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.

Thanks, Letters from Valentina Hepburn



Thanks, Letters from Valentina Hepburn



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.

A Review of my Critique

Okay, I must admit, I'm glowing today. Another writer said wonderful things about a read I did for him.

 CHECK OUT RICHARD'S REVIEW OF MY CRITIQUE HERE 

Sharing my work is hard. I like to edit my own work until my eyes bleed. But! I did lay it lovingly in the hands of other writers. Several times this year. And! Guess what? The best part about letting other writers read my work is that they might let me read theirs. Now that is fun.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful writers who let me read their WIP this year and who returned the expertise and read mine. I worked with some incredible talent, and each time it brought me, as a writer to reach new levels, to push myself a little further. 

I really enjoy reading the drafts of other writers, more than this, I enjoy studying their work and how they saw mine! Studying a finished, published novel is one thing, studying a WIP is another. How and why they wrote things, where the plot was going, and how these word choices made me feel.

I got to get inside the wonderful minds of Liz, Robert, Reece, Richard, Torrie, Vicki, and Valentina. Each one is very different from the other and each one taught me something incredible about my own writing. So yup, it's been a busy year, but as part of the journey it wasn't only fun, I was lucky enough to pull a couple crit partners out of the deal and a few great friendships emerged. So next year will be just as interesting, I'm sure.

You get any useful feedback this year? Do you like getting a critique back or giving them out? Feel free to share, thank your posse, or just vent about how you can't let your work go until your eyes bleed.

Need a crit partner? Need a reader? If you don't write, do you want to be a reader? Everyone can play this game!