Anne Tyler Lord

Fun: Awards: Love is in the Hot Humid Air!

Gratitude

Today is another hot humid day, but I’m not complaining too much. My friends on the east coast have had such a miserably hot summer. Since we are all stuck in the heat, I thought it was a great time to spread the love around with awards.

I’m very grateful for the awards that my dear friends have sent to me this summer. The awards are such sweet surprises that uplift my spirits. And, I love to send them along to very deserving friends, amazing writers and great bloggers to keep the love in circulation.

The “Creative Writer” Blogger Award

(Creepy version via Mari Juniper, inspired by Jodi MacArthur)

I want to thank my dear friend, Mari Juniper at Mari’s Randomities for the “Creative Writer” Blogger Award . I have received this award before, but, as good fiction writers will do, Mari added new rules, giving us a chance to exercise our fiction writing muscles (or tell the truth about our weird past), thus creating the Creepy Version.

“Creative Writer” Blogger Award Rules:

1. Thank the person who gave this to you.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you.

4. Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth – or – switch it around and tell six outrageous truths and one outrageous lie.

5. Nominate seven “Creative Writers” who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.

6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

Added Rules for the Creepy Version (via Mari Juniper, inspired by Jodi MacArthur)

Now to the fun part. I’d like to propose a challenge of the sorts, hereby changing said rules just a bit.

I dare the following bloggers to spread the chill. Make your lies and truths as scary, ugly and grotesque as you can. Of course you don’t have to, but I do dare you.

Okay, here are my creepy lies and truths. Can you tell which one is the only truth, or the only lie?

  1. I listened to a young girl relate the details of watching her dad kill her mother.
  2. I have started to eat a caterpillar while it was still alive.
  3. I watched others eat fudge that was dipped in the toilet with out saying a word.
  4. I slipped and fell in vomit when walking through my favorite coffee shop.
  5. I helped perform medical procedures on a dog.
  6. I lived in a house I thought was haunted, and moved after infestations of bees, bugs, snakes and a flood.

I send the creepy version of the “Creative Writer” Blogger Award to these great creative writers:

Sam Adamson @FutureNostalgic at Future Nostalgic

Lily Mulholland @lilymulholand at Ten Seconds a Day

P.J. Kaiser @doublelattemama at Inspired By Real Life

Olivia Tejeda @SimplyOlivia at Away with Words

Estrella Azul @EstrellaAzul at Life’s a stage – WebBlog

Tomara Armstrong @2maraA at This, That… The Other Thing

Deanna Schrayer @deannaschrayer at The Other Side of Deanna

Catherine Russel @ganymeder at Ganymeder: Writing Blog of Catherine Russell

One Lovely Blog Award

I want to thank the talented and lovely Monica Marier at Attack of the Muses!! and the brilliant and ever interesting Carrie Bailey at the Peevish Penman for the One Lovely Blog Award. These girls really have it together.

One Lovely Blog Award Rules:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.

3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

The Versatile Blogger

Thanks goes to the amazing blogger and Twitter maiden, Nicole Humphrey at It’s All About Writing for giving me The Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks Nicole, I really appreciate it!

My good friend, Deanna Schrayer at The Other Side of Deanna also gave me this award. Deanna has such a big, giving heart and is always there for me. Thanks Deanna, you are a true blue friend!

The Rules:

1) Thank and link back to the person that gave you the award.

2) Share seven things about yourself.

3) Pass the award to fifteen bloggers that you think deserve it.

4) Lastly, contact all of the bloggers that you’ve picked for the award.

To make up for the grotesque and scary things I wrote above, I will share seven things  that are more pleasant this time:

  1. I was convinced I would never have children due to a lifelong hormone condition, but had twins, unassisted by fertility drugs at age 35 (after being married for 15 yrs.) Happy Day!
  2. I have been physically with my two children (boy/girl twins – 9 yr olds) about 99.5% of the time during their first 8.5 years of life – attachment parenting & homeschool are exhausting, but worth it.
  3. I dream of moving to France to live for an extended period of time and traveling around Europe. Of course I will be writing the entire time and taking photos.
  4. I lived in a small town in Iowa (1,200 people)  during my childhood & youth – girl scouts, church choir, worked in the fields in the summer (bean-walking, detassling, corn research – birth control for corn) met my husband at a bible study in college, served in military part-time (Air National Guard) – but my mind & heart never conformed – luckily my husband’s didn’t either.
  5. Most of you already know, but I am a family therapist recently getting back to work. I got a part-time job as a clinical supervisor at an agency that serves children & families. I take my responsibility for their treatment very seriously even though  I supervise & train with humor and questions.
  6. I am compelled to think about and contemplate the deeper meanings in everything I do, keenly observe what is going on around me and to speak bluntly about what I think. It took me a long time to realize that not everyone does that – and many wish I didn’t.
  7. I have a freakishly sensitive sense of smell. It is so sensitive, in fact, that if I told others what I could actually smell, I would be exiled to the funny farm. Now, if I could just get one of those jobs as a taster & tester – an ice cream factory would be great.

There are so many blogs that I love and I have enjoyed meeting & chatting with these bloggers. Here are 15 blogs that I have newly discovered and/or  I think deserve BOTH the Versatile Blogger and the One Lovely Blog Award:

Annie Q Syed @so_you_Know at Trial of Words: Writings and Fragments

Nishi @Cafe_Nirvana at Breathing Butterflies

Emma Newman @EmApocalyptic at Post Apocalyptic Publishing

Lisa Rivero @lisa_rivero at Lisa Rivero: the Wild Thyme Unseen

Jemi Fraser @jemifraser at Just Jemi

Josie Lyon @safetycomfort at Around the Kitchen Table

Linda Wasy @drwasy at LEFTBRAINWRITE

Judy Clement Wall @jdistraction at Zebra Sounds

Cecilia Dominic @RandomOenophile at Cecilia’s Random Writings

Alison Wells @alisonwells at Head above Water

Mari Juniper @marirandomities at Mari’s Randomities

Karen Schindler @karenfrommentor at Miscellaneous Yammering

Laura Eno @lauraeno at A Shift in Dimensions

Marisa Birns @marisabirns at Out of Order Alice

Jodi MacArthur @JodiMacArthur at Fiction Writer: Jodi MacArthur

Carrie Clevenger @shadowsinstone at Mindspeak


A Blog With Substance Award

My good friend, Linda Wastila at LeftBrainWrite honored me with The Blog With Substance Award. I was flabbergasted and humbled because I see her as the perfect person for this award. Linda has one sharp mind, a very kind heart, and the most amazing fiction and poetry on her blog.  Thank you, Linda, your confidence in me is appreciated more than you know.

A Blog With Substance Award Rules:

1) describe my blogging philosophy in 5 words; and

2) pass along to another deserving blogger.

My Five Words:

INSPIRE.

CONNECT.

INFORM. (Hopefully with wisdom & compassion)

EVOLVE.

WildVirtualFun. (I’m the writer, and I say it IS one word)

Here is a blog I think deserves the Blog With Substance Award:

A. Victoria Mixon is an author and editor who has a blog that is endlessly informative and entertaining.  She has great advice for writing, interviews and the keenest observations of the writer’s life I have seen. I appreciate her perspective on everything about writing and writers. She creates amazing lists that alway go right into the heart of the matter, whatever it is. She is a true professional and a really sharp writer! Here latest lists hit the target of the bullseye, as always – Five things that should set off your bullshit alarm at writers conferences – Victoria, thanks for providing an excellent website full of your insights & advice.

Honorable Mention

I would like to thank Marc Nash for his kind words about The Writer’s Life and Coffee Klatch posts. I am deeply touched and very glad my posts have been meaningful and helpful to this community.

Thanks again!

Stay cool, everyone!


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Comments

45 responses to “Fun: Awards: Love is in the Hot Humid Air!”

  1. Deanna Schrayer

    Hey Anne,
    I hope you’re doing well and not working too hard. I miss you!
    To celebrate International Literacy Day, and, more importantly, the pleasure of your words, I have something for you: http://theothersideofdeanna.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/international-literacy-day-a-celebration/

  2. K.M. Weiland

    That’s a lot of rewards – and you deserve them! Not sure what the east coast is doing (other than battening down for a hurricane), but the heat wave has definitely traveled on past the middle of the country. We’re already waving goodbye to summer.

  3. Lisa

    I passed along a blog award to YOU today! http://lisarivero.com/2010/08/27/interview-and-blog-awards/ Thank you for making my inbox more interesting. 🙂

    Warmly,
    Lisa

  4. Spreading the Creepiness « The Other Side of Deanna

    […] the lovely Anne Tyler Lord of Don’t Fence Me In for presenting The Other Side of Deanna with the “Creative Writer Award”, (with a creepy twist). I am humbly honored that you believe I’m worthy of such a prestigious (and fun!) […]

  5. Anne Tyler Lord

    Hi Everyone!

    I’ve been busy at work the past couple days and getting back online today was such a pleasure to see all the wonderful comments!! All of you are the reason I come back again and again! Such good friends, every one of you!!

    Lisa Rivero got it right. Sadly, the only one of my creepy truths/lies that is NOT true is number #2, I have not started to eat a caterpillar when it was alive.

    A few of you thought the fudge in the toilet wasn’t true, but in my earlier mischievous years I went along with more than one practical joke with my nephew (he is one year older than me). He was always the instigator and mastermind behind the jokes. All I can say is that I’m glad the toilet was ‘clean.’ And, after a few of those germ revealing shows, turns out that most of our toilets are cleaner than our kitchen sinks – that is my justification, anyway.

    Our favorite practical joke (besides the obvious phone pranks) was replacing the sugar with salt, since our parents drank a lot of coffee. We loved to hear them say, as they sipped their first drink, “Oh yuck! Those darn kids did it again!”

    I’m amazed by how many of you mentioned yourself, or family members that have a similar freakish sense of smell – guess we are all suffering in silence – we live in a very smelly world.

    Thanks again! You are all the best friends I could ask for!!

  6. Hunger « The Other Side of Deanna

    […] a creepy twist). I will post proper acceptance at a later date, (hopefully not too late). Check out Anne’s acceptance y’all and see if you can guess what her one creepy lie or creepy truth is. She’s such a fun gal! […]

  7. Linda

    When it rains, it pours! Congrats on all your well-deserved goodies! Just love your blogging philosophy — perfetto! Thanks also for the Versatile Blogger award — makes me very happy and honored.

    You know, I can’t tell the lie from truth, or vice versa — they’re all so deliciously bizarre.

    Hope you’re finding your balance between work and family and love and life and writing and blogging and… so on and so on. Every day I get up and I ask myself, what MUST be done. And every day the answer is different. Peace…

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Thanks Linda!

      I think that is an EXCELLENT way to start the day! That is actually very helpful because my mind creates massive lists of things all webbed together, each thing screaming for attention.

      I’m getting closer to a balance. I’m still absorbing the physical impact of starting this job. Getting back online a few times a week is beginning to happen. And, writing, well, hopefully soon.

      Thanks again for your words of wisdom!

  8. Jodi MacArthur

    Hi Anne!
    Wow, a goodhandful of awards here. As much as I loved reading about your truths from the Versatile Award (and yes, I have a crazy sense of smell too. I’ve been studying about pheramones and ants– scent serves a huge purpose. Amazing. ANyway) I really enjoyed the creative “Creepy” blogger award.

    Oh man, they are ALL so sneaky. Parts of them are believeable, the other part hard to believe. I’m going to gulp, and say they are they are all true except the one about the fudge dipped in the toilet. I just can’t see you doing that, but LOL…. sometimes its best to keep quiet about that sort of thing. Yikes! Sadly, I believe the first to be true. Real life is scarier than fiction.

    I’ve missed you Anne. I hope the new job is going well. <3

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Jodi!

      You too? We have assembled a great bunch of super-sleuth bloodhounds on this one blog post!

      I have also heard about the pheromones & ants. I notice you often study interesting topics. No wonder your writing is so interesting.

      Yes, #1 is true. It was difficult because it was a client I had when I was only in my 20s. But, in my current job, I am also quickly realizing that the world is a lot different in many ways since I last practiced family therapy – the degree of mental health issues, major life stressors & events that families are experiencing are overwhelming. And, elementary aged kids (and even preschool) kids are coming in with problems that we used to only see in middle school & high school. Sad.

  9. Estrella Azul

    PS: congrats on your awards, though I’m not surprised: you’re an amazing person! 🙂

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Thanks so much, Estrella!

      Fun! Vacation! Everyone is going on vacation this month and I went back to work. Whine, whine.

      I hope you have a wonderful time! Post some pictures!

    2. Mari Juniper

      Awesome that you’re spreading the creepiness Estrella! Can’t wait to see what you’re coming up with. 😀

  10. Estrella Azul

    Thanks so much my dear, and I’m especially excited about this being the creepy version!
    I’m predicting so much fun while thinking these up when I return from my vacation 😉

    Huge hugs to you (and… I’ll miss you)!

  11. Victoria Mixon

    Anne, how very kind of you. Thank you! I’m interviewing brand-new literary agent Weronika Jancsuk for next Monday on my blog, but I’ll try to get the Blog with Substance Blog Award passed on as soon as humanly possible.

    I didn’t know you were a homeschooling parent! Us too.

    1. Lisa Rivero

      Homeschooling–us three! 🙂

    2. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Victoria,

      That interview sounds very interesting!

      Homeschooling was great! I had to go through a transition last year of missing it. And, I still struggle with the idea of never doing it again, but we take it year by year. It is a great life, especially when you live near a city with amazing resources. We struggled with getting time for everything we wanted to do. I often call it “away-from-homeschool.” It was exhausting, but rewarding.

      1. Victoria Mixon

        We unschool. We’re all three here all day, every day, under the eaves of our attic—two of us in offices and one in a train room littered with science projects. The conversations are non-sequitor in the EXTREME.

        It’s a great life! None of us can imagine living any other way.

  12. Mari Juniper

    Congrats on your various awards Anne! You certainly deserve each and every one of them. 🙂

    Thank you for the double award. The company you put me with is a great honor!

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Mari,

      You are very welcome! Thanks for being such a good friend!!

      Have fun whispering at the dogs! hehe!

      1. Mari Juniper

        Hey dear! It seems I’ve settled my cp problems, so I finally got the time (and mind) to read your revelations. Wheee! 🙂

        Man, your creepy stuff is also gross! uh I was going to guess about the alive caterpillar as the only truth when I decided to read the other comments. *dork* lol

        I’m sorry you’ve been through all this…

        On the Versatile Award though, I found it funny that you have such intense sense of smell. You know that the icecream/chocolate/watever taster job is feasible? I’d check it out if I were you. 😉

        Many congrats on all your awards my dear, especially the Blog With Substance one. I understand why you feel honored. This was as deserved as the other ones. <3

        Ah, dogs are being whispered with great success, heh.

        1. Anne Tyler Lord

          Hi Mari,

          I’m glad your computer problems are letting you out to play. Whisper a few secrets from me to your dogs. Maybe your dogs can then help my yipper.

  13. Nishi

    Hi Anne – What an awesome way to be greeted on getting back online after a long break! Thanks for the Lovely Blogger award… Now to hunt out 15 bloggers that have not got the award yet!

    I feel your pain, sista, I have a horribly acute sense of smell too. Most of the time, I can manage it, but in elevators and in closed places, it gets really intolerable. The worst part is – NO-ONE UNDERSTANDS! They think I am over reacting!

    I hope work and the new schedule is going well for you and your health is holding up. Your post was initially icky poo (which means you did a great job!) but the latter part was wonderful! You are truly an inspiration to us all! Hugs and keep up the great work! 🙂

    – Nishi

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Nishi!

      Enclosed spaces are the worst. Even if the space is large and I’m stuck in it – workshops, seminars. This week at work one person had strong garlic breath and after just a couple hours, it permeated the air in the entire office space. It is amazing how the molecules of our breath are saturating huge spaces in a short time. Those science shows about how much we share our atomic structure with others kinda freak me out, but I can see how.

      Thanks for the kind words & I am hanging in there so far! Good luck to you!!

      (note that you got both the Lovely Blogger award and the Versatile Blogger award)

  14. Deanna Schrayer

    Congratulations Anne! I can’t think of anyone more deserving of all these awards. You are such an inspiration, (and a great shoulder to lean on), for all of us. Thank you for all you do!

    And thank you for the creepy version of the Creative Writer award! That will be fun – coming up with the 7 creepy truths/lies. I just hope I can get to it within the next week or so.

    I believe all are lies except #6. Am I right?
    Thanks again Anne!

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Deanna,

      Your welcome – I’m sure your creepy version will be one for publication – can’t wait to see what you come up with. I know I won’t be able to tell lies from truths.

  15. Josie

    Wow! Thanks so much Anne for the Versatile Blogger / One Lovely Blog awards – very much appreciated.

    Loved reading your post – a wonderful festival of award-giving, spreading the love. Thank you for sharing about your life as well – I’d highly recommend including the UK in your dreamed-of trip around Europe 😉

    My mum has very little sense of smell – she’s said very little, so I might ask her how come it happened. She’s in her mid-70s now but I think her sense of smell went many years ago. Is your sensitive smell tied in with being an HSP?

    Josie x

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Josie,

      Yes, I think we should definitely include UK as an additional site for our retreats. There are so many placed I would like to visit there.

      I’m sure my sense of smell is part of being a HSP, and being chemically sensitive. It is probably my early warning system (alarm) that says I’d better get away from that smelly thing so it won’t make my nervous system over-react. It is not an isolated sensitivity – also bright lights, loud sounds, lots of movement & chaos – and much more – I came with the whole package. I know you can also relate to some of that, too.

      I like the statement made my another HSP who is a celebrity (can’t remember which one – it is on Talent Development Resources) “Be careful with me, I’m sensitive, and I would like to keep it that way.”

  16. lil_monmon

    You deserves ’em kid. 🙂
    BTW I’m seeing a large show of hands for starting a writers colony in France. I would be on board with that if I was allowed to eat all the grapes. I want from our vinyard. We would also need to rotate babysitting/homeschooling shifts to allow time for writing.

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Ha! Well, you can have some of the grapes, but we reserve the right to make wine out of the rest.

      And, don’t worry, I have hired Mr. Fluffy to do the homeschool with our kids and Jezebel to do the babysitting. They come highly recommended for their services. The other parents said they didn’t hear a single sound out of their children when under their care.

      1. Laura Eno

        Bwuhahaha! And they only require room and board…of course, what that might entail is down in the *very* fine print.

  17. Lisa Rivero

    Anne, thank you so much!! You are not just a talented blogger, but a generous one, too. 🙂

    I’ll guess that only #2 isn’t true.

    My husband shares your sense of smell, as does our son. Just imagine our visits to my family’s farm!

    Hugs to you,
    Lisa

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      You are welcome! I’m still thrilled that we connected – Twitter is such an amazing thing!

      Oh yeah, I can definitely imagine the farm! My kids & I just visited a friends farm and my son & I could barely handle it. I felt like my nose hairs had been singed after being in the barn!

  18. Jemi Fraser

    Awwww – thanks so much Anne – you’re such a sweetie!! You just made my day 🙂

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      That makes me smile!!

      I know you get a lot of awards, but you are very deserving!!

  19. annie q. syed

    Dear Anne

    thank you so much for your generous awards. for taking the time to write and reference and link up and all that. it is not always quick! so thank you very much for that.

    I appreciate your posts, this space, and your presence very much on twitter.

    Also, I really appreciated you sharing the story about you and having children, along with other warm, fun facts.

    You are wonderful and I appreciate this very much.

    Hugs,

    ~a.

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Annie,

      You are very welcome, and thanks for the kind words. I’m glad I was able to get this post done. I appreciate my friends so much and this summer has been overwhelmingly busy for me. I am missing more time on Twitter and blogging.

  20. Lily Mulholland

    Anne, you’re so lovely 🙂 Thanks indeed! I too am slow at passing these on…time is against me these days.

    My mum has next to no sense of smell at all. She can smell something about once every couple of months and only then if it has a heady aroma…funny how we’re all so different!

    Oh, and count me in for the French writers retreat and spa!

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Lily,

      It seems so many of us are insanely busy right now. Thanks for stopping by.

      That would be rough for your mom, does that mean she can’t taste her food?

      I have you down for a nice ocean view room that looks out onto the Mediterranean.

  21. 2mara

    Anne you’re a sweetheart. Thanks for the award. I am really bad at passing these on, but I have a document in progress that will hopefully encompass them all.

    Thanks again for thinking of me for this award 🙂
    ~2

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Your welcome, I know these awards take time, it took me awhile to get back on all these – it was enough for me to pass it on to you!

  22. Laura Eno

    I’m honored, Anne! TWO AWARDS? Thank you so much.

    On the creepy things, I think they’re all true except number 3. 🙂

    I’ll move to France with you! *waves hand wildly*

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Bonjour Laura,

      We must get the Writer’s Life French Retreat & Spa opened soon. We could all hang out and eat croissant!

      Oh yeah, I gotta reveal my lies and truths… but after this word from our sponsors…

  23. Marisa Birns

    Wow! So honored, Anne, to be the recipient of not one but TWO awards from you. Thank you so very much!

    No, it’s not that you speak bluntly. You speak truthfully and – always, always – from a place of teaching, kindness, and support.

    I share with you the acute sense of smell. Maybe we were bloodhounds once! 🙂

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Ha! I didn’t know if there was anyone else out there who could detect the nuances of every little scent & odor. We should compare notes sometime – it would make an extremely weird read. I think that most people would get nauseous and keel over if they had our sense of smell. But, you are right, it is very good for solving crimes and finding missing people.

      Thanks for the re-frame on ‘blunt’ that is very kind of you (my extended family are the ones that would use the word, blunt)

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