The Versatile Blogger Award

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been nominated for a Versatile Blogger Award. I was nominated by Muddy Kinzer of Muddying the Waters. She nominated me for Five Sentence Fiction Fridays, which was incredibly sweet. I love Five Sentence Fiction Fridays, not just for the creative fun but also because of all your comments. I love hearing from all of you!

As usual, these blog awards come with a whole slew of rules that make it seem a little more like a chain letter than an award, but nonetheless I'm very honoured, so thanks Muddy!

The rules state that if you're nominated you should first of all, thank the person who nominated you and link back to their website. Done. Second, you must nominate fifteen other blogs. When I saw that I almost fainted. Fifteen other blogs?! Why the hell so many? I don't even follow that many blogs, and some of the ones I do have already been nominated. So, that left me with a conundrum and I decided to take charge of the situation. I'm nominating ten blogs. That's already way too many and I couldn't come up with any more so it'll have to do. And if I've nominated you, please don't feel the pressure to come up with even this many. Just try to recognize a few blogs you think are outstanding. Here are my nominations:

1. Lillie McFerrin Writes - I had to nominate Lillie for one simple reason: Five Sentence Fiction. She is the creator of the challenge and the reason I received this award to begin with. You must check it out and join in the fun!

2. Bullish Ink - Creativity simply oozes from the screen every time I visit this amazing site. Ruth Long has true talent!

3. Home for Dinner - This blog is run by Amy Jo Ehman, author of Prairie Feast: A Writer's Journey Home for Dinner. Everything on her blog looks delicious, and I love her passion for local foods. This blog is a must see for all the foodies out there!

4. Alice Kuipers - a lovely blog with writing advice and prompts. Her most recent YA novel, 40 Things I Want to Tell You, is a work of literary art. A book every person should read. It's positively riveting.

5. Hip Paris - My husband and I have decided to visit Paris next year for our fifth wedding anniversary, and since that moment I've been devouring anything and everything Paris related. Hip Paris shares so many insider tips, reviews and stories about Paris, I could spend hours reading and perusing their sight.

6. God I Love Paris - This blog is run by Amy Thomas, author of the delectable book Paris, My Sweet. It's a great book, cute funny and delicious! I actually stumbled upon her blog by accident while reading her book. It was kismet!

7. Sweet Freak - This is Amy Thomas' original blog. It keeps its readers in the know about amazing restaurants, bakeries, candy stores, etc. focusing on the sweet. Mostly her focus is on New York and Paris, but there are a few others and either way, she always makes me hungry!

8. Erin Morgenstern - I love her Flax Golden Tales, not to mention her book, The Night Circus. She makes the whole world feel magical and mysterious.

9. Amy McKay - Author of The Birth House and The Virgin Cure, she's an amazing writer. I use her blog as a kind of nicotine patch to keep me going while I wait for her next book.

10. The Bloggess - She doesn't need my help or promotion, but that's not required in the rules. I love her zany humor and utter strangeness. Her real name is Jenny Lawson, and she the author of the NYT bestseller Let's Pretend This Never Happened.

The last rule of the Versatile Blogger Award is to share seven random facts about yourself. I found this one actually kind of fun. Enjoy this look into my strange and twisted mind.

1. I have a severe sweet tooth, especially for chocolate, but only the simple stuff. Do not dilute my treats with nuts, dried fruit and other such nonsense. Keep it simple!

2. I'm secretly very shy. People that know me never believe me when I tell them, but it's true. I put on a good show of being confident, but trying new things and meeting new people give me stomach aches of anxiety.

3. I have an identical twin. When I meet new people, I always have to warn them: "if you're out and about, see me and try to say hi and I look at you like you're crazy - it's not me!" My sister used to teach gymnastics to children and I can't tell you how many times random children would run up and hug me and I'd have no idea who they were...

4. I have a Great Dane named Maddie and two bunnies named Poppet and Widget.

5. I don't have a favourite movie, song or book. I find the idea of choosing impossible!

6. I have a weird and sometimes dark sense of humour. I delight in the absurd, sarcastic and self deprecating.

7. I do not have a green thumb (it's more of a putrid black) but I love trying to grow things in the garden. Whenever I manage to coax something up from the dirt I feel tremendously proud.