If Wishes Were Fishes - Nominated for Cybil Award!

I am thrilled to announce that my book, If Wishes Were Fishes, has been nominated for this year’s prestigious Cybil award. I am literally jumping up and down with excitement! This is an award given by children’s and young adult bloggers for books they consider to be of literary merit with kid appeal. It is quite an honor to be nominated. Scrolling through the fiction picture book category I see such prestigious author nominees as: Lemony Snicket, Jeff Foxworthy, Julie Andrews, Neil Gaiman and fellow 4RV author Beth Bence Reinke. I consider myself very fortunate to be nominated with these and so many more talented authors and offer sincere congratulations to all the nominees.

I know I will be keeping my fingers crossed as the panel of judges begin reading and comparing the extensive list of nominated books as they strive to arrive at a short list of finalists by the first of the year.

Award Day!

I am truly honored to have wonderful and generous friends. Beverly Stowe McClure, and Ginger Nielson are two such friends. They were both kind enough to pass The Versatile Blogger Award to me this week. Thank you, Bev and Ginger.

This award comes with rules:

1. Thank the person who loved me enough to bestow this gift.

2. Share seven things about myself.

3. Bestow this honor onto 15 newly discovered or followed bloggers – in no particular order – who are fantastic in some way.

4. Drop by and let my fifteen friends know I love them.

Number 1, I am honored that Beverly and Ginger thought of me for this award.

Bev is an extremely talented writer, and one of the sweetest women I have ever met. Although we have only “met” on line, I have had the privilege of learning from classes she has taught in the Muse Online Writers Conference and her spot-on insights in the critique group we are both in. She's a wonderful lady, and I consider myself blessed to have met her.
Ginger is an extremely talented illustrator. As a mater of fact, I am honored to have partnered with her in my recent release If Wishes Were Fishes. Her wonderfully whimsical illustrations perfectly complemented the story and I am thrilled to have been blessed with “meeting” her. I hope to have the opportunity to work with her again soon.

Here's number 2, seven things about myself.

1. Family, friends…and a really good story are my passions.

2. Besides getting lost in a book (writing or reading) I love movies.

3. I am a firm believer that chocolate is one of the basic necessities of life!

4. I love to travel and wish I had more opportunities to explore new places.

5. I have, admittedly, the world’s worst sense of direction. Hmmmm, perhaps this is the reason I don’t travel as much as I’d like, lol.

6. I love theme parks – they are so much fun!

7. Have I mentioned my love for chocolate…?!?!

Now, for number 3: In addition to Beverly Stowe McClure’s and Ginger Nielson’s wonderful blogs (which you should definitely check out!) I’d like to suggest these favorite blogs:

* Patricia Stoltey
* Mystery Writing is Murder
* karen...following the whispers
* Myth-takes
* The Old Silly's Free Spirit Blog
* Write What Inspires You! ~ Donna M. McDine ~
* Straight From Hel
* Beth Bence Reinke
* Perspectives On Writing
* Strands of Thought
* On the edge of the chair of literature
* Margot's BOOKS for KIDS + Writing News.
* Brain Cells & Bubble Wrap
* Katie Hines- Walking on Water
* The Writing Jungle

Now...go check out these blogs. I bet you find some new friends and favorites!

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Roll Out the Red Carpet - It's Awards Day!

I have to admit, I have the greatest friends in the blogosphere. It’s true. I have recently started a new job and the office has literally exploded with work. The upside is overtime is automatically approved (sweet!) The downside is these hours are killing me, lol – work 10-11 hours at the office, come home to (*sigh* try to) blog and visit blogs and work on my freelance writing!! I need to escape to my world in the Netherscape – to go off on adventures with the Destineers. Soon. Very soon.

Anyway, I digress. These wonderful blog friends have still been visiting my blog, commenting and even bestowing awards. It is, indeed, an honor to receive Blog Awards.

Beverly Jean McClure, for example, has presented the One Lovely Blog Award to me. Here are the rules:

Accept the award, and don't forget to post a link back to the awarding person. (I am only too happy to link back to Beverly. She is an extremely talented writer for middle grade – young adult readers. She has a couple of new releases coming out this year too – stay tuned for updates!)
Pass the award on.
Notify the award winners.

Now for my nominations from some of my favorite and, most definitely, lovely blogs:

* Karen Walker for her very inspiring blog Following the Whispers
* Rebecca Camarena for the latest in books, author interviews and all about writing on Paperback Writer
* Vivian Zabel keeping us in touch with new writers and news within the writing world Brain Cells and Bubble Wrap
* Jane Kennedy Sutton for Jane’s adventures in writing through the ins and outs, ups and downs of writing, publishing and marketing through Jane’s Ride
* J. Kaye’s Book Blog where reading takes priority
* Cindy’s Love of Books gives us great insights and glimpses into the books she has read
* The Magic of Ink because as they say, “books can take you wherever you want to go”

Next, Elizabeth Spann Craig, mystery writer extraordinaire, and Helen Ginger my go-to gal for anything going on in the world of writing, have awarded me the Kreativ Blogger Award!

The rules for this award are simple: when passing the award to others, we list 7 favorites, so, naturally, here are seven of my favorite blogs that feature teens and young adult reading!

Kelly’s Young Adult Book Central for the latest reviews, interviews and giveaways of YA books
The Hip Librarian’s Book Blog keep in the know of the books teens love and loathe
Sheila Ruth’s Wands and Worlds fantasy and sci-fi for the discriminating teen
Kelly Parra & Tina Ferraro’s YA Fresh for what’s new in the world for teens
Teen Seen a hotspot of conversation about children and young adult books
Sarah Dessen one of the hottest YA writers out there today…
And, a real fun site: A community for Writers and Readers of Middle Grade and YA Fantasy: The Enchanted Inkpot

Click away my blogging friends - these are some fantastic blogs to enjoy!

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