Savvy Sensations series catches me unplugged

Laura Barnes

Pre-published author and marketing consultant Laura Barnes invited me to stop by her blog today to help kick off her new Savvy Sensations series.

The post provide a great opportunity to unplug and talk about the more personal side of writing. And her blog, Laura B Writer? If you're looking for tips about how to work your social marketing faster and/or better, Laura is your go-to contact. It's one of my Top 10 favorite blogs, and if you get a moment, I hope you'll visit her site and make a new friend.


TWO AWARDS GIVEN FORWARD

It's always such a day brightener to learn you've been recognized for your work. That's what happened when Magpie of Magpie Writes selected me to receive the Liebster Blog award, which spotlights up-and-coming bloggers who currently have fewer than 200 followers. Magpie and I met during Deana Barnhart's Gearin' Up to Get an Agent blogfest last month, and it comes as no surprise to learn than an agent just requested the first 100 pages of Magpie's manuscript. Congratulations!

A couple of days later, Laura passed along this award to me as well. Thank you very much, my savvy friend!

Then the next day K.V. Briar of To Think in Ink honored me with the award. Since "liebster" means "friend" in German, this goes to show that blogging authors are one of the best groups of people a writer could ask for.

The guidelines of the award are:

• Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
• Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Copy and paste the award on your blog.
• Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
• And, most of all, have fun!

So here's my list of five blogs that are as cool as cats. (Can you tell I have a feline in my lap as I'm writing this?)

• Sharon Bayliss of The Blue Word has one of the most comprehensive round ups of contests and other writing news in the blogosphere. She's a 10, hands down.
• Marcie Bridges of The Incredible Shrinking Woman is another friend I made through Deana's blogfest who not only is super sweet but is scheduled to be on Bird's-eye View Aug. 25 to talk about how to write a young-adult memoir.
• Ebony McKenna of Ebony McKenna has one of the most beautifully designed blogs and Web sites out there, plus she's incredibly humorous and sweet.
• Marlena Cassidy, of The Words Behind the Writer, whom I'm so glad I met through Deana's blogfest, recently wrote a wonderfully witty and eloquent defense of book prologues. She's so sweet, she didn't even let me know that she used my historical YA, The Underground Gift, as the lead graph of her blog post. Authors like she who generously pay it forward are the ones who'll always shine in the publishing world.
• Jeanne Bannon of Beyond Words, whose debut YA, Invisible, is scheduled for release later this year by Solstice Publishing, consistently has posts that are well written and filled with heart. Plus she's been incredibly supportive of my writing career.

AND NOW FOR THE SECOND ONE ...

Rachna Chhabria of Rachna's Scriptorium passed along the Seriously Cute Blogger Award. For this I need to list five books/films/TV programs I've read/watched in the past 12 months.

Well, since Marcelo and I don't own a TV (Ours died in 2001, and we still haven't gotten around to buying a new one yet!), it will be all about books:

• Stephen Barnett's The Road to Makokota, a novel full of subtleties and symbolism.
• Gladys-Marie Fry's Night Riders in Black Folk History, one of several books about the Ku Klux Klan I've been reading as part of the research phase for my next historical YA.
• Jessica McCann's All Different Kinds of Free, a powerful debut about a free black who not only was sold back into slavery but whose case was the prelude to the Civil War. (The book review is scheduled to run on Bird's-eye View Aug. 30 and the author interview Sept. 1.)
• Ann Carbine Best's In the Mirror: A Memoir of Shattered Secrets, a memoir that reads as smoothly as fiction.
• Karen Walker's Following the Whisper, another powerfully incredible memoir. (The book review is scheduled to run on Bird's-eye View Sept. 27 and the author interview Sept. 29.)

"Cute" can be a difficult thing to define, but I'd like to say it's when someone's written words and voice bring a smile to my face. Any time I need a mental break like that, Talli Roland's blog Talli Roland does it every time. She is seriously funny, if you'll pardon the oxymoron. And she'll leave you feeling a whole lot better about whatever craziness you just went through on any given day.