Nominated

Nominated

Hey guys.

I don't often publicize this blog, cause I kind of think it will be found and read by those who need to find and read it. It would seem though that I have been nominated in Australia's Best Blogs Competition for 2011 by one of my readers in OZ. I'd like to thank my loyal supporter. You make me smile and you know who you are.

Would You Like to Vote?

For all those who have already clicked over to the site and voted for me, thank you. For those who emailed me specifically to let me know they did and wished me luck, thank you thank thank you :)

You don't have to be Australian to vote, so if you have time and would like to vote for this little blog to be in the running for the People's Choice Award please click this link and follow the prompts. http://www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au/bloggingcomp/peopleschoice.html

All the blogs are listed alphabetically by title of blog.

Thank you very much if you take time out to vote for me :)

And thank you to everyone who comes here to read me week after week, especially when I am running late getting to your blogs. I have always said that a writer without readers is a lonely thing to be. Thanks for sharing my blog.

X

Tab

Awards

Wendy Sargeant, multi award winning author and editor of Aussie Writers has awarded my blog the Inspirational Blog Award. Happy Dance!

Thank you very much Wendy. You can check out her site here.

My blog is featured on their site. You can check it out at http://aussiewriters.blogspot.com/p/blogs-of-note.html

Karen, author of a wonderful memoir titled Following the Whispers has also awarded me The Circle of Friends Award.

Thank you Karen. She is indeed a dear friend and has spent much time trawling though my memoir giving me feedback on the many drafts. Not to mention all her heartfelt encouragement of both myself and my writing.

Where would writer's be without people like this?

I would like to pass this award on to the following people:

Wen Baragrey, aspiring YA novelist and one of my super amazing critique partners. Not to mention she is a beautiful woman who speaks wise words into my life. (Okay, so I mentioned it.)

AND

Patti Lacy, multi published author and wonderful encourager who has lifted me during times I did not think I could be lifted. I am sure she has no idea how her wisdom has watered seeds inside me. Thank you Patti. You can buy her novel, An Irish Woman's Tale here

I must apologize. I cannot remember who awarded me this wonderful award. Please link to yourself in the comments and I will amend this post accordingly. I am, of course, always humbled that anyone thinks to award this blog of mine. so thank you, whom ever you are. The award and your thoughts matter.

I would like to pass the award on to:

Lisa Sommerland who is new to the blogging world. Welcome Lisa! She is my other wonderful critique partner who has just signed with equally wonderful Weronika Janczak of DE40 Literary. Check out Lisa's blog and congratulate her. Her writing is full of funny. This girl is going places people :)

That's all folks. Thank you to those who visit my blog. Your comments always matter. And congrats to my 'awardees'. You guys rock.

X

Tab

Happy Little Award

Sorry, I have been really bad about posting awards given to me and then passing them on. And I am doubly sorry that I have not even remembered who gave me this award. So if you know you passed this award to me (and I think there was more than one person) please link to your blog in the comments section.

Things that make me happy:

1. Boxing

2. Running

3. Eating cupcakes (the reason I run and box :)

4. writing

5. writing while eating cupcakes... Heaven!

I hereby pass this award to some blogs that make me VERY happy:

1. Wendy @ On words and Upwards (very funny lady people, check her out!)

2. Teressa @ The Chocolate Chip Waffle (beautifully written honesty over at that site)

3. T. Anne @ White Platonic Dreams (very encouraging commenter who often makes me smile)

4. Suzanne @ Tales of ExtraOrdinary Ordinariness (her writing is a tough act to follow)

5. Dulce (beautiful honest poetry)

6. Liza @ Middle Passages (just plain beautiful)

Thanks. And forgive me not posting awards. I will reform. Pronto. :)

What if you dream of faded lace?

I have a confession.

I dream of faded lace and tea stained afternoons.
All things lavender scented and vintage whisper my name...

Lace covered coffee tables, Old English poets, floor to ceiling libraries filled with leather bound books from another era, fireplaces with carved oak mantles, powder white iron tables set beneath weeping willows, afternoon teas complete with neat little triangle sandwiches and cupcakes clothed in pastel icing, and bud shaped tea cups.... all make me sigh with wanting.

Sorry.

I know that was a very long confession. But truthfully, it should have been longer. I didn't even get to mention brown paper packages or Sound of Music type rain drops that fall on eyelashes. Nor did I squeeze in tree lined avenues or horse drawn carts, the likes of which Ann of Green Gables would have appreciated. Ah well...

But you get the picture. Though my house is bares the mark of my designer husband and my own distinct taste for red leather dining room chairs standing astute around our massive solid wood table, I am still easily wooed by lace and moonlight, thinning pages of ancient books and a time and era which I was not born to, but none the less romanticize in my mind.

I long to gaze out picture book windows and wile away cobalt blue days looking through antique stores. I am a dreamer of old.

Sepia tones inspire me. What can I say?

So it was with great pleasure that I stumbled across Sarah's blog The TeaStained Page.

Now I warn you, this girl's writing is beyond her years and full of enough lyrical magic and beauty to make you want to cry. Especially when you find out how old she is. But I suggest you join her blog so you can say you knew her before she was rolling around in six figure book deals.

Sarah, I hope you pursue writing with all the passion your words display. I pass on this award

given to me by Jill, to you Sarah. Enjoy girl, and continue to inspire us with your imagery.

Go check her out people :)

What about you? What inspires you? Feel free to shout out some blogs in the comments section that inspire you as well.

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Awards.

A huge thank you to my fellow bloggers who have given my blog the following awards

One Lovely Blog Award

given by Tira at Runaway Moments

I pass this award along to

Kristen at In the Write Way

Wendy at On Words and Upwards

Kjersten at Collage Clips

Heart Felt Award

given by Julie at 'Silver Lining'

I pass this award along to:

Deb Shucka at CatbirdScout

Heavenly Muse

Gloria at Gloria's Spanish View

Tamika at The Write Worship

Dragon's Loyalty Award

given by Steph Faris at 'Steph in the City'

I pass this award along to:

Rosslyn at Inkhorn Blue

T.Anne at White Platonic Dreams

Suzanne at Tales of Extraordinary Ordinariness

Best Blog Award

given by Deb at 'Ranch Girl Ramblings'

I pass this award along to:

Sarah at Sarah with a Chance

Wine and Words at Quiet Commotion

Jason Evans at Clarity of Night

Awardees, please feel free to take the award and post it on your blog, then pass the award on to other bloggers that you feel are deserving :)

Thank you to all of you for your support of my little blog. It means a lot. Really :)

AWARDS- Pandas and Sparkles

Awards

Huge thank you to Karen at Following the Whispers for my Super Comments Award. Love the panda! And I must say that I was pretty blown away by Karen's kind words about me. Karen's blog often makes me stop and think and I admire anyone who can inspire me to stop... the thinking is a bonus :) If you aren't reading Karen's blog then... why not?! You are missing out. Her honesty and insights are like wings. And the world looks different from way up there in the blue sky.

If I could I would pass this award back to her, because her comments are often just what I need to hear. If Esther or Shelley were blogging I'd pass the award to them, because they too know plenty about wings and blue skies. But I am also thrilled to pass the award on to;

Suzanne at Tales of Extraordinary Ordinariness

AND

Jessica from BookingIt

And I have to say, Thank you to those of you who bother to comment on my ramblings, especially those who do so regularly. Your thoughts matter and they often lift me up.

Now for the Splash Award for having a blog that, um, sparkles... Glad my little blog is shining away and didn't have any spinach between its teeth on the day Fiction Groupie awarded me this :)

I would like to pass this award on to:

Wendy from On Words and Upwards. This girl makes me laugh! Maybe I just get her zany humour, but honestly between her posts about DJ Rinse Cycle, the washing machine with other life aspirations and her 'creative out lets' while educating other drivers on road rules, I about trip over my smile trying to get to her blog when she posts. Funny funny girl.

AND

Sarah from I Think Therefore I Blog who also posts laughing inducing stuff in between the posts that make me all reflective and misty eyed and wishing she'd post everyday. J.D's not the only one with gold stars Sarah, and I am happy to use them!

Okay all, that seems like a good way to end the blogging week. Have a great weekend and thanks for those awards. I am still smiling :)

Blog Award

Massive thank you to Lynnette from Chatterbox Chit Chat blog for this award. My third, yah me!

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. (see below)

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 possibly interesting things about me...

1. I speak conversational (means I have limited vocab!) French and Cantonese.

2. I scrapbook... I'll admit it... I. SCRAP. BOOK. There. I said it. I am out of the closet.

3. Occasionally I take a cup of tea and my Thesaurus to bed and just flick through words lists. I know. Sad. But words intrigue me.

4. I have a sister, four years younger than me, who I have not seen in over a year. I don't know where she is. Very sad. Makes me very, very sad.

5. Once I owned a chihuahua called 'Wiggie'. Don't ask my husband Matt to back that story up, he refuses to acknowledge the chihuahua we currently own, much less one from years before. I got 'Wiggie' when I was four years old and I was nineteen or so when she died.

6. Heights scare me silly, but I love to climb. One day I would love to walk over the Sydney Harbor Bridge. On one of their tours people, I am not scaling random infrastructures at will :)

7. Poetry is a good friend of mine. I write and read copious amounts of it.

Next... 7 Kreative Bloggers... in no particular order.

1. A Walk in My Shoes- Susan Mills

2. Another Gray Day- Kristin

3.White Platonic Dreams- T. Anne

4. Random Lunacy- Jenn

5. Megan Rebekah Blogs- Megan

6. Katie Ganshert- Katie

7. Comfort writer

Blog Award #2

A huge thanks to Liberty from 'Word Wanderings' for my second blog award. I post a bit about me on this blog, but I haven't really posted much about my first book. Some of you might have read the post I wrote on how that memoir came to be. But I have many other concerns about the delicate art of writing what could be termed a 'misery memoir'. So here are ten honest thoughts, questions and worries about my life in the process of writing my memoir.

1. Does it matter? I mean does it really matter to anyone other than me that I have written a memoir about my abusive childhood and coming to terms with that pain? I constantly battle with the thought that maybe memoirs are only relevant to their authors. Deep down I don't believe that, but still... the thoughts are there.
2. My memoir is non-conventional. I created a metaphorical character that I named Beast who I used to confront and deal with the pain. The book an interwoven story between the struggles of the inner world of these 'characters' and my life in the 'real world' above. I sometimes worry that my work doesn't fit 'type' well. How non-conventional can a memoir be and still have a chance at publication?
3. Obviously the work is non-fiction. I worry about not being believed. I worry that my parents might try to sue me. I worry about my father's reactions. I worry about libel and vetting the manuscript and well, I just worry...
4. I am brave enough to stand behind my words, but I feel for my mother who may not be. Even though at the moment she is in full support of my writing.
5. It is not a pretty read. Is there room enough in this world for another 'heavy' read? Will it shed light or just lift the lid on more shadows? I am hoping for 'shedding light' but there may also be a place for 'shadow shifting.'
6. Is there a publisher out there with the 'balls' to publish it? Is there an agent who would champion such raw and intense writing? There are strong Christian themes and not always favourable view points about God and the Church. The book has the potential to ruffle feathers. Actually, I rather enjoy feather ruffling...
7. How do you even go about querying a memoir? My understanding is that you query it like a novel. Yet it is nothing like a novel in many ways. And in other ways it is exactly like one. This is a HUGE learning curve for me.
   
8. Do I write a synopsis or a book proposal or both? Memoirs seem to fall into the large crack between novels and self-help books. It's not a book of facts and figures and I don't offer any ten step plans. Just the chance to see how someone else travelled the road out from hell and hurting. Really, it's a story. It just happens to be a true one.
9. My memoir is currently in a massive competition. And frankly, I think it would be an act of God if it even came close to being short-listed. I think the work may have gone out too unrefined and a bit early. But it's out there. I have a couple of big fans of my writing. My editor and my counsellor, but I am interested to see how it fairs in the world beyond them.
10. I am anything but precious about my writing. My counsellor has a copy of the manuscript and has (with my permission) shared the work with others. I find their heart felt praise hard to accept. I deal better with criticism. I know, I know!

I am passing this award along and challenge the following amazing blog authors to share their own honest insights about whatever the heck they feel insightful about :)

Wendy from 'On Words and Upwards' (here's to reaching 'upwards.')

Melody from 'Newly Minted Mrs.' (remember being 'newly minted'?!)

Gary Corby from 'A Dead Man fell from the Sky' (very cool title)

Sherrinda from 'A Wanna Be Writer.' (I wanna be too)

T. Anne from 'White Platonic Dreams.' (wish my dreams were white)

There are so many other amazing authors and inspiring writers I follow, but you all have this award!

I look forward to hearing the honesty others have to share. And if you happen to be a writer who has written your own memoir or know of someone who has, I'd love to hear from you.

That's it for me and 'list posts' for a while. Sorry, I know I have been flogging them a bit lately.
Check back for an upcoming author interview. I will post details tomorrow.

Ohh, Shucks!

First Blog Award.

Thanks Footprints!

Special thanks to Janet Camilleri, editor of Footprints Magazine, Australia, for my first blog award! Footprints is an amazing little magazine run by a dedicated group of equally amazing women. I have recently had the privilege of writing for them. You can check them out at www.footprintsaustralia.com/ where for a nominal fee you can have the magazine delivered right to your door.

"Footprints aims to provide Christian women Down Under with magazine-style reading - light, refreshing, entertaining and uplifting. Each issue is jam-packed with features of interest to women of faith in the 21st Century, as well as hints, tips, recipes, poetry, reviews, and always plenty of stories of how God is making a difference in the lives of women just like you."

- Janet Camilleri on their website.

Blogs Worth Reading

In the spirit of encouraging fellow bloggers, here is a short list of some of my favourite blogs. If you enjoy their blog be sure and sign up to follow. I know they'd appreciate it.

Brain Throw up- by Katie Ganshert (http://katieganshert.blogspot.com/)

Country at Heart- by author Deborah Vogts (http://deborahvogts.blogspot.com/)

Word Play: The Writing life of K.M.Weiland

(http://wordplay.kmweiland.blogspot.com/)

There are a heap of others that I follow. But most of the them are written by literary agents. Their links are on the side bar of my blog if that sort of thing interests you.

Thanks again Footprints.