Catching up: Blog Awards

I'm so honored to have received some lovely blog awards from really awesome people. I'm tickled to be included in the blogging community, and it's a pleasure to pay it forward.

Let's get right to it, then.

The wonderful Erica Chapman, whom I interviewed back in July, presented me with the Strange award. Very original, and quite fitting. I shall go forth and celebrate my strangeness every day, as a matter of fact.

Kelsey Sutton has awarded me a beautiful Life is Good award. This one comes with questions I'm supposed to answer, so I'll try to make them short and sweet:

Questions:

1. If you blog anonymously are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?
I'm perfectly happy not being anonymous. :)

2. Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side:
Hehehe, just ask my kids. I'm sure there's more than one incident there.

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?
A woman trying desperately to hold on to her youth.

4. What is your favourite summer cold drink?
Sparkling water.

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
Read a book.

6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?
Getting published is pretty much still at the top of my to-do list.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever , the shy person, or always ditching?
I was a gleek, actually. But I won 1st place in a talent show singing with my classmate who is now one of the members of All 4 One.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment of your life what would you see?
Poignant as in touching, not poignant as in sad: the births of my children.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?
I'm a Leo, so I'm all for sharing. ;)

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
Sit down and read. Enjoy the silence!

Okay, now that that's taken care of, I have two more super awards to share. The One Lovely Blog award and The Versatile Blogger award come to me by way of Marieke at Marieke's Musings. I'm supposed to add seven things about myself, but I figure I've probably covered that in the questionnaire above. ;)

A big hug and thank you to these magnificent writers/bloggers. You all rock.


These awards of course come with some rules, so here they are:

1. Add the logo of the award to your blog post. 
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Nominate seven other blogs telling us why you think the recipient is strange enough to deserve the award. 
4. Leave a message for those nominated on their blogs.


And here are my pay-it-forward recipients for all four awards:


Shelli at Market My Words: Shelli is so generous and helpful. Her blog is full of awesome and I love the contests she holds.
Eleni at La Femme Readers: Such a pretty blog (from a pretty lady) and her give-aways are fab!
JA Souders at Angels and Demons and Portals. Oh my! Talk about fantastic, this blog is a must-follow.
Anne Riley: She's a writer, she's having a baby, and she still finds time to share the joy. Oh, and I interviewed her back in March.
Tawna Fenski at Don't Pet Me, I'm Writing: Love Tawna. Plain and simple.
Jenn Johansson, whom I interviewed back in April. Definitely check her out.
Nikki Katz, whom I interviewed back in June. Nikki's great, so please visit her blog.


And there you have it. Whew!
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Interview with Jenn Johansson

Today we're chatting with a wonderful aspiring writer named Jenn Johansson.

Jenn is 31 and lives in Utah with her husband, two sons and a boy puppy—she says this may or may not have something to do with why she enjoys writing male characters so much.



Welcome, Jenn! Tell us about your manuscripts.

ORACLE is YA Sci-Fi and INSOMNIA is YA Dark Paranormal.

Great titles! Here’s the part where you pitch them. What are your stories about?

ORACLE is about Lexi, a teenage girl who has telekinesis and hates it. At least until she meets a group of people from another world and has to help them save those on Earth who are just like her. INSOMNIA is about Parker, a teenage boy who watches other people's dreams when he falls asleep at night. Pretty cool, until he realizes his little "gift" is going to either make him go crazy or die from sleep deprivation.

Both terrific premises. I've always wanted to have a dream gift. So how did the ideas of the stories come to you?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I think they just evolved over time. A flash of an idea, the boy who sees other peoples dreams, then it is all about asking questions. What then? Until you come up with something really cool.

Are your manuscripts complete or still works in progress?

ORACLE is complete and currently on submission. INSOMNIA is in the works.

For INSOMNIA, do you have a word count goal, and how far along are you at this point?

INSOMNIA is intense, so I don't want it to be too long or it's exhausting. I'm aiming for between 60 - 70k. Right now, I'm just over 30k.

What is your next step?

When INSOMNIA is finished and all sparkly, I'll probably start querying agents. Right now, editing is about as far away as I feel comfortable planning for.

Do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?


I do all of the above. I do a serious amount of self-editing, then I send it to beta readers that are part of my critique group. Every step is essential for me to get to the finished product.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

I have this moment in the middle of writing every book where I'm just aching to hit the delete key about a million times. I just have to get past it and believe that when it's finished, I won't feel that way anymore. So far, it's working.

Good advice. Perseverance! Any other tips you’ve learned about writing you’d like to share?

No book is perfect of the first go around. More than half of writing is being a good editor. No matter what you write, be willing to revise and revise until it's exactly what you hoped it would be. Another thing--get out there. Writers conferences, writers groups, anything, just meet other writers and learn from them.

Yes, self-improvement, self-exposure, and self-promotion. It's all good! Do you have an idea of your book’s cover art?


I gave up the delusion that I'd have any say in this a long time ago. I do hope they use photography and keep it dark. I don't think illustration would be a good fit.

Who are your inspirations?

Orson Scott Card, Piers Anthony, Tom Clancy, J.K. Rowling... this list could really go on and on. A recent book that really influenced me was, "I Am Not A Serial Killer" by Dan Wells. It's an awesome exploration of good vs. evil.


Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. Can you name three things about yourself people may not know?

Let's see... I swim, I sing... and I shouldn't be allowed around any activity remotely gym related. Trust me, people get hurt.



LOL, okay. So here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Who would you like to give a shout out to?

My writer girls and my family. Without them, I'd still be on page 1.

And finally, where can people find you online?

blog: www.jennjohansson.blogspot.com
website: www.jennjohansson.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/JennJohansson

Thank you so much for chatting with us Jenn. I'm crossing my fingers that your publication journey is a successful one!