Monday, December 5, 2011

Versatile? Me? (Switches from Tap-Dancing to Juggling)



Lynn Kelley, children's book author (Curse at Zala Manor. Secret of Haunted Bog) and creator of the Random Acts of Weirdness blog has conferred upon me the Versatile Blogger Award. Whoa! I'm thrilled although my so-called versatility is due to an inability to focus rather than talent.

Like most awards, this one comes with rules and responsibilities. For the Versatile Blogger Award, the rules are as follows:

Thank the blogger who nominated you!
Add the award pic to your blog post.
Nominate fifteen fellow bloggers and let them know about it!
Share seven random things about yourself.

I'll nominate seven bloggers today and eight more Friday. By dividing up my nominations, I give myself time and space to able to say a few words about each pick. But, before we get to my picks, here are seven random things you didn't know (and may not have wanted to know) about me:

1. I'm a firstborn. The eldest child's oft-noted quest for perfection doesn't extend to my appearance or housekeeping, but it affects my writing. The trait's good in that I aim high, and bad in that I always fall short.
2. The New York Times Sunday magazine has a feature called "Diagnosis" that introduces a medical patient and his ailment and shows the steps leading to a diagnosis. The feature could be the Rosetta Stone the way I pore over it and try to out-think the medical professionals even though I'm a wuss who has to close her eyes every time a TV surgeon cuts into a patient. Not surprisingly, I'm the kind of viewer who shouts out diagnosis suggestions to TV's Dr. Gregory House. No wonder the guy's cranky.
3. Amazon Prime member? C'est moi. Some people think a $79 per year Prime membership is for those with money to burn, but it's for forgetful types who don't remember the birthdays and special occasions of far-flung friends and relations until it's too late for anything but second-day shipping. My Prime membership pays for itself in saved shipping costs, and, at one point, I feared Amazon wouldn't let me renew because of the number of boxes I had it ship hither and yon. My husband set me straight. "You think Amazon won't renew your membership because you bought too much?"
4. I have ten place settings of Fiestaware in ten different colors. When I reach into the cabinet and pull out a cup for my morning coffee, I never know which color I'm going to get. Will it be turquoise, plum, chocolate?
5. When we moved into our first apartment, I told my husband we'd make all the furniture/decorating decisions together except one: I got to decide where and what pictures we put on the walls.
6. I've lived more years in Texas than in my home state of New Jersey.
7. When Older Daughter was in scouting, she insisted I accompany her troop on camping trips. I hated the first one, but then I fell for sleeping in tents, cooking over campfires, and hiking in the woods. When OD left Girl Scouts, I was the one who missed sleeping under the stars.

Enough about me! Let me introduce you to seven blogs (Introductions to the remaining eight will come soon.) by writers who have inspired me, and/or made me laugh, think, and nod in recognition.

· Tim L. O'Brien's Static in the Airwaves Tim is a writer, husband, father, and friend who chronicles events such as as the reunion of buddies since high school and reflects on subjects that range from how to raise kids who read to the news his son-in-law is deploying to Afghanistan.
· Kiss and Thrill is a new blog started by the 2011 RWA Golden Heart finalists in romantic suspense. The blog's inaugural author interview was with RS best-seller Allison Brennan, and an interview with Brenda Novak is set for tomorrow, December 6. I'm waving at two of the blog's writers: Sarah Andre and Lena Diaz.
· Wild, Wicked, and Wacky Suzan Harden is self-published and proud of it. Her blog offers information for those interested in the indie route, along with movie reviews, guest interviews, song clips, and more. She's a lawyer by training and knows her Gaga from her gag order.
· Fiorella Plum is the nom de plume of an Austin-area blogger who posts every day on subjects ranging from her pastor's reaction to a mugger to what's new in the Luann comic strip.
· Kay Hudson writes about whatever strikes her fancy: books, television, and cats that fall asleep in the carcass of the Thanksgiving turkey.
· Jansen Schmidt's Blogging from the Edge of Eternity is new, just two entries so far, but the posts capture Schmidt's sly humor and enjoyment of life.
· Kecia's Blog is the work of Kecia Adams, a writer, editor, and Navy veteran. The blog's new, but the first post is the POV of a thoughtful mom, and the second is that of a thoughtful citizen of the world.

Hope you like the blogs mentioned above. Lynn, thanks a million for the award.

23 comments:

Suzan Harden said...

Thanks for the shout-out, Pat!

Lark Howard said...

Good for you, Pat! Can't wait to click on some of your blog links, although I'm already a fan of Kay Hudson and Sarah Andre's Kiss & Thrill.

Never considered Amazon Prime before. Hmmmmm. It could certainly solve some of my procrastination crises.

Sarah Andre said...

Thanks Pat! I appreciate our gang being amongst such an eclectic group, and now I have 6 more blogs to check out.

LOVE the self-description! What fun.

Patricia said...

Awesome! Thanks for including me Pat! I'm going to try to figure out how to get this up on my blog and pass it along! This technical stuff is mind-bloggling.

Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

I'm happy to give you a shout-out, Suzan. Your blog has personality--and Aerosmith

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

Lark, If you send a lot of gifts out of state, Prime could save you money. Amazon did not pay me to say that.

Kiss and Thrill! Whoa! That one's already a must-read.

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

Your gang is amazing, Sarah. Say hi to Lena for me.

PS: Nice job with the Allison Brennan interview. You are so cool.

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

Jansen/Patricia,
I hope you're having fun with your blog because I enjoy reading it.

Diane Capri said...

What a fun post, Pat! (As for the Amazon Prime thing, I resemble that remark!)

Ginger Calem said...

I loved the 'facts about you'. It's so fun to learn about each other. I too have lived more years in TX than my home state of California. I envy you your fiesta ware collection.

Coleen Patrick said...

Okay we share a lot of similarities! One thru three and almost four because I would like to one day switch my dishes to Fiesta! Plus I am from New Jersey too :)
Great getting to know you more!

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Pat! You deserve the award. :) Love your list of links and tidbits about you.

I'm an Amazon Prime fan, too... A money saver if you do lots of your shopping online. Your Fiesta-ware routine is precious!

shannon esposito said...

Congrats on the award, Pat :-) I, too, am an Amazon Prime member. I really hate shopping, so its so convenient to shop from home. In fact, I'm shopping for Christmas in between reading blogs! The best of both worlds.

Karen McFarland said...

Congratulations Pat!

Wow, now you guys are making me look bad. I didn't know I had to pick fifteen people.

I better get hopping. See ya! :)

Kay Hudson said...

Thanks for the kind words, Pat. I'm visiting the blogs you mentioned--always fun to "meet" other writers. And I'll pass the Versatile Blogger along to some of my favorites.

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

Haha, Diane. Birthdays and special occasions always sneak up on me, and I swear Thanksgiving came two weeks early this year.

PS: I'm going to steal that drink recipe from you and Sandra Lee.

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

The fiestaware never fails to cheer me, Ginger. And I, too, love learning about our WANA members.

How long did it take a California girl to feel at home in Texas?

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

Coleen! You pore over the "Diagnosis" feature, too? Every Sunday, I look forward to it and "The Ethicist."

Does it seem to you that people from NJ are everywhere all of a sudden? Maybe they always have been but used to say they were from "the New York area."

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

August, you're an inspiration to the rest of us.

Re the Fiesta ware: I get a kick out of pulling a cup from the cabinet in the morning, and if I get turquoise, my day is made.

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

Get busy, Karen. Fifteen bloggers await the nod from you.

I've enjoyed the "ripped from the headlines" stories you feature on your blog.

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

Shannon, you're a master multi-tasker. Is Abbey helping you with that online ordering? If Amazon delivers a crate of rawhide chews, you'll know that dog can type.

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

Love your avatar, Kay! BTW, you deserve lots more kind words.

Yes, pass the award along--and thanks for recommending The Happy Logophile to me.

LynNerdKelley said...

I'm way behind in keeping up with everyone's blog posts. I loved reading those seven interesting things about you, Pat. Congrats to the recipients you've passed the award on to. These all sound like great bloggers who deserve the recognition. I like how you broke it up into two groups so you could take the time to say something about each one. That's really cool.