probably allergic to chocolate but just can't quit it

5. I read the first books in the Outlander and Clan of the Cave Bear series in one day (a piece, not one doay for both of them...I'm good, but not that good :D They are 1000 + page books after all LOL...couldn't put them down)

6. I've lived in seven different states, two on the east coast, one on the west, a couple in between and even an island (Hawaii)

7. One of the reasons I wanted to date my husband was because his family is Scottish and I had just finished reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and was completely enthralled with anything Scottish :D

8. I am the oldest of five kids - my last brother came quite a bit later than the rest of us, and my husband is quite a bit older than me....so my youngest brother is the same age as my stepson :) And I apparently like the phrase "quite a bit" :D

9. I had an almost photographic memory...until I had kids. Now I have trouble remembering my name

10. Loves to dance but NEVER in public :D

Annnnd, I totally flaked on my blog chain duties - I was supposed to post my entry on Saturday and then promised I'd do it last night. Oops *embarrassed face* So, without further ado, my blog chain post :D

The awesome Eric chose this topic. He wanted to know:

Do you create characters that are larger-than-life or are your characters more like the average Joe?

I like larger than life characters, but when it comes to my main characters, so far at least, I create characters that are more like the average Joe. BUT, these characters are put in larger than life situations and do larger than life things. They find out they have special powers, or have ghostly friends, or end up on a treasure hunt in a life or death race for some jewels.

And I like to give them out-of-the-ordinary quirks. A proper Victorian lady who isn't so proper and is the least graceful thing on two legs; a sweet average high school girl who boxes on the weekends; a shy, quiet valedictorian who does extraordinary things when no one is watching.

So I guess I do a little of both. My characters are seemingly average - or they are average on the surface, but they all have a fun twist to them, whether it's something supernatural or just a cool quirk that isn't expected.

Be sure to check out the always extraordinary Bonny, who answered this question before me, and the amazing Mr. Shaun, who will post next :)

A Little Monday Surprise

Happy Monday!

First up, my wonderful friend and crit partner, Christine, awarded me with the Prolific Blogger Award. I am beyond thrilled, thanks so much, Christine!

The award originally comes from this blog.  And it comes with rules:
1. Every winner of the Prolific Blogger Award has to pass on this award to at least seven other deserving prolific bloggers. Spread some love!
2. Each Prolific Blogger must link to the blog from which he/she has received the award.  (Check out Christine's Blog Here!!)
3. Every Prolific Blogger must link back to This Post, which explains the origins and motivation for the award.
4. Every Prolific Blogger must visit this post and add his/her name in the Mr. Linky, so that we all can get to know the other winners.

And now the hard (I'm a terrible commenter but I lurk on a LOT of blogs) :D though fun part, my seven picks, in no particular order:

1. Lisa Amowitz over at Why A?
2. Jenni James
3. Steph Bowe at Hey! Teenager of the Year
4. Elle Strauss
5. Rebecca Sutton at Sometimes Nonsense
6. Kiersten White at Kiersten Writes
7. Sherrie Petersen at Write About Now

And here is the awesome award:

Sweet Awards

My fabulous crit buddy Christine gave me an award the other day - thanks so much!! :) And it's a yummy looking one too :D

 

I'm supposed to list 10 things that make me happy. Soooo:

1: My kids

2. My hubby and family (my mom and sis are the world's best cheerleaders)

3. Writing "the end" and realizing I've done what few accomplish

4. Settling into my favorite couch corner with a good book, when the house is quiet and I'm the only one up

5. CHOCOLATE :D

6. Music - I love to dance, I love to sing, I love to sit with my eyes closed and just let it fill me to the core....I just prefer to be alone while I'm doing all of the above because I tend to look a bit goofy ;-D

7. My friends and crit buddies - I'd never make it through this crazy game without them

8. A really good joke - I love to laugh. I turn red in the face and occasionally snort, and if I'm laughing really hard I sound like an old car that just doesn't want to start, which makes other people laugh which makes me laugh harder....ahhh, good times :D

9. Nature - I could sit and stare at it forever (I'd be more specific, but I could fill a book with the things I love about it) :)

10. My dreams - sometimes I don't want to wake up :)

And to share the love, I'd like to give the award, first of all, to a few people who are always there for me when I need someone to make me smile (Christine, you already received this award but just wanted you to know, you'd be top of the list) :) = to my crit buddies, who are always there to support me - Bethany, Bonny, and Elana (plus a few more who I love to death but who don't have blogs).

And second of all, I'd really like to give this award to all of my followers. I can't tell you how much I love to log on and see all the lovely comments you leave me. Definitely one of the highlights of my day :) You all rawk! Thanks so much.

Thankful Awards

The super sweet Mary Anne Gruen over at the Starlight Blog awarded me and the rest of her followers with the Icing on the Cake Award recently. And I tell ya, this is one of the things I am incredibly thankful for - awesome fellow bloggers who take the time to do things like this. I am grinning ear to ear and drooling over the yummy award LOL


Thanks so much Mary!!


So, I want to pass on the Icing love - if you are a follower, commenter, reader, or what have you - consider yourself Iced! :D Post this award on your blog and know how wonderful I think you are that you take the time to read my ramblings. Can't tell you how much I appreciate each and every person who stops by this blog. Thanks to all of you!!!

 On a down note...day 3 of NaNo and I'm already behind :D How's everyone else doing?

A Very Lovely Surprise

The very sweet Tira at Runaway Moments presented me with this lovely award. Thank you so much, Tira. I really can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I've got an extra spring in my step today :) If you haven't visited Tira's blog yet, I highly recommend it. It is full of beautiful images and lyrical words. Just wonderful :)

Here are the rules for the award:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog along with the name of the person who awarded you, and their blog link.

2. Pass the award to fifteen other blogs and remember to contact the bloggers to let them know.

Here are my nominees, just a sampling of a few blogs I love to read, in no particular order:


Abby Annis at Evolution of My Neuroses
Suzanne at Tales of Extraordinary Ordinariness
Lisa Amowitz at Why A?
Mary Anne Gruen at the Starlight Blog 
Bonny at B.J. Anderson 
Cole Gibsen at Hair Dye and Samurai  

Corey at Thing 1 and Thing 2  
Jody at Author, Jody Hedlund 
Stephanie at The Writer's Cocoon 
Natalie at Natalie Bahm 
Megan at Megan Rebekah Blogs...and Writes
Sheri at Diary of a Children's Book Writer  
Stephanie at Chronicles of a Novice Writer 
Carol Anne Strange at My Writing Journey 
Kate at The Lovers, The Dreamers, and Me

Ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner...BlogMan!!!!!

I am very excited to receive the Blogman award from the wonderful Jamie over at The Variety Pages. This is the coolest award, very fun :D Thanks so much Jamie!!!!!

The rules for this one are:


1. Tell us your favorite superhero and why
2. Copy the badge and post it to your blog
3. Present the badge to five other worthy bloggers
4. Post links to five people you nominate
5. Comment on their pages to let them know they have been nominated

I'm going to take a quick rain check and tell you about my superhero and nominees in a few days. I've got a sick baby and the rest of us aren't feeling very well either. But I wanted to make sure I said thanks to Jamie for thinking of me. Made a not so fun day much better :) Thanks again!!

An Award!

Danni at Romantic Harbor made my day and put a smile on my face for a week :) She recently awarded me The Lemonade Award, a feel good award for great attitude and gratitude. I am thrilled, thanks so much Danni!! :)

Now, I'm supposed to pick 10 blogs to bestow this wonderful award on and I've gotta be honest. I read so many awesome blogs, I just can't pick. I'd like to give it to someone who hasn't received it yet and several of the blogs I've thought of had already been chosen.

So I'm going to totally toss the rules to the wind and give it to every one of my awesome readers. That's right, if you are reading this post, you just got an award :) You guys are beyond awesome, your comments light up my days, and your blogs fill my hours with awesomeness.

Here are the rules so you can pass the award on yourselves:

~Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post.
~Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
~Link your nominees within your post.
~Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
~Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

Have an awesome weekend everyone!!!

Friday Funnies And An Award!

I am honored to receive the Splish Splash Award for a dazzling blog from Dawn VanderMeer over at Plotting and Scheming. Thanks so much Dawn!!! What a wonderful surprise and such a pretty award!!!

There weren't any rules attached to this award, so I will let fate decide and randomly pick a few of my all time favorite blogs:

1. Suzy and Bethany over at Shooting Stars
2. Jess at Jibberings
3. Christine at The Musings of Christine Fonseca
4. Cole at Hair Dye and Samurai

And now, back to our regularly scheduled Friday Funnies :D


Today's quotes brought to us by Mark Twain

Get the facts first. You can distort them later.

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week sometimes to make it up.

An Award!

The very sweet Jan Markley has honored me with the Kreativ Blogger Award and just made my day for the rest of the week :) Thank you so much Jan!!

I'm not sure I can think of 7 more interesting things about me, but I'll give it a shot. :D

The rules are:

Here are the rules for the award:

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.

Okay, 7 interesting things.....

1. I'm a total insomniac and generally toss and turn for an hour or more no matter what time I go to bed.

2. My husband is 10 years older than me and since I'm the oldest in my family and he is the youngest, my mother in law is the same age as my grandmother, my oldest brother in law is a year older than my father, many of my husband's nieces and nephews are my age or older, and our children are all the same age.

3. I spent my first year of college in Hawaii and would cut off a limb to live there again...well, maybe not a limb, but certainly a nail or a few inches of hair :D

4. I was so painfully shy until my mid-20s, that I wouldn't even go to pump gas by myself, but would take one of my siblings with me or bribe someone to do it for me (I've gotten over that...mostly) :D

5. I've lived in 6 different states but have never left the country

6. My daughter was due exactly 2 years from the date my son was born, but ended up being born 2 months early

7. I just bought a violin because I've always wanted to play...now I'm going to see if I can teach myself :D

And now for my 7 choices...in no particular order :)

1. Lee Verday
2. K.M. Weiland
3. Dell Girl
4. Annie Louden
5. Sandra
6. Suzanne
7. Stephanie Thornton

Thanks again Jan!!

Blog Awards - Woohoo!!!!

I am incredibly honored to have received the Kreativ Blogger award from two wonderful people. I am so excited - what an awesome end to a sort of crappy week :) Novice Writer over at Chronicles of a Novice Writer, and Bonny at BJ Anderson both gave me this fun award and I am so touched that they both thought me worthy :) Thanks guys!!!!

K, so here's the rundown on 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.

Well most of those are easy.....choosing seven people to give this award to is NOT. I follow hundreds of blogs....seriously, HUNDREDS. I'm not the best with comments (because I just can't keep up) - but there are so many incredible, wonderful blogs out there that I really enjoy that I hate to only pick a few. I suppose I could pick 14 since I got the award twice, but that would make this post huge, so I'll stick with 7.

1. Eric at Working My Muse
2. Tricia O'Brien at Talespinning
3. Cole Gibsen at Hair Dye and Samurai
4. Kat Harris at The Long Road to Heaven
5. Susan Mills (Lazy Writer) at A Walk in my Shoes
6. Rebecca Knight at Rebecca Knight: A Writer in Progress
7. Jen (JStantonChandler) at Woolgatherings


And now 7 interesting things about me.......well, I don't think I'm all that interesting LOL but here you go:

1. I moved around so much when I was younger it took 4 schools before I finally got my degree

2. I like even numbers...well, it's a bit of an obsession really. If I'm buying apples, I get 4 or 6 or 8....NEVER 5 or 7. I do that with pretty much everything. I don't need medication, I promise.

3. I'm tongue-tied - a lot of people think that is just a figure of speech, but nope, it's an actual, physical condition that afflicts yours truly. It makes things like ice cream cones and licking envelopes a little difficult :D

4. I like bananas, but not banana flavored things - I like cherry flavored things, but not cherries - I love strawberries but can't stand strawberry chunks in strawberry flavored things like shakes or jam

5. I make up weird lyrics to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for my kids' bedtime song. Their current favorite is Twinkle Twinkle Little Butt (yeah, not winning mom-of-the-year awards any time soon, but it makes them laugh) :D

6. My right foot is half a size larger than my left foot. It happened when I was pregnant with my son and it just stayed that way. Not sure why or how...but it makes buying shoes interesting :)

7. I don't consider myself an overly emotional person...I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing just about anything - yet I'll cry over just about anything as well....songs, commercials, the planes that fly overhead during parades - I'm not sad or feeling anything particularly emotional, I just cry *shrugs*

Thanks again guys!!

Holy Cow...Got an Award!

I am touched and very honored to have received the Superior Scribbler award from my awesome writing and crit buddy (who I was recently lucky enough to meet in Real Life) Christine Fonseca.

Christine has been such a great friend - she's there to support me when I'm inching toward that ledge, she's always willing to slog through my work and has been an especially huge help and support with my non-fiction endeavors. And I was lucky enough to recently become a part of her YA fiction crit group. Her awesomeness is beyond words :D

So, here is the rundown on this cool award:

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. (That would be the wonderful Christine)

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 visit this 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.

And now, on to my five choices....which were unbelievably hard! I read so many wonderful blogs and I come across new ones every day. But, since I couldn't pick everyone, here are the five I chose...

1. B.J. Anderson at Hope Springs Eternal
2. Kate Karyus Quinn at The Lovers, the Dreamers, and Me
3. Tess at Tess Hilmo
4. Scott at A Writer's Blog and Rants from the Soapbox
5. Sandra at Dual Citizenship in SpecFic and Mundania