Wednesday 14 March 2012

Awards and Tags Round-Up

I've been lucky enough to receive a few honours from some excellent bloggers over the last week or so, so I thought I'd round them up in one handy post. Next week, back to some crafty writerly concerns, for those who enjoy such things. First up, C.M. Brown gave me the Sunshine Award, for my "positive nice thoughts" in comments. Aw shucks! Thanks, C.M.

Rules here:

  • Thank the person who gave you the award and provide a link.
  • Write a post about it
  • Answer the questions below.
  • Pass it on to 10 bloggers who you think really deserve it and let them know
  • Answer 10 Questions:

Favourite colour: Blue

Favourite animal: Elephant

Favourite number: 21 (lots of reasons for this)

Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Coke

Facebook or Twitter: Facebook (hardly on it but not on Twitter at all)

My passion: Writing, then reading

Getting or giving presents: I like both

Favourite pattern: Paisley

Favourite day of the week: Sunday, because I get to laze around (mostly)

Favourite flower: Purple Heather (my wife's name (not the purple bit) - sorry, soppy again!)

I will pass this award on to the following:

Caitlin
Lynda R. Young
Sarah Pearson
T.D. McFrost
Peggy Eddleman
A.E. Martin
Mark Koopmans
Siv Maria
Emily R. King
Kamille Elahi

Next, Martin Willoughby and Julia King tagged me in the Lucky 7 Meme, and Martin also passed on some tag questions. Thanks, both of you! If you don't know, here are the rules for the Lucky 7:

  1. Go to page 77 of your current MS
  2. Go to line 7
  3. Copy down the next 7 lines-sentences or paragraphs--and post them as they're written. No cheating
  4. Tag 7 authors
  5. Let them know
I like being referred to as an author! Like Martin, I don't have a page 77 yet, so I've gone for 47. Here is my excerpt, lifted straight from my Word Document:

“Yes.” Silence again. Helen felt incredibly tired, but kept watching him with an expression of patience.

“I don’t really remember anything else about here. Can I talk about my mum?”

“Of course. Where will we start?”

“I don’t know. It’s funny. I can’t remember when I stopped living with my mum and started living here, but it must have been ages ago. I still remember my mum like I saw her... yesterday. And Darryl, too.”


Make of that what you will...

Finally, here are the questions from Martin.

What is the title of your current WIP. Tell us about it?

This might illuminate the excerpt above a bit. No title yet - I'm absolutely terrible at them! I started writing this in a synopsis style, but deleted this and went for more of a blurb as I think I'd still like to keep you guessing. Helen, a 26-year-old estate agent who is driven by her career, is forced to take time off work to care for her husband who is suffering from amnesia after a serious car crash. Though at first he does not remember her, they seem to grow closer than before as they reconstruct his memory. But is everything as it seems?

When did you start blogging and why?

I started my blog on October 11th 2011, after my sister said as a writer I had to blog (and Tweet - though I haven't ventured into that yet). I thought it might be a way of getting my name a bit more known, though there is much more to it that I have since discovered. I actually thought at first it would be a good thing to do on a Sunday when I was bored - little did I know how much time was actually involved!

If you could do anything tomorrow, what would you do?

Have all day to do nothing but write and do a chunk of at least 5000 words on my WIP (with breaks). I feel like I've fallen somewhat behind on schedule, due to illness (ie kids being off school), appointments, and sometimes plain old procrastination... *slaps wrist*

Describe your happy place.

A walk around Lanark Loch, near where I live, is good for clearing the head, especially with the sun setting and making golden ripples on the water. There are playgrounds for the kids too.

What was your first happy memory?

Running toy trains over a big pile of sand with my brother, in the driveway of our old house when I was three. We'd just moved into the house which was a bit of a shell, and my dad was doing it up. The sand was going to be used to make cement.

What was the scariest thing you've ever done?

Jumping off a bridge in New Zealand with an elastic band round my ankles.

What is the funniest thing you did today?

Slept in for three extra hours, meaning it was a bit of a panic getting the kids to school. Wasn't really "funny" at the time.

What is the strangest place you've ever got an idea for a story?

In a swanky London restaurant. Not that strange, but the best I can remember right now.

Where do you write?

At the kitchen table.

If you just won a ticket to anywhere in the world and you had to take me, where would you take me and why?

Well Martin, I think we could just go for a nice walk in the Lake District and discuss life, the universe and everything. I don't know if you're a rambler, but I like to and can certainly ramble verbally too.

I'll nominate these seven for the Lucky 7 meme and the tag questions:

Jayne Ferst
Abhishek Boinapalli
Kelley Lynn
Kevin Hiatt
Kathy McKendry
Sorcha
Stu Ayris

Enjoy everyone!

29 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Elephants? Haven't seen that answer yet. And a swanky London restaurant may not be weird, but it's really cool.

Komal Kant said...

Congratulations on the award, Nick!

I'm terrible at titles too. Ask me to name something and I'll run in the opposite direction!

S.P. Bowers said...

I had to laugh at your story of starting to blog. Good times.

Peggy Eddleman said...

Congrats on the awards! Thanks huge for passing one along to me. I love it!

And your answer to What was the scariest thing you've ever done? I'd say is REALLY scary. Yet something I totally want to do! Sounds like a bit of heaven in that scare-me-so-bad-I-think-I-might-die experience. :)

Emily R. King said...

Thanks for the nomination!

I like elephants, too. They were the only "E" animal that I liked growing up.

Congrats on your awards!

Kelley Lynn said...

Congrats on the awards! And thanks so much for passing them on!

I can't believe that I wasn't a follower of yours...shame on me!

Fixed that now though :)

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Nick, Congratulations on your awards. I liked your answers, and the piece of writing from p. 47 of your WIP sounds a good read. I like elephants, too. In fact, I was blessed by one during one of my trips to India! :-)

Unknown said...

Thanks for the award, I just love sunshine! Will pass it on as soon as I can. Loved your answers :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Great answers! I'm glad I'm not the only one who has difficulty with titles. My current wip is title free too.

Martin Willoughby said...

I don't mind the rambling as long as we can stop for tea and doughnuts every hald mile or so.

Mark Koopmans said...

Cheers Nick for the Sunshine and glad to hear you made it safely off that New Zealand bridge... that's some crazy poop... :)

A.J. Locke said...

Thank you for passing this on to me!

kjmckendry said...

Great answers Nick! I like your 7 lines. I'd like to find out if she's giving him "memories" that never happened.

Thanks for passing it on to me. :)

Unknown said...

Hey Nick, glad that you appreciated your award, I really do think you deserve it.

Interesting answers, I must say even though I answered birds as my fav animal, I like elephants too!

Your excerpt is not bad either!

Nick Wilford said...

Alex - They're big, they're cool, and there's not enough of them around.

Komal - Thanks. I'm so bad at it - not just titles, character names and place names too! (As I like to write in fictional settings.) I actually blogged about it early on.

S.P. - I know - naive, to say the least...

Peggy - The thing is, you are really scared but you go through with it so as not to lose face (at least for me, I was with 30 other backpackers) and because you might regret it if you don't. It's an amazing rush.

Emily - They're my daughter's favourite, which is really why they're mine now. Although, until recently it was "efelant" to her. :)

Kelley - Thanks! No probs!

Elizabeth - Thanks for your comment on my excerpt. I was blessed by a priestess next to a statue of the elephant god (can't remember the name - Ganesh?) in Bali.

Siv - Thanks! Enjoy the award!

Jemi - Thanks. It's so hard to come up with something snappy and definitive.

Martin - That's not the rambling way, we can stop at the pub after ten miles if you're lucky! My friends and I hiked all over the Lake District for five days with all our equipment on our backs when I was 17. Not something my wife is up for, sadly.

Mark - You're welcome. I only did the lowest bridge out of a set of three!

A.E. - No problem!

Kathy - Thanks! Ah, you're pretty warm with your guess. Enjoy the award.

C.M. - Thanks again!

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Congrats on your award and thank you so much for passing it on!

And yes, blogging does take a whole lot more time than first realised ;)

Claire Hennessy said...

Gosh, it seems that everyone is getting awards or being tagged at the moment. Love reading all the answers though - means I get to learn more about everyone. My sister bungy-jumped off a bridge in NZ too. Madness!

momto8 said...

well contrats for being recognized by another blogger! and it is always nice for me to "meet" another blogger by reading about him or her...I like that you mention kids in your happy place.
I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

Nick Wilford said...

Lynda - You're welcome! Indeed.

Claire - Yeah, they do fly around. The bungee jumping is probably best done as part of a large group, as you all egg each other on!

Momto8 - Nice to meet you! Thanks for following.

Anonymous said...

Hi Nick, I just followed you from Komal's blog. Paisley happens to be my favorite pattern too. :)

Nick Wilford said...

Linda - Thanks for following! Well, I never thought I had a favourite pattern, it's just the first one that jumped out. :)

Ruth Schiffmann said...

Congratulations on the award!
It was fun to read your answers and get to know you a little bit. It's always nice to meet another Coca Cola lover ;)
I hear ya about the blogging. I thought I knew it would take a chunk of time but I had no idea.

Sarah Tokeley said...

Nick, I'm trying to catch up and, as usual, I'm behind. Thank you for thinking of me, and I hope I'm not too late to accept my award :-)

Unknown said...

Nice! I wrote at the kitchen table for a while. Now, I write at my desk or banana chair.

Great to get to know you!

Nick Wilford said...

Inluvwithwords - Thanks! I probably drink more Coke than is good for me. Not a coffee drinker so need it to keep going sometimes!

Sarah - I'm in a constant state of catching up. No, not too late - it usually takes me about a week to post on awards!

Julia - I would love my own desk someday. My old one is in my stepdaughter's room. Banana chair sounds fun!

Jayne said...

Thank you so much for the tag! Your extract was a nice tease and premise sounds very interesting.

I like your amswers - especially the sound of your happy place and your happiest memory. And your favourite flower being your wife's name is not soppy at all - just perfect, I think!

Nick Wilford said...

Jayne - Thanks for your kind words. Your comment made me smile. :)

Unknown said...

Thanks for the award! And you're a much braver person than I am, I can hardly jump off of a diving board, much less a bridge!

Nick Wilford said...

Caitlin - You're welcome. I think bravado (rather than bravery) and adrenalin takes over when you get there!