A Celebration of Blogging

This week, a day apart, the Versatile Blogger was bestowed upon me by both Nicole Pyles of The World of My Imagination and Lacey Ferris of Inside My Mind. Thanks so much to both of you, for thinking of me and Motivation for Creation.

Nicole is an amazing blogger, who managed to entice hundreds of followers within four months of starting her blog.  She is definitely teaching me all about the world of blogging.  Plus, she writes her posts with a fun energy that flows through the keyboard onto the blog page!  Lacey has multiple blogs, but the one I enjoy the most is Inside my Mind, which is a friendly representation of her self.

The rules for receiving the Versatile Blogger is that you thank the person who gave it to you (check!), you give seven facts about yourself and then pass the award on to fifteen other bloggers, if you can.  Coming up with seven facts has been a challenge, but I'll share what I came up with.

• I love to laugh and hate to cry.  This affects what I read and watch on the screen, more than what I write.  I avoid chick flicks, the Lifetime channel, and any of those books like Jodi Picoult or Nicholas Sparks.  Give me a thriller or mystery and add in a little humor and I'm set to go.
• I am a drummer.  When I was younger, my sister (who played bass) and I formed the rhythm section of our high school jazz band, and a couple of rock bands.  I haven't played for a long time and I never was all that great, but I miss playing music a lot.
• Two of my favorite places in the world (besides Wyoming when the wind isn't blowing) is New York City and Cusco, Peru.  They may seem incredibly disparate, but both have that magical quality I wrote about in my post about Star Wars.  I haven't gotten to Europe, yet, so my list may grow.  I've always wanted to go to the British Isles.
• I am a worry-wart.  Enough said.
• I guess I really do write Urban Fantasy.  A person may not know that about me, as the stories I have gotten published are horror.  I don't write about vampires, werewolves, or zombies, though.  My specialty, so far, is witches and magic.  I guess magic is a personal theme of mine.  I feel a blog post coming on.
• I absolutely adore being a Mom.  I am really glad that I got to marry my husband and have two children with him.  My family is the center of my universe.
• My husband says I am "the most genuine person he knows" and a past supervisor said I "have no guile."  I tried to be devious in highschool, but it didn't work out.  So, with me, what you see is what you get. 

Because many of the people I subscribe to already have received the Versatile Blogger award, I listed below blog sites I visit regularly, rather than people I am passing the award to.  I will let the people who haven't already gotten the Versatile Blogger award know that they have been included on this list, and so have become recipients of the award.

• Kapehorn: An Author's Adventure - Kaelin Hornsby posts chapters of her novella, Antiquity, which is a fascinating mix of historical and science fiction.
• Saucy Lucy Wisdom - On Mondays Aunt Gladys, a character from the Saucy Lucy books, shows up to post the irreverant humor of Cindy Keen Reynders.
• Eric-Blues - the first writer blog I have found with a specialty in technology and how writers can use it.
• word balloon - La Galerie Kenmore displays Lori Gilbert's artistic talents, as well as those of her eleven year old daughter.  The posts that support the artwork demonstrate Lori's writing talents as well.
• Onward to the Written Word - A new find, full of fun, original flash fiction stories.
• I'd Rather be Writing - I totally enjoy Heather L. Reid's voice.  She is conversational and friendly, and writes the most interesting blog posts.
• Nina Badzin's Blog - My go-to place for social media advice and information.
• jeff goins, writer:  On Writing, Ideas and Making a Difference - You just have to go see it to understand.
• Writer Unboxed:  A blog site filled with generous writers at varying career levels, providing information and support on all things writerly.