Unfinished Business

I am hereby passing on the Over The Top award to:

• Gary Corby (ancient Greek anecdotes AND practical editing advice)
• Carrie Harris (her first name is excellent, and at one least of her answers is likely to be "zombie")
• Caroline Starr Rose (check out her post on envy)
• Mary Campbell/Writer's Butt Does Not Apply To Me (her blog title continues to crack me up)
• Ben Watson/I, uh, think I killed my muse (his blog title also cracks me up... and he needs to start posting again!)

No pressure to participate or pass the award on, guys! But I'd certainly like to read your answers if you've got the time.

One-Word Fun

Yat-Yee, thanks for thinking of me! SO bizarre... I logged into Blogger early Friday afternoon, thinking, "What should I write about on Monday? I should plan ahead for once. Let's see what the other bloggers are doing. Hey, maybe someone gave me one of those awards where I have to answer questions..." and then I clicked on your post. Sweet!

The rules: Answer the following questions with single word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers. Simple enough!

Your Cell Phone? Tempermental
Your Hair? Reddish
Your Mother? Opinionated
Your Father? Reserved
Your Favorite Food? Unagi
Your Dream Last Night? Cinematic
Your Favorite Drink? Milk
Your Dream/Goal? Happiness
What Room Are You In? Office
Your Hobby? Dance
Your Fear? Needles
Where Do You See Yourself In Six Years? Older
Where Were You Last Night? Bed
Something That You Aren't? Tall
Muffins? Cranberry
Wish List Item? Air
Where Did You Grow Up? NYC
Last Thing You Did? Breakfast
What Are You Wearing? Pyjamas
Your TV? Internet
Your Pets? Finches
Friends? Yes
Your Life? Good (photo)
Your Mood? Improving
Missing Someone? Nope
Vehicle? T
Something You Aren't Wearing? Makeup
Your Favorite Store? Etsy
Your Favorite Color? Gray
When Was The Last Time You Laughed? Daily
Last Time You Cried? Forgotten
Your Best Friend? Husband
One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? Maine (photo)
Facebook? Occasionally
Favorite Place To Eat? Home

I'm going to post now (before Blogger eats the post again, dammit) and come back later to choose the five people I'll pass this on to... I'll do a separate post with links and all that good stuff. In the meantime:

PICK ONE QUESTION AND ANSWER IT IN THE COMMENTS!

Let's all pretend this is spelled correctly...

Thank you most kindly to Jeannie Campbell for this award! Man, though, it kills me that this is spelled "kreativ." I'm hoping it's intentionally ironic or something...

According to the rules, I should list 7 things about myself that people might find interesting, and then pass it on... but, I'm going to be creative and mix it up a little (surely you admit the inventors of the award were asking for this). In honor of Jeannie's other blog, The Character Therapist, where authors are encouraged to learn more about their own characters, and are often invited to comment in the voice of those characters, I'm going to post 7 things about the main character of my current novel, In Name Only (working title) that future readers might find interesting.

1. Dani Kobayashi has no middle name.
2. She makes handmade paper from scratch, using base materials like old blue jeans and junk mail.
   
3. Her first name means "my judge."
4. She's a lefty. (Hmm. I don't think that's in the novel, actually...)
   
5. When she sees a formerly classic name that has modified to be more trendy or "unique" -- say, with the addition of several extraneous Ys -- she disdains that name as being "kre8iv."
6. Like the protagonist of so many chick lit novels, Dani has a gay best friend... actually, two. And they're women, not men.
7. Unlike the protagonist of so many chick lit novels, Dani wears shoes that are never described by their brand name. Or described at all, really. Although at least one pair is seriously fugly.
   

How about you guys? Writers, please post one interesting thing about one of your protagonists... and, if you're not a fiction writer, please post one thing about yourself that we might not otherwise have known. Thanks!

I'm on a roll!

Award #2. Awwww, yeah.

Thanks to Melody of Newly Minted Mrs. for the honor! Melody and I know each other from a chat room (of sorts), and I'm SO glad she's blogging now.

So, in accordance with the rules of the award, here are 10 "insightful truths" about myself:

1. I am a bird person, but if asked to pick between cat and dog, I will pick dog.
2. I have been terrified of injections/needles ever since a traumatic series of allergy tests at age 9 or so. I have had dental work done without anesthesia because I'm more scared of needles than I am of drills.
3. On the other hand, I have no fear of heights. My husband may never forgive me for insisting on bungee-jumping during our honeymoon. (It was awesome. I would do it again in a heartbeat.)
4. At some point in every law job I've ever had, someone has said, "since you used to act, you should be great in the courtroom!" Um, acting is scripted. I have no stage fright, but that doesn't mean I magically know how to cross-examine a witness in a securities or IP case without hours of practice.
5. Favorite books: The Cider House Rules by John Irving, and How To Be Good by Nick Hornby. Favorite plays: The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein, and Burn This by Lanford Wilson. Favorite short stories: The Short Happy Life of Francis MacComber by Ernest Hemingway, and Pop Art by Joe Hill.
   
6. Evidence of being a late bloomer: I'm 35, and I still I don't know how to drive and have never had a driver's license. I also didn't get my ears pierced until I was 23.
7. If I could have one magic talent, it would be the ability to understand and speak every language in the world. Or at the very least, French, Japanese, and Greek.
   
8. I have very little ability to filter for privacy. I will never be a woman of mystery. I kind of just... share.
9. Similarly, I have very little filtering for people of authority. I'm not inappropriately casual, but it honestly has never occurred to me to hide what I think about something just because I'm talking to my boss.
10. I'm worried these aren't "insightful" enough.

I'm going to be a bad blogger now, and punt on passing the torch; picking 5 bloggers two days ago was demanding enough, I don't think I can pick more... Instead, I would adore it if you would all leave a single insightful truth about yourself in the comments. Let the sharing begin!

Hey, wow. Thank you!

I am hereby issuing a heartfelt thank you to Stephanie of Steph in the City for bestowing me with my first blog award. I only started this blog six-and-a-half weeks ago, and of course I immediately emailed some friends begging them to come visit and comment, so that I didn't feel like I was pathetically having a one-sided conversation all alone in the middle of the internets...

And now I'm having a total Sally Field moment. (You like me! You really like me!)

So, now it's my turn to pass the baton. Here are the award rules:

1. Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
3. Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
4. Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit This Post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
5. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

So, my winners are...

Andrew Jack Writing: because you should read the free chapters of his book that he's got posted on his blog.

Between Lightning: writing and motherhood. Check, and check.

Books, Bubs and Writing Blather: a fellow feather-ruffler (if we do our jobs right, anyway!).

Daily Writing: because I just started clicking on her "older favorites" links, and I think I'm impressed.

Virtual Wordsmith: only three followers on this blog? That ain't right. Go fix it, people.

Okay, I'm starting to feel bad for leaving out some other bloggers I love. But I trust that you all click around on the blogs of the other commenters, and will eventually find each other, right? Right?