Versatile Blogger Award

I received the Versatile Blogger Award (VBA) from Anneli Purchase!

Here is what VBA is all about: (I have copied much of this from the blog of Lada Ray, since this is all new to me.)

Versatile Blogger Award (VBA)

What is it?

As far as I can tell, from the writings of previous recipients, this lofty-sounding award is basically a mutual admiration society where bloggers recognize their peers for writing quality blogs that touched them in some way. The VBAs honor the blogger rather than specific posts. It’s a chance for bloggers to pat themselves on the back like the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does with the Oscars. Until someone starts giving out Blogscars, the VBAs will have to suffice.

What are the criteria?

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award. I nominated 12 outstanding bloggers below. Congratulations!

Thank the person who gave you this award. 

Include a link to their blog.

http://wordsfromanneli.wordpress.com/

Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. (I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!) I’ve found that it’s a bit of work to list 15, but please don’t feel that being nominated should be a burden. If you only want to nominate 8 or 10 bloggers, that’s fine too.

The envelope, please…

Nominate those bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.

And the nominees/winners are (in no particular order):

1. The Vandal - http://www.derekhaines.ch/vandal/

2.Jonathan Gould – DagLit http://daglit.blogspot.com

3. Morgen Bailey - http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com

4. Girls’ with Pens - http://girlswithpens.com/

5. Shannon - http://shannonshawbooks.com/

6. Yvonne – Hello World http://ytaba36.wordpress.com/

7. Trinka - http://mstrinkav.blogspot.ca/

8. Reenie - http://reeniediva.blogspot.ca/

9. Gordon - http://gamblersgame.co.uk/

10. Christy - http://www.christytilleryfrench.com

11. Spencer - http://www.spencerbrokaw.com

12. Diane Rapp - http://www.quicksilvernovels.com

Congratulations, winners!

Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

1. I love chocolate.

2. Being grandma is the best job I ever had.

3. I’m lost without my computer.

4. I’m an avid body boarder.

5. The best trip ever for me was the safari in Kenya.

6. I can’t imagine a day without reading.

7. Did I mention that I love chocolate?

The True Definition of High Density

               

Generation Gap?

At one end:

“Grandma!”

“Yes dear?”

“I need the password for the iPad of Grandpa.” She’s three years old, speaks Spanish, and hasn’t quite yet mastered the apostrophe “s” of English.

“Why?”

“To download this app.”

Grandma takes a peek and sees the munchkin has found a free children’s Christmas app. Not surprising. It’s April, but munchkin has been obsessed with Christmas since December. App downloaded and munchkin is singing Jingle Bells yet again.

At the other end:

“Is that a Kindle?” Grandma asks the lady beside her at the ophthalmologist’s office.

“No, it’s a Blackberry. You know I’m 85 and I didn’t think I would like this, but my grandson gave it to me and I love it.”

“I don’t have a computer,” says the little old lady beside her, but my family gave me a cell phone. I take it with me everywhere. She pulls an iPhone out of her pocket and shows it off proudly.

“My husband has an iPad and loves it,” says Grandma. “It’s nice, but I’m a writer and I need a laptop. I do have a Kindle, though, for reading. It’s great.”

The 85 year old waves her Blackberry tablet in the air. “You know how they’re always talking about High Definition?” she says. I found out what that is. I took a picture of myself with this. Then I looked at it. High Definition is a thousand wrinkles!

We all laugh.

“I erased the picture,” she says.

One Is Not Enough

My name is Yves. I’m a Drone and I’ve been chosen to be a Power. Imagine that. Me, a Power. Nothing like that has ever happened in the Drone world before. We’re just here to serve the Guardians of the Universe.

Of course, when I’m trying to “fix” Earth, I’ll have to use my skills and the special abilities I’ve been given wisely. This is my first assignment and I have so much to learn. But, if I do it right, I could free all Drones, send them back to their homes. Imagine that.

I’ve already chosen my agent. Her name is Em. Why her? Because of her dreams of course. She’s always wanted to do great things. I’ll make her dreams come true. I’ll transport her and give her the ability to speak any language and of course I’ll make sure she can’t be hurt. Maybe with a force field of some sort.

No, she won’t know what’s going on. Yes, that will be hard on her, but she’s strong. She can handle it. Oh my, look at that little speck – so much going on down there. Really, all I have to do is point my finger and we’ll get to work; stop a few wars, get rid of all the weapons…

It’s hard to keep Em in the dark, to keep her two lives (the one as herself and the one with me) separate. She’s such a strong personality, you see, that bits of her real life keep creeping in when she’s working and that threatens her sanity.

Wait a minute, who’s that lump of lard? He wasn’t on my radar at all. What’s he doing? Obsessing over Em? I don’t think so buddy. She’s mine. Mine!

Yes, yes, I know I’m not supposed to get involved emotionally. Of course my boss will be all over me for this, but really Em is so… so special.

All of this would be so much easier if I could go down there myself. Knock a few heads together, tell Em how I feel. How do I feel? A tightening in my chest, a trembling in my knees… so many things I’ve never felt before. On Earth they call it love. It hurts sometimes, this love business. But would I, will I, give Em up?

Oh no, you’re not going to get the answer from me here and now. That would be… What do you call it? A spoiler? Couldn’t do that to my creator. After all, without her, I wouldn’t be here, talking to you, loving Em… You have to read the books to find out. Yes, yes, yes, there are 3 more books. I hope to get to “live happily ever after” with Em. But I worry that my creator, might get carried away. She’s already taken me through emotions I didn’t know existed. I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.

What’s it about?

Little does she know, when writing, that “the book” will take over her life. When finally finished the first novel (although it seems she could revise forever), the author is so attached to her characters that she can’t leave them behind.

And so it continues. Book two morphs into book three and that leads to book four—with the intent for book four to be the “happily ever after” ending, but, never knowing what the characters may demand , the author does not preclude a book five or even six.

What to do with four books lying in wait in “My Documents”? Well, as any author would tell you, they have to be published of course. And so she begins the process; research for a month, find someone to design the cover and  format the manuscript, and choose the venues for the book. Print copies are a  must for her bookshelf and to gift to family, and of course the book must be available for all the eReaders out there.

Book one, in all its various formats, is now ready and waiting for a healthy reading audience. The author moves on to marketing. Twitter friends are a huge help. She finds fellow authors and book bloggers who will post interviews and feature the book on their blogs, and others who will read it and post reviews. The author becomes adept with Hootsuite and Buffer and Goodreads and… The list is long, the hours on the computer longer.

One of the most difficult aspects turns out to be pegging the novel to a genre. The various programs for publishing don’t allow for classification beyond the usual genres. But this novel is cross-genre; a bit of “sci-fi,” some “adventure,” a fight or three for “action,” and a love triangle—that’s the “romance,” right?

The author endures many conversations such as the following as she promotes her book.

“What’s it about?”

“Um… er… it’s…” Who knew defining the work would be harder than writing it? “Well, it’s not a thriller, or a mystery, or a bodice ripping romance.”

“Adventure?”

“Sort of.”

“Historical?”

“No, no.”

“Vampires? Monsters? Paranormal stuff?”

“No.”

“Well, what’s it about?”

This is when the author frowns, takes a deep breath, and says to  herself, “I have to figure out my genre.”

Meeting Mr. Cosby

He reaches over and picks up the phone. “Hello, concierge desk. We’re busy right now.” He hangs up.

“Mr. Cosby, you can’t do that,” the concierge says, “I’ll lose my job.”

She doesn’t of course as Mr. Cosby has bought a disposable camera and has allowed the hotel staff to have their pictures taken with him. He now asks the concierge to ring the manager and get him down to the lobby for pictures.

Later that day, Mr. Cosby asks the concierge to order him a wood-fired pizza and a Newsweek. Outside his door, pizza and magazine in hand, the concierge knocks. She hears a knock back. She knocks again. Another knock back and then the door opens to reveal a grinning Mr. Cosby.

Pizza delivered, tip in hand she returns to her desk. Shortly after, Mr. Cosby appears in the lobby. Does he saunter in and chat with staff? Does he stride across as if on a mission? Does he amble through looking bored? No! He plays hide and seek, peering out from behind one of the huge plants, then scuttles to crouch behind a sofa. The concierge, the front desk staff, the girl in the gift shop giggle and play along.

Later they will tell friends and family, “It was just like being on his show.” A memory they will always  treasure.

City Slickers

We begin with a smudge ceremony led by the elder who has joined us for that express purpose. Elder hardly seems appropriate for the young man with the long braid and bright smile, but elder he is.

I’ve participated with my junior high aboriginal students and their teachers several times so I know enough to do it right. Cup your hands to sweep the smoke towards your face and over your head. I say a silent prayer and bow my head, eyes closed as I wait for the smudge pot to be passed around the circle.

Now we can proceed to hunt for sweet grass which we’ll weave into braids and hang to dry for use in future smudges. Three teachers and forty odd kids weave their way through the brush to gather the grasses. The young elder has shown us samples of the grass and explained how to differentiate it from regular old grass.

I spot some, but I’m not sure if it’s the authentic article. “Is this sweet grass?” I ask one of the boys.

He takes a look, shrugs and says, “I dunno.” He gestures to the elder. “Ask that old guy over there.”

I stifle a chuckle and keep hunting. Eventually I find enough sweet grass to make a proper if loosely woven braid which I will hang in my office with pride.

Suddenly we hear a frantic cry. “Sue, Sue, I gotta pee,” one of the girls cries to the nearest teacher.

“Well, there’s your bathroom,” Sue says with a sweeping gesture to the bush around us.

The girl stares at Sue, mouth hanging open. “Eeeugh!” She races to the bus where she will sit cross-legged for the ride home. Sue and I don’t dare look at each other. We’ll laugh later.

Books and More Books

Recently I was asked to list my top ten favorite books. I could easily have listed 100, but I did manage to limit myself to the following:

Mixed Marriage by Elizabeth Cadell – a laugh-out-loud story. Read about it here – http://www.emandyves.com/etcetera.html

I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani – Remember the flood of email scams from Nigeria? This book gives us a look at the other side – why Nigerians initiated the scams. Read more about it here – http://emandyves.com/etcetera.html

Alphabet by Kathy Page – Ms Page was a writer in residence in a prison in England and this book is a gritty tale of one young prisoner. The writing is exceptional.

A Cup of Tea by Amy Ephron – Every single sentence carries so much meaning.

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett – What happens when the Queen of England decides to borrow a book from the mobile library? So well written and lovely humor.

Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen by Glen Husar – My little blog story may do justice to this amazing YA novel – http://emandyves.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/a-books-surprise/

Griffin and Sabine series by Nick Bantock – What fun to take letters out of envelops and enjoy such great art as you read. There’s a mystery here too.

The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel – A heartbreaking story of war and the people who try so hard to survive it.

Clash of Civilizations Over An Elevator In Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous – Wonderful satire of immigrants’ life in Italy. He’s written another called, I believe,The Bedbugs and the Pirate but it hasn’t been translated yet.

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maude Montgomery. – A gentle old fashioned love story. Colleen McCullough was accused of plagiarizing this book when she published The Ladies of Missalonghi.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid – Intriguing look into the mind of a young man educated in the US on an international scholarship program.