Inspiring Blogger Award

When I found out the other morning that I’d been nominated for a blog award, I realized it was just what I needed. Catsby—the kitty who appeared on our doorstep just two years ago—has been sick. The nice thing about adopting a senior kitty is that he arrived neutered and declawed, and with very nice manners. The bad thing about adopting a senior kitty is…this. Just the other day I was thinking how much I’ve grown to love the little guy. If you can spare a prayer for his comfort and ease, we’d sure appreciate it.

So this award has been a bright spot, as is the blogger who was kind and thoughtful enough to nominate me, Lisa Ricard Claro of Writing in the Buff. I’ve been a fan of hers since I first happened across her blog, oh, years ago now. She is a fierce spirit who captures that combination of strength and grace and warmth for which the quintessential Southern woman is known. Add to that her own brands of wit, wisdom, and cleverness, and she never fails to inspire me in the most delightful ways. Her posts make me think, but she adds deft touches of humor while never, ever allowing those naked truths to approach the bad kind of naked. In fact, they never cease to be art.

On to the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! The rules are these:

• Display the award on your blog

• Link back to the person who nominated you

• State 7 things about yourself

• Nominate 3 bloggers (I guess it was originally 15, but Lisa changed it and so am I), link to them, and notify them about their nominations.

1. The day before I was born, my mother—who apparently couldn’t see over her giant baby bump—tripped on the dog dish and broke her leg. It was after her due date, so when they took her to the hospital no one knew whether to put her on the maternity floor or the one for breaks. They couldn’t give her the pain medication necessary to set the leg, so they put her in traction and left her there, and then later discovered they couldn’t get her in the door to delivery because of the traction-contraption. When they gave her a spinal for the delivery, she was so overcome with relief that she flopped back and set her own leg.
2. There’s a congratulatory card tucked into my baby book that says, “At least it wasn’t two broken legs and twins.”
3. Supposedly my name means “trouble.”
4. Almost majored in earth science in college because it’s hard to make a living as a writer, and I did major in psychology for the first couple of years before switching to English. Have possibly spent more of my life trying not to be a writer than trying to be one. It’s just that every time I get away from it, I seem to be drawn back in.
5. Okay, I admit it: I’m a Downton Abbey fan. But now that this season just got over for those of us in the U.S., I’ve been awarded a new Sunday night love: The Last Man on Earth. I don’t want to like it, and I’m probably the only middle aged woman in the world who considers what is practically the antithesis of Downton Abbey to be a welcome replacement for the show, but so far (only two episodes in), I love it. Only don’t tell anyone, or they’ll cancel the show the way they do most of my favorites.
6. I’m a little creeped out by beards. I know it's weird, and heck, my own son has one, but still.
7. For some reason I attract: small children, large dogs, and the guy with the phlegmy cough on the bus who wants to tell me his life story.  Librarians love me—or maybe they love everyone and I’m just taking it too personally—and so do the clinically insane. Also spiders love me, or maybe hate me as I seem to get more spider bites than other people do. Oh, and I also attract men with beards.

Lisa Ricard Claro’s revised rules state that I need to nominate three bloggers. So I hereby nominate these women who always seem to inspire me:

• Lynn Obermoeller of Present Letters. I don’t know if she will accept the award, but I do know she just had an anniversary, so stop by and wish her well. Multitalented Lynn is a critiquer extraordinaire who inspires me often with her disarming honesty, her unwavering spirituality, and her writing that positively soars on wings.

• Donna Volkennant of Donna's Book Pub. Donna is a polished professional and a lovely human being. It doesn’t matter if I’m reading her work or meeting her at a writers’ group—I am always left feeling as if I’ve been in the presence of greatness. She truly is as gracious as she is talented and vice versa. Wow.

• Pat Wahler of Critter Alley. I don’t think Pat accepts awards, and I respect that. I’m nominating her anyway because I think of her blog as an inspiring treat. It has a clear, focused brand, top-quality pictures, and short, pithy prose. I don’t know her well, but every time I’ve talked to her, I leave thinking that she, too, has her own grace and style. She also just got published in Sasee. Congratulations, Pat!

Thank you again, Lisa!

But the thing you don’t realize is that there’s good naked and bad naked. Naked hair brushing, good. Naked crouching, bad.

~Seinfeld, The Apology, 1997

One Stop on the Writing Process Blog Tour: Where There Be Dragons

Many thanks to Sioux of Sioux’s Page for including me in The Writing Process blog tour! It was begun by Margo Dill, who passed it to the incredible Donna Volkenannt, who formerly took first place in the global humor category of the world famous Erma Bombeck Writing Competition and who this year won honorable mention in the global human interest category of that same contest. Sioux summed her up so well that I can’t add a thing except to say that everything Donna does and is has a kind of grace to it.

Donna then passed it to Sioux, who is a fierce spirit who can do pretty much anything (and then act later like it was nothing at all). Her wit is of course sharply, impishly wicked-clever, but it’s tempered by such generosity, kindness, and modesty that both she and her art are hewn into legend itself. As if that weren’t enough, she is a 2014 winner of the Saint Louis production of the national Listen to Your Mother event and will perform May 10 (YES, she performs, too) at the St. Luke’s Institute for Health Education at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

So here were the Writing Process blog tour questions:

What am I working on?

A young adult novel. Also some other stuff, such as possible submissions to various upcoming Chicken Soup for the Soul titles. 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I’m not going to answer this question exactly the way it was intended. Instead, I’ll say that my last creative nonfiction piece differed in that it turned out not to be the piece I wanted it to be. Sad, but true. I don’t think bad early drafts necessarily make us bad writers. I think not knowing they are bad does. That’s why I think a lot of writers perpetually do battle with both sides of that most fearsome of two-headed dragons: self-assurance vs. self-doubt. We’re led to believe that self-assurance is everything, but it can only get us so far. If it takes over too much, we’re liable to write stuff that isn’t our best. But when the latter rears its ugly head, the piece is in danger of never getting written in the first place. Odd that it doesn’t matter if someone accepts the piece or not—somewhere deep down we have to know it’s the best we could do, and it’s only when I’ve reached that point that I feel like I’ve slain the dragon. The greatest weapon in this battle is objectivity, which is why an honest critique group helps so enormously. Sometimes there’s only so much they can do, however, so some pieces are better left to sit a while. The aforementioned piece turned out not to be appropriate for the publication I had in mind, for example, so I may put it away to marinate. Sioux is so generous of spirit that she says things fall out of me. They don’t. They do often fall out of an old file where they’ve been marinating—and sometimes pickling—for a long time. The irony! Sometimes if I can forget the piece enough, I can later read it from the most objective place possible.

Why do I write what I do?

I try to capture a message that’s important to me, and I try to capture it in a way that I hope will somehow resonate with others. I think people who are interested in any kind of art in the first place have a need to make sense of the world. 

How does your writing process work?

Usually I have an idea of both the beginning and end before I ever get started, and writing is the process of making the journey. Being able to make the journey at a time when I can lose myself in it to the point that it feels like it takes over and writes itself is, of course, the eternal goal. And the confoundingly tricky part for me.

Time to pass this illustrious award to:

Lynn Obermoeller of Present Letters. 

Lynn is one of those other people who can do just about anything and make it look effortless. She is also incredibly gracious. She is a deeply conscious and fearless soul who never hides behind pretense. (Why do I keep envisioning knight imagery?) She is disarmingly honest, and it’s that very quality that makes her characters complex, fascinating and delightfully vivid. She is also a whiz at plotting.

Lisa Ricard Claro of Writing in the Buff. 

I’ve never met Lisa in person, but her blog and writing are first rate. She blends wisdom and warmth with incredible grace. Her clever wit is legendary. She does a wonderful job of walking the line between being approachable and being the soul of professionalism. I can’t wait to read her upcoming book.

Thank you again, Sioux!

If you are not discouraged about your writing on a regular basis, you may not be trying hard enough.  Any challenging pursuit will encounter frequent patches of frustration.  Writing is nothing if not challenging. ~Maxwell Perkins, editor

And, in honor of World Down Syndrome Day, here is a conversation I overhead at Target between a young male employee with Down Syndrome who puts carts away and his male boss:

Employee (after the boss said he was going home soon): Don’t forget to hug me before you go!

Boss: Well come here and let’s hug you right now, then! 

Tagged

Like the blue light special, the big toe in the morgue, the slow wildebeest in the herd… I’ve been tagged! Thanks so much to Sioux of Sioux’s Page for thinking I am worthy of tagging. Or maybe the reasoning was that I’ve been blogging so seldom lately, I’d possibly miss it? HA! Nice try, Sioux, but no such luck! I will now attempt to answer the interview questions, just like a sleek starlet being interviewed by Conan O’Brien. Only I’m not sleek. Or a starlet. And instead of wearing a little sparkly dress, I am wearing workout shorts whose only workout is seat stretches, along with my beloved Sketchers sandals that look like the orthopedic devices they give you after foot surgery.

What are you working on right now?

Am trying to come up with something for Chicken Soup’s Overcoming Challenges book. But I do have a book started that I would classify as dystopian fiction for young adults.

How does it differ from other works in this genre?

My goal for the book is to appease all of my inner critics at once: the human being critic, the woman one, the mother, the teacher, the reader and the writer. For example, if you were to ask me if I liked the Twilight saga, I would tell you that, as a human being, I always look for themes with a little more depth. As a woman, specifically one who has dealt with people with destructive control issues, I was unhappy to see some of the unhealthier elements of the relationship between Edward and Bella romanticized even though I definitely saw the seductive appeal of the love story itself. As a mother, I was grateful for the theme of self-control. As a teacher, I was thrilled that it got so many children to read. As a reader, I had some mixed feelings but found the conflict and a lot of the plot elements appealing. As a writer, I was impressed that author Stepheny Meyer created a story that was irrefutably compelling and entertaining to a wide range of ages, not to mention successful.  

So one thing I hope to bring to the table is my ability to approach a YA book from all of these perspectives. The thing that makes me want to run away from the table, however, is how hard it is to please all of the inner critics sitting around that same table arguing with each other, like Maxine and her dysfunctional family at Thanksgiving dinner. And let’s face it: until I have a finished book, it’s all just talk, none of this matters in the slightest, and nobody eats that Thanksgiving dinner.

Why do you write what you do?

Interesting question, especially for a Writin’ Ho like me who’s loved just about every kind of writing at one point or another. That’s why I’m Spongebob one day and Squidward the next, and Mr. Krabs the day after that. As a kid, I wrote nothing but poetry and fiction because the stories of my life hadn’t been written yet. The more I’ve lived, the more that weight of real, concrete life has pulled me into nonfiction. Now that I’m old enough to have lots of experiences to write about, creative nonfiction has been a natural choice, and it seems like there’s a decent market for it. Plus those stories mean something to me because they are true. They’re who I am. But the fact is, I am also someone who knows young people, and I know what they read. Trying to write fiction again is fun, even though that works against me in ways. It feels enough like playing that I have to fight guilt along with everything else.

What is the hardest part about writing?

Getting all of those critical multiple selves to work together well enough to actually finish something before they kill each other off and take the work with them.

Now I’m supposed to tag three people, but I don’t know anyone who participates in this type of thing who hasn’t already been tagged. And I don’t want to tag anyone who doesn’t want to play, because that’s just like being the cootie kid who goes around poking people. So, if you want this, TAG, YOU’RE IT!

     

A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. ~Thomas Mann

Sweet Aftertaste

I was pleased and flattered to have received this award from Lynn Obermoeller at Present Letters almost a month ago. Unfortunately I was battling computer issues then. So here is my long-overdue response to the Super Sweet Blogger Award!

The Rules:

• Thank the Super Sweet Blogger who nominated you.

Thank you, Lynn Obermoeller. Not only are you super sweet, you are a fierce and lovely soul who writes with such riveting honesty that it speaks to something deep within the spirit.

• Answer five Super Sweet questions.

See below.

• Include the Super Sweet Blogging award image in your blog post.

See above.

• Nominate a baker’s dozen (13) other bloggers.

I don’t have a consistent baker’s dozen of followers, but if you’re here, you are sweet. Consider it passed to you.

• Notify your nominees on their blog.

Ditto.

The 5 Super Sweet Questions:

1. Cookies or Cake? – Yes. And pretty much anything that falls within the “dessert” category.
2. Chocolate or Vanilla? – Yes again. Real milk chocolate wins over just about any other possible ingredient any day, but I don’t like some chocolate flavored things so much, like cake or ice cream. My system craves the real thing and there’s no fooling it.
3. Favorite Sweet Treat? – Depends, but I get weird cravings for coconut sometimes, so I’d have to say coconut cream pie.
4. When do you crave sweet things the most? – At night, coincidentally right within the times when we’re supposed to be the most prone to weight gain.
5. Sweet Nick Name? –Shoot—I’ve had lots of nicknames, but this forced me to realize that no one has ever given me a “sweet” name like Sweetiekins or Honey Pie or Sugar Lips. Never! In fact, some are decidedly UNsweet…hee hee. Should I be offended? Nah. 

Thank you again!

“I’m gonna go talk to some food about this.” ~Liz Lemon, “30 Rock”

Welcome Warmth

Thanks to the ever-sunny Lisa Ricard Claro of Writing in the Buff for the "Sunshine Award!" I’ve been wiped out by a very nasty cold, and it brightened my entire week. I’ve said before that I think some people have what I call “Writer’s Aura”—where everything the person writes has a warmth and brightness to it. Lisa shines in that way.

First, I am required to answer these questions:

Favorite color: Depends on what it’s for, but the colors on my blog are biggies. Especially warm, sunny coral.

Favorite animal: Love most animals, but this one’s a no-brainer. Dog.
Favorite number: 4.
Favorite drink: These days, tropical flavored iced green teas are way up there. Salada makes one that to me tastes exactly like a spring day feels.
Facebook or Twitter?: Facebook.
Your passions: I’m one of those people who have way too many passions. Some of them are: my children, writing, friends, pets, nature, drawing and painting, and gardening. Had a much longer list, but I cut it down because I sounded like a nerd. Oh, and making nerdy lists.

Giving or getting presents: Have to agree with Lisa’s response: Both!
Favorite day: Saturday.  
Favorite flowers: The traditional gardener’s response is “whatever’s blooming right now.” So that would be the orchid that a dear friend gave me a couple of birthdays ago.

My instructions are to pass this "Sunshine Award" on to two bloggers who cheer me when I visit. So I pick Sioux of Sioux’s Page and Val the Victorian of Unbagging the Cats. Neither one is truly  someone I would categorize so much as “sunshiny”—at least in a Brady Bunch kind of way—because with these bloggers, there will be the occasional sunburn. Which is exactly what makes them both so real and so fun.

Thank you both…and thank you, LisaRicard Claro!!

In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge.~Aristotle

Hooray for Awards for Weirdness!

Many, many thanks to Linda O’Connell—very talented and oft-published writer, fellow WWWP, truly gracious and fun human being, editor of Not Your Mother’s Book…on Family, and blogger at Write from the Heart—for the honor of a blog award! It’s my understanding that I am supposed to tell you three weird things I do, so here they are:

1. I have an interest in perfumes and have been known to sniff out strangers—literally—and ask what fragrance they’re wearing. Most people are wonderful about it and often tell interesting little stories about how they discovered the scent themselves. One lovely older woman from the frozen food section of the grocery store couldn’t remember the name, so she took my name and number and later called to tell me. (“Hello? Uh…this is…uh…Gloria? From the grocery store?”). Turned out to be Clinique’s “Aromatics Elixir,” which is funny because, even though I love the “Happys,” I’ve long thought of Aromatics as smelling weird and chemically on me. On Gloria it smelled like a spa in the south of France after a rain.

2. I took tap, ballet and jazz for years, not because I was a good dancer (like my sister who used to dance until her feet bled), but because I love it. Still dance around the house every chance I get.

3. Since August of 2010, I’ve been taking a virtual trip around the United States via the internet, computer wallpaper and Google Earth. I am currently in my last continental state and only have Hawaii and Alaska left. I’ve learned some interesting things, such as the fact that Minnesota has a Spam Museum. I am extremely sad to report that the equally interesting-sounding Museum of Questionable Medical Devices, also located in Minnesota, has closed. At least according to my tour guide, Google. But please don’t change your Minnesota plans just because Wally World is closed! It looks like the Spam Museum is still going strong. Seriously, though, I’ve learned that every state in this amazing nation has its own beauty and history and interest. Will probably go to Canada next. Life is an adventure.

Please consider yourself chosen if you’d like to participate and pass this along!

If it’s not fun, you’re not doing it right. ~Bob Basso

They Also Wield Blog Awards

Thank you to Lynn of Present Letters for the lovely and coveted Versatile Blogger Award!! Lynn’s epistolary writing, addressed to the mother she lost when she was young, is moving and inspiring in so many ways. Lynn is also a fellow W.W.W.P. (Wild Women Wielding Pens), described in more detail below.

I’m supposed to tell you seven things about myself that are not included in my blog. So here goes (and if I’ve mentioned any before, sorry):

1.  My mother used to put our Great Pyrenees puppy in the playpen with me, so I literally grew up with dogs. In fact, if I speak a language, it would have to be a very small amount of Doggish. But only if my teacher is very patient with me.

2.  Am not originally from Missouri. We moved around a lot due to my former husband’s job, and this was the place we lived the longest. A few years ago I chose to move back to the St. Louis area. It’s not just the “Gateway to the West.” To me it possesses a sampling of nearly every part of the United States, and I love that. St. Louis has so much variety, there is something for everyone—culture, history, sports, children’s activities, outdoor activities, scenery, weather (ha!—maybe a little too much weather variety, but I’ve definitely lived in much worse) etc. And it’s affordable. Love it.

3. When I was a kid, I used to play Cowboys and Indians with a little boy on the next block named Stevie. Stevie and I got along well because he wanted to grow up to be a cowboy and I wanted to grow up to be an Indian.

4. I spent every possible moment of my childhood without shoes and have always felt fortunate that my mother let me.

5.  Also when I was a little kid, I thought clowns were a race. People still used the phrase “colored people” then, and let’s face it, clowns are colored.

6.  I have Hannibal Lecter’s sense of smell (without his sense of taste—ha!) and collect fragrant plants. Below is a picture of one of the delightfully fragrant viburnums that’s been blooming out of season since December because our weather’s been so warm.  This one is burkwoodii 'Mohawk.'

 And below is plumeria ‘Miami Rose’ that’s been blooming in my sun room all winter, followed by the orchid that a dear friend sent me for my birthday over two months ago. Not only is it stunningly beautiful, it’s still blooming!

7.  I once attended something called Laughter Therapy. The idea is that laughter causes wonderful things to happen in the body and the brain, so you laugh without reason if necessary. It was supposed to provide the body with the equivalent of several hours of exercise and leave you feeling refreshed. The small critique group I joined last year is like laughter therapy, but way better because the laugher (and the people) are genuine. Although our senses of humor range from the naughty to the nice—sometimes all in the same person—those brilliant, witty, talented, spiritual, raunchy, silly, wise, genuinely fun women provide the reason for the laughter in addition to first-rate writing advice. And sometimes, they even provide chocolate…which is another thing we all have in common. So thank you again to Lynn, a fellow W.W.W.P.

I believe I am supposed to pass this award to four awesomely versatile bloggers. The problem is that not only are all of you awesomely versatile, but some people don’t like awards. So I've chosen two who've given me awards in the past and are also awesome and versatile, too.  I'm hoping two others will consider it passed to them as well.

I love Trying to Get Over the Rainbow  because Jules leaves me feeling uplifted and refreshed by her amazingly unique—not to mention hysterically funny—perspective.

Donna’s Book Pub always has advice, opportunities, contests, interviews and other wonderful tidbits for writers. I'm always glad I stopped in.

Enjoy!

Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer. ~Ed Cunningham