Birthday Wishes, Awards, and Worthwhile #Writing Blogs

Yesterday was my birthday (cue the confetti shower and the kazoo salute).

Last year on my birthday, I posted my Wishes for Wannabe & Working Writers. I had every intention of revamping the post and proffering it again because everything I said a year ago holds true: I wish you enough...

But birthdays are not about revisiting the past. They're about marking a moment in time and marching forward into the fray of the future with bravery, however misplaced it may be. Earlier this week, JKP at The Manicheans blog bestowed upon me The Lovely Blog Award.

And I didn't get her anything. ~sigh~

The terms of accepting said award are simple: say 7 things about yourself and nominate 15 other blog recipients. (Hmm... There is a very real fear that if I continue to accept blog awards, there will be no secrets left between me and thee. Then the mystery will be gone and the honeymoon will be over. ::sniff::)

Well, since my birthday got me thinking about all the stuff I'd still like to do in life, I figured I'd share my dreams with you. Perhaps my shouting them out to the world will make me more accountable and kick my ever-widening butt to get off the couch and go do them!

So here, in no particular order are a few things I'd like to have checked off my life list when my last birthday comes and some of the things that, IMO, make life worth living:

Wishes & Wants

1. I'd like to ride a bareback, bridleless musical freestyle demonstration that knocks peoples' socks off.  Like Stacey Westfall. (See her in the video below. ~sigh~ Gives me equal parts warm fuzzies and cold chills. It's so lovely.)  I've got it all choreographed in my mind. I know the music, the movements, and the maneuvers. My vision of it is *fantastic.* In reality, however, I'm still in the need-the-bridle-to-control-direction phase.


2.  I want to sit in a theatre with a crowd of strangers and watch the screening of a movie I've written. I'd love to have you join me. I'll share my popcorn.

3.  I want to set foot on every continent and visit at least 50 countries. (Current tally: alas: only 2 continents and 9 countries.) Ideally, such travel includes equitrekking with someone who knows the area. 'Cause everything's better when seen from horseback. :D

4.  I want to be an extra in a movie. Either as an extra rider or as "Uncredited Screaming Woman." You know: the one who, in a grade-Z film screams bloody murder after discovering the approaching zombie hordes? Yeah, that. I want to do that.

Lifetime Loves

5.  I've never met a dog I didn't like and I love everything about puppies: the smell of puppy breath, their petal-soft fur, their innocent eyes, and their boundless optimism. I wish we could give a puppy infusion directly into the veins of every elected politician.

6.  Every day I thank God that I am graced to spend some more time on this planet with my family: my favorite people who encourage my dreams while simultaneously keeping me humble.

7.  I would love to personally shake the hand of the first person to discover how to brew coffee. Seriously. He (or she) was pure genius.

And now I shall pass the One Lovely Blog Award on to some of my wonderful writerly Triberr friends. Some people claim to have "writing blogs" but, instead have "BUY MY BOOK!!! blogs." (I despise those and would never knowingly steer you toward them.) Not these folks. They each have writing-related blogs worth checking out.

*  Amberr Meadows (@Amberrisme) "Like a Bump on a Blog"
*  Trish Gentry (@VaChicklet) "ChickletsLit"
*  Shannon Mayer (@QueryAddict) "Wringing Out Words"
*  Martin Gijzemijter (@MagWrites) "Dinner With God"
*  Jeremy Rodden (@toonopolis) "Toonopolis"

*  Van Heerling (@VanHeerling) "Van Heerling Books"
*  Shannon Taylor Hodnett (@shanonaryder) "Shanona Writer"
*  Lindsay Wheble (@Lyndsay_Wheble) "Tolstoy is my Cat"
*  Martin King (@themartinking) "Martin King"
*  Stef Mcdaid (@Ukeditor) "Write Into Print"

*  Eri Nelson (@dearharts) "Dearharts"
*  Karina Cox (@karina_cox) "Pondhopper Musings"
*  Lisa Goodwin (@LGoodwin80107) "Lisa Goodwin's Blog"
*  Belinda Witzenhausen (@Bwitzenhausen) "Belinda Witzenhausen" (graphics to inspire creativity)
*  Jen DeSantis (@JenD_Author) "A Measure of Madness"

Visit them, and tell them I said "hi!" Oh -- and if you wish, buy their books. I'm sure they wouldn't mind but they won't smack you over the head and hold you hostage in order to make a sale.

Cheers!

Awards, Honors, Random Facts & Blogs You Shouldn't Miss

Whoa! I am honored -- honored, I tell you -- to learn that in the past week, this blog has been the recipient of not one but two awards.

Thanks, Glitter Lady!

The first is the Versatile Blogger Award, bestowed on Friday from the ever-lovely Stevie McCoy, aka @TheGlitterLady. Her Glitter Word blog is the home of #TuesdayTales flash fiction, as well as other fabulous posts to motivate, educate, and inspire writers of all flavors.

Then, on Sunday, the inimitable Michael Haynes (@mohio73) presented me with the Liebster Award. From what I can tell, it's designed to show love to bloggers who aren't powerhouses, but who have a dedicated core of followers (you know who you are).

The rules are sketchy, but as I understand it, part of accepting the Versatile Blogger Award is telling the world 7 Totally Random Facts about yourself. Part of accepting both the VB and the Liebster Award involves passing the award along to other blogs. The numbers vary from 5 to 15, depending upon whom you believe. In essence, it's the bloggy version of MLM meets a chain letter. Sort of. Because it's more fun and less vicious than either.

Thanks, Michael!

Ahem. OK. So, in an effort to play nice with the generous award committee (because, really, karma does exist, and if one wants to win, say, an Oscar or an Emmy at some point, one should practice gracious acceptance of any and all awards bestowed in the meantime), I hereby proffer the following

7 Totally Random Facts

Daylight is SOOOO overrated.
Photo credit: manicmorff from morguefile.com

1. I am a night owl. Which means that as the day goes on I pick up speed. I can be barely keeping my eyes open at 9 a.m., even after a long, restful night's sleep. But at 10, 11, 12, 1... I'm still going strong. This proved useful when...
2. I once worked 56 hours straight when I was Head of Proofing at an advertising agency. I did not go home. I did not sleep. I committed nutritional suicide and mainlined coffee. We were on crazy deadlines for several clients and told we couldn't go home till everything was out the door. At this time, I made my worst proofing mistake ever when...
3. I approved a calendar to go to print that had Good Friday a full, solid week before Easter. By the 40th or so hour, even this night owl was too pooped to hoot. Fortunately, upper agency management forgave the blatant proofing error.
4. I met my husband while making prank phone calls to the boys' dorm two weeks into my freshman year of university...
5. After we dated for 2 weeks, WunderGuy asked me to marry him. I was appalled. "Are you crazy?" was, I believe, my verbatim response. I told him to ask me again in a year or so if we were still together. Thank God he did.
6. I am capable of holding entire conversations made up only of movie quotes and in-joke references, and routinely do so with family and close friends. I often underestimate the annoyance factor of this Sekrit Langwij on those who are not fluent in it.
7. I once received the following job review. (ahem) "You are an excellent worker; conscientious, dedicated and thorough. But, dear, you have no tact." Sadly, I have not acquired any in the years since.

And now, with my randomness showing, I shall pass the awards along to these blogs that I love, and I know you will too:

• Food Snots: A flat-out fabulous cooking blog with fantastic recipes. Want to know how to make cupcakes that glow under a blacklight? You'll find out here. Seriously, though, try the Chicken Tandoori. It's excellent. Great step-by-step pics & easy to follow directions. Mmmm! (@foodsnots)
• 120 Socks: Dublin-based writer Louise Phillips' (@120socks) blog is full of awesome randomness. My hands-down favorite post is How Times Have Changed - Utterly Bizarre, which merits close reading and elicits both hysterical laughter and fervent prayers of gratitude that I live in the 21st century.
• Bliss Habits: Blogger Kathy (@BlissHabits) lists 13 "virtues of bliss." Every week, she chooses one and dedicates her blog to exploring it in greater detail. This is not a sappy blog. It's insightful, interesting, well-thought-out, and often inspiring.
• The Musings of a New Englander: Writer Sharon Williams (@NewEngland_Muse) shares her writer's journey, with posts on such things as WWE, "Supernatural," cockatiels, and the writing life. [Special shoutouts and thanks to Sharon for inviting me to join her Triberr tribe. Which I'm still trying to figure out. Baby steps...]
• Zongrik: Prolific poet and aerospace engineer Bat-Ami Gordin's (@zongrik) blog of relevant, timely poems that make you think and enrich your day. Worth the visit.

So there you have it: complete and total randomosity, plus a few great blogs you may not have known you were missing!

Thanks again for the kudos. It's a joy to pass them along...

Awards Season

or, Thoughts on Having "One Lovely Blog"

Since I was not nominated for an Oscar this year, I assumed that the early-March awards season would pass me by. Thanks to Karen at the always interesting Fiction for Dessert, I was mistaken.

Karen has bestowed my humble blog with the One Lovely Blog Award. Thanks! I'm touched. I really am. I don't know Karen. I've never met her. To think that someone other than my mother reads my posts and finds something to appreciate about them is exceedingly gratifying.

I researched the 1LBA to find its origins and -- after a brief, but targeted search online -- I couldn't. I did discover that other recipients have also failed in the task, so at least I'm not alone in my search-engine shortfall.

Accepting the award comes with certain responsibilities. One must:

1.) Post it on your blog and include the name of the person (and a link to his or her blog) who bestowed it upon you.

2.) Pass the award on to 15 other blogs you have recently enjoyed. [This one changes, depending upon the blog you check. Some say "10 other blogs." Some say "another blog." It's a sort of chain-letter approach to alerting the world to blogs you like.]

3.) Contact the awarded bloggers and let them know that you have awarded their work.

Now, I am all for telling people that I like their work. However, I have several minor speedbumps to address as I wend my way down the road to award acceptance.

Some of the blogs that I follow are -- well -- HUGE. Their writers certainly don't need lil ol' me telling them that I love their work.

Others have decidedly masculine writers who, I daresay, may not be all that thrilled with having a veddy, veddy pink, flowery award flung in their direction.

Still others are maintained by personal friends. Awarding them smacks of nepotism. Kind of like my Mom sending me kudos.

Ah, but where would the world be without flowers, little people thanking big ones, and supporting our friends? With this thought in mind, I hereby bequeath the award of "One Lovely Blog" to these gems (in no particular order):

1. Red Headed Quilter by writer & avid quilter Kelly Smith.

2. Author & educator Trudy Morgan-Cole's Hypergrafitti.

3. Barbara Simpson's funny, poignant, introspective comments on a life in which she is Never a Barbie.

4. Christian writer, book reviewer, and Nashville-to-Michigan transplant Janet Morris Grimes' Pursuit of Sappiness features reviews, devotionals, musings on parenting and writing, & more.

5. The prolific and poetic agent Suzie Townsend's Confessions of a Wandering Heart.

6. Agent's assistant Rayna Erlick's transparent and articulate Rayna Reads.

7. Stuntman and dedicated freerunner Paul Darnell's Live Free or Die is a motivating, energetic, behind-the-scenes look into an athlete's life.

8. The indispensable blog of uber-agent Nathan Bransford.

9. Missy Frye's Incurable Disease of Writing. (Snapshots on this blog can be annoying, but Missy is very transparent about her writing struggles & she regularly features guest posts.) [Truth in advertising -- sometimes she features Yours Truly...]

10. The amazingly versatile and prolific Cherie Burbach's Working Writers & Bloggers blog is packed with writing advice, guest posts, & interviews. [More truth in advertising: she featured an interview with me in December, 2009.]

11. The technically gifted Terisa Green writes a brilliant blog that is chock-full of tips to strengthen the writer's craft.

12. Trucker and aspiring adventure writer Daniel Audet writes lyrical posts about the roadblocks that all writers struggle with on The Writers Road. He only writes occasionally, which makes each post resonate even more.

13. Literary agent Chip MacGregor's regularly answers reader's questions about the publishing industry on his blog.

14. Adrian-Luc Sanders -- eternally interesting and hyper-opinionated -- discusses writing and editing in great uncensored detail at Kowloon by Night.

15. The charming Australian-by-way-of-NZ YA writer Karen Healey (not to be confused with the amazing equestrienne of the same name) chronicles her life in Chocolate in the Fruit Bowl. She is also the guest blogger / Writer in Residence at Inside A Dog for the month of March.

Thanks to all of you for enriching my reading, expanding my understanding, or just making me laugh! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the blogs I've mentioned: I encourage you to check them out at your earliest opportunity. Happy reading!

Let the Judging Begin...

Updates From the Front of the 3-Day Novel Contest

I received word from the Powers That Be in the 3-Day Novel Contest that my manuscript has been received and logged and is now with their judging committee.

Since my entry has been officially processed, I get banner-display bragging rights (see accompanying "I Survived..." pic). I find this oddly gratifying, and suddenly have a greater understanding of the importance of war medals.

And now, of course, those of us who entered the fray must return to our normally scheduled lives while The Committee spends the next few months reading (and hopefully rereading) the submissions and debating their favorites.

In my mind's eye, I see several harried readers half-hidden behind stacks of submissions. Each desperately searches for a manuscript to love. Each knows that the likelihood of doing so is roughly the equivalent of finding one's Perfect Life Partner during happy hour at a singles bar. Hope, however, burns eternal. But time marches on, and no reader can spend too much time on any one manuscript because there are still so many others awaiting perusal. I envision an overworked coffeepot, boxes marked "Yes!" "No!" and "Kill Me, Kill Me Now!" and a stash of donuts to give the calorie-laden courage necessary to begin reading another draft.

The winners will be announced in mid-January, 2010. In the meantime, we are free to work on our drafts however we see fit (I am already inflicting portions on the Writing Practicum members), though we are reminded to save a copy in its original form.

Because of the cataloging process, they don't yet have total figures of entries for this year's contest. One wonders just how many of us were gluttons for such punishment. Best of luck to all who entered -- I feel a certain affinity with them, based largely on a shared lack of sleep.

I'm currently working on a book project that takes one elite athlete's insights, training tips, and strategies and applies them to Real Life. It's shaping up to be a fascinating look at what makes people successful -- no matter what arena they choose to compete in. One of the big tentpole tenets is simply: once you've raised the bar, that level of performance becomes your new norm.

I know that writing a novel in less than 3 days raised the bar on my craft. I would strongly recommend the experience to any writer. Though the contest has been over for weeks now, I continue to benefit from it.

Yesterday, I spent 5 hours working on a new novel. I completed 5 pages. Before the 3-Day contest, I'd have been content with that. Now, I'm not. I've been on the front lines of battle and lived to tell about it. I have a better understanding of what I am capable of. I know I have it in me to do better...

Against the Wind

or, Marathon Man Movie Has a Name!

The results are in! We have a winner!

Over 450 entries were submitted in the Name the Dick Beardsley Movie contest. Thanks to all who participated. Your creativity and obvious enthusiasm were appreciated.

The Grand Prize winner is the title Against the Wind, submitted by Tommy Tidwell. Tommy will receive a $150 gift certificate from New Balance, a Dick Beardsley Foundation T-shirt, and bragging rights for naming the project.

The top 5 Runners-Up are:

Beyond the Finish Line – Sarabeth Orlowski
Hitting The Wall – Jack Royal
Running on Empty – David Edwards
After the Finish Line – Mark Berman
One More Mile – Jeff Smith

Each runner-up will receive a Dick Beardsley Foundation T-shirt. Congratulations!

Please note, some of the titles were submitted by more than one person, so the first one who entered the title will receive the T-shirt. But we would like to acknowledge the following people for their submissions:

Jeff Rayburn
Stephanie Kurpiewski
Julie Threlkeld
Renee Saxman
Leland Baskin
Ed Dodak
Janet Cain

We invite you to become a fan of Against the Wind on Facebook. There, you’ll find updates on the status of the film project and you’ll be the first to learn of other contests related to the project. Making a movie is just like running a marathon, and we are on mile 1. Thanks for your continued support, and we’ll see you at the finish line!

It's a Winner!

I just returned on Sunday from a week in L.A. at Jim Mercurio's very excellent, inspiring, and challenging Killer Screenwriting Workshop. I'd intended to blog about my experience there -- and will do so. Soon.

But I just found out that on June 21, American Horse Publications declared The Rider's Pain-Free Back one of the Top 3 Equine-Related Books of the Year! Nearly 1,100 titles from 2007 were nominated. I didn't even know we were in the running. I'm thrilled for Dr. Warson, Trafalgar Square Publishing, and for the book.

One of the wonderful things about my job is the opportunity to work with real movers and shakers within their fields. It's always a joy when the stars align, and the world recognizes my clients for their expertise.

So, while I'm not yet holding a statue of a little naked gold man and thanking the Academy (soon, Bwana... Soon...), I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the judges from American Horse Publications for recognizing the effort we put into the Back Book project.

Cheers!

An Alan Smithee Award

Now that the Oscars are over (dubbed the "least-watched awards show in history" by some wags who should know), Roderick Jaynes can go back into obscurity -- until the Coen Brothers need to pull him out of the closet and dust him off.

Jaynes was nominated for an Oscar for "Film Editing" for his work on "No Country for Old Men," the powerhouse that ruled the Night of Little Naked Gold Men. It wasn't his first time up for the award. Ten years ago, he was also nominated for his work on "Fargo."

Jaynes has had an enviable career. Not only has he worked extensively with some of the most original and exciting filmmaking visionaries of our time AND been recognized by the venerable Academy for his expertise, but Entertainment Weekly named him as one of the 50 Smartest People in Hollywood in 2007.

(And before you scoff at the phrase "smart people in Hollywood" as an oxymoron, ask yourself what other profession pays its principals millions of dollars for a few days of work. Based on that criterion, physicists appear to have the intelligence of yogurt for their chosen profession. It's all a matter of priorities.)

So while it appears that Jaynes is riding high, enjoying everything that life can offer: steady work, recognition, an interesting career working with interesting people -- you'll never find him out and about enjoying his good fortune. In fact, if he had won the Oscar Sunday night, he wouldn't even have made his way down the slippery slope of the stage to accept the honor.

Jaynes, you see, doesn't exist. (Check out other Oscar nominees who were similarly Not There in Stephen Saito's excellent article.)

It used to be when a movie was so destroyed in the final cut that the director wanted to put as much distance between himself and the product, the director's name would be removed from the credits, and "Alan Smithee" would get the credit. It was better than saying "Directed by Mr. X."

One would think, however, that when one did GREAT work, it would be worth putting your own name on it in case someone felt compelled to hand you a golden statue of a naked man to commemorate your achievement.

It appears that some people actually still care more about doing quality work than they do about the glitz and glamour that clutter up the pop culture landscape. They adhere to the adage that "There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't mind who gets the credit."

Maybe I should just put Roderick Jaynes' name on the next screenplay I start shopping around. I wonder if his agent (or the Coens) would mind. 'Cause I'm pretty sure he wouldn't complain.