Some Words Sunday — Blog Awards

Prize distribution (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have mixed feelings about blog awards.  Can’t say I like them, but I don’t hate them; I appreciate the kind thoughts of people who nominate me for them, but I hate the thought of accepting them and passing them along.

It’s not because I don’t want to tell people how awesome I think they are, but because I fear I’m putting extra pressure on them to do something because “I said so.”

Starlights by Eden Mabee

I feel like it’s not my place, people are busy, yadda yadda…

But I’ve been recently nominated by a bunch of wonderful people who write fun blogs, and well…  I’m honored.

I still don’t know what I want to do about them, but for the moment, let me list the awards and the kind people who gave them to me.

• Back in March the amazingly energetic Amybeth Inverness gave me The Next Best Thing (I say she’s amazingly energetic because she maintains two blogs, does a lot more social media than I do, great interviews, attends conferences and with several kids.  Wow!)
• Talented WIPpeter, ReGi McClain tagged me earlier this month for the Beautiful Momma Blog Award.  Thing is, I don’t really call this a “Mommy Blog”.  Mentions of my son are because he’s an important part of my life, and this blog is here to share parts of my life as a writer and creator.
• Jessica Minyard sweetly offered me the Seed of Light award given to people who inspire through words and/or art.
• Speaking of Seed(s) of Light, I was just offered one from ReGi as well, which is odd because I was thinking of naming her as one of my inspirations.  Have you seen her WIPpet posts?

Well, that’s a lot to consider.  Some of these will involve answering questions, some simply need to be passed along to new bearers who do great blogging, all deserve to be acknowledged…

Thank you all.

ROW80 Check-in

Not as much got done since Wednesday as I would like.  Bare minimum…  that’s the phrase of the day.  No backward steps, at least!

Five sentences a day keeps something new appearing on the page daily.  I love it, because there is never a time I feel like I cannot get five sentences written.  Before bed?  Yep, I can write five sentences.  Waiting in line?  Okay, maybe I only get one sentence done, but usually if I have to wait in one line, I am usually out and about doing errands that involve more lines–more sentences written.  As soon as I get up?  Oh, that’s easy!  I can even write five sentences as I wait for my computers to boot up.

Editing has been less vigorous, but that wasn’t on my list of must do‘s for these weeks anyway.  I’m spending more of the time figuring out where I want to take my fiction during the JuNoWriMo.  Some of the time has been spent watching shows and discussing reactions with my husband as to why we are drawn to certain characters or not.  Some was spent daydreaming (a very important task!)…

Carefully by Eden Mabee

Attention to my social media presence has made a resurgence of late.  I’m trying to be more involved, though in smaller doses so I can still get things done.  This week I resumed activity on Reddit, and G+ has seen me post and comment several times since Wednesday.  I’m not being as active on Twitter as I’d like–I keep missing the StoryDam and BiblioCrunch chats, and I only made a few #teamsprinty sprints.  And Facebook I’m cautiously approaching twice a week for visits and comments…  Hours drift away there.

On the “extra activities” end, I missed only one day of crunches (35 a day now, but I may be adding some more soon).  I’m finally getting my callouses back for guitar playing.  Although between guitar and piano practices, I’ve had to resume my physical therapy exercises for my wrist as well….  And to help my son along, I’ve been practicing some karate and fencing.  I’m eagerly looking forward to my next Renaissance Faire.

That’s about it from me.  Why not stop over to visit more ROWers now that you have some free time? wink wink nudge nudge

Wednesday Writing Woes, Wonders & Words

This post is a hodge-podge.

Because I’ve allowed myself ro fall out of the habit of blogging, and because I’ve chosen a personal goal of participating in A Round of Words in 80 Days, I have committed myself to doing more regular blog posts.

A commitment, I realized this morning, I was not as ready to fulfill as I’d hoped I would be.

Eh…  It’s not as if I ever allowed a lack of preparation to stop me from speaking my mind. 

So, in the spirit of my former check-ins (you can see most of them by looking through the links on the pages I setup for each round above), I’d like to offer you more than just “This is what I did” and “This is what I want to try doing next time”.

I want to play with words.

It’s been actually a week of playing with words…more play than actual process.  Though I’d started the week out with grand plans to sit with pen and notebook and organize some of the events in this rapidly avalanching set of stories I have called The Swan Song Trilogy, things changed course quickly.  Given how Monday morning started with virtual possession of the spirit of Ted Geisel during a visit to fellow ROWer Lena Corazon, I should have realized that unlike the two bones in my forearm, my humerus was well and needing attention.

So… from watching Rowan Atkinson and John Cleese performing a pseudo-interview on being an apiarist to spending a bit of extra time last night with my husband (who, for those who do not know him, is an incredibly funny man who has perfected such skills as giggling and telling me “I love you” like the Schmoo and dancing like a Muppet *), I have made an effort to attend to laughter and joy.

Those things, while great in their own way, haven’t helped me get writing.  So, I’m playing in different way, mixing up some metaphors and poking at two writing related sites that I used to enjoy for inspiration: The One Minute Writer and Three World Wednesday (links for the prompts I used here).

The socks were folded, pair upon pair;
The cashier’s gaze vacant, a semi-focused stare
Blue and then red, her expression half-dead,
and we never bought groceries again there.

shmoo (Photo credit: Exploding Aardvark)

Well, short and sweet, I guess.  Then again, I typed it in one minute with one hand and a huge pillow separating me from my keyboard…

Time for that ROW80 update part:

ROW80 Progress:

As this post shows, I’m doing well on my goals.  I realize I missed putting in a Social Media goal into the mix (actually quite vital in a group like the ROW), so here it is:

• I will visit at least 3 ROWers per check-in, and try to look at one new blog a week.
• I will be attending #teamsprinty a bit erratically, but attending at least once a week
• I will maintain at least one post a day on my Facebook Author Page.
• I will not take more than a week to reply to any comments.

So, there it is, and so far, I am on target there too.  *pats self on back before heading off to cheer on other ROWers here*  And all should be as well or better by Sunday’s check-in.

* Videos from my brother-in-law’s wedding as “Dancing like Muppets” has become quite the family joke.  The four “dancers” are my husband and his three brothers: Part 1 and Part 2

Did You Ever… ROW80?

Almost two months ago I posted the first of what was supposed to be three posts for the Versatile Blogger Award I’d been given by the darling Natasha Guadalupe (who could not join us this ROWnd, but says she’d love to get some more writing in)…..

That first post went something like this:

Did you ever feel that the Universe was reading your mind?

It’s been one of those days–one of those glorious weeks actually when every thing I do or see somehow has a deeper connection to the mental stew I’ve been brewing.  Right now the dish I’m trying to serve up is a bit odd to say the least.  The flavor certainly isn’t right, odd textures, and a lot of it is just water and some bouillon cubes.  Yes, I should have made stock, but I was in a hurry to start some things cooking.  People wanted to eat, and I felt like a truck had dragged me down the Thruway behind it.

But the stuff I saw along the way….  Wow!

It seems almost comical to read those words now.  Not that things are any harder or more challenging or that I seen newer and brighter things that put my naivete of that post to shame….  I mean, in a sense, they are, they keep getting that way, and I have…but I have come to understand that is part of the beauty and magic that comes for being involved with challenges like the ROW80 and the A-to-Z blogging challenge (though yet again I did not join in the fun choosing instead the once a year Story A Day challenge to fill my May play book).  It is also why groups the WANAs and even the classic discussion lists of SFF.net and Usenet have built the followings they have.

Because there connection is magic.  Connection is love and beauty.

It’s not hard to figure out how one of the most powerful human abilities became nearly synonymous with that universal act of sex and reproduction.  There is a kind of magic there, of making something new, of giving life and new voice existence, and for many lucky species on this planet….connection.  Euphoria, empowerment (along with some fear and hurt, yes), passion, intensity and love…  The creative act is an act of connection, be it with a higher power or with one’s own true self.

Just imagine what can happen when that act of connection is shared among so many many….

Did you ever ROW80?  I have.  MMmm….