Tag Archives: Awards
Time to celebrate the Creative Geniuses among us
Over at my nonfiction site, The Life of a Working Writer Mommy, we’re celebrating International Creativity Month! In honor of this wonderful “holiday”, and the incredibly gifted word-weavers among us, I’ve created a new award, the Creative Genius Blog Award.
I hope you’ll check out that post, In Celebration of Creative Geniuses, to find out who among the #fridayflash crowd the award goes to.
Create Something Every Day!
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Click here to read my #fridayflash for this week, The Last Time.
I’m Sweet! So I hear….
Thanks so much to the lovely Laura Eno of A Shift in Dimensions, for presenting The Other Side of Deanna with the Cherry on Top Award!
According to the logo, this award is “for beautiful blogs with that little bit extra”. And so it is with humble appreciation that I accept Laura’s gushy words of love *cue long-eye-lashed blushing blink* Thank you Laura!
Being her natural stubborn, (but lovingly so), self, Laura does not follow rules, so we are making them up as we go along. In this vein, I proclaim the rule of acceptance for the Cherry on Top Award, (for myself only), is to recognize a particular blogger who has put the cherry on top for me many, many times.
You all may have heard of Charlie Callahan, a.k.a., Professor B Worm. It was with puddling eyes that I read his 3-part goodbye post(s) today. I wish I could remember who introduced me to Charlie’s blog; I think it was Paige, over at Paradise Valley 2, Hell’s Mountain…and over the edge, but I can’t be certain, (in any case, you’ll want to visit Paige’s blog – the woman is a hoot)!
Charlie had already been blogging for four years when I discovered his heart-wrenching, honest-to-the-bone post, Alcoholic. I read this post three times in a row because, well, I was stunned. Here was a man not afraid to speak his mind, to rip his heart from his chest and spread it across the screen for the entire world to see. Never had I read anything so deeply honest, so soul-baring. When I finally stopped crying I snooped around and read some of his previous posts. I was delightfully surprised to find that Charlie could make the tears roll in more ways than one. Not only has he written some of the most poignant articles I’ve ever read, but he’s also written some of the most but-gusting belly laugh articles I’ve ever read. The man is unquestionably talented, that’s all there is to it.
Although Charlie is saying goodbye to the blogging world, (due to health issues), he will still be updating his book and movie review pages. I suspect that, when he feels well enough, he may post a blog now and then too, (I hope so anyway). In the meantime, do yourself a favor: sit back with a hot cuppa and get good and comfy while you browse his site. Just be sure not to have your mouth full when reading, else your screen will be ruined. Oh, and have tissue nearby.
Charlie, it is with great appreciation for your insightful inspiration that I pass the Cherry on Top Award to you. I don’t expect you to do any more with this award than hang it on your bedroom wall and gaze at it longingly. I wish you the utmost of laughter, good times, plain ole’ joy life has to offer. Thank you so much for all you’ve meant to my life – that’d be A Lot!
International Literacy Day: A Celebration
We celebrate many different things out here in the big ole’ world of blogging – in our case, the beauty and wonder of literature: short stories, flash fiction, essays, poetry – the list goes on and on; without not only the ability, but also the freedom, to read and write, we wouldn’t have the means to celebrate any of those things.
Wednesday is International Literacy Day. Malcolm Forbes, [second] publisher of Forbes Magazine, said “Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.” That is the essence of what education means to me.
“More than 780 million of the world’s adults do not know how to read or write, and between 94 and 115 million children lack access to public education.”¹
Being literate is not something we should take lightly, nor something we should take for granted. Yet, we all do. I write something every single day, even if it’s nothing more than: “This is a blank sheet of paper I need to fill” and I don’t give a second thought to the reason I write, or how I came to have the ability to write.
Now is the time to reflect on those blessings.
I am able to read and write now because I was blessed with many special people early in my life – my parents, grandmothers, my teachers, aunts, uncles, cousins – many, who took the time to read to me, to show me how to write each letter of the alphabet, to sprinkle new words on me like fairy dust. Without them, I never would’ve formed such an intense love of words, such an overwhelming desire to rejoice in the feel of a heavy book in my hands, or a free-flowing pen. I only hope that by sharing my love of words that I’m helping to contribute to the growth of that love, and that International Literacy Day will still be here for my great-great-great-great….grandchildren to celebrate.
To share this love of words I’ve created a new award: Deanna’s “I’m A Literacy Builder” Blog Award.
I am passing this award along to some of the greatest word-weavers on the www. Of course I admire many more than are listed here – check out my blog roll to the right. I hope you’ll visit these incredibly talented writers and let them know how much you appreciate them.
Deanna’s “I’m A Literacy Builder” Blog Award goes to:
- Linda Simoni-Wastila of LEFTBRAINWRITE
- Laura Eno of A Shift in Dimensions
- Anne Tyler Lord of Don’t Fence Me In
- Sam Adamson of Future; nostalgic
- Marisa Birns of Out of Order Alice
Thank you all so much for the pleasure of your words!
Now, I’m not going to lay a bunch of heavy rules of acceptance on y’all, just a couple small ones:
- Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
- Display the award logo on your blog site.
- Tell us five of your favorite words and why you like them, (add as many as you like).
- Pass the award on to three bloggers you feel are excellent literacy builders, and link to their sites – Yes, only three!
- Contact the bloggers you’ve chosen and let them know about the award.
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A few of my favorite words: (all definition links via Merriam-Webster)
- Crush – for its many connotations
- Ersatz – because it is as crazy as it sounds
- Plethora - for the way it rolls off the tongue, and because it means so much (literally)
- Evanescence - also for the way it rolls off the tongue, and for its many uses
- Quagmire - for the way it makes your lip curl when you say it
- Epitome - because it sounds romantic to me, and it can be used in many different ways
- Tickle – because it is as fun as it sounds
- Lickety-split - another one that feels good rolling off the tongue
- CHOCOLATE! Do you really need an explanation for that one?
You don’t have to be an award recipient to share your favorite words – let’s hear ‘em! After all, it’s the sharing of our knowledge that builds that literacy.
I hope you’ll stop in and check out my bookshelf, on The Life of a Working Writer Mommy, where I rate and review most of the books I read. Let’s talk about the wonderful experience of reading!
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY!
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Click here to visit my sister site, The Life of a Working Writer Mommy, where you’ll find everything from my family recipes, essays, articles about autism and fibromyalgia, to the crazy things that happen in our everyday lives.
Click here to subscribe to The Other Side of Deanna.
*Many thanks to The Graphics Fairy for the images used to create the award logo.
¹Bristol Public Library via Bristol Herald Courier
Party Time!
Thanks so much to everyone who participated in The Other Side of Deanna’s first writing contest, whether you entered a story, read and voted, or both. We had a great variety of stories, and they were a lot of fun to read!
The purpose of the contest, (write a story of 1,000 words or less using the theme ‘birthday’) is to celebrate my birthday this year by giving back to the generous communities of #fridayflash, created by Jon Strother, #Silentwriters, created by Olivia Tejeda, and #Writers_Life, created by Anne Tyler Lord, as well as all my wonderfully generous readers. I hope, if you aren’t familiar with these communities, that you’ll stop in, say hello, and consider joining. You’ll find welcoming, compassionate people in these wonderful groups and I’m sure you’ll want to be a part of the fun.
Congratulations to John Wiswell, whose story, A Necessary Getaway, won the contest with 20% of the votes.
John will receive an Amazon gift certificate for $19.69 and will be featured in an interview on The Other Side of Deanna, (date to be determined).
If you haven’t read the stories yet, just click here to access the links to participant’s sites. Yes, voting is closed, but we love hearing from our readers, so be sure to visit these folks and chime in!
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Now let’s party! I understand there are several Leos in the #fridayflash community, so…
We Leos are the entertainers of the zodiac. You know what that means – plenty of snacks, plenty of drinks, and plenty of fun! So grab your poison, kick off your shoes, and
SHAKE IT!
Those of you who prefer to be a wallflower – TOO BAD! We Leos are also known for being, um, shall we say encouraging? So don’t even think you’re gonna be allowed to sit down. Oh no, not at this party!
(Okay, we might let you relax a little, but only after you’ve entertained us all with at least one dance.)
A game? You want a game?
Okay, where’s the bottle?
Oh, not that kind of game….well, um…okay…..
How about a word game then, being as most of us are writers and all?
What’s the best word or phrase you can create from the letters
H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y?
Use as many or as few letters as you like, but each letter can only be used once. If you create a new word or phrase, (of course that’s allowed – we’re creatives!), just be sure to give us the definition.
Come on now, I know you all are creative, so let’s hear your best shot. I’ll be brave and go first:
Pithy rap-ad: a [thankfully] brief commercial involving horrific, headache-inducing music.
Now I know you can do better than that, (who couldn’t?!) Let’s hear it!
Another fun game: tell us what the worst gift you’ve ever received was, whether it was for your birthday or another holiday, or just any old day. Here’s mine:
My husband and his mother tie up the award for worst gift ever. You decide – a vacuum cleaner from the hubby for my birthday during the first year we were together, (weren’t even married yet – yea, I know), or a used trowel with a plastic sunflower glued to the top of it from my mother-in-law? The latter was intended to be a birthday gift, but I received it in April. My birthday (as you know) is in August. I called to say thanks anyway and asked her if it was an early or a late birthday gift. This question made her realize it was her other daughter-in-law, Donna’s, not Deanna’s, birthday. Then she said, “I know you love yard sales, so I just had to pick that up for you.” Okay…
Can you top either of those? Let’s hear it! No, packages of underwear and/or socks from your parents do not count. Neither does soap-on-a-rope.
Note: We are all winners in these games which means the only prize is the genuine entertainment we obtain from playing, (and, even better, the possibility of learning a secret or two about each other).
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Thanks so much to Anne Tyler Lord of Don’t Fence Me In for presenting The Other Side of Deanna with the “Creative Writer Award with a twist”! This one involves a fun writing exercise – can you guess what’s true and what’s not? When enough folks have guessed I’ll reveal the answer.
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Fantastic news: Our wonderful #fridayflash host, Jon Strother, has put every ounce of blood, sweat and tears he has into the publication of the first volume of The Best of Fridayflash, due to be released on Tuesday! Stop in and let him know how much you appreciate him. As soon as he has the link for purchasing I’ll post it here as well.
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FYI: due to school registration and football practice, I’ll be in and out of the party today, (hey, I’m a Leo – I can do what I want *not that leaving the party is what I want). Please do continue to enjoy the party while I’m away and I’ll be sure to stop by the store and stock up on the way back!
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Spreading the Creepiness
Thanks so much to the lovely Anne Tyler Lord of Don’t Fence Me In for presenting The Other Side of Deanna with the “Creative Writer Award”, (with a creepy twist). I am humbly honored that you believe I’m worthy of such a prestigious (and fun!) award.
*Note: I took the liberty of adding “With a Twist” to the award logo.
The rules of acceptance of this award are as follows:
1. Thank the person who gave this to you.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you.
4. Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth – or – switch it around and tell six outrageous truths and one outrageous lie.
5. Nominate seven “Creative Writers” who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.
6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.
Added Rules for the Creepy Version (via Mari Juniper, inspired by Jodi MacArthur)
Paraphrased from Anne’s post: “Now to the fun part. I’d like to propose a challenge of the sorts, hereby changing said rules just a bit. I dare the following bloggers to spread the chill. Make your lies and truths as scary, ugly and grotesque as you can. Of course you don’t have to, but I do dare you.”
*See nominated blogs following my creepy lies…er, truths….
I have had too much fun creating my six creepy truths…er, lies…which is it? You tell me:
Are these six outrageous lies, and one creepy truth, or six creepy truths and one outrageous lie?
- While visiting a haunted house, an evil spirit completely drained me of all energy, forcing me into a corner and causing me to pass out. My friends had to carry me out of the house.
- In elementary school nearly every kid in my class stomped on my head, causing blood to spew everywhere, nearly killing me.
- I saw a fatal wreck involving the steering wheel of one of the cars protruding through the driver’s chest.
- In high school two friends and I messed around with a Ouija board. I asked if there was a spirit in the room and the planchette flew off the board and slammed me in the face with enough force to knock me out.
- I was puked on at a rock concert.
- I narrowly escaped death when my husband tried to strangle me with a phone cord. He then chased me across town with a gun.
- I was knocked out with heavy drugs and locked in a bedroom for 24 hours.
So, what do you think? Are these all creepy lies, or all creepy truths? Or are there six creepy truths and one creepy lie, or six creepy lies and one creepy truth? Or am I just making things up altogether because it’s so much fun?
And now for the really fun part of this award acceptance: passing it along to seven other bloggers who I believe will have fun creating their own creepy, outrageous, grotesque, scary, ugly truths/lies. The “Creative Writer award with a Creepy Twist” goes to:
- Cecilia Dominic of Cecilia’s Random Writings
- Danielle La Paglia of Dani’s Flash Fiction Blog
- Gary Harmon of Gary’s Mostly Pointless Blog
- Melissa D Johnston, of Windspirit Girl
- G.P. Ching, of So, Write
- Shannon Esposito, of Murder in Paradise
- Anthony Venutolo, of Bukowski’s Basement
Congratulations to you all, and I can’t wait to hear your creepy lies…truths…whatever you come up with – I know it will be fantastic reading!
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Reminder: There are but a few hours left to vote for your favorite story in The Other Side of Deanna’s first writing contest. We hope you’ll stop in and vote! On Monday, the 16th, we’ll be partying, so be sure to stay tuned! [*Note – start time of the party depends on what time I get my lazy hind-end out of bed.]
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