Versatility, linkativity, insightitude

Hey! Hey! Listen! Hey!

Alright, enough video game references.

(For now.)

Anyway, I was recently nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award!

The Rules:

1. Add a picture of the award.

2.Thank your nominator

I want to begin by first thanking fellow blogger Kitty Roads for nominating me! It is much appreciated. It is by far the best blogging award I have ever received.

(This is, however, not saying all that much, given that it is currently the ONLY blogging award I have ever received. But no matter.)

While my blog is focused on imaginative fiction, I try to be versatile in my coverage of it, including thoughts on writing IF, reviewing IF works, and also periodically offering some of my own original work, although as of late I’ve been trying to get The Chain up and running, so that’s been the focus.

2. Choose 15 other deserving bloggers and inform them.

Anyway, as a part of the award, I am supposed to then choose 15 other blogs that I believe are versatile (see also: “awesome”), and apparently I have good taste in blogs (if I do say so myself) as it was incredibly hard to pick only 15. But “dig we must,” as they say, so here (in no particular order) are the 15 blogs I’ve chosen, and a few brief words on each. Congratulations to everyone!

http://projectfraeya.wordpress.com/

Luna’s blog about reading and writing is thoughtful, insightful, and clearly written with a great deal of care. Give it a try!

http://jennifermeaton.com/

Jennifer’s blog discusses writing, but with a great deal of helpful tips, thought-provoking posts, and practical advice for plotting, world-building, and all the other things that go into a successful novel.

http://katiaraina.wordpress.com/

Katia’s was one of the first blogs I came across when I stumbled into this bold new cyberworld. She posts about writing, about her life, and reviews of very interesting books.

http://everonword.wordpress.com/

Let me put it this way: I love this blog. Deshipley’s writing is clever, funny, and touching. Check her out.

http://momsomniac.wordpress.com/

Momsomniac’s blog covers parenting, writing, reading, as well as original work, and does it all with terrific talent.

http://littleredreviewer.wordpress.com/

As the name implies, Redhead’s blog is devoted to reviews, particularly of science fiction works. Even if that may not be your cup of tea, you should check this blog out if only for the quality of writing on display.

http://maasmith7.wordpress.com/

Maggie’s blog, if you’re not already familiar with it, is consistently engaging, with concise, precise writing, and excellent (and varied) topic choices.

http://debrakristi.wordpress.com/

Debra’s blog is awesome. But it is ESPECIALLY awesome, if you enjoy science fiction, fantasy, and other things geeky and/or nerdy. Which, as you have probably noticed, I do.

http://barbrude.wordpress.com/

Barb’s blog may be the most truly “versatile” of all of these, given that she posts about a lot of different things, including delicious, delicious food.

http://blog.carriemumford.com/

Carrie has a lovely blog where she discusses writing, reviews books, and most importantly, makes me feel excited to go get writing and meet my daily goals.

http://victoriaoldham.wordpress.com/

Victoria brings an editor’s perspective to her blog where she discusses life and love as a lesbian. Personal, personable, and well-written.

http://coldfirewriter.wordpress.com/

A self-described “hormonal teenager” (but weren’t we/ aren’t they all?), Ann discusses writing, with a special emphasis on YA. If you’re into that market, you should give her blog a read.

http://ashmp.wordpress.com/

Ashley’s blog describes her writing journey and her progress on her debut, The Milestone Tapes. I like her coverage of the ups and downs and ins and outs of writing, which are both entertaining and informative.

http://cmstewartwrite.wordpress.com/

CM would get on this list just for the diversity of genre, style, and form she demonstrates with her frequent flash and short fiction entries, but they’re well-written to boot!

http://authorlorilotto.wordpress.com/

Lori’s blog is one of my favorites. She writes about writing (she has several successful e-books that she’s published, you should check them out), she writes about reading, but most of all she writes from the heart.

UPDATE: Rule 3: Share 7 random facts about yourself

“Augh!” as the characters of Peanuts are wont to say. I forgot the third part of this, which is to share 7 random facts about one’s self. I take all responsibility for this grievous mistake. I will rectify this shortly.

UPDATE (again):

Some random facts!

1. I’m a man of diverse interests, at least when it comes to video games. Shooters (Far Cry, Halo), sports (football, basketball, baseball, hockey), strategy (Total War, Civilization, C&C), RPGs (Mass Effect, Final Fantasy, Persona, TES), action and platformers (Assassin’s Creed, Zelda, Mario, RDR), and others too numerous to count.

2. I once got up out of bed and delivered a standing ovation (by myself, alone in my room) after reading the last page of The Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan. Yes, I’m that much of a nerd.

3. As an academic (or wanna-be academic, at least until I get my PhD), my main focus of study has been on hurtful events and reconciliation, with an emphasis on apologies and responses to apologies. I’ve presented several papers at regional and national conventions on the subject, and am working on a few more for publication in journals.

4. In addition to my academic work, and my current novel project “The End,” I’m working on a collection of short stories including several stories set in larger universes that will have multiple entries. The title of the collection will be “Vision 21,” to reflect the number of stories contained.

5. My favorite movies include (to name a few): Children of Men, Blade Runner, and Sorcerour.

6. I used to be involved in policy debate on the high school and college level. I wasn’t very good at it, but I did have a lot of fun.

7. I was also on the speech team in high school, where I once qualified for the state tournament in Storytelling.