Wow! Very Inspiring Blogger Award, Liebster Award, and Party!

So, I was . . . blogging when I should have been grading papers, and I found out that I received two awards in one day. Whoa. Totally unexpected.

Thank you, Jeff and Hannah!

Jeff Chapman, who inspires me with his excellent writing and amazing tenacity in the realm of submissions and queries, nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. I'm very thankful for his blog posts and his friendship. Thank you, Jeff!

The rules for accepting this award are as follows:
1. Thank the person who nominated you, and link to their blog.
2. Display the award logo.
3. Nominate at least 15 other blogs (more or less) and provide a link where they may be found.
4. Then, go to their blog, leave a comment to let them know they have been nominated, and where to find the information they need to accept (rules).
5. Mention three things that inspired you the most during the past few weeks.

Three things that have inspired me recently:
1. My oldest daughter's ability to generously love and help her friends in times of trials and in good times, too.

2. My youngest daughter's determination and forthrightness. When she decides to charge towards a goal, there's no stopping her.

3. Rain. Yep, I complain about it sometimes, but I like it, too. It keeps everything green and growing.

I'm nominating:
Hannah Heath
Milo James Fowler
Elizabeth Seckman
M.J. Joachim
C. Lee Mckenzie
Natalie Aguirre
L. Diane Wolfe
Cherie Reich
Misha Gericke
Laurel Garver
Shannon Lawrence
Lexa Cain
Suzanne Gourley
Julie Flanders
S.K. Anthony

Wait, how did I get this award? See #4? I totally didn't expect it . . . but here is the sweet answer from Hannah Heath: "I’m tagging her anyway because I like her stuff." - Wowza! Thank you, Hannah!

Here are the 11 questions:

Have you ever been to California? Yes  - more than a dozen times and going this summer!

If you could get any famous writer/blogger to start following and commenting on your blog, who would it be? - R.J. Larson or John Flanagan. Or . . . C.S. Lewis (I know, but I'm imagining).

What kind of music do you listen to while writing? None, or instrumental/movie soundtracks.

What are your top three goals in life? Worship, Love, Live Life Fully!

What do you hope to gain through your blog? Connection with writers and readers.

Ebook, audiobook, or just a plain book? Book!

Is there a particular movie that you’re looking forward to seeing this year? The newest Avengers.

What is a pet hobby of yours (one that you don’t blog about)? walking, skiing, movie-going

If you had to dress up as any book character, who would it be? Velma from Scooby Doo, or Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh. I know Scooby Doo is a show, but hey. 

What’s your favorite social media to use? Tough choice: Blog, then facebook, then twitter.

How many more followers will you need to gain in order to feel justified in throwing a huge party? Wow! Way past that point . . . hmm. I think I should throw a party. See idea below.

11 Random Facts (Wait, didn't I just give some of those?):
1. I drink tea and coffee with coconut milk and honey.
2. I have more than twenty allergies and intolerances - some are the swell up and die kind and some are the rashy, nasty symptom kind.
3. I'm a creative cook. (I have to be)
4. I like movies - the blow things up, action adventure, superhero, fantasy and sci-fi kind.
5. I may be a chick, but I don't like chick flicks unless it's a really good romantic comedy.
6. I dig the Bard, especially the play that must not be named. :)
7. I also like Calvin and Hobbes, Scooby Doo, and Winnie-the-Pooh.
8. I've been in a dozen or so plays and skits and I like playing either the goofy sidekick or the villain.
9. Many years ago, I played Mrs. Beaver in a musical version of Narnia - and I consider her a goofy sidekick in that production.
10. My favorite solo I sang in high school: "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega - the original, acapella version.
11. My name is pronounced like Irene but with a T at the beginning. My parents wanted it that way and wanted it spelled without two "e" letters.

Selecting 11 recipients for this award was hard for two reasons:
1. I don't check numbers on other people's blogs. In fact, I rarely check that on mine. I was surprised to learn that these blogs didn't have more followers! Truly, they deserve more.
2. I realized, with some regret, that I've been visiting bloggers that visit me, which means, I don't always visit new bloggers. So, I'm trying to branch out, now.
Mackenzie Adix
Jack Lewis Baillot
Jeff Chapman 
 Damyanti
Madeline Mora-Summonte - she has just over 200, but she deserves more love!
Haneen I. Adam - a new blogger I just met!
Juneta Kay
Sharon M. Himsl
D.C. Relief
Aunt Mary from the Easy Way Blog
Toni Travis

My questions for these Liebsters:
1. Have you ever visited Washington State?
2. Do you drink coffee or tea?
3. Name your favorite Winnie-the Pooh character:
4. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
5. What's your favorite kind of movie?
6. What song do you sing around the house/in the car?
7. Have you ever seen a Giant Pacific Octopus in the wild or in an aquarium?
8. What are your top three goals in life?
9. What's your favorite writing utensil?
10. Star Wars/Star Trek or both?
11. Favorite movie soundtrack?

Were these questions random enough, do you think? 


And here's that song (it's a hummy kind of song, like Winnie-the-Pooh might sing if he were a grown up lady in a diner . . . umm, okay, maybe that doesn't make sense to anyone but me)






Ooh, and I'm going to have a PARTY for all of my Awesome Followers! I really don't know how many there are with blogger and google+ combined, but I know I have a wonderful group of people who hang out with me. Party Details coming soon for my blogaversary on April 30th.

Celebrate the Small Things

Celebrate the Small Things:

1. Natalie Aguirre - for her mention of Ashes Burn Season 1: Ashes Away at her site this week! Thanks, Natalie!

2. Finishing the "get-to-know-you" questions for a podcast interview with Speculative Fiction Cantina at WriteStream Radio! I'm excited for that and it's in April!

3. I sent almost half of Eight if By Sea, the novelization of "Eight if By Sea" the script (with extra B plot material by me), to my editor, and she gave me both encouragement and helpful tips for giving that section polish and finishing the second half.

4. Despite feeling swamped this week, I had a couple of much-needed sleep-in days.

5. IWSG always rocks! I may not always know what to post, but I love the IWSG posts by other bloggers. :)

6. I'm excited to be a part of the Muffin Commandos - an A to Z Team under the Head Muffin, C. Lee Mckenzie!

7. I signed up for A to Z. :)

IWSG: Using Imagination to Tame Insecurities

It's that time again: time to share our insecurities, our ways of beating back our fears, or some encouragement! Many thanks to Alex J. Cavnaugh and his awesome team of co-hosts for the IWSG blog hop and website!

When my inner editor starts getting to me through painful insecurity, I start to imagine that she has taken on an appearance of monstrous proportions. When I put all those insecurities into an imaginary persona, I can tame them, lock them up if needed, and get back to writing.

Here are three images I came up with for my inner editor last month:

On a bad day, my inner editor took on the appearance of an eight foot monster with orange skin, three foot fangs, messy green hair, and breath that stank like rotten gym socks. She carried a large club to smash through my entire draft.

On a horribly bad day, my inner editor took on an ultra-professional appearance with supermodel good looks, perfect hair and skin, and small fangs emerging over her blood-red lips. She stalked all over my laptop dressed in a red suit and three inch heels.

On a good day, my inner editor looked like a friendly librarian, showing me the books I needed to make corrections, quietly pointing out my typos, and giving me a pat on the back when I noticed my mistakes before sending them into the world via e-mail, facebook post, or tweet.


Have you ever used your imagination to tame your insecurities? What does your inner editor look like? 

Big Dreams and Goals Update (And Celebrations - big and little)

Goals Update:

1. Working towards getting something off my desktop and into the publishing world each month. January: Ashes Burn Season 1 - completed and out! Release day was Wednesday and I'm still celebrating! :)

2. Write1Sub1 and re-submissions of rejected works:

Three rejection letters.

Two acceptance letters. 

One new story submission to Brilliant Flash Fiction's Life is Good contest.

Re-submissions so far: zero, spent a few hours researching new markets.

January Publications: "Okay is Enough" at Brilliant Flash Fiction today!

Five hint fiction stories at Seven by Twenty this week!

3. Writing progress on the semi-secret project (a novella based on the script of a web/local tv paranormal series): B plot (my creation) Log-line, Full Outline, First Draft to 12 chapters.

4. Getting out there somehow (marketing):
Alex J. Cavanaugh gave me a shout-out! Many Thanks!
Liz at Unicorn Bell hosted me on Wednesday! Many Thanks!
I filled out a form for a podcast . . . may be on the air in April. :)

5. Exercise: Daily Yoga and 1,000 miles bike and walk.
 Um. 5 miles exercise bike, 15 miles walked. Then, I fell down the stairs and sprained my foot, ankle, and my back, neck, shoulder, etc. So . . . chair stretches commencing. Core workouts planned for when I get the sure go-ahead from doc.

6. Relational:
Invitational attitude - invited various friends and family members over for two birthday celebrations, and open house for our home-school co-op. And, invited two authors to have a spot on this blog next month.

7. Spiritual:
Quiet Time/Bible Study/Prayer (Note: I believe that Jesus died to save me from my sins, I don't have to do anything to "earn" grace - it's free. I just want to grow in my faith.): Only an average of three planned quiet times each week, crazy prayer moments throughout the day as usual.

What are your big castle-dream goals this year? How are you putting some foundations under them?

 And, if you haven't taken a look at it yet, please take a look at my page for Ashes Burn here on my blog, or check out my post at Unicorn Bell which gives a little hint about hint fiction. :)

Ashes Burn Season 1 Release

ASHES BURN SEASON 1: ASHES AWAY is out today! 

Fantasy, intrigue, and adventure in 30 episodes of hint fiction.

Wend wants to run from a nightmarish past.

Teresa wants to find the man she loves before his enemies do.

And King Bryant just wants total power and no complications.

Amazon    Smashwords    B&N

Liz at Unicorn Bell is hosting me today for a quick run-down on hint fiction and a "what if" question.

Please visit with me at Unicorn Bell!!!

Or, check out Ashes Burn Season 1: Ashes Away at one of the above links!

I'm also being featured at Seven By Twenty on twitter this week! @7x20  



And, if you can, please help me out with some tweet-love on twitter!

Epic fantasy in bite-sized amounts - Ashes Burn - a #hint fiction series http://tinyurl.com/mlfsvvz

Fantasy, intrigue, & adventure in 30 episodes of #hint fiction - Ashes Burn http://tinyurl.com/mlfsvvz