Monday, March 22, 2010

Awards Abound

Good morning gentle readers. I received another award over the weekend from the lovely Susan Fields. If you haven't met her yet, do so now. The Silver Lining Award, pretty isn't it?. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for these very special honors. I feel I don't deserve them but I'll take them because, well, I want them. I mean, who doesn't want an award besides Lois?


I will pass this award on to (and thank God I don't have to do anything or list anything, I'm running out of things to tell about myself):

Donna Hole at Donna Hole.
Wendy at Musings Down Under.
Christi Goddard at Torch in the Tempest because she got one from me and she already had it.
Karen at Coming Down the Mountain.
Isobael at Magick and Moonlight.
Kelly at Just Write.
and Christine H. at The Writer's Hole.

I also wanted to say that I think I finally caught up with all my "friends" blogs over the weekend so if you're a friend of mine and you don't see my shiny happy face on yours, let me know so I can stick it there.

As to other news, there really isn't much.

The query tally stats haven't changed. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Both my horoscopes keep saying that the 'business venture' I'm involved in is going to have good news coming my way in a few more weeks. (They also say I'm going to meet a man. Can you hear me laughing from your house? I'll take an agent, thank you very much.)

The progress on the fence is at a stand still as I've hit a wet spot and I have to make a decision on whether to go with wooden posts or metal. I really want wood so it will match all the others. My father has yet to come by and give his opinion.

I haven't been working on REMEMBERING YOU because over the weekend it was 70 degrees and I was out in the yard with the Monster Baby. That's not true, I have been working on it, I've just been using pen and pad. I don't know how many words it is but I've written 5 1/2 pages, both sides, for the lead-in to Saturday night and I've got another 7 pages in a different pad, single side, for the first confrontation between Genna & Tony ON Saturday night. So as soon as I get it typed into Word, you'll be the first to see at least some of it on Thursday when I post my "Something-Something."

That's all I've got for this Monday morning. I don't know if I'll be posting until Thursday, I've got a lot of busy crappy-crap going on this week, and now that I'm so close to the end of Act 1, I really want to finish it. I hope you have an excellent week and I will leave you with this gem, another in my box of goodies from years' past. (I pull them out at random. I love this line and that's why it's in the box.)


"But Cash had been thinking how sad it was there was not even a plant on the windowsill in here. Not one green thing that can sit in the sun and be quiet."

~Barbara Kingsolver PIGS IN HEAVEN

Which is why, I suppose, I have 86 houseplants. Not to mention the gardens outside.

31 comments:

Kelly@ JustWrite said...

Good luck getting all your "crappy-crap" done! I'm hoping to get in some yard work this week too!

And congrats on the award!!

Kelly@ JustWrite said...

OH!!! So funny! I just looked at the list of who you're passing the award on to!! ME?? Thanks! I didn't even see that before!

Ok, must finish coffee before commenting on blogs! :)

Anne Gallagher said...

Thanks for my first laugh this morning! You are just too cute!

Summer Frey said...

Good fences make good neighbors! :-)

I can't wait to head outside with my netbook or notebook for some sunshine writing.

Congrats on the awards!

Tara said...

Congrats on another award, Anne!

Isn't this weather glorious? I'm headed to the farmer's market tomorrow to get all my goodies for planting :)

Anne Gallagher said...

Summer -- How right you are. Thank you.

Tara -- Thank you. I love this weather. The more sun, the more I get done.

Unknown said...

I love that quote!!

Congrats on your award -- most deserved! It's interesting to hear you write freehand and on the computer. I wonder which side of that fence people fall? I have tried to write freehand, but I find the quality of my writing is better when I type. I think it's so much easier to change words and wording with a word processor, where on paper all the cross-outs confuse my poor little mind and I lose track easily of what I was trying to say. Of course, that admission reveals a lot about me as a writer, doesn't it? I'm rarely able to turn off my internal editor.

I was so inspired when I read Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, and I sat in cafes and wrote freehand in a notebook a couple times a week. The whole "stream of consciousness" style of writing is a skill I still have to work on, LOL.

Although...blogging has helped me in that regard...

Have a fab week, sista, and good luck with the fence!

Anne Gallagher said...

Nicole -- Isn't that quote beautiful? You have a couple of awards too, most deserved.

The whole freehand thing is sort of like a first-first draft, and then when I put it onto the screen, I change things of course. I like pen and paper to get the vomit out.

Internal editor is sometimes a good thing but not on a first draft. I just let it floooowwww.

Have a fab week, see you Thursday.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Thanks for the award! I don't have this one and I love it! And yes, like you I'm glad I don't have to list anything lol! Also, loved that quote at the end, not familiar with the book, but I'm going to add it to my Goodreads to read list. That one line makes me want to read the book.

Anne Gallagher said...

Karen -- Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors. The way she weaves her stories makes me want to cry.

Talli Roland said...

Congrats on the award! Have a great week and good luck with the novel.

I love Barbara Kingsolver. Her writing is 'magical' - it's a cliché, I know, but so true in her case.

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your award, and for knowing how to enjoy spring!

Sarah Ahiers said...

awww! I wish it was 70 here... we had to turn the heat back on. sigh

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Good job for progress! I hope you can decide on that post soon. So what does a wet spot mean? That the post would sink???

Congrats on your award. :)

B. Miller said...

Congrats on your award, Anne! And great job on your progress - kudos to you for pen-and-inking it. That's quite a bit to get down on paper, great job capturing the moment.

Thanks for posting about your progress!

Tess said...

It was beautiful weather here over the weekend as well. Can't you feel spring all around us? I'm almost giddy with it :)

Anne Gallagher said...

Talli -- Her writing is totally MAGICAL, cliche or not.

Elle -- We try to do the best we can with what we have.

Sarah -- I'm sorry it's still so cold where you are. It's ucky today with a cold front blowing in so the heat is on.

Glam -- A wet spot means that if I put a wooden pole in, the wet will rot away the wood and the pole won't last.

B.Miller -- Thank you. Nice to have you here.

Tess -- Between the cleaning and the gardening I think my giddiness is almost gone.

sarahjayne smythe said...

Congrats on the award and I'm jealous of the weather. It's cold and raining here. Good luck with the rest of Act 1 and ejoy the rest of your Monday. :)

Unknown said...

Congrats on the award and thank you! So sweet of you to think of me.

I warn you, however, I never play by the rules.

When I come out of self inflicted purgatory I'll get onto it.

Thanks once again, Ann :)

Anne Gallagher said...

Sarah Jayne -- Thank you. I was thinking about you the other day when I planted my sunflowers. I wished I could send them to you.

Wendy -- So you do bounce in and out from time to time. I wondered if you would. Of course I think of you, it's winter down there, okay, well almost winter. Rule-breaker, my kind of gal. You're welcome.

Shelley Sly said...

Congrats on your award, and I love the quote from Pigs In Heaven. I read that book years ago and remember loving it... I should read it again. Looking forward to reading more of Remembering You! :D

Anne Gallagher said...

Shelley -- Thanks. Isn't she just the BEST! I have to tell you I'm having a little trouble this week deciding on what to share with Genna & Tony. I've got to get the rest of it written though before I make any decisions.

dolorah said...

A business venture and a man; hmm, must definitely be an agent. Or Ed McMain coming with your Publishers Clearing House millions.

I imagine this would be an either/or good solution.

Thanks for the award. You're so sweet.

........dhole

Portia said...

Congrats on the award :-) Yay!

Unknown said...

Congrats! Have authored 6 books, not got a single award! don't know how to go about it! but feel proud of u!

dolorah said...

Anne: I know I posted already; but I was browsing through the comments at THE LITERARY LAB; and I wanted to say how moving your post was to me.

I guess because it was such a mirror image to my own; an opposite that is.

So, my opinion:

When you (generic reader) read out of genre, I think you are more likely to catch the basic flaws inherent in every novel: transitions, timelines, characterization, setting, dialogue tags and action oops. Such as forgetting to put the surroundings in, or having talking heads. You (meaning any writer out of their norm) are not looking for the scripted formulas of the genre; but rather focusing on basic writing techniques.

To me, this means you are not bringing your "author bias" to the reading, but your skills in the basic craft of writing a good novel. Whatever the genre, those remain constant.

This is just me; but when I critique something out of my genre, I find myself looking harder at my own writing. Doing the Steve Erkle thing: Did I do that.

I think you (as in Anne) are not giving yourself enough credit. I've read your posts, and I think you are an awesome writer; and have much to offer in the craft of writing itself. Genre's are like specialties; pasta is pasta no matter how its cooked or what its served with; and a doctor still has to learn basic anatomy before he can know where to cut.

My two cents, and hopefully it didn't sound like a criticism. It wasn't meant to be.

.........dhole

Anne Gallagher said...

Portia -- Thank you.

Smita -- Thank you very much. Believe me I don't know where the awards are coming from. If you'd like one or five, please feel free to take them. If I could figure out a way to send them to you I would. Your web-sites are beautiful. YOu are a very talented poetess.

Anne Gallagher said...

Donna -- I'm hoping it's an agent because I think Ed McMann's dead.

And yes I agree with you, when I'm reading out of genre I'm only looking at the scripted form, NOT the formula, because every genre has a different one. Romance has it's own, horror, sci-fi.

I do look harder at my own writing, no matter even if it is my own genre because as much as I brag and boast how freaking wonderful I am, I have a very teeny ego that says, "You suck, is it right, what does that mean, you can't say that, move the comma..." You know, all those things that lurk in the back of your mind.

Thank you for saying that. I do have the pasta mentality, I guess now I have to find the doctor specialty. And I never take anything as a criticism only as a suggestion.

Hannah said...

I wish it was nice enough to be outside gardening here...it's not and I don't garden.

But I do read and write outdoors! So hurry up Mother Nature!!

Anne Gallagher said...

Hannah -- We just got hit with another cold snap, I had to turn the heat back on. Ugh.

Nighfala said...

Hi there! I was just checking my statcounter info and realized you had linked to my blog, and see that you gave me an award! Thanks!!! That was very nice of you.

Now I'm all warm and fuzzy inside.