More Bloggy Love: Yay! You Love Me!

Like I've said before, receiving awards just doesn’t get old! Receiving awards means receiving bloggy love and support. And guess how much bloggy love I received this time?!

Six! Yes – six of the loveliest blog awards! Two more Versatile Blogger Awards, one more Liebster Award, One Lovely Blog Award, an Irresistibly Sweet Blogger Award and a Roaring Lion Award!

Yay! You Love Me! And now I'm going to love you back! Because I've got lots of awards to pass on to a group of people who deserve it so much!

I received the Versatile Blogger Award from Aaron at The Blogger Girlz. Check out her blog that she shares with some other awesome blogger girlz. I received another Versatile Blogger Award, a Liebster and a One Lovely Blog Award from Michele over at A Wanderer in Paris. AND, my blogging buddy Crystal over at Little Bundle of Contradictions is handing out the Worlds’s Sweetest Blogger and Roaring Lion awards to those who follow faithfully and leave comment love. Yep, that’s me!

I am lovin’ this SO MUCH! And I also love passing them on. So bear with me while I make up stuff think up new and interesting things to tell you about myself.

In the meantime, here are the rules for the Versatile Blogger Award and One Lovely Blog Award:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post. Done.
• Share 7 things about yourself. Done.
• Pass this Award along to 15 recently discovered blogs and let them know about it. Done. 

 Here are my 15 Picks, once again working my way back from the end of my Follower List:

1. Miranda Hardy
2. Zan Marie at In the Shade of the Cherry Tree
3. Sheri Swift at Finding Joy in the Journey 
4. L.M. over at The Nations of Thread
5. Joshua at Vive le Nerd 
6. Sabrina at Little Red Writing Hood 
7. Angeline Trevena 
8. Michael over at SLC Kismet
9. Michael Di Gesu at In Time
10. The Capillary 
11. Michelle at A Writer (un) Published 
12. Shallee McArthur
13. Caitlin Lane 
14. Writing Nut at Writing in a Nutshell
15. KT at The Scribble Muse 

The Liebster Award is intended to show bloggy love to blogs with fewer than 200 followers. Here are the rules for the Liebster:

• Show your appreciation to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them. Done.
• Reveal your five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog. Done.
• Post the award on your blog. Done.

 Here are my five picks for the Liebster:

1. Joshua at Vive le Nerd
2. Sabrina at Little Red Writing Hood
3. Sheri Swift at Finding Joy in the Journey
4. Michelle at A Writer (un) Published
5. KT at The Scribble Muse

Here are the rules for the Roaring Lion Award and the World's Sweetest Blogger Award:

• Thank the person who gave it to you. Done.
• Post the award with the link to the person who gave it to you. Done.
• Know that you are awesome! Done.
• Pass the award on to as many people as you want. Done.

Here are my picks for the Roaring Lion and World's Sweetest Blogger Awards:

1. Clarissa Draper
2. Joyce at Catch My Words
3. Anita at A Still and Quiet Madness
4. Elizabeth at Mystery Writing is Murder
5. Running Girl at Running-girls Reflections

Here are the 7 things about me. Since I recently received other blog awards, I had to think really hard about 7 NEW things, but here they are:

1. I’ve had the same 6 best friends for 38 years. One of us is gone now (see #5), but I still count her in. When we get together? Fun, chaos and shenanigans.

2. Speaking of 38 years, that’s how old I was the last time I went Trick or Treating. I love Halloween and have such fond memories of Trick or Treating that I wanted to experience it again. Plus, I love candy. Just wear a mask and hide your hands! They'll never know *shhh*

3. My only house plant is a barrel cactus. He was an inch tall when I got him in 1995, and now he’s about 6 inches tall. Cacti live for a very long time, so I’m pretty sure I’ll have to assign a guardian for him in my will. We call him little Joe, AKA Cactus Joe. He can be a bit prickly. But when he gets blossoms in the Spring? He's gorgeous and he knows it!

4. I have a very flat and monotone type of humor/personality. (Read: I am not bubbly, never have been). Sometimes people don’t know how to take me. But I swear, I'm really nice!

5. I am faithful, trustworthy and loyal. If I am your friend, I am a friend for life. See #1 above.

6. We absolutely adore our dogs. Their names are Koko and Tuffy - Pit/Australian Shepard/Mutt mix. They are brother and sister, 6 years old. When they were pups I was teaching them to fetch and poop at the same time (no, not simultaneously). But Tuffy was a bit confused one day. When I told him to go poop, he fetched me a piece.  

7. My dirty secret? I watch Jersey Shore. I know, I know - don't hate.

Second Campaigner Challenge

It's time for Rachael Harrie's Second Campaigner Challenge! You gotta love her sense of humor - wait until you see the words she gave us that must appear in this post. I looked every one of them up on Wikipedia. This is a clear lesson in vocabulary - or little-used words, I'm not sure. You can read and vote for your favorite entry here. I'm number 34.

The Challenge is:

Write a blog post in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should:

• include the word "imago" in the title

• include the following 4 random words: "miasma," "lacuna," "oscitate," "synchronicity,"

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional and included in the word count), make reference to a mirror in your post.

For those who want an even greater challenge (optional), make your post 200 words EXACTLY!

I MET THE CHALLENGE AND THE EXTRA OPTIONS!

AND SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE THIS POST IN ORDER TO GO LOOK UP THE WORDS, I POSTED THE MEANINGS BELOW:

Imago: Insect in its sexually mature adult stage after metamorphosis.
Miasma: Noxious atmosphere.
Lacuna: A gap or space.
Oscitate: Gape or Yawn.
Synchronicity: Events that happen together by chance.

AND HERE IS MY POST.

Imago of a Lost World

AirShip America Log, September 22, 2075.
24:00 hours.

Reached Mariposa. Declared international martial law upon discovering mixed human/alien race in apparent distress. Subsisting mostly in an area called Lacuna, below ground, the unsustainable miasma being above ground. They are barely surviving. The race is surely facing extinction. Entire planet is beginning to oscitate in large areas and increasing daily.

I tapped the pen against my lips. I hadn’t quite figured out what to do with an entire race from a defunct planet.

“What are you planning?” asked First Lieutenant Carmenski. Clearly uneasy, she wanted to begin doing something. Anything.

“They must be evacuated, obviously,” I said, annoyed. I don’t like being rushed into any decision, especially one as important as this.

“But how?” she pushed. Our ship will only carry five hundred more.”

She sat next to me, commanding my attention. “Don’t you think it strange the AASA sent us here? I don’t believe in synchronicity. I think it’s all smoke and mirrors. They knew what they were sending us into.”

“Perhaps,” I said. But I secretly agreed. We landed on a dying planet. The American Aeronautical Space Administration surely knew about it. And sent us all to certain death.

Death of a Bookstore: RIP Borders

I know that we, as writers, are watching the unfolding changes that are happening in the world of books and publishing pretty closely. First the struggling indy bookstores, and then the fall of some of the bigger conglomerates. What's next!


I fervently hope that we never see the total demise of bookstores, lost to the world forever due to economy and technology. One of my very favorite things to do in the world is to visit bookstores. Any bookstore. As long as there are books, I’m there. The nearest bookstores to me are an hour away, so I really appreciate them when I can get there.

But anymore when I go, there are always changes. It started with outfacing books which showed the covers. A twofold strategy, I think. One, to fill up the empty spaces on the shelves, and two, the cover has to be a great marketing tool. I’m always drawn to covers.

On my recent visit to Barnes & Noble, there were major changes going on.

First, they were in the midst of a major rearrangement. The teenage section, which was tucked away at the back of the store, was being moved to the middle of the store, next to fantasy and science fiction. And the teenage section was suddenly HUGE! I was quite surprised. I thought that with new technology, especially with teens, that they’d be buying online ebooks. So then I wondered, who’s buying all these books, then?! And my answer was, people like me. I am an older adult (can’t bring myself to say middle-aged, but…) who reads young adult fiction. It is a huge escape from the everyday reality that we live.

My point is that the teenage section, (read: YA) was easily the biggest section in the whole store, which means a lot of people are reading this genre, and not just teens. That’s excellent news for us YA writers. Woo Hoo! At least 75% of the blogs I follow are YA writers. I think we're in the right genre at the right time.

Second, although they’ve always had a games/puzzle section, they’ve expanded on that. In addition to that, they were making a special section for kid’s games and puzzles. Also, they must now have a relationship with Lego, because they had a whole section of new Lego shelving going up.

Third, the educational section seemed to be increasing. Now there are several aisles of teaching supplies for K-8.

But what section do you think was smaller? Reference. I don’t know why, but my guess is that they are expensive, they aren’t good sellers, and you can usually find what you want online for free.

Anyway, with $50 gift card in hand, I picked out 3 books and carried them around the store for an hour. Then I put two back, ever mindful of the economy and how much I was spending. I ended up with a YA fiction novel by Kiersten White, called Paranormalcy. Kiersten is awesome! You can check out her blog at Kiersten Writes .

When I walked out of Barnes & Noble, I looked up to see Borders across the street, with a big banner that said, Final Days. I knew they were selling everything and going out of business so I decided to go over and see what they had.

When I went in, it had been pretty well picked over, but with everything 80-90% off, there were still quite a few people shopping for a bargain.

The first thing I noticed was that people were rushing around with huge stacks of books. They looked like looters during a blackout. Others, like me, quietly perused the remaining titles on the shelves, respectfully, like reading headstones in a cemetery.

It was the final four days of their existence, and somehow, what was happening just didn’t seem right.

Even so, I bought $30 worth of books for $6, put my dark glasses back on, looked over my shoulder surreptitiously and slunk to my car like a thief in the night with my loot.

It was very sad, especially with B&N across the street, busy with all their bustling, new changes. Or maybe I should say "scrambling"?

Who Received the Versatile Blogger Award?!

So who do you think received another blog award? That's right. It's me!

I am so excited! This is my second blog award. In case you’re wondering, it doesn’t get old! I want to thank the lovely Maeve Frazier over at LolliPop's Cottage for giving me this awesome Versatile Blogger Award! Maeve writes children's books AND gives us awesome cookie recipes to go with them. How cool is that?!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Maeve!!


Here are the rules for receiving and awarding this awesome blog award. Anyone who accepts this is asked by the person selecting them to do three things:


1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post. *check*

2. Share 7 things about yourself *check*

3. Pass this Award along to 15 recently discovered blogs and let them know about it! *check*


I have “discovered” so many new awesome blogs (and they have discovered me!) in the past few weeks thanks to Rachael Harrie’s Platform-Building Campaign. I didn’t know where to begin. So I started at the end…of my follower button and worked my way back. I wanted to pass on this award to the new blogs I discovered who have not received the Versatile Blogger Award yet. And let me tell you, it was tough! So many awesome bloggers have already received this award! But I did it, so here we go:

Here are the 7 things I want to share about myself. If you want to know more, click on the links:


1. I am the daughter of a Vietnam Vet, wife of a Vietnam Vet, and the Mother-in-Law of an Iraq Vet. Yeah, I know all about you guys.

2. I have one awesome daughter! She had a VSD (ventricular septal defect) at birth (basically 3 holes in her heart) and open heart surgery at a year old. Her “zipper” is horizontal. She went on to play softball, baseball, soccer and gymnastics for years. She ran her first marathon last year. She’s totally awesome!

3. When I was a little girl I hated my name. Gwendolyn is such a long name for such a little girl. My husband once wrote a love letter to me from a cozy little pub in London and addressed it to Lady Gwendolyn. Suddenly my name was special. The name stuck. I have an awesome husband! I’ve been married for 23 years. I made my husband work hard for my hand. He says he chased me until I caught him. And it’s true. I made a lucky catch.

4. I live in the Rocky Mountains at approximately 9000 ft. elevation. Coming from a California girl who grew up at sea level, I’m on top of the world. And gasping for air.

5. I started running almost two years ago and lost 40 pounds. I still have 40 to go. I am literally running my butt off. I ran my first half marathon this past June. Who’s up for next year?!

6. I quit my job in California and moved to the mountains in Colorado to become a writer. I decided that my “someday” had finally come and dreams really do come true. And life is too short to not be doing what you want!

7. I love, love, love to travel. I’ve been to Europe 3 times. France, Italy, Austria, Scotland, Ireland, England. And of course Mexico since I grew up on the Mexican/American border. I feel an affinity with all things English. I’m a complete anglophile.


Here are the 15 blogs, (in no particular order) that I would like to share this award with:


1. J.L. Campbell at Snippets and Splashes, http://snippetsandsplashes.blogspot.com/


2. Nadja Notariani at An Author’s Adventure, http://nadjanotariani.blogspot.com/

3. Linda Gray at Critique Sisters Corner, http://critiquesisterscorner.blogspot.com/

4. Mel Fowler at Adventure Writes, http://adventurewrites.blogspot.com//

5. Juliet Greenwood at http://julietgreenwoodauthor.wordpress.com/

6. Niiganab at http://niiganab.blogspot.com/

7. Sher A. Hart: Fantasy Writer’s Fancies, http://sherahart.blogspot.com/

8. Angela Kulig, Angela Write Now, at http://angelawritenow.blogspot.com/

9. Crystal Collier, Compulsive Creator, at http://crystalcollier.blogspot.com/

10. Ali Cross at http://www.alicross.com/

11. Charlie Quillen at http://charlie-quillen.blogspot.com/

12. Deana Barnhart at http://deanabarnhart.blogspot.com/

13. Kelley at Writtled, http://writtled.blogspot.com/

14. Angelina Hansen at http://yascribe.blogspot.com/

15. Sarah Pearson, Empty White Pages at http://emptywhitepages.blogspot.com/

Thank you again, Maeve. Congratulations to all of the new recipients!

First Platform- Building Campaigner Challenge

Rachael Harrie's First Platform-Building Campaigner Challenge has been posted, and here is the assignment:

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “The door swung open” These four words will be included in the word count.


If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), use the same beginning words and end with the words: "the door swung shut." (also included in the word count)


For those who want an even greater challenge, make your story 200 words EXACTLY!

I had a lot of fun with this one AND implemented each option. I led in with "the door swung open," closed with, "the door swung shut," and made the scene 200 words exactly!

So without further ado, here is my entry:

Step, Step, Step

The door swung open...slowly, creaking...I open my eyes without moving. I wait. And wait. But no one is there. Still, I don’t move. I look for a hand, perhaps attached to a disembodied arm, pushing the door open. But I don’t see one.

I mentally shake myself and take a deep breath. This is silly. There must be a draft. I slide my eyes toward the window, squinting slightly through the musty darkness, dust motes floating in the slant of muted amber light coming through the open door. It’s closed. Perhaps from downstairs then.

An intruder? My ears strain to hear anything over the pounding of my heart. What’s that? Steps. Coming from downstairs. The basement, perhaps. Step, step, step. Now coming up the stairwell. Down the hall.

My chest rises and falls more quickly now. Surely the pounding of my heart must give away the fact that I’m awake. The room grows colder and I struggle not to pull the blankets over my head. My breath comes out in chilly puffs. The door creaks open further. A dark shadow hovers, floats towards my bed. I am engulfed with fear as the figure leans over me.

The door swung shut.