The Versatile Blogger Award

My lovely readers, you know that I absolutely love blogging.  Why else would I still do it three times a week after two years?  But some days, I really, really love blogging - and every time I am nominated for an award or referenced by a blogger inspired by or helped out by my post(s) is one of those days.

Today I'm finally sharing the nomination from a couple weeks back by the wonderful NerdyWordyBirdy.  I've seen this award around the blogosphere, and I am so honored to now be receiving the Versatile Blogger Award!

This award simply asks that recipients nominate 15 other blogs and then share seven facts about him/herself. However, I've already told you all the state of my blogroll, so you'll understand that my nominations will, sadly, have to take a rain check.

Without further chatter, seven things about me:

1. I am using CLASS high school curriculum, and I love it.
2. There's a little paper TARDIS I made with a free printable this past Thanksgiving sitting on my desk.  The tabs on top won't stay closed right, so I use it to store things like candy or money periodically.
3. My Uncle Dan lent me a movie nearly a year ago that I still haven't watched yet.  Bad Emily, I know.
4. I get excited over sales on baby names books and pocket dictionaries.  I'm a writer; what can I say?
5. Tuesdays and Fridays I work at a lady's house, cleaning - you know, laundry, mopping, vaccuming, dishes, etc etc.  The pay's great. :)
6. I no longer have a favorite color, because deciding between seven awesome main choices with countless subdivisions is impossible and paralyzing and way too limiting.
7. My future wedding Pinterest board has surpassed 400 pins... so I've started a future home board to help me organize my obsession a little better.

Bonus!  I have an ebook coming out sometime this year, and I'm super excited, and I can't wait to share tidbits and interviews and cover art with y'all!

The Liebster Award

Hello, my lovely readers!  Happy Tuesday morning!  A week ago a writer friend of mine from the Go Teen Writers Facebook group dropped by here and left a few notes for me, including a nomination for the Liebster award!  Thanks Sarah!

This was actually my first time hearing about this award.  It's a very nice-looking award, and of course it's always fun to hear you've won something!  It reminds me of the Game of Elevens I played a while back.  The old-me writing and messed-up font/highlight settings make me cringe, but I thought I ought to mention it anyway.

The Liebster award is given by winning bloggers to the blogs they follow that have 200 or fewer followers.  The main purpose of this blog is to connect with new bloggers and find new blogs - any niche or kind of blog is eligible.

The rules of the Liebster award are as follows:
1. List eleven facts about yourself.
2. Answer the eleven questions set for you by your nominator.
3. Ask eleven new questions.
4. Nominate eleven bloggers you follow that qualify for the Liebster award.
5. Notify each of your nominees on their blogs.
6. Thank and link back to your nominator.

My Eleven Facts:
1. I live on a military base, in a small yellow house I'm quite fond of, only a few minutes' walk away from a store, food court, post office, and several friends' houses.

2. As part of my one word for this year, I've started a windowsill garden.  My plans include lavender, strawberries, catmint, lettuce, and gourmet dwarf carrots.

3. The strawberries may not become a reality this year, as they're currently under a full-fledged mealyworm attack.  My only available method of defense is a spray bottle of dish soap, rubbing alcohol, and water.  Sadly, there have been many casualties and the battle does not appear to be going in our favor.

4. I eagerly await the arrival of Doctor Who Season Seven Part Two in March.

5. I choose to push away the heartbreaking reminder that my family does not have the British America television channel.

6. I'm currently playing around with the idea of opening an Etsy shop around this time next year.

7. Just last week I broke 35,000 words in my current manuscript!

8. Also last week, I discovered I have a slightly unhealthy, bordering-on-stalkerish obsession with Menchie's... after my very first visit.

9. Duct tape can fix anything, but only chocolate is a cure-all.

10. I've been keeping a very amateur art journal for the past couple of months, and while I've only put in a few 'entries,' I think it's coming along rather nicely.

11. My dreams of late have been dominated with the Doctor, his companions, the TARDIS, and several situations that upon waking I recognized from my favorite episodes.  I have not yet decided if I should enjoy the closest thing to meeting my mad man in a box, or if I should be concerned about the state of my mental health.

Sarah's Questions:
1. If you could go to one concert for free, who would you see? Before Red, I would have answered Taylor Swift.  However, after some of her latest works, I think I'll go with Tchaikovsky.  I do have varied taste.

2. If jelly stopped existing, how would you make a PB&J with something else as the J? Does it have to be a letter 'J'?  Because I've always preferred honey anyway.  But a J... jelly beans?  Jam?  Jellyfish?  Beef jerky?  Jawbreakers?  (Are juniper berries poisonous?)

3. If you could go any one place, where would you go?  Oh, the question that everyone reaches at some point.  Disney World is a bit of a waste, really, for just one place out of everywhere in the whole word.  I'd say Ireland for beauty; Spain for food and people; France for art and culture.  And I'd better mention Cardiff for Doctor Who.

4. What, if any, channels are you subscribed to on YouTube? My favorites are Lizzie Bennet, Blimey Cow, Once Upon a Time Fans, and Charlie McDonnell.

5. Chemistry or Physics? Neither?  I do a bit better in chemistry...

6. Do you play an instrument? If so, what?  Guitar, amatuerly.

7. What's your favorite breakfast cereal? Just one? Cheerios.  Also Life.  And sometimes Corn Pops or Fruity Pebbles or Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  Oh, and Honeycombs!

8. How do you like your eggs cooked? Scrambled! Yum. :)

9. Do you listen to music while you blog? It depends on the post I'm writing.  A review that requires more focus, not usually.  But a post like this just for fun?  Yes, most of the time.

10. What was the title of your first blog post? Teens Can Be Writers, Too.  It's kind of ironic, because this blog is not really the 'writing niche' blog I set out for - I discovered I much prefer lifestyle blogging - but there's a blog and writers' group called Teens Can Write, Too! that I am a member of.

11. Why did you start blogging?  I started blogging to prove that a teenager can write and be understood, be good at writing, even be liked for what they write.  I kept writing because I wanted my voice to be heard and I loved the chance to share a piece of my heart, my mind, or my life with a world so much bigger than me.  The odd thing is that, in my two years of blogging, my writing has improved so much.  If I were asked now whether I think my new-blogger self was as good at writing as I thought - no way!  In fact, I honestly agree a lot more now with some of the things I was rebutting in my very first post.  But if I were asked whether I still believe teens can write?  Yes, yes I do.  I just think a lot of us don't know when the work is actually ready for the world.  Some days I'm still not sure I'm ready to be published...

My Questions:
1. Who is the first person you can remember, from when you were young?
2. Frozen yogurt, ice cream, sherbet, or sorbet?
3. Would you consider yourself more of a logical or a creative person?
4. Your house is on fire; you have just enough time to grab one item as you run outside. What is it?
5. What's the very first thing you'd buy if you won a shopping spree or cash giveaway?
6. Fiction or nonfiction?
7. If you got engaged today and had exactly a week before the wedding, what would be your number-one planning priority?
8. Who's your favorite superhero? (Spiderman! The old one!)
9. You have to choose between never wearing makeup or never eating chocolate. What's your choice?
10. Favorite flower?
11. And stealing the same question Sarah did: Why did you start blogging?

My Nominees:
Alas, as is usual, I can't scrape up any nominees.  But, of course, you as my lovely readers are welcome to use the comments to nominate your own favorite blogs!

The Fantastic Blog Award

Nearly two weeks ago, Sarah from Inklined and Critic from The Book Critic awarded me with The Fantastic Blog Award!

 

(Speaking of Sarah, don't forget to enter her Teen Ten Page writing contest for a chance to win a ten-page critique from yours truly!)

 

Let me first say I'm sorry it took me this long to post about it. *penitent face*

 

And now, the rules:

 

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and tag them.

2. Ask the next person five questions and answer the five questions given to you.

3. Award five new people.

4. Always post the rules! ;)

 

 

Sarah's Questions:

 

1) What was your favorite part of blogging? I just enjoy sharing my thoughts and words with others.  That's why I started blogging, and that's why I keep at it.  Lots of bloggers are authors trying to build a platform (which could, I'll admit, be me someday), or bloggers who make money through the ads and promotions on their blogs, or businesses trying to garner attention for their products.  While they end up with posts classified as more helpful than mine at times, and while they have the large followings and inboxes full of fan mail, I prefer to simply put myself out there and let those who connect with me enjoy the smaller, one-on-one feel of my site.

2) What are some of your favorite blogs? Actually, you can see all the blogs I follow and read regularly on my page: Blogs I Read.

3) Are there any blogs you follow that have really huge followings? Several, yes.  I won't list all of them, but some examples would include my real-life friend Kathryn's blog (Singing Through the Rain) and the Books & Such Literary Agency's blog.

4) What's your favorite subject to read in? Write in? Being the teen I am, I mostly read
young adult, although I read some Christian romances for women.  Within YA, I like to read contemporary, dystopian, and fantasy/fairy-tale (plus some speculative).  I don't have a favorite genre to write so much as one I'm best at, and that would be general contemporary YA.

5) If you could interview one author on your blog, who would you pick? I've reviewed several authors already, but I'm going to assume you mean more like the huge, best-selling, untouchable authors that are too busy to accept all the bloggers who invite them.  (That sounds pessimistic, I know.)  I would have to choose from one of the authors I've already invited for my blog party.  Surprisingly, I've only gotten one "sorry, no time" response (which means we'll be having some awesome authors at the party!!).  It was from Shannon Hale, so since Suzanne Collins is unreachable to all media, I'll go with Shannon.  Her Books of Bayern series is absolutely amazing.

 

Critic's Questions:

 

1. What was the last book you read? Was it good? Right now I'm reading a trilogy written by a Keren David and published in England.  It's pretty good so far; I must say it's very interesting to notice all the little differences between modern-day American and English works.  Even punctuation is different!  I won't say any more, though, because I'm planning to review the trilogy when I'm done. ;)

 

2. What was the last blog you read? What do you think of it? I get quite a few blog posts through email, so I can't really say which one I've read most recently... all of them are good, though.  I only subscribe with my email to blogs I really, really like and can't stand to miss one post from.

 

3. What are your favourite tv shows? I love the old CBS shows Christy and Beauty and the Beast.  Shows still running that I watch would be Psych and Once Upon a Time.  I don't watch many television shows, but I adore these!

 

4. What is your favourite genre of book to read? See Sarah's question #4.

 

5. Did you like reading in primary/elementary school? Oh yes.  I loved it!  I was actually ahead of my class in reading in first grade, so while they worked in the reader I was reading Junie B. Jones and Johnny Appleseed biographies. :)

 

Bloggers I'm Tagging:

Kristin from K's Journal

Katelyn from The Life of a Teenage Writer

Becki from Being Becki

AnnaKate from Because He Loves Me

 Jessica from Diary of a Beautiful Soul

My Questions for the Nominees:
1. Favorites: song, music artist, color, food, season.
2. Why do you blog?
3. If you could spend 24 hours with any one person from history, anyone at all, who?  The catch: you can't tell anyone from the past who you are or anyone from the present where you went/who you met.
4. Tell us the two fashion/clothing things you hate most.
5. Now you have to wear one of them.  Which will it be?



The Sunshine Award

I'm a very lucky girl lately.  Katelyn from The Life of a Teenage Writer has nominated me for yet another blog award!

This one's called The Sunshine Award.

The Rules:

1. List ten things that make you happy.
2. Nominate three blogs that bring sunshine to your life and a smile to your face.

Ten Things:

1. a slight breeze on a warm day
2. eating ice cream with my family
3. talking with my boyfriend on the phone
4. going for a walk on a sunny may afternoon
5. a watercolor sunset
6. finding a little-known book in a used bookstore that turns out to be amazing
7. watching a movie for the eighth time with a bestie
8. collecting keychains from places i've been
9. catching marshmallows on fire to make s'mores
10. playing silly games like telephone or license plates with my brothers in the car

Nominees:

Jill of Notebook from the Heart

Rachelle of Inspiring Daring

Melanie of Only a Breath

One Lovely Blog Award

I recently shared that Sarah at Inklined nominated me for my first blog award.  Well, today I'm happy to tell you that my friends Katelyn and Becki have nominated me for my second!

It's called the One Lovely Blog Award, and I believe it was started by a teen writer whose name I don't know at This Page Intentionally Left Blank.

The Rules:

1. You have to thank the person who nominated you on their blog to receive your honor.

2. You have to tell 7 things about yourself!

3. You have to nominate 15 blogs and then tell them of their nomination!

Seven Things:

1. I'm actually rather terrible at talking about random things, especially about myself.
2. In case my lovely readers can't tell, my break from blogging ended semi-recently, and I've fallen in love with blogging yet again.
3.  I love watching movies or television shows with subtitles on, especially when the subtitles say the soundtrack's lyrics rather than just the song titles and artist names.
4. I have shared several random things about myself on this blog, including Things I'm Afraid to Tell You and The Game of Elevens (I invite other bloggers to read the latter and join in the fun!  It's never to late to play. :] )
5. I plan to resume the A B See Photo Meme, which I pretty much abandoned after my blogging break, as soon as I finish the 30 Day Challenge.
6. My obsession with socks, which I've mentioned once or twice on the blog, seems to have subsided.  My obsession with the combination of green and blue, on the other hand, has not.
7. I am addicted to Pinterest.  You can follow me if you want.  I usually follow back. :)

Nominees:

As usual, I'm not much for nominating blogs. :\  After all, the majority of blogs I read are big professional websites.  Call me a horrible person, but I just don't have time to read many others.

However, I can still nominate the ones I do read and love.  I have only five to nominate, so my lovely readers can add to the list in the comments if they wish, and then go notify their own nominees. :)

Marcia at Enchanted Musings
AnnaKate at Because He Loves Me
Anna at The Daughter of the King
Bailey at Big House in the Little Woods
Rachel at rachelcoker

The {Booker} Award: for those who refuse to live in the real world

Hello, my lovely readers!  Guess who was just awarded with her first-ever blog award?  Yes, that's right: yours truly! :)

Sarah over at Inklined awarded me with The {Booker} Award!

Rules:

1. This award if for book blogs only! To receive this award the blog must be at least 50% about books, reading, and/or writing.

2. Along with receiving this award, you must also share your top five favorite books you have ever read in your life.

3. You must give this award to five-ten other lucky book blogs that you adore.

Five of my favorite books, in no particular order:

1. A Family Forever by Brenda Coulter

2. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

3. Christy Miller & Friends series by Robin Jones Gunn

4. Books of Bayern series by Shannon Hale

5. TrueColors series by Melody Carlson

Here's where I make my confession: Inklined is one of two book blogs I follow!  So I've decided to do things a little differently: I'd like my lovely readers to each nominate one book blog.  Ready, set, nominate!