Catherine Stine's IDEA CITY

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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Versatile Blog Awards! And Angst over a Crashed Harddrive



Hi all! I am relieved to say that I am back online after dealing with a hard-drive crash (new hard drive installed, covered by the warranty-phew!). This mishap was followed by spending some time in the Catskills with a downed Internet. Wahhhh!

Anyhoo, I was awarded a versatile blog award by the fabulous T.G. Ayer, otherwise known as Tee. I thank her and urge you all to check out her blog. As part of paying it forward, I want to give out Versatile Blog Awards too! But first, the rules stipulate that I reveal 7 things about myself, so here goes:
1. I've seen James Brown in person five times, and John McLaughlin four. Hear, hear to soul and rock fusion.
2. I had a serious painting career before getting published in children's fiction. See one of my oils above. The one with the hedgehogs. It's called NECTAR. Don't ask me why! Can you figure it out?
3. I am rather obsessed with birds. I've painted at least 25 bird paintings. Thinking about designing a bird calendar for 2012. Maybe sell on my website? Stay posted.
4. I stabbed a mouse that was stalking my apartment with a giant screwdriver. I know, I know, very gross! And disturbingly impulsive. But it was even more disturbing that it was setting up house and terrorizing me every night.
5. I love to line edit. And fold laundry. Hey, if you are in the market for a good line edit or manuscript evaluation, I am probably less expensive than most, so shoot me an email describing your project. No, you can't hire me to fold your laundry.
6. I despise squishy food like custard, cream pies, and soft breads--yeeeccchhhh. Give me something really crunchy, even scorched toast.
7. I love the outdoors. Could spend all of my time outside if it never snowed, hailed, rained or thundered.
And now, DRUMROLL, please!!!

I grant the next seven Versatile Blog Awards to...
1) The amazing illustrating blogger, Lynne Chapman's An Illustrated Life for Me.
2) The Book Rat, because I love the reviews, the topic of YA spec, her Fairytale Fortenight, and let's face it, hers has got to be the coolest banner around! Check it out here.
3) Alison DeLuca's Fresh Pot of Tea, because indie authors rock too. Take a look.
4) From Sarah with Joy, because she's another cool indie author with brave posts.
5) Helen Mallon's thoughtful blog WritingNurture. She is also a kick-butt author of literary fiction. Welcome her into the blogosphere as she redesigns and builds her world.
6) Moving on to PK Hrezo's Fiction Addiction with major swag and sass. She will not disappoint.
7) Miriam Forster's Dancing with Dragons is Hard on Your Feet. I mean, the title alone is worth an award!
8) Love this one too: YA Authors You've Never Heard Of. There is power in numbers for these small press YA authors. Though they may have to change their title to Authors You Have Heard Of, if they keep up the good work.

And there you have it! Come back and drop a line, tell us what you think.








14 comments:

  1. Thanks so much!
    (And congrats, everyone!)

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  2. Hard drive crash? Oh my! I have an external drive since I had the same issue a few years back and had to rewrite my entire mss.

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  3. Ugh, losing work. It's the worst. Except when it brings out the best revisions. Kind of a steep price to pay, though...

    I am tickled about the Award! Thank you so much!

    (does Nectar refer to the smell of the fruit?)

    those hedgehogs are so CUTE!

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  4. Congrats! I hate squishy foods too! To be honest, I've never tried most of them--just because I can't get past the consistency.

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  5. Thank you, Catherine! That is so nice of you. I love your 7 facts. Awesome artwork.. very vivid. And how friggin cool you saw James Brown 5 times??? I'm so jealous. What fun! I could live outdoors too. And good to know about your line edits.

    Thanks again! And congrats to you on yours! :)

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  6. Thank you so, so much :) I can't tell you how much I appreciate the support.

    Sarah Allen
    (my creative writing blog)

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  7. Thank you so much! This is my very first award!

    And congratulations to the other recipients - I'll be checking out your blogs SOON!

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  8. Yes, James Brown really was the king of soul. He could dance like a maniac, and the shucking off of the cape at the end of his acts was hilarious! One time in Philly, a woman rushed up onstage and ripped off her shirt, which incited a stampede. But always, the music ruled. I hear that his drummer, Clyde, is the most sampled drummer in the world. And McLaughlin always invites the greats to jam with him--from Tony Williams, to Miles, to Jaco Pastorius... ahhh, don't get me started.

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  9. Congrats to the winners!:))

    Okay, I saw nectar in the flowers above, and there's no way to get all that luscious fruit in your painting without nectar. It's the fruit of the nectar! Your hedgehogs are delightful:)

    I stabbed a hissing rat w/ a five inch tail with a arrow from my husband's bow set. He was under my daughter's crib at the time! I chased that thing for an hour in the dark with an arrow in my hand until I cornered him in the hall area and speared him. It took tons of guts, and I cried the whole time, mostly out of fear that he would eat me. No way in hell was I letting him eat my baby. So, I'm with ya on the mouse event, Catherine!

    Sorry about your hard-drive crash, that's sucks. Glad you're back online!:))

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  10. sorry, "an arrow"! I hit "post" too quickly!

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  11. CL, your arrow story beats mine! Moms will do the darndest things. Really, that needs to be in a novel. I've been looking for a good spot in one of mine for the demise of the evil mouse.

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  12. A down hard drive? Yikes! You poor gal!

    Congrats all :)

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  13. I'm right there with you on the Squishy foods, if it's not crunchy I always feel like it's been previously digested - yuck!

    Shoo evil pasta, hellooo nachos :D

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  14. You're a painter! That's fantastic to be multi-talented. As to the hard drive crash, I learned my lesson a few years ago when I lost mega amounts of work. Since then I use Carbonite plus an external drive that backs up daily. Sorry about that crash. I know how it feels.

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