Blog Award Bliss

It’s raining blog awards!!

I am ecstatic over the awards I’ve been given by these talented bloggers!

Big thanks to the lovely ladies over at Thinking Through Our Fingers for this awesome award!

The Versatile Blogger Awards are compliments of a few of the very best:

 Kelley, J.A. Bennett, and SJI Holliday.

Thanks again to J.A. Bennett for the Great Comments Award.

Thank you Kelley at Between the Bookends for this pretty Kreativ Blogger award.

Be sure to visit the all of these blogs. They are not to be missed!!!

The rules for these awards are all similar. (Find out more about the rules here)

 So, I will combine them by telling you five things about myself and passing all of these to five amazing bloggers!

1. I adore dogs. This may be a shock, but it's true ;)

2. I am lucky enough have been asked to contribute to the awesome Pyjama Club blog. Head over and check it out!

3. Blue is my favorite color. I think just about anything looks better blue!

4. Each and everytime I watch Steel Magnolias I find a new reason to love it and cry over it.

5. In my mind I play tennis like Kim Clijsters; even when I make a flying leap and catch nothing but air with my racket.

Now I get to pass these awards on!!

If you've received these awards before feel free to do with them as you wish :)

Hope Roberson at Writing with Hope

Mark Koopmans at Aloha, and Hi! from HI

Angela V. Cook at The Starving Novelist

Felicity at Dronezone

McKenzie at The Other Side of Sorrow

'Wrap it up' Blogfest

Three awesome bloggers are hosting this blogfest,

Leigh Covington , David Powers King, and J.A. Bennett. 

To get all the details click the picture below.

My entry:

You came into my life as the birds began their Spring song. Brightly colored blooms surrounded us in the park that day. I remember the way you smiled with your whole face as you jogged over to me, apologizing for Brutus’s forgotten manners. I looked down at my new white skirt, freshly stained with the coffee I spilled when Brutus greeted me, and just laughed. We’d never met before, but I loved him. He looked through me with the intelligent eyes of a dog who knows a broken person when he sees them.

The Summer was one of cherished memories, our spring crush turned to summer love. I remember the long, lazy days on the beach with you and Brutus. The day Brutus saved the little boy’s ball from being swept out to sea was a special one for me. You glowed with pride watching him dive right in to grab the ball tightly between his teeth and, after shaking the salty wetness from his back, trot over to the toddler and lay the ball at his feet.

Soon the leaves turned fiery shades of orange, red, and yellow. In a blink the beauty was gone, and the leaves became dry, brown, crunches beneath our feet. It was then Brutus began spending more time on the couch, less time chasing his favorite tennis ball. I think you knew before I did; you tried to protect me.  I watched the spark die in Brutus’ eyes a little more each day. You and I would share desperate glances over his furry head, knowing there was nothing we could do but love him.

We were given a year of bliss with Brutus. I owe my life to him for what he taught me about love and happiness.

Because of him, I have you.

Lillie

Only Writing in my Head!

Ever get to that place in the novel writing adventure where it’s all you think about, but writing is still difficult? I’m so there.

My dog gets my frustration!

I am still working on my NaNo novel. It is a story I love, full of characters I want to be friends with, but I still have a hard time getting the words out. Sometimes, I want to start back at the beginning and edit, edit, edit. Other times, I think I should continue writing and edit later.

The story is always on my mind. I don’t have the slightest problem thinking of things that I want to happen, things I want to tweak, or characters that need a little something extra. The story plays alive and well across my mind; everything is magic and harmonious in my head, but as soon as I sit down to get all of it down the creative factory closes, an iron door falls shutting in everything I wanted to say. It’s the strangest case of writer’s block I’ve ever encountered.

Sometimes I think the pressure I feel to write perfectly, self-inflicted pressure of course, harms my writing more than anything else. I want the words to flow as beautifully on paper as they do in my mind. So, when I sit down to write I fear I won’t live up to my own expectations. It’s a constant battle between me, myself, and I.

How do you get past this?

On a happier note, an amazing writer has started a blog! Check out Steven’s blog. He basically kicked NaNoWriMo rear, and is still going strong. Also, if you’re up for #wordmongering on Twitter, he is around for motivation. Just try and keep up with his 30 minute words counts. I dare you! Find him on Twitter: @ashviper