Celebrating a Year!

Happy Blogoversary to Life's like that! *insert cheers of shock and excitement here, maybe a few oooohs and ahhhs too*

Oh my. I did it. There were moments where I had my doubts I'd survive a year out here. For those of you who don't know how much can happen in 365 days, you've never followed a blog.

I survived a crusade. I sent my blog to hell, brought it back, and showed others how to do so. I interviewed some impressive (and some insane) writers- yeah you know who you are. I met great writers, agents, publishers, crit partners, won all sorts of cool things including an honorable mention or two, and made real friends- yeah you know who you are. Most importantly, I learnt what BTW and LMAO mean. (my sister got a kick out of it each time I texted her in a panic with a new set of oddly used letters. Thanks sis for your patience with me.)

And that's just my blogging world. The real world was still spinning around me making me dizzy. Yikes eh?

The odds of me surviving this year without my family, blogging buddies, and readers encouraging me would have been zip. So!I'm celebrating by giving out an award to the first 20 still active bloggers who left comments on my blog.
Thanks Richard!!!
Thanks Elizabeth!!!

I've been honored with the "Great Comments Award" twice! By RICHARD HUGHES from Writing and Living by Richard Hughes and by Elizabeth Varadan's Fourth Wish.

Richard was my first real blogging buddy. We grew together. We learnt together. And I'm glad we found each other because it can be a scary world to face alone. He leaves many Great Comments which I look forward to each week. So often I hear that if you just be yourself, if you support others, and if you have something to say that is honest and genuine, that you will go far out here. Richard is that blogger. His site is not only impressive, it's my other home. I love to sit and chat with Richard. So thanks for the great award and for sharing my journey with me this year.

Elizabeth and I have been commenting back and forth since last March. March! I had to look it up, I knew it'd been a long time but geesh. No wonder it feels like I learnt I lot from her. I did. Elizabeth's site is very warm and inviting, and she brings that with her in all her comments. She teaches, she shares, and she's just all around fun. She's great at feeding my addictions; always has a book suggestion or is just a plain living example of what it takes to be a writer-- heart and soul, dedication and love, passion and motivation, friends and family. I hang out at her place a fair amount too. So thanks for the great award, makes me feel a little less stalker and a little more friend. Thanks for sharing the magic with me this year.

As for all you other commenters... Love Love Love to have you stop by. Everyone teaches me something new, makes me smile, and brings my words to life in a new way. Yes. I am just a fool blogging to myself without you!

As for all you readers who don't leave comments-- hugs, and thanks for reading me. It leaves me with a warm feeling inside to know you stopped by.

So these are the gems who came to visit me and left comments on my blog, back when I had zero followers. They all left great comments that led to wonderful debates, conversations, and friendships!

1- PK HREZO                                   2-Liz Arroyo from Chandara Writes   
3-Regina from Unsettled                      4-Beth from My Characters Lives
5-The Happy Whisk                            6-J.L. Campbell from The Character Depot
7-Betsy from Write Brain Mommy       8-Jayne Ferst from a Novice Novelist
9-Lynnette Labelle                              10-Donna Hosie from Musings of a Penniless Writer
11-Writing in a Nut Shell                     12-Catherine Awinn from the Writing Room
13-Lydia Shart from the Sharp Angle   14-Laurel from Unhinged... Seriously
15-DB Symith                                      16-Shelli from Market My Words
17-HowLynn Time                              18-Krista from Mother, Write. (Repeat.)
19-Carolyn from Serendipity                20-Lindz from Rapturous Randomocity

Now to accept this award one just needs to pass it on to another 20 bloggers whose comments you just love!

Oh. I am so not done.
Next, I was honored with two awards (last August, sorry for the delay, life was spinning around me!) from a dear friend over at Letters from Valentina Hepburn. Valentina's site is a great place to visit when you just need an escape. Her letters took me away on a little journey into the imagination. I never knew where. Oh my. I never knew where I'd end up. Once we were in some guy's place stealing his girlfriend's knicker's-- please don't ask why. hehe. Plus, she always knows just what to say to cheer me up when life makes me dizzy.












And so, I am passing them on to seven  eight (I couldn't cut it back) bloggers who are both versatile and sweet. All they need to do is thank me, and pass them on to 7 other deserving bloggers. Don't forget to share 7 things about yourself!!
Check them out, you'll see why I chose them and couldn't leave one out. Not one!! Wonderful sites! 
1. Duta from places with character                2. Cherie from Ready Write Go
3. Trisha from Words + Stuff                        4. Autumn Shelley at Conspiracy Cafe
5-Susan Kane from the Contemplative Cat   6-Erin Kane Spock from Hold on to Your Bloomers
7-Victoria Lindstrom from Writ of Whimsy   8-Teresa Cypher from dreamers, lovers and star voyagers

And here are the 7 fascinating things I learnt this year while blogging:
1- That it's one step from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yahoo groups, GoogleTalk, Skype, and Goodreads. What did I miss? Any other crap I need to sign into? Bring it on.

2- Blogging is really just writing in public. For a closet addict like me, not so easy to do. But! I am still here. A year later I've posted 63 times, and I now submit to several newspapers! I did it. Thank you for giving me the courage!

3- That every day I learn something amazing. 

4- That a writer is never alone. This one is really three things but they interlink;
        -Not only are other writing addicts out there-- some are worse than me. Sharing with them kept me motivated.
        -My wonderful family doesn't get why I write daily (heck, neither do I), yet they support me. They help me make time to write when there is none. They turn me back to the computer when I announce that I am done and they read with me so I have someone to talk with about my passion.
        -A writer needs only one other thing-- readers. This is the magic.

5- That I have more stories to tell than time to tell them. Does that even make sense? Probably not, but you get it, right? Thought so.

6- That I know very strange things. Like how to kill an immortal, and how to make shirts with my characters on them to motivate me when I feel like quitting. (no wonder I have no time, eh?)

7-I have no idea what "no" means anymore. Staring at the pile of rejections I got this year, really, I should have an idea what "no" means. I should. But! I don't. Do you?

7 1/4- I can do whatever I want on my blog, it's mine. Get your own and send me the link.
7 1/2 -(yes 1/2- see number 7 1/4 if this confuses you.) By the way, BTW does not mean Bitch That Writes. Sorry if I confused a few people with that one.

Oh my. What did you learn this year that stuck with you?
Happy New Year!

Bring it on
and
thanks for not only sharing the magic with me
but making it happen.

36 comments:

Cherie Reich said...

Happy Blogoversary! And congrats for all the awards! :D

Angela Brown said...

Happy Blogiversary! Blogging is full of lots of awesomeness and I'm glad you were able to make it. Even have some some wonderful awards to share with others.

So rock on :-)

Jess said...

Thanks for sharing more about Richard and Elizabeth (I already knew Elizabeth from The Fourth Wish, but Richard is new to me). Congrats on keeping up with your blog :)

PS~ Love your number 7 (under fascinating things you've learned)!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

What Cherie said. All those awards will now make their way into the blogosphere to infect others. I hope I am immune.

Lydia Sharp said...

What a great post! Thanks so much for sharing the love. And Happy First Blogaversary! :D

Christie Koester said...

Congrats on one year!!! YAY!!!

Anonymous said...

Happy one year! What a nice way to start the new year. Thanks for the award! Yay,me!

D.B. Smyth said...

Thanks Tanya! You are a sweetheart. Thanks for the award and congrats on your anniversary! Happy new year!

writing and living by Richard P Hughes said...

Congratulations on your first year blogging. We've both come a long way from where we started. Hope you had happy holidays.

Beth said...

Thanks for the award, Tanya! Love it. And, happy anniversary. I actually just had my one year as well not to long ago!

E. Arroyo said...

Congrats! and thanks! Awesome beginning to the new year.

J.L. Campbell said...

Thanks ever so much for the award and you're right. Writers are never alone. Sure it's a solitary task, but with a few clicks on the keyboard, we're in good company. Happy New Year!

Vicki Tremper said...

Happy Happy! And...ooohh, aaahh. Congrats on surviving the year! Here's to the next *chin chin*

Victoria Lindstrom said...

Congratulations, Tanya! You're one of the truly sweet bloggers out there! Your posts have been awesome and inspiring. Thanks for the awards girlfriend!

The Happy Whisk said...

What a very very nice and thoughtful post. Thank you and a BIG congrats on making it a year. Here's to many more years, and posts to come.

Cheers & Boogie Boogie.

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

yay happy blogoversary! :)

BBC said...

Happy blogavsrsary indeed. Hmmmm.... My iPad wanted to change that to "blog adversary".... Is it trying to tell me something? ;)

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Yay for blogging for a year! And thank you so much for the award. It's one I've never received before, so that's cool.

WritingNut said...

Aww.. Happy Blogoversary Tanya!!! :) Congrats on reaching the one year mark! I wish you many, many more to come.

And thank you so much for the award :).. such an awesome way to start the new year.

PK HREZO said...

LOL.... AMen, to that! I shook my head yes to a lot of these. Congrats on your blogoversary!! And thank you so much for the award. It's always a pleasure to visit you!
Here's to another year of fun! :)

DUTA said...

It's always a delight to read your blog. Happy Blogoversary , and keep up the good work!
(Thank you for mentioning my blog.It's an honour for me.).

Lynnette Labelle said...

Thanks. That was so sweet of you. :)

Hope this year is even better than the last.

Lynnette Labelle
www.labelleseditorialservices.com

Precy Larkins said...

BTW = Bitch That Write ?

Bwahaha! That one cracked me up! I've never heard of that before. Too funny!

Thank you SO MUCH for thinking of me! You are such a sweetie! And CONGRATS on your wonderful blogversary and your many deserving awards! What a great way to start the new year, eh?

Btw (by the way *snicker*), you make SHIRTS with your CHARACTERS on them?? Too cool! Now I feel lame-o cause I can't do stuff like that. Come to think of it, I don't even have pics of what my characters would look like! Hmm, better get the search engine to work...

:D

Susan Kane said...

Thanks for the Award! Since I already have it posted, I will add your name. You also gave an award to Erin KANE Spock. She is a great writer, and I love her dearly.
Happy NY!

Carolyn Abiad said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Carolyn Abiad said...

Happy New Year, congrats on the blogoversary, and thanks for the award! :D

LOL - there are plenty of text messages I don't understand. My boys help me out.

Trisha said...

This was a fun post to read :) Thanks so much for the awards! Will have to add accepting them to my to-do list. hahaha

Anonymous said...

Hi Tanya, first time visitor. Great to meet you! Love the attitude of I can do whatever I want on my blog Have a great 2012!

Kelly Hashway said...

Happy New Year, happy blogiversary, and congrats on all those awards. You have a lot to celebrate!

Valentina Hepburn said...

Dear Tanya,
Congratulations on your Blogiversary. You are indeed a blogging success and I'm so proud to call you my blog buddy, reader partner...friend. Your blogs are so interesting and well written, you deserve publishing success in 2012.
You know I wish it for you (and me!)and after a challenging 2011, I think you're done, sweetie.
Suzy, Ronnie, Scarlet and I wish you lots of love and a very Happy 2012.
Love Valentina x

Anonymous said...

Happy Blogoversary Tanya! I think it's lovely that you identify other bloggers supporting your efforts. I share your excitement as my blog, Sibylline Syllables, is also turning one this month and if you or your readers are interested, I've got some prizes up for grabs here: http://chenoafawn.wordpress.com/

Chenoa

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Happy blogoversary, Tanya. I like all the lessons you learned. (I especially relate to #5.) I always enjoy reading your blog. Your sense of humor is infectious. BTW, what does LMAO mean?

Samantha Sotto said...

Happy Blog Birthday! :) May 2012 bring you even more magic and suprises, Tanya!

momto8 said...

wow! good for you! and it is very inspiring to me to know that you have made blogging friends!

Autumn Shelley said...

Look at you go girl!! Congratulations and thanks for the award! I'm resolving to be a better (as in more consistent) blogger this year! Love and hugs from the Conspiracy Cafe!

Teresa Cypher said...

Happy Anniversary, Tanya! I nearly spit out my tea while reading "BTW". Oy! To think... lol...

Glad that I found your blog. I am learning new techniques, new ways to look at things, and absorbing every little morsel of information I find here! (Lots of morsels here, "BTW" ;-) Hope to have my award forwarded by the end of the weekend! Thank you, thank you, thank you! :-)