My first blog award – and giveaway announcement

Heads up: I’ve got close to 100 subscribers on this blog, which thrills and humbles me. As a thank you, when I hit 100 I’ll give away a couple of book gift certificates to people who have subscribed and commented.

So if you’ve subscribed but never commented, find a post that interests you and let us know what you think! And thank you to everyone who’s gotten involved on this blog!

Last week I had the double honor of being Freshly Pressed by WordPress (I have the screenshot to prove it) and receiving my very first blog award!

Michelle – whose awesome blog Tickling My Fancy covers writing, reading, music, film and photography – sent me the Versatile Blogger award.

Here are the rules. I need to:

* thank and link to the person who nominated me (thanks, Michelle!)
* share seven random facts about myself
* pass the award along to 15 new-found blogging buddies
* contact those buddies to congratulate them

Here are seven random facts about me

1. I nearly quit blogging at the end of last year. I’d run out of steam and ideas, but decided to throw myself into it for a few months and see what happened. Good decision!

2. I’ve lived in three countries – the US, UK and Czech Republic. This has messed my accent up beyond all recognition. I’m from California but my parents refer to me and my British husband as “The Europeans”.

3. I have a tiny crush on several professional rugby players – from the beautiful Brian O’Driscoll to the beautiful-in-my-eyes Martin Johnson. A cousin-in-law works for Leinster rugby and got Brian O’Driscoll to sign a card for my wedding. It was my second favorite moment, after kissing my new husband.

4. My career’s been a bit scattered. I’ve worked for a divorce lawyer, taught Sunday school, sold fabric, done data entry at a scuba shop and a boutique for women with cancer, massaged people at a spa (not at all in a sexy way), taught English to children from around the world and to Czech bankers, run an Amnesty International group, and volunteered with refugee advisers at the Refugee Council in London. All great fodder for a novelist.

5. Whenever I’m at home, I’m in my pajamas. Apparently, my grandfather (who died when I was 2) stripped to his boxers every day as soon as he got home from work. This seems to be an inheritable trait because I hate wearing real clothes at home.

6. The first time I met my future mother-in-law, a very respectable British woman, I used the word “dickweed”. Not one of my finer moments. Fortunately, we’ve moved past that. My goal is to one day get her to say it. I figure my greatest chance of accomplishing that is to ask her opinion of our current government.

7. If I could do any job other than the one I have now (web editor for a charity and unpaid novelist), I’d be a travel writer. I can’t travel enough. My two favorite places so far are Cesky Krumlov – in southern Bohemia – and Hiroshima, but I’m looking forward to going to Croatia and Bosnia in a couple of weeks.

New-found blogs I love

I’m cheating a little bit here. The first nine of these are blogs I’ve discovered in the last few weeks, but the last six are ones I’ve followed for a while. They all deserve a massive shout-out and are great places for writers.

Here are 15 fantastic blogs I love.

1. Tickling My Fancy – Michelle works in the auto industry, so her blog provides an outlet for sharing her thoughts on writing, reading, music, film and photography.

2. Whimsy, Writing, & Reading – Contemporary YA writer Angela Scott talks zombies and writing on her very funny blog.

3. Lessons from the Monk I Married – Katherine Jenkins married a former Buddhist monk and shares the valuable life lessons she’s learned through their journey together.

4. Falling in Love with Romance – The thing I love about Suzie Quint’s blog is that it focuses on the craft of writing. It’s practical and very helpful.

5. Isn’t it Romance? – Tumperkin is a lawyer by day and romance novel lover by night. She writes about all things romance.

6. Angela Perry; History, Re-imagined – Angela’s very cool blog features thoughtful posts, images and flash fiction based on those images.

7. Uninvoked – A.M. Kuska is a writer working toward publication. She blogs about writing, posts book reviews and writes thoughtful posts that’ll appeal to all writers.

8. Don’t pet me, I’m writing – Tawna Fenske’s blog is hysterical. Just go. Go now. You need a laugh, and this is it.

9. Philosophy of Romance – Vince Mooney is writing a book about the romance genre, and on his blog he analyzes novels in a way that’s different than any other romance blogger I’ve seen. Truly amazing and helpful stuff.

10. Ashley March – Whether you’re a writer or a reader, you’ll love Ashley’s blog – and the lovely lady herself.

11. Jami Gold – Jami’s blog covers writing in such a unique and thoughtful way that I’m constantly jealous I didn’t come up with her posts first. *shakes fist*

12. Joanna Bourne – I’ve devoured Jo Bourne’s books for the richness of their language, characterization and historical research. Jo’s blog is a treasure trove of beautiful ponderings.

13. Two Nerdy History Girls – Bestselling authors Loretta Chase and Susan Holloway Scott share all the juicy tidbits they learn from their extensive historical research.

14. Terry’s Place – Romance and mystery author Terry Odell shares her experience and really valuable writing tips.

15. Roni Loren – There aren’t enough words to describe how brilliant Roni Loren’s writing blog is. A must read for all writers.

If you have favorite writing blogs, feel free to share them on my page for writers!