WOW!
6 July 2011
My friend, Patricia has done me the amazing honor of passing to me the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award. All I have to do to accept is write five random facts about myself and pass the award on to five other blogs. I have to say that I wait for Wednesdays for Patricia’s blog on life in Rome. I’m getting fatter just on her blogs on Roman food! I may never get to Rome, but through Patricia, I feel like I’ve gotten to know bits of it. http://italianintrigues.blogspot.com
Five random things about me:
I’ve seen ghosts. While I was in college, for a year my family leased a 17th century Rhode Island farmhouse. I kept secret the pair of ghosts who appeared in my bedroom each night. Years later my mother mentioned meeting the next Navy couple who rented that same Aquidneck Island farmhouse. They went on and on about a sea captain and a little girl, ghosts. Exactly the two I’d seen years before.
I almost did not meet The Prince Consort. My college roommate blackmailed/threatened/forced me to go downstairs to dinner the night The Prince Consort’s fraternity sent a contingent of their members to my sorority for the traditional Greek Week dinner swap. Being Sweetheart of a different fraternity, I thought attending dinner with the Animal House reject fraternity was … inappropriate. Yep. He walked into my sorority’s dining room, and it was love at first sight. I was only a little wrong about the Animal House stuff.
I discovered writing when I was accused of plagiarism. Quantico (Marine Corps Base) High required all students to write an essay for a writing contest and possible publication. I was called in by the judging teachers and asked if I had copied a famous writer. At the time I’d never read or even knew Rachel Carson existed. But I got the hint. I’d knocked out something special. And I did get published.
I discovered writing humor after the traditional summer college visits trip with my only progeny. Professor Daughter had me Craaazzzy by the time we got home. I locked myself in my office and spewed out seventeen pages of snarling. Then edited. And edited. And trimmed to four hundred words, and sold it. First money earned writing.
My first vampyre ms. was written because I forgot. I’d been convinced to try Retin A, and forgot to take it off when I jumped in the backyard pool for my daily laps. In full Florida sun. In between counting the laps, I started the What If? process. And a vampyre was born.
Passing on to my Favorite blogs:
I love a variety of blogs. Writing and not.
Joan writes these wonderful reviews of children’s books on her Booklog. I know I should only pay attention to the Middle Grade or Young Adult reviews (read and learn from them), but she makes every book she reads and shares such a treasure. I can hardly wait to read them. http://joan-booklog.blogspot.com
Here’s one of my favorite writing advice blogs. Kaye’s All Things Writing. She has a gift for teaching. As many conferences, workshops, courses, I’ve done, I always appreciate relearning. But Kaye has mastered all kinds of things about writing in a new and even more clear way!! Perfect.
I don’t own a horse, and I’ve fallen off more than my share. But Susan’s Things I Learned from my Horse is a wonder for teaching life and writing. If you want your heart to warm and your brain to sharpen up:
Vickie writes rich wonderful mysteries, but her daily blog is like seeing the sun come up on my computer each morning. She shares gorgeous photos from her farm. A different theme to the photos daily. I laughed out loud the day she shared the perfect photos of cats asleep in the sun, on the furniture, she called it cats at work.
The Prince Consort and I LOVE ‘arts and crafts’. Which is our code for taking old things and giving them a new life, with paint, with new purpose, with imagination do dads and gee gaws, and fun. Kate blogs step by beautiful photographed step of how to make your home your own with treasures you have in your home, find in a thrift store, or if you’re me and my walking partner, rescue out of the curbside garbage
If I have mentioned your blog, you can accept the award by passing it forward. Write five random facts about yourself and five short reviews of other blogs.
Kath, who is still completely Cheezit-faced over this honor.
