Monday, September 5, 2011

Last of the Summer Fluff: The 7x7 Link Award


            Oh boy, I almost forgot to post about this.  It seems I missed so much while I was away, like Rachael Harrie’s Writers Platform Building Campaign.  I did manage to sign up for one of her groups, but since I missed the deadline, it didn’t work out.  My loss, for sure.



            Something else I forgot about was this little award I received from my BFF, Lisa Regan.  She got this little thing called The 7x7 Link Award and passed it along to me.  Now, I told myself I wasn’t going to do these things anymore, but since I have one more short trip this week before my summer is officially over, I thought I’d allow myself one last hurrah.
For this award, I’m supposed to categorically list my best blog posts:  Most Beautiful, Most Helpful, Most Popular, Most Controversial, Most Surprisingly Successful, Most Underrated, and Most Pride-worthy.  I only have about fifty posts to choose from, but I’ll do my best. 

So here it goes:

1.                  Most Popular:

Definitely “Stories Don’t Happen in a Vacuum” which has to do with backstory in a query letter.  It struck a chord with a lot of people back when I wrote it, but that post still gets 12 hits a day on average for whatever reason.

2.                  Most Beautiful:

This is a toss-up between “Finding My Book’s Theme:  Forgiveness” which deals with how my book’s theme relates to me personally, or “The Puzzle” which explains why I started to write my book in the first place.

3.                  Most Controversial:

Grading on content, I think this would have to be “To Prologue or Not” which asks whether I should I include my 250 word intro as a prologue.  People have diverse opinions about prologues, as do agents.  I’m still up in the air, but have included it with my three recent requests from agents. 

4.                  Most Helpful:

 Well, I’m not sure that this post was helpful to anyone else, but my “Gearin’ Up to Get Agent Blogfest Week 1” post garnered me so much helpful information that I rewrote my query into what I believe is my best one yet.

5.                  Most Surprisingly Successful:

That’s an easy one; it’s “Networking, Blogging and Other Fluff.”  While this post was over 1,800 words, it garnered me the most comments, I think because it struck a chord with so many of you writer/bloggers out there who are struggling to make connections with other writer/bloggers and have found camaraderie here within the Blogger ranks.

6.                  Most Under-Rated:

I guess it would have to be “My Thoughts On Writing vs. Publishing” which explains why, though I love writing for its own sake, I am so driven to find and land an agent and have my book traditionally published. 

7.                  Most Pride-Worthy:

I think I have two that qualify here.  The first is “Everyone Needs a Champion” where I speak of those few people who have helped me get through the most difficult periods in my life during this journey toward publication.  The other is “How I Was Saved” which is similar and tells how my friend, Lisa, kept me going.


Now for those I’d like to bestow this award upon:

Tara at More Than Fiction (Yes, Tara, both Lisa and I have requested your participation!)

Robin at Robin Weeks because I find her fascinating and brilliant!

Lora at Lora  Rivera Inside Writing because she’s talented and always writes about writing.

Joylene at Joylene Nowell Butler, Author because she’s a fellow thriller writer and published, too.

Hektor at Hektor Karl because he’s interesting and loves dogs!  You can’t get much better than that.  Well, okay, he’s very handsome, too!

People I’d love to see participate but am too much of a weenie to ask:

Alex at Alex J. Cavanaugh because EVERYONE loves Alex and I think he’s totally cool!

Julie at Julie Musil because she is chock full of fantastic writing advice.

Lynda R. Young at W.I.P. It because she’s wise and smart and gives great writing advice.

Now, I’m off to Portland to spend hours and hours at Powell’s City of Books.  Have any of you ever been there?  It's the largest book store in the world, taking up an entire city block, and is full of new and used books, any title you can imagine.  In other words:  HEAVEN!    

22 comments:

Lisa Regan said...

Powell's is my Mecca. I love all these posts!

Lisa Regan said...

By the way, my very favorite is Finding My Book's Theme: Forgiveness. I love that one. It is very beautiful indeed!

klahanie said...

Hi Nancy,
Nice one for receiving that award. I shall have a read or reread of your links in the various categories. And well done to those you have passed on the award too. All fabulous, no doubt. Of course, I know Joylene and she is like a super awesome Canadian, eh :)
Speaking of Portland, Oregon, I have been to that beautiful city and I'd love to go there again.
Take good care and happy writing,
Gary

McKenzie McCann said...

Ha, yes, I am quite familiar with Powell's -- I live in Portland!

The coffee shop inside (I want to say the Gold Room?) is pretty good. It's a nice reading environment.

Have a good trip up here. You're picking a good time because all the kids are going to be back in school during the day.

Carrie Butler said...

Congratulations, Nancy! I'm enjoying going through some of your older posts. :)

P.S. I'm so jealous that you get to go to Powell's! If only it weren't on the other side of the country... :( Have fun! I'm living vicariously through you! lol

. said...

Congratulations and to the other winners! :D

Wow, that is a huge library! Have fun :D

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations and thanks! The cool part surprises me.
Sometimes we can't figure out what is going to be a hit with our readers - and what will not.

Hektor Karl said...

Thanks for the kind words. Have fun in Portland!

Luanne G. Smith said...

Congratulations. Some good posts in there. It is funny how some posts continue to get hits every day. :)

writing and living by Richard P Hughes said...

Congrats on the award.

Tara said...

Thank you, thank you, chick! I participated, woohoo! Now you don't have to threaten me with Stephen King book bashing! I'm kidding...Nancy wouldn't be that cruel! ;-)

M Pax said...

I'm envious, Nancy. I haven't been to Powell's in ages. It was always a fun place to spend a day.

Mark said...

Congrats! Great comments to the questions you posed here:)

Jeff King said...

Congratulations and to the other winners… as usual I love your post, thx for sharing.

Thx for the links.

Jennifer Hillier said...

I'm so jealous you're going to Powell's! Best bookstore ever. Can't wait to see what you buy.

Looking forward to reading through all your posts and getting to know you better...

Cynthia Chapman Willis said...

Congratulations on the Link Award! And thank you for sharing the links! I love having new sites to check out. : )

LynNerdKelley said...

Congrats on receiving the award, Nancy. Very cool. So you weren't going to do any more awards? My post for today just happens to be about a Blogger's Insight on Blog Awards. No, it's not my insight, but another blogger's, and I thought his comments were so interesting that I quoted him. Maybe you'd like to weigh in on this discussion. I'm glad you wrote about your different blog posts and which fit which question because I enjoyed reading your answers!

Unknown said...

Cool award!! I love that it makes reading my fav bloggers' best posts so easy. (Plus it's all sparkly, so who wouldn't love it??) You definitely deserve a solid 7-by-7.

Thank you for making me an awardee!! Will have to get a list together of my own...

And yay for new writer blogs to peruse.

Hugs to you,
--Lora

Nancy Thompson said...

Thanks everyone! You're all so sweet. I look forward to the recipients replies.

And Powell's was AMAZING! Scored 2 great books on writing: one for me, one for Lisa. I planned on going back for a second time, but my son was tired and wanted to go home. My loss!

Laila Knight said...

Congrats on the award! I loved the winnie part most of all. :D I still need to pass mine on, will probably do it on Friday. Hey total bummer that you missed the campaign thing, but it looks like she's done them before. And I belong to the Insercure Writer's group too. Be seeing you around. I hope your cold is better.

Donna K. Weaver said...

I love that you got tagged with this. Congrats. *heads off to read some old posts*

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Thanks so much for passing on the award. :)