Monday, August 1, 2011

Sweet'N'Versatile Blogs With a Twist

C'mon, Peeta, ditch Katniss. You know you want me!
This applies to Answer #3 below.

Three wonderful blogger buds gave me awards.

On 6--29-11, Margo Berendson of Writing at High Altitude awarded me the Versatile Blog Award & the Irrisistibly Sweet Award, but she changed the questions and credits the Fantastic Book Reviews blog as the source of the questions.

On 6-30-11, Nutschell of The Writing Nut awarded me the Irrisistibly Sweet Award also, in which I'm supposed to list seven things about myself.

Then Gracie of I Am Writer...Hear Me Roar!, a teen blogger from Canada, surprised me with an award by listing my blog as one of her favorites. She didn't notify me. I found out while reading her post, and she left it up to each blogger to decide whether they wanted to accept the award or not. I thought that was a cool idea.

I'm combining these awards. Let's name it the Sweet'N'Versatile Blog Award. I'll answer Margo's questions, which pretty much cover the seven things about myself that Nutschell's award calls for.

Before I answer the questions, I'd like to put in a plug for Margo, Nutschell, and Gracie. Check out their blogs. Each is unique in their own right.

So here are the questions and my answers:

1. If you were given a chance to travel back in time, what year or place would you go?

I LOVE time travel stories. This was hard to answer.  I finally decided on the Roaring '20s, in a big city like New York or Los Angeles. I learned the Charleston in junior high. It would be a blast into the past to try my hand and feet as a flapper. I'd also like to check out a speakeasy. Did they sell beer & wine, too? I can't stand the taste of whiskey. Blech!

Josephine Baker dancing the Charleston at the Folies Bergere, Paris, in 1926
Photo from Wikipedia

2. Describe your writing work-in-progress in seven words or less.

Edgy. Teens. First love. Summer 1971. Betrayal.

3. Please share with us about your favorite book and fictional crush to date.

My favorite book is The Good Earth. As far as my favorite fictional crush, I'm kind of old to be crushing on a teen, but if I was young again, it would have to be Peeta from The Hunger Games, my second all-time favorite book. Peeta's a genuinely nice guy, and I bet he's got hunky muscles!

4. If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be? And why?

I guess I'm a glutton for punishment because I'd pick O-Lan from The Good Earth. Her character captures the epitome of an indomitable spirit.

5. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see play the role as you?

I'm stumped. Any goofball comedienne will do.

6. How would you describe yourself in seven words?

Quirky, mediator, nurturing, spiritual, loyal, unorganized.

I'm passing the Sweet'N'Versatile award on to some of my favorite bloggers, and I'm pulling a Gracie and not notifying them, but will let them be surprised when they read their names. And it's their choice whether or not they want to accept the award and pass it on:

Kristen Lamb's Blog - Author of the best-selling book "We Are Not Alone--The Writer's Guide to Social Media." She's overcome unbelievable odds to get where she's at. No whining or feeling sorry for herself. She persevered and succeeded. Now she shares invaluable tips with us.

Gene Lempp - His Designing From Bones series, "where we use archaeology and the artifacts of human history to find and design stories." In each post he leads us on fantastic adventures and offers us some awesome writing prompts. I highly recommend these posts to teachers to use in their classrooms. He also shares weekly links to Blog Treasures he's found.

Ellie Ann - "Navigating Through the Week." I just started following her blog, but she has a variety of topics, has a humorous voice, and a great imagination. Her Tall Tales Tuesday posts are hilarious as she weaves tall tales about other bloggers who leave a comment saying they'd like to be in the next Tall Tales post.

Haley Whitehall, Historical Fiction Author - She just redesigned her blog and needs her old followers to sign up again. If you're a history buff, you've got to follow this blog. She also started a new Twitter hashtag for history buffs, #lightonhistory, where writers can meet up, help each other with research, and share their WIPs.

Writing YA and Other Things I Love - StephaniePQW has been working hard designing the breastplate for the model to wear for an authentic-looking cover pic for her novel about ancient Nubia. It will debut in February. She's looking for new blogger friends, so I hope you'll follow her journey toward publication.

Heather Kelly of Edited to Within An Inch of My Life. She's so thoughtful and helpful to newbies.  Right now she's hosting the Tour de Writing. This contest is actually helping me accomplish my writing goals, plus she's offering some cool prizes to the winners.

Laura Pauling of Exercising the Write to Ramble. Lately her posts have been covering changes taking place in the publishing industry. She's hooking us up with some informative links, and she's getting lots of interesting feedback in the comments.

There are a lot of other blogs I follow and thoroughly enjoy, but I could only list a few. So I'll leave each of you this question, and I hope you'll share your answer in the comments:

If you could be a character in a fictional story, whether in a book or a movie, who would you be, and why?

45 comments:

Emily R. King said...

Congrats for your awards!
I'd be Cinderella because every girl wishes for a fairy godmother and her Prince Charming.

Luanne G. Smith said...

Congrats. Those are some interesting questions and answers.

I'd be Claire Randall from Outlander. She has some fun.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations! And you have a really cool sense of humor.

Kristine Asselin said...

LOL--you mention two of my favorite peeps! Heather and Laura are two of my best writer pals. Fun post. :)

Kristen Kittscher said...

You lit up my day with your photo and hilarious caption, Lynn! Interesting that your favorite book is The Good Earth. It was the required summer reading for kids going into SEVENTH GRADE at a prep school I taught at...that was rough-going teaching for me, but I did love the book. I can see Olan's indomitable spirit in you, for sure:-) Hope to see you soon -- maybe at SCBWI?

Tina Laurel Lee said...

The Good Earth is definitely one of my favorites of all time!

Lisa Gail Green said...

Congrats on the awards! It's neat learning more about you. If I could be anyone? Awww, Hermione! She's super smart AND she has powers. Plus you know, she's Hermione.

Maria Cisneros Toth Blog said...

Lynn, you quack me up! Congrats on all of your cool awards!!! You totally deserve them!

As for a fave character... Josephine (Jo) March from Little Women. I admire her love of family; her strong will, spunky spirit, & independent thinking; and her love of reading & writing and most of all, her perseverence.

Robyn Campbell said...

Oh so nice to know another kooky blogger. I vow to visit on a regular basis. Congrads on your awards!

Love your answers. I'd probably have to say I'd want to be Max from WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.

Now granted, I'd have to switch sex, but look at all the neato things that happened to him. He was king of where the wild things were. He even sailed over a year. How wonderful is that?

Thank you for praying for my Christopher. I'm totally frightened. Knowing my writerly pals are praying calms me. <3

Paige Kellerman said...

Congrats! And I agree, Petta's too young for me too, but I definitely had a "teen crush" on him. Loved the Hunger Games trilogy. As far as awards go, the odds are certainly in your favor...;)

Talei said...

Wonderful! Congrats on so many great awards!!!

Fictional character? Hmm today, don't ask me why but I'm feeling the Vampire calling so definitely a character from Vampire Diaries.

LynNerdKelley said...

OMG, I'm an idiot. I just lost ten replies I typed here. Hope this isn't an indication of the way the rest of the day will go. My bad for not publishing three or four replies at a time. Why do I have to learn the hard way?

Let me try again. Thank you all for your comments. They're one of the highlights of my days.

Emily - Cinderella is a good choice - Every girl wants to have her Cinderella story, for sure!

L.G. - I haven't read Outlander yet. I'll put it on my TBR list, but fun is always good!

LynNerdKelley said...

Alex - Thank you. I love it when you stop by because I'm amazed that you read 100 blogs a day, plus write and get published and promote. Ever since I read that in one of your comments, I refer to you as the Amazing Alex.

Kristine - It was so nice meeting you on Twitter yesteday, thanks to Heather's #tourdewriting. Thanks for stopping by my blog. How cool that Heather and Laura are two of your best buds!

Kristin - Thanks for stopping by. It's always good to hear from you. The Good Earth was required reading when I was in 7th grade, and that's when I first fell in love with the characters. Then my 2 youngest daughters had to read it when they were sophomores, and neither of them liked it, nor their friends, but we read parts of it together and I fell in love with the story all over again. Thank you for seeing part of O-Lan in me! That's a wonderful compliment.

LynNerdKelley said...

Tina - Good to see you again. Wish I could join you in The Practice Room on your blog. Darn time difference. I'd get more writing done, plus more bonus points for the contest! I think you have a great thing going there.

Lisa - Thank you! Hermione is a good choice. You could have lots of fun being her.

Maria - So glad you stopped by. I know you're working so hard these days and have very little free time. I think Jo is probably one of the most loved characters of all time!

LynNerdKelley said...

Robyn - Welcome to my blog! Glad to know another fun-loving blogger. How fun that you chose Max as your character. He had a great adventure. That's one of my favorite picture books!

Paige - Nice to know you're a Peeta and Hunger Games fan, too. Plus you're my zombie slayer bud. I guess we have a lot in common!

Talei - Vampire Diaries, cool! Do you like Bloody Marys? That's one of my favorites!

nutschell said...

Congrats on all these awards. So glad I passed one on to you--I love reading all your answers! keep those pictures coming, Lynn! They are rockin
nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

congrats on your awards. Love both the questions and answers. I think I'd be a hobbit. A hobbit's life sounds like fun (minus the ring wraiths).

Heather Kelly said...

Awww Lynn! I get back from vacation today to this lovely post! I'm so glad that the Tour de Writing is Inspiring to you! It's fun to have some reason to be accountable over the summer! And, Tina is hosting a TPR google+ chat tomorrow at 2pm EST. Maybe you can stop by? I don't know how it works, but we'll all figure it out together!

Thanks for the award! I think you're fabulous!

Heather Kelly said...

Oh, I forgot to answer the question. Normally, I would love to be Ripley from the movie Aliens, since she is super tough. But right now, I'm in the Anne of Green Gables mood. Thoughtful, imaginative, a little bit magical.

:)

Karen Lange said...

Congrats on the awards! Enjoyed your answers. :)

Have a great week!

MunirGhiasuddin said...

Hey, congrats. Thanks for reading my blog. I would like to follow yours too. I do not see the app that says "Follow" on a lot of blogs any more, including yours. How do I follow you? Lately I have had times with remembering things. Either I have missed some blogger buzz or have not come across. I will keep trying:)

Misha Gerrick said...

Congrats on the awards! I think Tina Fey would make a great you. ;-)

I would have loved to be one of the Pevensie girls in Chronicles of Narnia. :-)

Melissa Amateis said...

Congrats on the awards!

Hmm...a character in a fictional movie. Oh, I know! Buttercup from The Princess Bride. She had a man that cheated death because of true love! I'd say he's a keeper.

LynNerdKelley said...

Nutschell - Yes, thanks for passing that award on to me. So glad you like the nutty pics!

Lynda - Those were good questions, huh? Made me really think hard before answering some of them! A hobbit! I love it. That's so cool!

Heather - It was great hanging out on Google+ today. Who woulda thunk we could be so productive? It worked out well. I haven't read Anne of Green Gables yet. I have a lot of classics to catch up on!

LynNerdKelley said...

Karen - Thank you. Hope you have a great week, too.

Munir - In the column on the right side of the blog, just above all the pictures of people that are following, it says, "Join this site." So if you click on that, it's the same as "Follow." Also, in the footer of my blog, I have a window that you can sign up to follow by email. I guess I should try to move that widget over to the right column with the other follow options. Thanks, Munir. I'll stop by your blog and leave this message there, too.

Misha - Thank you. So Tina Fey, huh? She's pretty darn funny. I like that! I wouldn't mind hanging out in Narnia, too!

LynNerdKelley said...

Melissa - Buttercup is another good character. And to get a guy who cheated death because of true love is a keeper, for sure!

MunirGhiasuddin said...

Hi, Lyn
I just subscribed by email. Still I will visit your blog anyway. It is fun to see other comments as well. I did not see the " join this site" app. Blogworld is changing quite a bit, but I guess we will find a way to catch up!

MunirGhiasuddin said...

Hi, Lyn
I just subscribed by email. Still I will visit your blog anyway. It is fun to see other comments as well. I did not see the " join this site" app. Blogworld is changing quite a bit, but I guess we will find a way to catch up!

MunirGhiasuddin said...

Hi, Lyn
I just subscribed by email. Still I will visit your blog anyway. It is fun to see other comments as well. I did not see the " join this site" app. Blogworld is changing quite a bit, but I guess we will find a way to catch up!

LynNerdKelley said...

Hi Munir, Thank you for signing up by email. Isn't that strange that the "Join this site" doesn't show up for you. That makes me wonder what other people are able to view or not view. I don't have a clue how to figure it out! I'll be in touch on your blog, too.

Margo Berendsen said...

Okay, I gotta agree with you about Peeta!!! I wonder if they really make guys like him in real life. he's too good to be true :)

Amy said...

Hey Mom, I love how you said you said you would go back in time to the 1920's because you learned the Charleston in junior high. It brought back memories of you teaching me how to dance. I remember having so much fun and just hanging oit with you and my sisters. Love you Mom.

Amy said...

You know me, I have never been a big reader, but if I had to be a character in a book I would probably be Bella from Twighlight. I really enjoyed those four books because it got the readers attention and I really pictured myself as Bella in the story.

Laura Pauling said...

Thanks so much for the award! And the link to my blog. You're too kind. :)

LynNerdKelley said...

Margo - Guys like Peeta are hard to find, for sure. I'm so thankful that my two sons-in-law are gems, worthy of Peeta's status.

Amy - When I go back in time, I'll take you girls and we'll all do the Charleston together! Yes, I figured Bella was your favorite character! Love you.

Laura - You're welcome. I really enjoy your blog.

Stephanie, PQW said...

I definitely know who I would be. It is the character named Claire in James Patterson's Women's Murder Club. Claire is a savvy coroner who is caring, supportive, and strong. I love these things about her, plus I think it would be cool to be a coroner. Weird, I know.

Thanks Lynn.

Talli Roland said...

Congrats on the awards! Love hearing more about you. :)

Hm. I think I'd be Anne of Green Gables.

LynNerdKelley said...

Stephanie, Claire sounds like a great character, but working as a coroner? Yikes! Not many people can do that job.

Talli - You're the second one to mention Anne of Green Gables. I need to read that classic!

Anonymous said...

I love love love it! I'm still smiling. Great questions and funny answers! You're a riot.
If I could be any fictional character I would be Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender. She's loyal, compassionate, brave and kicks butt!!
And thanks SO much for passing on the award to me. I'm so honored!
Ellie

J.L. Campbell said...

Congrats on your awards! Have to think about your question a little bit.

Anita said...

Your awards are much deserved!

LynNerdKelley said...

Ellie - Thanks for stopping by my blog. Katara is an excellent choice for a character. You deserve these awards and more!

J.L. - Thank you. I know, it's hard to decide which character to be, huh? I had to think about it a while, too.

Anita - Thank you! I'm so glad you stopped by my blog. Good luck with your new book. Sounds like an intriguing MG mystery.

D. U. Okonkwo said...

Oh, your current WIP sounds very edgy! Really like your answers, too.

LynNerdKelley said...

Thanks, D.U., I'm glad my WIP sounds good to you!

LynNerdKelley said...

Thanks for visiting my blog, Lola.