Blogging Awards

Many, many thanks to Rachna Chhabria for giving me these awards:

I’m not sure what I’ve done to be blessed by these, but it’s so nice someone thinks enough of you to give them! You need to go to Rachna’s site if you haven’t been before. She has an amazing blog with wonderful writing suggestions and questions, and right now she’s got the most amazing list of other bloggers you might want to meet.

I’ve agonized over who to pass on these awards to. (Do you all take these awards this seriously?) It’s taken me FOUR DAYS to decide. Part of that is the ongoing sickness that will not go away combined with severe lack of sleep. Thanks, Springtime. I can always count on you.

However, I just read Roni Loren’s post on putting up a new website and I was so appreciative of this post’s information and also just her normal sunshine-y posts, I wanted to thank her. So Roni gets the Sunshine award from me.

And I’m giving the Sisterhood Award to Lynda Young because we’re both talking about platform today. We’re in SYNCH! Which is pretty amazing considering where she’s located.

Okay, so really, why did I choose these two lovely ladies for these awards? In reality, because we’re all three talking about platform/social connections today. In specific, I wanted to mention The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published. I’ve been reading it for the past few weeks (yes, I am slow, but I’m also reading review-fiction at the same time and doing critiques) and I have to say I was right to be concerned about my blog. It’s doomed. I’m not taking it down – in fact, I want to see if I can incorporate it into a website, but I haven’t done with my blog what I should have from the get go. I’ve made mistakes. If you haven’t started your web presence yet, or if you’re like me and not published yet, now is the time to perfect your platform. Don’t wait! Go out and get a copy of this book. The authors do a great job of breaking down into pieces exactly how and why you need a platform as well as the best ways to build it. Will I be able to recover from my mistakes? Yes. Do I regret making them? I can’t say I do, since I made wonderful friendships. That said, friends do not necessarily equate with readers. Some of you will not be “into” ya/adult warfare historical fantasy, which means I haven’t done as good a job as I could have at reaching my audience. That’s why things will be changing around here. I can’t say when. Knowing me, it will take awhile, but I’m on-route. I’ve entered the highway and am out of the entrance lane, let’s put it that way. 🙂 Meanwhile, check out what Lynda and Roni have to say and also what literary agent Arielle Eckstut and author David Henry Sterry have to say on the subject.
(My editorial honesty-sense tells me I should confess, I have spoken with Mr. Sterry; however, I’d planned on suggesting this book as a must-read before then, so there ya go. LOL)

Conference Updates, Etc.

Many of you might remember that I attended the Crested Butte Writers’ Conference last year – I shared my notes for over a week I think. LOL The picture to the left does not show the beauty of Crested Butte, but me in the inside of the conference hotel, so you’re missing out. Go look up Crested Butte online to see what I’m talking about. Anway, 

Calling ALL fiction writers–Don’t miss out on The Crested Butte Writers Conference—June 17-19, 2011!

Links, Videos & More!

Now for links, videos and more!


Some very cool news for those of us who write historical novels with Asian settings. (I mention the Asian setting because of my blog and personal interests, but that’s not her emphasis. If you write historicals, check this out.) Irene Goodman, agent extraordinaire, is having a pitch fest through the end of June. Make yours count and good luck!


I tried to load this video so it would play here, but it was a no show. Still, I thought you might find this Ted Talk interesting:  It’s all about Understanding the Rise of China.


Check out this walk through of writing on the ipad by Tessa Elwood.  I can dream. 🙂 ipad…. (Envision drool.)


And finally, the most important of these links: Go to Kat Brauer‘s website for the opportunity to save a life. Yup.  Not hyperbole, though I’m prone to that. 🙂 Kat’s running an awesome charity giveaway this month. Donate money to bring clean water to those who don’t have it and she’ll critique 250 words for every $1 you give. In addition, she’s not the only critiquer on the job. Agents and Editors are also pitching in.  If you’re wondering how this could possibly save lives, think about the cholera epidemic in Haiti. The epidemic is caused by contaminated water and Haiti is just one tiny island on our planet.

News and Stuff

Back from vacation just in case you wondered where I was last week and so this morning’s post will, I admit, be a little rushed. I had some interesting tidbits of news and a few links I wanted to share. (Yes, I meant to do this last week. Sigh.)

First off, anyone who has read classical Chinese literature is aware of a series of stories called “Journey to the West.” Even if you aren’t familiar with the title, you might have seen a Chinese mythical character called The Monkey King hooting and throwing his weight around. Well, it turns out this story has been opted by Hollywood and Neil Gaiman is the author. Gaiman wants Guillermo Del Toro for director. The mere thought has me itching with excitement. My only concern is that they have someone in charge of authenticity, but I look forward to seeing it. If you want more information, check out the link.

Many thanks to Tessa for this link to an excellent blog post on writing. It’s well worth your time.

Carolina Valdez Miller got AN AGENT (Woo hoo and throwing up confetti for you, girlfriend!) and has this amazing contest at her site. Also, be sure you check out the WHOLE site because after this one, there are interviews and one of them is with an agency sister who ALSO has a blog contest. It’s a blogosphere contesty world, folks. Enjoy!

What news have you heard that’s excited you recently?

As an Addendum to what I just posted, Janet Sumners (and Vicki Rocho) have a great contest going with prizes including a $40 Amazon gift basket or a 10-page critique by agent Sarah LaPolla, who took over from Nathan Bransford. Get thee over there and check it out!

Blogging Awards

I have put this off for far too long and subsequently lost track of a few awards given to me. My sincere apologies to the friends who gave them! If you remind me here or privately with a good strong (and sadly virtual) dope slap, I’ll be delighted to post your name and blog address in the appropriate spot. I hope I have not damaged relationships by not reciprocating before now.

I do, however, want to rectify at least some of the situation now!

Many thanks to Laurel Garver and Susan B. Kason for the One Lovely Blog Award. And I just discovered Susan Cook also just gifted me with this one. That did NOT influence my choice of giving her the award below. LOL I’d already decided to do that before I visited her.

I’d like to share that award with Vicky English’s Camelot blog (it’s about FAR more than Arthurian history and myth). She has excellent breakdowns on character and plot development.

And Cara Lopez Lee at Girls Trek Too. It’s a site for writers, travelers and everyone in between.

Many thanks to Rachna Chhabria at Rachna’s Scriptorium for both the Versatile and Grasshopper Awards. Rachna has probably realized by now that I’m disorganized and not the best at this sort of thing, but she nonetheless persists in being both a good friend and follower, and also an amazing blogger. If you haven’t checked out her scriptorium, it’s a must.

I’d like to share the Versatile Award with Janet Sumner Johnson at Musings of a Children’s Writer because her blog is both funny, touching and informative. She’s probably already receive and responded to the award which just goes to show she’s far more deserving of it than I.

The Grasshopper Award I’d like to share with Aron White at Mumbo Jumbo
and Susan Cook at The Pen and the Spirit. They’ve both got fresh, wonderful blogs and you should check them out.

The Sweet Blog Award was given by yet another thoughtful person whose name I didn’t remember to write down until it was too late. (Can we tell I AM kicking myself for this? I am. Really. Really. Hard.)

I’d like to share it with:

Susan Dennard who is so generous with her time and thoughts. (She has frequent posts where she’ll review queries and her comments are spot-on.)

And one last award given by someone forced to be anonymous. My poor friends really suffer for their friendship with me, I’m afraid. This is the Beautiful Blogger Award – one I obviously didn’t deserve, but will gratefully pass on to someone more worthy, like

Margo Berendsen at Writing at High Altitude is a constant commenter here who never fails to give me a sense of peace and awe. She is certainly a beautiful blogger.

Now, I am going to cheat a bit. You’re supposed to list seven things about yourself, but I’d be awake all night trying to do that for each of these awards, so I’ll just do it one time. (You can all breathe a sigh of relief.)

1. I’ve always had a “thing” for China – ever since I first read Marjorie Flack’s “The Story About Ping.” See the power a child’s writer has?
2. I first traveled to China at the tail-end of the SARS outbreak and never once worried about contracting the illness.
3. I’d traveled to England twice before going to China (I’m also an Anglophile and ADORE Wales and Welsh history – thank you, Susan Cooper) and without a doubt put myself in danger of Foot and Mouth AND Madcow Disease.
4. Which is why I am no longer eligible to give blood. Yes, I cheated and divided that one into two facts, but it really does peeve me that I can no longer donate. I was there in 1991 for one month too long.
5. I would LOVE to someday travel to Turkey. Yes, I have plot ideas in mind. Sigh. So many places and ideas. So little time.
6. I love to travel (duh) and yet I can still get motion sickness with a simple drop in altitude or a too-swervy road.
7. Testified to by the fact that I lost my cookies entering Japan’s airspace. In my defense, we flew through a typhoon. And yes, I cheated a bit on that one, too.

Sorry about all the cheats! The fact is, I’m writing this the night before I’ll post it and my five-year-old is stretching out her bedtime while I type. I need to go run her down. LOL