Aww...I have awesome friends. A new blog award...and me passing it along.

I got another award! Yay!

The rules for this award are 

• Thank and link to the person who nominated me.
• Share seven random facts about myself.
• Pass the award along to 15 new-found blogging buddies.
• Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

Thank you Angela Perry for this beautiful (and Springy) award!

Seven Random Facts:

1. I got a tattoo as the results of a bet.  My rent was paid for two months by friends for me paying out $50 for a pair of crossed stem roses.
2. I'm making plans on getting more tattoos in the future, when I have the extra money to be able to afford them.
3. Lavender and hydrangea are my favorite flowers.
4. I have a bad temper but do my best to keep it under control.
5. When I was little, I wanted to be a ballerina.  I'm still irritated with my parents for not letting me pursue that.
6. I learned to read by identifying pictures in the Sunday ads from the paper and "reading" their names to my parents.
7. My mom used to give me lists of spelling words I had to memorize based on some worksheets that we had in the front of our A-K World Book dictionary.  (The L-Z was just a normal dictionary.)

Fifteen Terrific and Versatile Blogs:

1. Living the Dream - This blog belongs to a very outspoken and wonderfully free-spirited woman.  Rachel has become an awesome friend and while her life has been very rough, she's determined to rise to the top.
2. SHARK! - The Query Shark is familiar to many writers.  I think the Query Shark has a very versatile blog in the fact that she's teaching writers how to write a killer query.  She's very fond of the snark and I wouldn't have gotten the courage to write my first query letter if not for reading her entire archive.
3. Specnology - Anassa has a fun and informative blog.  She's always talking about technology and speculative fiction.  She's got some interesting opinions and some fun ideas.  I love reading her posts.
4. About Writing - Diane is an amazing woman.  She's started her own business doing something she enjoys - social media marketing.  She also started Thursday's Novelists (where I was the first interview) and she always has something interesting to say.
5. Dancing With Dragons - Miriam just recently got herself an agent.  She's always had a fun, lively blog where she talks about writing, life, and posts some of the cutest pictures of animals ever.
6. Dirty Birdies - NSFW - A group of erotica romance writers got together and put this blog together.  They talk about life and about what they find interesting in romance writing.  They also offer some great tips on writing erotica and offer suggestions for making your erotica more realistic.
7. Escapism - KD Sarge is one of my dearest Twitter friends.  She's totally fun and her book KNIGHT ERRANT is great fun.  So are many of her other stories.  I've been privileged to get a sneak peek at a few of her things.  She's fun, opinionated, and has a lot to say.
8. Heather's Odyssey - Heather McCorkle is an amazingly talented YA author.  She shares advice, talks about her own experiences, and posts flash fiction.
9. Liana Brooks - Liana is a sci fi writer who's always got something interesting on her mind.  She comes up with some of the most awesome ideas and is sometimes willing to share.  She's also good for word sprints on Twitter from time to time.
10. Nathan Bransford, Author - Nathan used to be an agent.  Now he's moved onto a different career.  But he's still a writer and he's still got a lot of good information.  He still talks to us about what's going on in the industry and poses some interesting questions for discussion on his blog.
11. The Character Therapist - Jeannie is an amazing woman.  She's a psychologist and uses that degree to help us understand the motivations of our characters.  Her "Treatment Tuesdays" are times when authors can send in information about their characters and ask for the psychological motivations behind what they're doing.
12. Adventures in Agentland - Natalie Fischer is an agent at the Bradford Literary Agency.  She talks about life as an agent and gives us a sneak peek at her world.  Her blog has given me several good bits of advice.
13. Midnight Fire - What I love most about Amos' blog is the fact that he is completely unrepentant and unapologetic about his political and religious views.  I love reading his opinions on things, and the research he does before he posts his information is very thorough.  I love reading his opinions on everything in general and he's a very gifted writer.
14. SFWA - If you're a writer of fantasy and science fiction, this blog is a must.  This is the blog from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America - an organization that once you're published and meet the requirements, you really should give a thought to joining.
15. Just Writing - J.E. Fritz is a fascinating blogger.  She gives writers advice.  She talks about her writing adventures.  She offers distracting websites and helpful insights.  She's got a very versatile blog and I always enjoy her posts.