January IWSG - Creativity

Click here to find out more and to see a list of other IWSG blogs.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

I'm feeling pretty good this month. Kinda. Just a little pressure, but I've marked some things off my to-do list. A FB picture by an author friend gave me an idea on how to proceed. So, I'm just sharing a few quotes by famous authors. I figure they understand.

Have you ever wondered what a famous author, from many years ago, might write about--today, on a blog?

Grammar Friday - Apostrophes (Part 1) and Other Random Things

Apostrophes, Part 1

Test sentence:

A good restaurant requires cleanliness in every part of it's operation.

So, is that sentence correct?

Well ...

it’s = contraction of it is or it has
its = possessive of it or belonging to it

So, if you can replace it's in your sentence with it is--and it still makes sense--then your word is it's. If you can't, then your word is its.

So, I ask again. Is the sentence in blue correct?

Extra credit question:

What happens when its is possessive?

Sorry, got distracted there.

Well, nothing actually. Its stays the same. Its doesn't have a special possessive form.

I know. I'm sure it feels discriminated against. Or, is that its ....

Word Processing Wars

Peggy Eddleman had a great blog post on Wednesday about which word processing system she uses. What about you?

Award 1 (unwarranted)

People have been really kind to me lately. I even got an award I didn't qualify for. Barbara Kloss gave me this:

I don't qualify for her thoughtful gift because I have too many followers. However, I can pass it through to other, worthy recipients.

Here are the rules:

1. Thank the giver
Danke, Barbara (in keeping with the German theme).

2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog--and follow them!
Melanie Jacobsen (she was my bootcamp instructor at Storymaker, and she rocks)
Jeff King over at Author's Union (he's such a kind poster)
Robin Weeks (I know, I pass a lot of stuff on to her, but she's an amazing writer, critique partner, and dang fun person--even for an attorney. Plus she didn't take me up on the bloomers meme)

Nancy S. Thompson (since she tagged me earlier with that unmentionables meme =D )
KT over at Out of My Mind

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
Done

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.

5. And most of all - have bloggity-blog fun!

Award 2

J.A. Bennett over at A Book, A Girl, A Journey gave me this cute award:

And what's amazing is the picture even looks like me now that I've had my highlights put in again. All right, in this picture the cute subject still has eyebrows (mine fell down to my chin). And I don't have hairy toes. Aren't you glad to know that?

Since this post is too long already and I've answered enough questions about myself with other awards, I will do one thing: Share a quote.

"I dwell in possibility." ~Emily Dickenson

Following are the folks I'm passing this award off to:
Kaylee Baldwin (she makes me smile a lot)
Jolene Perry (don't you love the cover to her book?)
Laura Josephsen (you've already heard me talk about her lots

ETA: That's embarrassing. This was supposed to post tomorrow. Dang Blogger. ROFL I changed the date again and now it says it's already Friday. If you're able to read this, you've time traveled to the future. Doesn't that make you feel special? Now, how will you get home?

#Poetry Summer and an Award

Week 5: #PoetrySummer

(This is from Dan Well's Summer Poetry Challenge.)

I totally stole this from Sarah Eden. She was kind enough to suggest it when I cried for help on Twitter, since I'm old and need short things to memorize. By the way, I can't wait for her book Seeking Persephone to come out in September. It's a prequel to Courting Miss Lancaster, and I've already fallen in love with the characters.

Here's the poem I'm memorizing this week.

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

~~Emily Dickinson

Hey, Robin. I didn't even realize until now that you're mentioned in this poem. Are you a fainter? You seemed sturdier than that.

BLOG AWARD

I've also been honored with another awarding of The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award by Kimberly Krey. You should check out her blog. I must be really sweet, because this is the third time I've been given this particular award. Thanks, Kimberly.

Feel free to stop reading (like you're not free to anyway) if you're tired of reading random things about me.

Rules of the The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award (some rules varied but these were the most popular):
1. Copy and paste the award to your blog.
Check

2. Thank and link to the person(s) who nominated you.
Check

3. Share seven random facts about yourself.
One
I hate the sensation of falling--that feeling of your stomach being higher up than the rest of your body. The kind you get when you're, you know, falling. I'm not afraid of heights. On roller coasters I'm fine going upside down and doing the corkscrew turns. Just not the falling.

When my family went on vacation to Disneyland a few years ago and we spent four days park hopping, one of my family's favorite rides was California Screamer. My daughter assured me it was not bad at all. I went.

As we got off, she said, "See, there were only one or two times when there's that sensation."

Um. No. Try five. I counted them.

Tower of Terror anybody? Why don't you just shoot me?

Two
I have an associate degree from Brigham Young University in University Studies with a focus on genealogy (they didn't have a major).

Three
The only bones I've ever broken are a toe and my tail bone (twice).

Four
I'm a serious Harry Potter geek. And proud of it. You can find me at the Leaky Lounge where I'm a moderator. As of last night I have 12,878 posts. I think I'll have to retire when I hit 13,000. =D

Five
My favorite color is green. Just about any shade, though after wearing olive drab everything for a couple of years I was a little off that shade of green for a few decades. When I got to my permanent duty assignment in Nurnberg, even my dang bedroom walls were painted OD. Ugh.

Six
Dark Chocolate. I like the other versions, but if I have a choice, dark chocolate wins every time. The darker, the better.

Seven
When I was a little girl, I was in love with musicals. I would sit in my classroom at school, just waiting for my teacher to break out in song and dance. Such a disappointment.

This video is totally the stuff of my dreams. How come I'm never in a place where they do this? Life's not fair.



4th rule: Pass the award along to 5 deserving blogging buddies.
Jordan McCollum  (Jordan's got choice writing info and is tekkie resource as well)
James Duckett (the writer, not the guy on death row)
Deanna Barnhart (a fellow member of my critique group and host of July's Gearin' up to Get An Agent Blog O Rama)
Amber over at Litpool (she's counting down until Harry' Birthday with HP trivia and prizes)
Candace's Book Blog (I LOVE her blog background)