To be continued...

Despite my best intentions, I don't think I'll be able to put in much blogging time this week. Being home with a sick kid for a few days has forced me to reshuffle how I spend my time.

I know many of you are eager for more installments of my overwriting series. So here's how you can help me get back on track next week: Send me some sample sentences to discuss and repair.

I need examples of sentences and/or paragraphs that demonstrate writing that's
~dense
~difficult to understand
~tangent-ridden
~full of verbal tics ("just," "you know," "like totally")
~full of softening phrases ("kind of," "a little," "along the lines of," etc.)
~wordy
~rambling
~explanation-heavy
~repetitive

Send your overwritten gems to laurels (dot) leaves (at) gmail (dot) com by Thursday. I'll use the most telling examples to shed light on common problems. Be sure to let me know if you wish your examples to remain anonymous. I'll give credit only if you want it.

Have a great week, everyone!

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Sharing some love

I've fallen a bit behind with acknowledging and passing along blog awards, so today I play catch up.

Janet of It Is What It Is... gave me the elegant-looking Beautiful Blogger Award

I pass it to the following beautiful blogs:
Amy at The Invisible Sister
Christine H. at The Writer's Hole
E. Elle at The Writer's Funhouse
Laura at Exercising the Right to Ramble (just discovered we're both Messiah alum)
Stephanie at Hatsheput, The Writing of a Novel


Sarahjayne Smythe at Writing in the Wilderness passed along the cuddly Sweet Blogger Award.

I pass it to the following sweeties:
Janet at It Is What It Is...
Lynn at Place to Create
Kelly at Kelly's Compositions
Tyrean at Tyrean's Writing Spot
Simon at Constant Revision (Don't let his macho exterior fool you. He has encouraged me out of slumps many a time. I think that qualifies as sweet.)


Nicole of One Significant Moment at a Time named me a Blogger Buddy

I pass it along to the following buds:
Charity at My Writing Journey
Elle at Elle Strauss, author
Lola at Sharp Pen/Dull Sword
Jemi at Just Jemi
Tina at Sweet Niblets

These are no-pressure awards. Pass them along to one person, twenty or none. They're just my way of saying thanks.

I'm doing an epic amount of revising at the moment, so I'm a little short on time. Please bear with my distractedness. I'll visit and comment when I need a breather from the WIP.

If you are a new follower, please tell me a little about yourself! What's your genre, your stomping grounds, your favorite film?

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Unplugging

Thanks to everyone who submitted a story or excerpt to my Eleventy-one Celebration Writing Contest. You should receive a confirmation e-mail from me by 10 a.m. today at the latest. Contest judging will take place 4/5 through 4/13. I'll begin announcing winners 4/14.

I'll be unplugging for the week while I read contest entries, strive to meet a deadline at my job and, of course, revise my heart out. Thankfully, chocolate is back on the menu. :-)

Have a great week, friends!

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Plug and unplug

If you're in the Philly area this weekend, there's an interesting FREE symposium going on you might want to check out, especially if you're a foodie, a "locavore" or philosophically-minded.

The Future of Food
a Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium Public Issues Forum
sponsored by the La Salle University Philosophy Department

Saturday, March 27, 2010
1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Montgomery Auditorium
Parkway Central Library,
Free Library of Philadelphia

David Kaplan, University of North Texas:
“Real Food, Fake Food”

Lisa Heldke, Gustavus Adolphus College:
“Down-Home Global Cooking:
Why Cosmopolitanism versus Localism is a False Dichotomy,
and How Our Food Can Show Us the Way to a Third Option”

Panel Discussion led by Solomon Katz, University of Pennsylvania:
“The Future of Food”


Yeah, this has NOTHING to do with writing. My husband is a member of the sponsoring department and, well, philosophers really stink at PR, so this event hasn't had much press.

So, there you go, hon. A little more web presence for your department-sponsored event. :-)

And my UNPLUG...
I will be offline all weekend, but not by choice. We have no phone or DSL at home. Until Verizon sends a repairman, I won't have Internet access. So please see me as disabled rather than rude when I don't respond to comments.

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That's the way I like it

Why is it I had the overwhelming urge to add (uh-huh, uh-huh) to that title? Probably my 70s childhood. And my daughter's strange love for disco. And my hubby's favorite prank, stealth disco (though usually without the videotaping component). And I'm rambling in a manner very atypical for my blog. So sue me.

Amber at Musings of Amber Murphy tagged me for the like/love/hate meme. And hey, it's only taken me a week to get around to it. Seriously, though, I'm trying to be better about scheduling my posts. You might notice I've begun to post a meaty how-to piece every Thursday. The other days will be what strikes my fancy when it strikes me. I like a little routine and a little flex.

And here are some other things I like (and love and hate) per the meme.

I like discovering a kindred spirit.

I like sweater weather.

I like making up stories about my fellow train commuters.

I like crazy gatherings with my extended family (I'm one of the quiet ones!).

I like making a little mischief.

I like being understood.

I like making a difference.

I like stargazing.

I like rivers and trees.

I like themes, motifs and surprising connections.

I like knowing my kooky life experiences are entertaining.

I like where my life is going.

I love that God is faithful when I am faithless.

Today was my first spring peek at the mysteries poking up through the soil in my garden: tiny tips of tulips, new leaves on mums, rose foliage red on the stem. I remember again that God grows things secretly in the dark places.

I hate injustice and oppression.

I hate gory violence in film or books.

I hate litter.

I hate plumbing disasters.

I hate public speaking and having to be clever on command.

I hate being late.

I hate driving behind a brake tapper.

I hate sweating.

I (secretly) like liverwurst.

I love making music with words that transport and transform.

I pass this bit of fun along to the following bloggers:

Jen at unedited
JEM at Can I Get a Side of Reality with That?
Karen at Write Now
Sarahjayne at Writing in the Wilderness

Tell me about your today. Was it productive? Fun? Frustrating? Did it involve any stealth disco?

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An Embarrassment of Riches

I'm thankful to be the recipient of so much blog love lately. It's rather overwhelming, really. Here are some of the kind surprises I've received.

I received the Sugar Doll Award from Carol at Carol's Prints. She is an insightful reader, a stunningly talented writer and shares my love of word play. Thanks, Carol!

Since it is Lent, I'm going to half the recipe here, and share five things about me and pass to five blogging sweeties. You all are welcome to go for the full ten if you wish.

Five completely random things about me:

1. If I had the financial means, I would buy a marimba and a horse.

2. I am the youngest of five kids and my siblings are 5, 15, 17 and 19 years older than I am.

3. I got really terrible TMJ after having my wisdom teeth out at 13 and had to wear a night guard appliance for years. I named it “George.”

4. In high school, I dressed up one Halloween as the headless horseman, got my pal Sue to be the grim reaper and we spent the evening jumping out from behind bushes scaring little kids.

5. I toured one summer with a music ministry team from college. We decided it would be a great idea to adopt some kittens, and keep them in the van while we drove around all summer.

I pass the Sugar Doll award along to the following sweeties:
Amber at Musings of Amber Murphy keeps me young with her zingy humor and won't stop calling me "adorable." (blushingspice!)
Elle at Elle Strauss, author has been a consistent voice of kindness and support and I'm thrilled to my toes that she recently signed with an agent!
Jemi at Just Jemi takes proverbial Canadian niceness to new heights.
Shannon at Book Dreaming is always inspirational and a super-sonic encourager.
Tricia at Talespinning pairs poetry and photos with writing tips and keeps me in touch with all things lyrical.


I accept with thanks the Quillfeather Award from Jemi at Just Jemi, who is one of the coolest chicks in the blogosphere, IMO.

This one comes with a handsome rooster that reminds me of my farmy childhood. They are vicious critters, chickens, if you ever happen to get closely acquainted with them. You really don't want to watch them establish pecking order. Nor see a flock of chicks feed from a round dish instead of a long, skinny one. Not pretty.

The rules for this award are to share how you like your eggs cooked and pass the award on to some other cool chicks.

I like my eggs sunny-side up, with the whites nice and crispy. After a quick steam at the end to finish the top whites, serve with a buttery English muffin to dip in the yolk. (This is my supper most Sunday nights. Yum!)

I pass it along to the following cool chicks:
Aubrie at Flutey Words site is always piping up with a tuneful note of encouragement or praise.
Kristi Faith at Random Acts of Writing plays Mad Libs on her blog! Too kewl!
Nisa at Wordplay, Swordplay mixes funny kid stories with tales of valor.
Tess at Tess Himlo is full of inspiration and goes wild with fun font faces.


And thanks to Mediea at Mediea Sharif for the Creative Writer Award! Her YA novel The Bestest Ramadan Ever, due out in 2011, looks fascinating.

I hereby bequeath this award to the following creative souls:
Karen at Novels During Naptime always has some fun going on, whether nostalgia for 80s TV or snippets from her playful writing.
Mary at Play off the Page has journal prompts with every entry--a wonderful idea-generator when you're feeling stuck or burned-out.
Nicole at One Significant Moment at a Time knocks my socks off with teasers of her work every Tuesday.

These are no-pressure awards. Pass them along as you see fit. Just know I appreciate you all!

The anticipation builds for my Eleventy-one contest celebration. Part 1 includes a random drawing--all you have to do is be a follower. The first 111 automatically get two entries. Come join the party! I'll announce all the details once I hit eleventy-one followers.

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Upcoming fun

Tomorrow is the No Kissing Blogfest, hosted by Frankie of Frankie Writes. Swing on by her blog to sign up and to see the full list of participants. I'm pretty excited to be joining in the fun. Hubby is proofreading my new scene as I write this.

I also will be posting on some new blog bling gifts bestowed last week, while I was skulking around the MLA convention for work. I've been busily neglecting my family visiting blogs recently to pick my victims recipients.

My next editor-on-call post will be coming up this week as well. If you have any additional grammar or style questions you'd like me to address, send them on over to lonexylophone (at) yahoo (dot) com.

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Gasping, clutching the stitch in my side

My sincere apologies to you all for being a big time blogland slacker. I am way, way, way behind with acknowledging all the generous blog awards bestowed in the past week and a half. I also have an overdue "editor-on-call" post waiting in the wings. There are so many new friends to be made, too. Oh dear. I do mean to escape my bubble and say hello to the nice folks who came by to enjoy my backstage snog scene. I will get to all these things as soon as I'm able.

December is not the easiest month, is it? On top of work being incredibly busy (and I can't even escape to my office--campus is locked), my youth group kids need help with college app. essays, my husband is holed up with 130 papers to grade, my bored 7-yo is bouncing off the walls now that school's out, and I'm trying to hit a critique group deadline. I'm also in charge of making Christmas happen because of the aforementioned end-of-term grading. And did I mention the pipe under the kitchen sink burst this morning? Whee!

I hope it's not bad form to preempt the promised acknowledgements with a post I'm super excited to share with you all: a research trip post about my adventures in NYC yesterday. Here's hoping I can just get persnickety Windows Vista to allow me to upload pics...otherwise I'll have to wrestle my hubby off his laptop for a bit. Stay tuned!

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