Saturday Souvenirs: Sunshine Blogger Award - 2013

Happy Saturday Souvenirs! I received the Sunshine Award this week from a fellow flashfiction author Sheilagh Lee. It's an honor to be included in her list and I'm happy to share it with all of you.

As per the rules listed below, here are my answers for the Q & A questions…

Favorite Color: Burgundy - the color of sunsets, dragonfyre, and dried blood ;)

Favorite Animal: Coyote

Favorite Number: "5" - its lucky in that it matches my fingers and toes. :D

Favorite Non-alcoholic Drink: Coffee - hands down. No question.

Facebook or Twitter: Facebook for me. I like the ease of interaction and photo sharing.

Your Passion: Hmm, other than writing? That would have to be paleontology. I dig up dead things and identify them down to species by studying teeth left in the fossil record.

Giving or getting presents: Giving, unless it’s books, chocolate…or coffee.

Favorite Day: Autumn Equinox - when the days are still warm, but the nights are cool and the world smells like "October" even though it's still September. BTW "October" smells like leaves baking in the sun, pumpkin spices, and crisp mornings. ;)

Favorite Flowers: Geraniums for color, gardenias for scent.

Now to spread the wealth. All of the bloggers I've chosen are supportive, talented, and friendly bloggers, writers, and authors who are worth following/friending and getting to know.

Hennessee Andrews - @hennesseeandrew
Sandra Bunino - @SandraBunino
Randi Alexander - @Randi_Alexander
Gem Sivad - @Gemsivad
Sage Marlowe - @SageMarlowe
Theresa Breaux - @theresabreaux
Cara Michaels - @caramichaels
SJ Maylee - @SJMaylee
Sarah Ballance - @SarahBallance
J. Whitworth Hazzard - @Zombiemechanics
Daniel Swensen - @surlymuse
Teresa Cypher - @Teresa_Willow

If you want to join in the fun, and continue the process, the rules are to:

(1) Thank the person who gave you the award in your blog post.

(2) Complete the Q&A below in your blog post.

(3) Pass on the award to 10-12 deserving and inspiring bloggers, inform them and link to their blogs.

Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! :)

Saturday Souvenirs: The Kreativ Blogger Award

So this week has been a great one with the release of Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack, my Siren debut. Not only that, but I was awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award by Chessny Silth, a wonderful YA writer from Norway (this will become important in a moment).

Thank you, Chessny! I really appreciate it. :)

Part of this award requires me to tell you ten things about myself before I pass it along, and then pass it to five more people. :)

1. I have a master's degree in geology, emphasis in paleontology (that's right, I dig up dead things).
2. My uncle's family is from Norway (see, I told you it was important), and my cousin carries the name of a town there.
3. I can speak three languages and I'm learning a fourth, Hungarian, one of the hardest in the world.
4. On one international trip, I went to India and Italy, and on another I went to Alaska and Australia.
5. I don't like red sauce for my spaghetti, and can't stand cooked cabbage.
6. I have written a scientific thesis project that is as long as one of my novels, and in which I made 10,000 measurements on the comparative specimens for it.
7. I didn't learn to read until I was 9 years old.
8. My grandfather was a mechanic for the machine gun turrets on the old B-29 bombers from World War II.
9. I was a mime for the Colorado Renaissance Festival for two years.
10. I was an extra in a movie when I was a kid (you can see my ponytail silhouette at the front of the stage in a concert scene).

The five people I'd choose for the award are:

Wakefield Mahon, Nichole Severn, Shannan Albright, Zee Monodee, and Cara Bristol.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I welcome comments. If you are one of the recipients, just copy the badge from my site and take it to your own. Happy reading! :)

Quiet Sunday Reflections

Normally I write on Mondays, but tomorrow, workers will be invading my house to mount a new ceiling fan from our 20 ft living room ceiling and that will distract me beyond measure. Not so good for reflecting or writing.

I've been thinking about technology and the modern author. Okay, not really, but I have recently joined Twitter and it made me think of the first time I started moving into the modern world of communication. It all started with a cell phone from Sprint. I resisted for as long as possible, but capitulated when I started applying for jobs where I might not be home much and I needed to stay in contact with interviewers. It was a good choice for me at the time. Now I wouldn't be caught ANYWHERE without my cell phone (although I'm no longer with Sprint).

My next big jump in technological communication (and communication is the key to every relationship) was Facebook. I was resistant because when did I have time to constantly update my status? I was busy doing stuff that I would write about as my status! But I capitulated because it was a great way to keep in contact with folks in my profession who didn't live in the same city as I did or had moved on to other places and jobs. I could stay up-to-date with what they were doing without having to be in the same university, city, or company as them. It's particularly useful for finding out their upcoming projects. :)

Then I started this blog. For a long time I looked at blogging as a way for people to fan their egos. It seemed self-indulgent to me. But after thinking about it a long time and reading a few blogs, I realized it was a viable way to get your voice out there, good, bad, or mediocre, to be noticed. I'm a writer, so getting my voice out where publishers, agents, and editors could "hear" it seemed like a really good idea; especially if I wanted said folks to become interested in my writing ability. Now I see it as yet another form of interaction and communication; a place where I can offer snippets of my writing where a lot of people can see it.

Now I've joined Twitter. I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination and I was resistant to it because I wasn't so certain you could really put anything meaningful in 140 characters or less (that's pretty hard, actually). However, I joined Twitter for two reasons. One, many authors communicate as much as possible to as many people as possible, and Twitter is a good place to connect, at least briefly, with a lot of people (readers, reviewers, publishers, etc.). Two, with Facebook cracking down on contests and giveaways, people turned to Twitter for that information and when I start my giveaways (and there will be some, believe me), I'll be able to post it here and tweet it on Twitter.

I'm still resistant to a "Smartphone" because if I want to do computer things, I'll use my computer! I'll use my phone to make phone calls and text! *eye roll* Well, I sometimes use it to listen to music and snap photos, but that's it! Yeah, I know, not much of an excuse. I might succumb eventually. :S

The point of my reflections is any form of communication can be good or bad, but it is what you make of it. I'm trying to make my communications useful, meaningful, and well written (or at least thought-out). So I'm getting my voice out there. Come "like" me on Facebook to read my posts; follow me on Twitter to enjoy my pithy tweets; or follow me on this blog for more involved writing. And feel free to share with other folks! Happy reading, writing and communicating! :)