Lovely, lovely, lovely...

Thanks to musician extraordinaire Stan Stewart, I am again honored with the "One Lovely Blog Award." Stan writes the unquestionably lovely Muz4Now blog with musings that are relevant to artists of all persuasions, not just musicians.

So, in keeping with the spirit of the award, I shall share 7 things about myself and pass the "1LBA" along to 5 (some say 15, but the rules on this are fuzzy) other worthy bloggers.

And heee-eee-eere we go:

1. I have met President Ronald Regan, broken bread with Norman Mailer and listened to hauntingly beautiful Celtic music while sitting on the same couch as Frank McCourt. All were fascinating men, but I'm happiest when in the company of my husband of 23 years.
2. I love to cook, though I rarely make a recipe "as written." I'm always convinced I can improve on the original.
3. I could eat Thai or Indian food at every meal every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy with the menu.
4. There is no such thing as too many Heath bars or too much coffee.
5. Life without dogs or horses is not worth living.
6. I love LEGOs. I've already informed my 8-year old daughter that when she outgrows them, we'll be keeping them for me to play with.
7. I have a habit of developing deep and abiding crushes on my characters. This leads to carved-in-concrete casting opinions, which is certain to get me in trouble should any of my books ever be optioned for film.

And now, I'd like to bestow this award on some fabulously wonderful blogs:

• Check out writer, painter, and purveyor of exquisite snark Alyson Peterson's newly established "Dirty Green Jello." Alyson once wrote the "Crazy Writer Girl" blog, which ended when her life exploded. But she's back now and I, for one, am glad of it!

• Romance Writer Roni Loren's (@RoniLoren) "Fiction Groupie" blog is an excellent source of writerly information and (for those cold winter days) womanly inspiration. 

• Quilting queen Kelly Smith's (@quiltinRedhead) "Redheaded Quilter" is part travel journal, part quilting blog, with the occasional recipe thrown in for good measure. Kelly is a wonderful writer with two books and a major editorship to her credit. I liked it better, though, when she lived just down the street instead of halfway across the country...

• Tell-it-like-it-is writer Lydia Sharp (@lydia_sharp) writes "The Sharp Angle" where she discusses music, craft, current reading, and the state of the publishing industry with acerbic aplomb.

• I manage a health and fitness blog for a client and through that blog have discovered Jeff and Mike Adams' (@TruckinFitness) "Truckin' Fitness." Their blog is consistently excellent, full of solid, interesting, usable fitness and training information.

And there you have it. Thanks to Stan, you now know far more about me than you ever wished to. And you've been introduced to some mighty fine bloggers. Go forth and read them to your heart's content. My job here is done!

Keep on keeping on.