Award season is upon us!

Thank you to Pam & Quita, Glenna, and Rachel for the Stylish Blogger Award!

The rules of the award are:

1. Thank and link back to the bloggers who awarded you.
2. List 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award onto 7 more fabulously stylish bloggers.

7 Things About Me:

1. In 2009, Bear and I came down with swine flu at the same time. It was the sickest I've ever been in my life. Almost a week laying on a pallet by the bathroom door floating in and out of consciousness. Yeah.
2. I have never been very interested in driving. I finally got my license at 17 (a good year after everyone else), and only then because I needed a license to work, make money, and not depend on others for rides. To this day I hate driving. My brother, on the other hand, sees driving as a fun hobby.
3. Growing up, I wasn't interested in learning to cook. When Bear and I got married I could barely cook something simple like spaghetti. Five years later, I am now an excellent cook and an even better baker.
4. I am an extremely (extremely) picky eater, and most of what I cook I don't eat. Whenever I make something I don't like for dinner, Bear usually fixes me a big salad to go along with his meal.
5. My favorite snack is air-popped popcorn with fresh-grated parmesan cheese, salt, and melted margarine.
6. I have done so much traveling in the last 2 years (DC, NYC, Boston, Philly, Tennessee, Philly, London, NYC, New York — and I'm sure I'm forgetting something) that I am now slightly travel burnt-out.
7. When we went to Universal Studios in 2008, Bear had to practically drag me away from the Dino Lab in Islands of Adventure. I <3 dinosaurs!

7 Stylish Bloggers:

1. Sarah Enni
2. Holly Dodson
3. Yahong Chi
4. Molly Brewer
5. Glenna Walsh*
6. Rachel Bateman*
7. Pam & Quita*

*Had they not already awarded me this award, I would be awarding it to them, so they are honorary awardees! (That was a lot of 'award's in one sentence!)

Miscellaneous

Wow, that's a word I rarely spell out. Miscellaneous.

First, I'm working on an epically awesome contest. Don't know when exactly it will be held, but it involves signed books. ;)

Second, I'd like to point you in the direction of Jody Hedlund's blog. Jody's debut novel, THE PREACHER'S BRIDE, comes out in October and she regularly posts thoughtful blogging and writing advice. If you are editing, check out today's post in particular: 3 Simple Stages of Self-Editing.

Third, Lydia Kang at The Word is My Oyster presented me with a "Creative Writer" Blogger Award. Thanks, Lydia! Be sure to check out Lydia's blog - she's got a great voice, and her Medical Mondays are always fascinating.

When you are awarded with the "Creative Writer" Blogger Award, you must tell 6 outrageous lies and 1 outrageous truth about yourself:

1. My last name is actually Stevenakis
2. I scored a 1520 on the SATS back when a perfect score was 1600 (oh so long ago in 2003 :P)
3. I am licensed to fly single-engine planes
4. I once got stuck at the top of the Washington Monument
5. Manny Ramirez personally autographed a baseball for me 2 years ago
6. I was born in Baja Mexico
7. I'm allergic to sunlight

So... can you guess which is true?

And now time to pass the award on! Let's hear one truth buried within the lies from:

Abby Annis
Kayeleen Hamblin
Lilah Pierce
Marquita Hockaday
Sarah Enni

Finally, my brother will be in town May 1-15 before he deploys to Afghanistan, so I cannot guarantee I will be active online while he's here. I have at least one exciting guest blog lined up for you, but I'd still welcome offers if anyone would like to cross-post one of their posts or write an original guest post.

Hope everyone's having a great week!

My first blog award! Kiersten's cover!

You like me! You really like me!

At least, Rachel Bateman does! Today Rachel bestowed me with the Awesomesauce Award for Displaying Awesomeness on a Regular Basis.

The rules for the award are:

If you get sauced, define awesome and name 8 people who fit that definition. You don't have to pass the award on if you don't want to, since it's just for fun.

Rachel's definition of AWESOME is:
MY definition of AWESOME is:

Anyone who makes me laugh, supports me, understands my bizarre humor, and is just generally, er…awesome!

Anyone whose blog I enjoy reading, who gives back to the writing community through blogging advice/expertise, supports/encourages me, or loves HARRY POTTER. You are AWESOME!

1.] Heidi Rebecca always has something interesting to say, has traveled the world, and probably loves HARRY POTTER more than I do.
 
2.] Debbie Barr is fearlessly honest in portraying the ups and downs of the writing process. She also sells awesome RSS and Facebook earrings on Etsy!
 
3.] YA Highway for giving me great topics to write about every week with Road Trip Wednesdays.
 
4.] Elana Johnson for being an uber-helpful, super-conscientious blogger. I don't know how you do it all, Elana, but I'm glad you do!
 
5.] Michelle McLean hosted a contest for which I won silver medalist, and thanks to she and her friends Christine Fonseca, Suzette Saxton, Bethany Wiggins, Cole Gibsen, Leah Clifford, and Lisa Amowitz,  my query is all shiny and (dare I say?) awesome before I've even finished my edits.
 
6.] Kirsten Hubbard for her insightful blog and baby animal of the week feature (Ligers! Tiglons! Oh my!).
 
7.] Rachel Bateman for recognizing my blog with this award and for introducing me to Carrie Ryan's work. Thank you, Rachel!
 
8.] My family, because NO ONE is more awesome than they are!
 
Speaking of awesomeness, Kiersten White revealed the cover for her debut novel PARANORMALCY yesterday. The cover is a perfect balance of whimsy (the dress) and mystery (why is she in a thunderstorm in a field in that dress?), don't you think? This is definitely the kind of book I'd pick up based solely on its cover. 
 

September 21, people! September 21!

 

Make sure to stop by Kiersten's blog to congratulate her.

Finally, Beth Revis is hosting a MONUMENTAL contest to celebrate her recent book deal. Find out more about the contest and enter here!