SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD

Sunday, March 1, 2020

My blog has been nominated for the SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD by the highly talented and reliably supportive, Pamela Allegretto. Pamela is an accomplished artist whose artwork is collected worldwide. She is also an inspired author. THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS AND DREAMS, her novel of World War II historical fiction, is one of the best books of the genre I have read in recent times. I am thrilled to learn that she will release a new book sometime soon, a novel titled ASHES TO ASHES, DIAMONDS TO DUST. I highly recommend Pamela’s work. Below is the link to her blog: https://pamelaallegretto.com/2020/02/22/sunshine-blogger-award/.

This day tender green sprouts are conspiring to shoot their little heads up and through winter’s frozen ground and reveal themselves in all their glory. 2019/2020 has seen the warmest weather on record, and we in Columbus, Ohio, USA feared real winter would never come. But come it has finally, and I exult in it because it exclaims Mother Nature’s resiliency. She will do Her job if human beings get out of Her way and leave Her to Her own devices. Her spring flowers will arrive right on time, through purer, sweeter earth, in air that is cleaner, and sated by rain unpolluted with lethal toxins. I see the sunflower banner of this award as a symbol of our hopes for a brighter future in so many critical areas. Climate change is the most serious among them, in my opinion.   

I am sincerely thankful for the support I receive from so many of my peers in the Indy author world. No group of individuals of my experience is made up of finer human beings. They are faultlessly sympathetic to their fellow authors, as well as to people of all walks of life everywhere. World leaders would benefit enormously by their example.

My latest novel, A CHANCE AT THE MOON, is doing well, and I am so grateful to readers for embracing it. I sure would appreciate more reader reviews, though. It is available in paperback and eBook. This is the link to the eBook: https://www.amazon.com/CHANCE-AT-MOON-Betrayal-Murder-ebook/dp/B07Z44YN9X/.  You can access all my books by typing in my name on Amazon’s search engine. I plan to publish two new novels this year. One of them will be my first book of World War II historical fiction titled, SEARCHING FOR SOLOMON. It will be a long-held dream come true.

Pamela sent me 11 questions to answer, and following are my answers:

§  When you were young, what was your dream career? If it wasn’t to be a writer, what changed your mind?

Females of my time and socio-economic circle aspired to marriage and motherhood almost exclusively.  College was out of reach and out of mind, no matter our native-born talents. I came into the world as a natural artist and writer, but those things were not in the cards other than as hobbies. Divorce and life as a working, single-mother changed all that, however. College became a necessity then, and it was there in which my flair for the arts began to take form, mainly in fine art. A couple of decades later, life-threatening illness was the catalyst to my writing career. It saved my life, and continues to do so. That situation could fill a 300-page book.

§  What makes you angry? How do you tame the lion?

One of my best girlfriends describes me as a “smooth, calm river.” I am not easily riled. But yes, I am very angry over the current political climate in my country. I tame the lion through watching movies on TV, reading, writing, and visiting family and friends.

§  Have you ever allowed a “dream-crusher” to cloud your self-worth as a writer? How did you lift that cloud?

I am lucky in that I have developed an ability to keep such things in perspective, most of the time. I try to bear in mind that people have their own challenges with which they are dealing, which sometimes manifest in uncharitable behavior towards others. At the times I have succumbed to such treatment, it made me angry at my own anger rather than uncertain of my self-worth. My younger self would have answered this question quite differently, however. Unimpeachable self-worth has been a byproduct of aging and experience for me.

§  What literary figure, alive or deceased, would you like to interview?

My two favorite authors are Australian author, Shirley Hazzard and American author and adventurer, Peter Matthiessen, both of whom passed away within the last two or three years. At the times I am faced with a block in my writing, I bury myself in one of their books, and soon I am free and clear again. I would have loved to ask them the secret of their magic.

§  Do you enjoy the editing process? If so, why? If not, why not?

I do enjoy editing my own work. I am an Intuitive Pantser writer, with a touch of Methodology in the mix, which means that I write free of an outline or much of any idea of where the story is taking me, and I edit as I write. I am constitutionally incapable of tackling a new chapter until the one at hand is fully formed, editing and all. Once I complete the manuscript, I send it to a beta-reader and proofreader. At the time I receive it back, I make the appropriate corrections. I let it rest for several weeks, and then go back and read it again. Something mysterious happens to it during its rest period. A sly little trickster slips in among the pages and stirs up problems. Of course, some rewriting is then required, and the whole process begins anew. Writing a book is a complicated affair—at least it is for me.  

§  If you could be proficient in another language, which would you choose? Why?

I would dearly love to learn to speak and write in Italian, and mainly for the reason that it would allow me to communicate with singer, Andrea Bocelli. Vah vah vah voom!!!

§  If you believed in reincarnation, what century might you have lived in and who were you?

I am absolutely convinced that in one of my incarnations, I was an Indian maiden in the early days of human settlement in what is now known as North America.

§  If you were a schoolteacher, what class would you teach and why?

That is an easy one: I would teach creative writing and political science, for obvious reasons—at least the reasons are obvious to me.

§  Do you prefer to stay in touch with close friends via texting, messenger, email, or phone call? Why?

The way of the world has forced me to turn to texting as my major form of communicating. I prefer phoning or face-to-face when possible, though.

§  What was one of your best days?

On my best day, I gave birth to my first child. It opened up for me a world of love I never knew existed or was possible.

§  How would you like to be remembered?

I would like to be remembered as a person with a deep sense of purpose who did my best to do a good job of it. I am on a quest to fulfill that mandate in all ways possible before I take my final breath.  

One of the nicest perks of this SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD is that it empowers its recipients to celebrate and introduce other bloggers deserving of reader’s interest and time, bloggers whose highly creative work promotes positivity to the blogging community. And in that vein, it is now my turn to continue the tradition and nominate 11 bloggers for this award:

Ritu Kaur BP

Sloane Taylor

Sharon Ledwith

Catherine Castle

Chris Pavesic

CD Hersh

Ken Wigal

Elizabeth Crocket

Lynn Miclea

Anita Rodgers

Paulette Mahurin

Marilyn Francis-Ferguson - Oops! That’s twelve—but I cannot omit any one of them…

***A note to the nominated bloggers:

There are a few rules to follow:

Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to her/his current book and blog.

Answer the 11 questions that I set above.

List the rules and display the SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD photo on your own blog post.

Nominate 11 new bloggers and their blogs and ask your nominees 11 NEW QUESTIONS.

Pamela Allegretto, I appreciate so much your nominating me and my blog for the SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD. I look forward to the future posts on your great blog…https://pamelaallegretto.com/2020/02/22/sunshine-blogger-award/. –Linda Lee Greene, Author & Artist