One Lovely Blog Award

Rather like my book and story slush pile I have, during my 20 months blogging, gathered a similar stack of blogger recognition awards. Winters coming, and perhaps it’s time to clear the decks…

First an accolade to Michael at Inkowlme for this nomination; even if it was way back on May 30th of this year. Humble apologies for the delay; although not quite as vast a gap as some I have waiting to do!

It was while pressing a guest post of mine on his blog during a submission request month for wordmongers that I remembered this one. Random word association at play; happens a lot, as some of you might find when I drop comments on blog posts!

Secondly, my take on awards is two-fold. One, they are a bit of fun and two, they are there to share other bloggers homes to allow followers to reach out and link up to places they might not yet have seen. Since people have been kind enough to do this for me, then it’s only right to reciprocate and pay a few back.

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The Rules

1. Thank the person that nominated you and provide a link to their blogs.
2. List the rules.
3. Display the award on your own post.
4. List seven facts about yourself.
5. Nominate 15 bloggers for this award and comment on one of their posts to let them know you have nominated them.

 

In terms of nominations I am quite liberal in applying number 5. Some people I know are award free; this does not mean I will not nominate them because a shout out is a shout out. I nominate bloggers I admire; new and old. If you appear here there is NO obligation to respond. Simply take it on the chin, and accept I think your blog is cool and worth a visit.

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And so to business. Seven random facts about me.

1. I have three degrees; not albums by a band with a similar name, but three actual bits of paper.
2. I have a long standing piscatorial interest in aged estate lakes hiding monsters.
3. I write books. Three thus far (one in first draft needing editing, one almost a few chapters short of a manuscript and one seeking a publisher. Around those I do short stories and samples that lie deeper in my blog roll. My favourite of those (at the moment) is Dragon Stone. 
4. I worked in research involving second harmonic generation on multilayer molecular thin solid films and surface plasmon resonance (savvy?). There are about 12 published science papers and one described as “Heresy in the world of non-linear optics” in Nature.
5. Children arrived, so I became their primary carer. A game changer that took me out of science and into parenting. Consequence, factual writing began evolving into fiction.
6. I was born in Lancashire, Bury to be exact and lived in a place called Ramsbottom until the age of three, when we moved to Staffordshire. Here my favourite piece of rolled up tin foil (former kit-kat wrapper) got sucked up a vacuum cleaner. Psychological trauma number two. The first being my ENTIRE family is from Yorkshire, parents included. War of the Roses, say no more. I remember my grandad sadly declaring I’d never play cricket for Yorkshire. That part turned out fine as I preferred football anyway.
7. I have an fascination with the past that broods in old places. I remember Chris Yates (recall piscatorial point 1.) declaring in one of his books about Redmire Pool, where he caught a British record carp, that time collects there. If you understand what I mean by that then you will know what I mean by the word “fascination” in this context. If you ever read my books then that aspect often sits inside them too. An example, of sorts, is in a memoir on here called Of Wine, Nature and Elegies in Oak.

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My Nominations / Shout Outs

Lucy Mitchell from Blondewritemore. Simply because I absolutely love her Diaries of Roxy Collins Rom-Com. Now in series two. A must read in my humble opinion; especially now I have a bit part in the next episode!

Molly at Shallow Reflections. An eclectic blogger who readily engages other people. Super post from Susan the Street Beggar that shows how keen she is to help people in need.

Justanotherblogfromawoman. Hayley loves blogging about music, books and random fashion things I know nothing about; the fashion bit I mean!

An Historian About Town. Lifestyle blogger, baker, style fiend, ballet dancer, reader and traveller; not forgetting historian.

Global Housesitter. Exactly what it says on the tin; house-sitting all over the globe #amazing and blogging about the places they visit and care take.

Suzie Speaks.  Here you will find a wealth of blogging and social media tips. Admin of Big Up Your Blog on Facebook which is one of the best sharing platforms I’ve ever engaged in. Former teacher and tackles content on virtually anything that grabs her. You really can’t go wrong here.

Em Linthorpe. Can’t mention Big Up Your Blog and leave Em out. Another page admin and welcoming blogger to anyone who stops by. Blogs about all sorts including parenting, health, reviews, life and once about not liking fish fingers; don’t get that myself, but it takes all sorts. She also has a picture of a carp on her Facebook page. If anyone saw my memoirs then that explains my mention of that!

Jennifer at UnfoldandBegin. Books, food, travel, family and books again (well, it gets a double mention on her About page!).

But I Smile Anyway… Ritu recently won the Best Overall Blog award and this years annual Bloggers Bash. That really speaks for itself as a reason to pop over. Another eclectic blogger writing about a very diverse range of topics. A teacher to reception and now the year below that in nursery. That and writing a book at the same time AND considering NaNoWriMo 2018. If you want mad as a box of frogs stirred with a hot poker then you’re bound to enjoy her blog.

Clockwork Clouds. Shaun is a gamer, writer and photographer and has different blogs for each. Clockwork Clouds is his writing platform for his own musings, promoting positivity and more. He has a daily schedule Monday to Friday and leaves the weekend for time-outs. Readily engages comments and I’m hoping to engage with his Work In Progress Wednesday shortly.

The Phil Factor. As it says under his blog title “Where sarcasm gets drunk and let’s it’s hair down.” Author of humour and suspense novels, and sure to brighten up a bad day with posts that make you chuckle. A must visit site in my humble opinion.

Mostly Blogging. If you’ve seen my blog then you will know I featured Janice a while back in an author spotlight on her book “An Insiders Guide to Building a Successful Blog.” Frequently hosts Linky parties and Meet and Greets to new and old bloggers. Her core blog is about social networking and raising traffic to all forms of social media. I’m still #newbie when it comes to understanding all her advice!

EllenBest24. Ellen writes and procrastinates like the best of us. It says so in her About page too. Always puts out considered content and engages at every opportunity.

Rendezvous En New York. Trudy is a New Yorker and clearly very proud of it. She blogs about her life there, places of interest and cultural aspects of the city. If you want to know about New York then this is the place to get started.

Shelley Wilson. Author and motivational blogger recently featured in one of my own author spotlights for her current book Oath Breaker. Hates ice cream though, which is almost as odd as Em Linthorpe’s dislike for fish fingers. Say no more.

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For those nominated there is a common link. Two are excluded from saying anything, but I won’t say which two. If they get it then they will know who they are and why. Although that alone is a pretty big clue.

Thank you for reading and if you fancy a shout out on one of the other “award” posts I have in the back catalogue then drop a link below and I will gladly link you into an upcoming post.