Saturday 27 June 2015

A couple of awards

Firstly, I just what to say a huge thank you to everyone who voted for my husband Peter - unfortunately he was not selected to play on the MTV stage in Plymouth next month.

I've also just heard that my short story didn't make it through to the short list stage of the Bath Short Story Award. On the plus side, this was the second time this particular story has made the long list of a competition this year, so I will be submitting it elsewhere ASAP!

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Secondly, I have been nominated for a couple of awards recently, so I'm going to accept them now.



Chrys Fey from Write with Fey gave me a Creative Blogger award. Thank you Chrys!

The rules for accepting are:
1) Thank and link back to the person who nominated you.
2) Share 5 facts about yourself.
3) Nominate 10-20 blogs, and notify them.
4) Pass on the rules.



Rachel from Rachel's Ramblings gave me The Infinity Dreams Award. Thank you Rachel!

The rules for this one are:
1) Thank the blog that nominated you.
2) Tell us 11 facts about yourself.
3) Answer the questions that were set for you to answer.
4) Nominate 11 bloggers and set questions for them.


Chrys's questions for me :
1) If you could be any superhero, who would it be and why? Wonder Woman because she's completely, stonkingly awesome.
2) If you had to choose between permanently too hot or too cold, which one would you choose? Too hot, definitely. I work in an air conditioned gym, and I'm always so cold!
3) What's your ultimate writing dream? To win the Booker Prize. It's been the same dream since I was about 16.


And now for my facts (11 of them - to meet the requirements of the Creative Blogger award, you can stop reading after 5, if you want.)

  1. I have broken the big and little toes of my left foot. So far - touch wood - the right foot is safe.
  2. I cannot sing a single note in tune.
  3. But I love listening to music.
  4. I've had some bizarre crushes in my time, but currently it's Constable Crabtree from Murdoch Mysteries.
  5. I have never seen The Sound of Music, intentionally.
  6. I listened to so much hard rock/heavy metal when I was pregnant with #2 son that he would only fall asleep to rock music.
  7. I dislike drinking coffee, but love coffee cake and coffee chocolates.
  8. I love cake and chocolate.
  9. I re-read my favourite books over and over. I have read Pride and Prejudice at least 30 times, and watched the BBC version of it at least that many times.
  10. I put a tiny piece (and sometimes, not so tiny piece) of myself in almost every character I write.
  11. Erm... I like the colour orange.

I am going to select my nominees now, but I will leave it up to them to choose to accept one of the awards, both or none. I will also try not to nominate people who have already received these awards from other people - it's a tall order!


If you choose to accept the Infinity Dreams award, my questions are:
  1. What was your favourite childhood toy?
  2. Do you have a nickname?
  3. Which film/book have you revisited the most?
  4. Exactly how much do you like cake?

And now I'm going to write in the sun, because it's hot today!














44 comments:

  1. Thanks for the award, Annalisa! I'm sorry the other competitions didn't work out for you or your husband. Hang in there, keep at it!

    It's funny because my husband, who's always liked the smell of coffee, has only recently started drinking coffee - but only iced coffee, not hot. :)

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    1. Thanks Madeline. I've already planned the next submission for my story - I'm not waiting around, it's on a roll!

      Coffee is one of those grown-up drinks I always think I ought to like. Red wine is another.

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  2. You're so welcome, Annalisa! And I'm happy that Rachel nominated you for the Infinity Dreams award because I nominated her! :D

    I'm sorry that the competitions didn't work out, but keep your heads up because something else can be around the corner for both of you.

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    1. Thanks Chrys. We both keep our feet on the ground with competitions like that. In Hubby's case, he knew he was up against much younger musicians who could mobilise a lot of votes. Plus he was out of the country, playing gigs in Germany so couldn't put enough time into it.

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  3. Congratulations!
    Sorry your husband didn't win.
    I think I dislike just about every coffee.

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  4. You're welcome, Annalisa :)! I'm sorry the competitions didn't work out this time, but I'm sure something even better will come along soon enough!

    I loved your facts! Number 7,8,9 and 11 are me in a nutshell...I don't like coffee (though I always feel like I HAVE to drink it if I'm on a deadline...even though it doesn't make me any more awake) but I love coffee flavoured things! My favourite book to re-read is LOTR, because I'm a huge geek like that :).

    Cake and chocolate are two of my favourite things too - if I had to answer your cake question, my answer would be that I'm more than happy to share anything with my other half, except milkbar buttons and the last slice of cake. They're all mine.

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    1. The overriding image I have of writers is coffee drinking and smoking - and I do neither. I love your cake answer - I can totally related... share? cake? :-/

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  5. Congratulations on the awards. :) I've moved from only liking coffee cake to liking coffee too. (But only when sweetened.) ;)

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    1. I think sugar might be the key here. I may have to experiment.

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  6. Sorry your husband didn't make it through and that your story didn't make the short list this time. Sounds like a good idea to submit it elsewhere though. Congrats on the awards. I too hate the taste of coffee but weirdly enjoy coffee cake!

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    1. I usually have a list of markets for every story/novel I submit, so as soon as it comes back I can move to the next submission immediately. It helps me to let go of the story and not obsess over it. Glad to hear I'm not the only one with weird coffee issues - there are several of us :-)

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  7. thanks for the awards. I need to figure out which to accept - um, the Pulitzer? But seriously this is nice. I need to figure out answers to questions and make it amusing. So - sorry about Peter - I did vote for him. And your stories keep getting SO close - that's awesome and you should feel really good. Excellent stuff. (I hate coffee)

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    1. I know - 'so close' keeps me going, I'm weird like that :-)

      I'm looking forward to your answers, Joanne :-)

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  8. Hey:)

    Gosh, I haven't been awarded an award for donkey's years, so thanks - I'll definitely do one or more of these :)

    Sorry things didn't work out for you (this time) and for Peter's musical opportunity... but think about what a nice haircut he has now :)

    Cheers, and have a great weekend, y'all :)

    (Yeah, I know it's only Wednesday... but I'm calling the weekend early.... too many things going on this week, sheesh.. :)

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    1. Lol, yes, great hair. Although I think you're becoming a little bit obsessed ;-)

      Looking forward to your facts! And the weekend starting on a Wednesday is a brilliant idea - I'm in... Oh wait, I'm working Saturday and Sunday this week, maybe I'm not in after all.

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  9. I'm sorry to hear you guys didn't win, but those are pretty big events, so just being nominated is a success in itself.

    Thanks for the award!! They make me smile. Now, which do I accept and pass on?!

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    1. You're right, Elizabeth - we were both very lucky to make it so far. My story was chosen as one of the top 50 out of 1000, so that's pretty awesome.

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  10. Thanks for the award! I love coffee flavoured things, but I don't drink it so much, apart from iced coffee, which I love.

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  11. The only award I ever won was a booby prize for coming last! By the way, I'm a coffee junkie! I have at least five mugs of the stuff each morning to myself fired up. Similarly with wine in the evening! Anyway, congrats on the awards you won- and the ones you didn't. I'm off for a coffee.

    Visit Keith's Ramblings!

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  12. I admire your ambitious and you deserve all the accolades you get! Thanks for sharing your answers to Chrys' questions. I feel that I relate to you in more ways than I thought. I can't sing a lick either. I pretty much hate coffee but drink it anyway and I too love chocolate! Keep having fun and enjoying the journey. Those other awards you're after are bound to come in due time.

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  13. Thanks for nominating me! I'm so sorry your husband didn't win. Dangit. And I'm sorry your story didn't move to the next level but I've no doubt you will have success with it on submission.
    Also I can't sing a single note in tune either LOL. But I love music and listen to it constantly. Fortunately no one hears me sing along but my dog and cat.

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    1. It was a disappointing couple of days, but I have high hopes for my story. I just need to find the right fit for it now. I'm careful who I sing in front of too :-)

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  14. Hahaha, I like how you've avoided the Sound of Music your whole life. I am with you on the coffee thing--too jittery to drink, but coffee ice cream or chocolate is yummy. Your questions are good, too. I'd have to say that my favorite childhood toy was my roller skates. Do those count?

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    1. Roller skates definitely count. I was useless on the one and only time I tried to skate. Legs and torso ended up in wildly different directions!!

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  15. Congrats on the awards... great idea to send your story back out ASAP... :) Best of luck.

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    1. Thanks Tania. Yes, there's no point hanging around with this story - it's awesome ;-)

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  16. Sad face, sad face. But, huge congrats on the awards! Great facts.

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  17. Sorry it took me so long to stop by your blog! I've been MIA on the blogosphere for a while due to some other stuff. Anyway, thank you for the award! That's so nice of you. Sorry about your husband, but at least he was up for consideration; that's still a pretty big deal. And good for you to keep trying with your story; that shows perseverance, and I know the story will get the recognition it deserves someday.

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    1. Perseverance... stubbornness... they both work :-) Thanks for the vote of confidence.

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  18. Sorry about your husband the your story, but I'm sure there are new opportunities around the corner. Congrats on the awards. I loved hearing your info. How can you call yourself a writer if you don't like coffee?! jk LOL! Have a great weekend and keep submitting!

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    1. I know! Writers need coffee, it's the first chapter of How to be a Writer, isn't it?

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  19. Congratulations on the awards! I think that you're the second person I've ever met who really, truly likes the color orange.

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    1. Orange is an awesome colour - I'm wearing it right now!

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  20. Wow! Thank you! I'm going to have to wait to respond in full, but I'll keep this post handy for when I do. Thank you, Annalisa!

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  21. Congrats on the awards! All the best with submitting your short story.

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  22. Good luck with your submissions. I've never seen The Sound of Music, just bits and pieces of it. I love Wonder Woman.

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    1. Hubby found a Wonder Woman t-shirt for me today. I'm currently wearing it, and may never take it off!

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