And now I break from my regularly-scheduled programming to accept the honor of the Versatile Blogger Award.
Blogs are strange little creatures. I wouldn’t be a writer without mine, for I started it with the sole intent of forcing myself to write as if I had an audience. Of course, I had not a single follower when I started, which was the ONLY reason I began to blog. Much to my mortification, people— strangers, friends, colleagues—began to follow and comment. I still babble away to myself here and I’m still astonished that anyone reads, but as long as you do, I hope I say something of value every so often.
But awards such as the VBA aren’t about the blogger herself. They are an opportunity to recognize and spread the word about a valued community. Many supportive, creative, passionate souls have appeared in the time I’ve been filling this space and getting settled into this writer’s life. We blog in isolation but if we keep at it, we’ll be rewarded with feedback and followers who assure us our voices are heard and appreciated.
Accepting the Versatile Blogger Award means following the rules. I’m not so good with rules, but in the spirit of this great community, follow them I shall. The most important rule is to call out and thank a few of the bloggers I follow. Their words, appearing in my e-mail or blog reader several times a week, remind me how and why writing changes lives. Y’all are so great.
Thanking first the blogger who nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award:
Anawnimiss Thank you and Peace.
Blogs I Follow, for Inspiration and Empathy:
Writing and Other Forms of Suffering
And Those Seven Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me. For Good Reason.
- Introvert that I am, I’m quite good at public speaking. In fact, I love being on stage.
- Dancing makes me outrageously happy. Me, dancing I mean. Not watching other people dance. That’s nice, too, but not the same.
- I have a potty mouth. Particularly when driving. It’s best I drive alone. You would be shocked.
- Clumped-together seeds in or on fruit give me the heebie-jeebies. Like the inside cores of bell peppers, or seeds on strawberries spaced too closely together, or seeds inside gourds. Oh, I just get the willies. Does this make me completely insane?
- I weep easily at movies. Or touching commercials. I’m a weeper. Completely sentimental. “Titanic”? Fuhgedabboudit. I bawled.
- I hate going out at night. And for me, night starts at 5:30. I’ll do it, for your birthday, or a concert, or for Lord of the Rings. But mostly, it’s torture. I just want to curl up and read, then go to bed at 8:30. Leave me alone.
- It took me a week to come up with this list. Who wants to talk about themselves? That’s why I write stories about other people.
Congrats on the award and thank you for the nomination, Julie 🙂
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Congrats! And thanks for the nomination. Yes, blogs are funny little things, aren’t they? They grow post by post, and acquire a personality before you even notice it. And some people get to know that and appreciate it and start to follow… I didn’t even expect to get followers when I started.
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Thank you and you are welcome! I’m so grateful for the community of writers and readers.
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Congrats, Julie! I love seeing others admit to not wanting to go out at night because I feel less the odd one out. Does Brendan feel the same? Unfortunately, Jim isn’t much of a homebody and he’d go out and stay out until 2am every morning if I’d agree to go with him!
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Thank you! Brendan’s even more of a stick in the mud than I am! He’s a night owl-he gets home from work very late and can stay up for ages-but he hates going out. I’m a whirlwind of energy at 6 a.m., but by 6 p.m. I’m already thinking hot bath and when can I read my book? 😉
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thank you Julie for the nomination!
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You are so welcome!
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Congratulations Versatile Blogger! Yours is the first and only blog I read. Mary Anne
On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 9:33 AM, CHALK THE SUN
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Thank you, Mary Anne!!
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Congratulations on your award!
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Thank you, Jackie!
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