West of Mars -- the Meet and Greet

Man, it's been a busy week. And wait until you see what I have for tomorrow's Poetry Train, too! I may have to post it a bit unfinished; we'll see. You'll like it, regardless. And if you love it, once I polish it, if you ask nicely enough, maybe I'll make it available as a PDF or something and you can have your very own copy to sleep with. Or whatever it is you do with those things.

But in the meantime, before I can hop on the train (and why don't you join me on it?), let me address the Sunday Best. The best of my week.

This week, even though two great books arrived for my reading and reviewing pleasure, the best has to be a plethora of awards.

First is Pussreboots and Breeni, who both awarded me the You Make My Day Award.

Is it tacky to give it back to them? They both make my day, on a regular basis.

The rules say I'm supposed to pass this on to at least ten people. Ten's a big number (even though, as Puss says, "[Susan's] blog goes to Eleven.")

But let's see...

1. Amy Ruttan makes my day, and not just because she gave me the next award. Amy's got a happy-go-lucky attitude that shines through her blog and always makes me smile. Even when the EDJ is making her nuts.

2. Joely, who's just all-around awesome and whose dedication and discipline leave me speechless.

3. Thomma Lyn, who is on the same wavelength as me concerning cats and the outdoors. (hey, TL, remind me to send you the link to the live feed from Yellowstone!)

4. L^2. I'm not a dog person, but Stella and Willow are trying to change that.

5. Red, whose unflagging enthusiasm to get me into print keeps me going when I'm frustrated.

6. Spy Scribbler, who always makes me think about the writing process. And who doesn't live that far away from my Martian self; we totally ought to do the face-to-face thing one day.

7. Of course, Rhian, who has cool posts and hosts the Poetry Train. And has graciously offered to make ShapeShifter's logo come to life for us. Three cheers for Rhi and that offer aren't enough; we need more like eighteen. Per minute.

8. Robin, who hangs out around her island and is going to keep me sane when I'm playing single parent and she's hosting the Tour Manager around that island...

9. She'sawriter is a new read of mine. She's making a great community for writerly resources. And turning me on to new places to hang, too.

10. And Frigga, from Any Apples. I hate to admit I missed musical Fridays and that I've gone out of my way some days to make sure I'm alone in the house so I can play to my heart's content. So I won't. I will own up, though, to having her picture blog in my reader. Cool stuff.

Whew. That was a lot of people, and this post is long.

But I have to acknowledge the new Roar

that Amy gave me. I needed it; the day she awarded it to me, I got a rejection letter from an agent who had the gumption to come out and say that Trevor doesn't fit nicely into today's marketplace. Makes you wonder what's wrong with the marketplace that they don't want a cranky rock star with a bad attitude. And an ugly cranky rock star with a bad attitude, to boot. But still.

So what three things hook me about a book?
1. Characters who could be alive. You know. Sort of like Trevor.
2. Prose that allows me to picture things in my head. Who needs movies when there's writing that's this clear and wonderful?
3. A willing suspension of disbelief. I mean, do you REALLY think people like Trevor exist? Of course not; he's too much like the rest of us. You can't possibly have the kind of success that ShapeShifter's had and not have to insulate yourself from real life, even a little bit. Yet it's fun to think about and believe in.

And to pass it along? I'm picking this time a writer who is more of a blogger than an actual writer, per se. It's Bob-Kat, whose posts are incredible. She takes me places and shows me the world. Her posts linger in my brain, and I suspect many of my groupies around here haven't met her yet.

That's it for now, boys and girls. (Be glad Mitchell's not here; he likes calling his audiences pussies.) Lots of awards that're giving me warm fuzzies. I'll be back soon with a new outtake...

Labels: Awards, Sunday Best