Sheila Pierson

Reader Appreciation Awards World Adventurers

Thank you fellow literary colleague and friend Lada Ray for nominating me for the Reader Appreciation Award! I am honored to receive this recognition from a peer I greatly admire. Lada is my indispensable resource for all things Russia, feng shui, felines, New York, and international thrillers. What do these topics have in common? Visit Lada’s blog by clicking here and find out for yourself!

ABOUT THE AWARD

You may know from the One Lovely Blog Award and the Versatile Blogger Award I received that I love digging into the origins of blogger awards to discover what inspired their creation. I learned that The Reader Appreciation Award was created in November 2011 by blogger Jennifer Avventura, a Canadian living in Sardinia, Italy (her Italian surname is an assumed pseudonym). On her blog, which I am now following, she wrote:

“I’m giving an award to those that have made this past year of blogging worthwhile. You have kept me on my toes, left comments, advice and tons of encouragement. For this I am grateful. Thank you.” (Jennifer Avventura)

AWARD CRITERIA

Jennifer’s rules were a bit different than the ones I received. Here are her original instructions:

1. Award your top six bloggers who have commented the most.

2. Be thankful.

3. You cannot award someone who has already been awarded. And you cannot give the award back to me.

4. Don’t forget to tell the bloggers you’ve awarded.

5. If you don’t want to pass on this award, that’s okay too. Just admire it.

A few more rules passed on to me were:

1. Post seven interesting things about yourself.

2. Nominate five people who in turn will post on their page the award with the link to the giver.

3. Let them know about the nomination.

4. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.

5. Post the award logo.

READERS APPRECIATION LOGO

The first order of business is the award logo. I’ve posted the original daisy flower logo and a new one that I want to suggest as an alternative logo. Other blogger awards I’ve seen have more than one variation of the award logo, so I’m proposing one that’s a bit less flowery and may look more attractive on some blogs. A daisy on a post-apocalyptic, avant garde, or industrial blog may leave some readers askance, so I made a new alternative one with a metallic trophy. The blue, white and red lettering reflect the standard colors of competition ribbons.

OTHER CRITERIA

It’s a tall order fulfilling ten different award obligations, so let me try an amalgamation and answer as many as I can.

1. Award your top six bloggers who have commented the most.

2. Nominate five people who in turn will post on their page the award with the link to the giver.

3. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.

These are similar and reflect how the award criteria have changed. Let me do this — I will award the top six bloggers who have commented the most on World Adventurers and in turn will post on their page the award with the link to the giver. Here are my nominees, great friends and colleagues who always post excellent comments on my blog (in alphabetical order):

David Cassidy (http://www.davidccassidy.com): David is a writer, photographer, and graphic designer. Check out “Blog Categories” to read his many posts about writing, photography, and his endearing support for other writers with book reviews and author interviews. I really appreciate his efforts to help fellow indie writers and must mention that his novel “Velvet Rain” about a mysterious drifter with godlike powers is on sale September 28-30.

Renee Craves Adventure (cravesadventure.wordpress.com): Renee writes lovely stories about the West and enjoying life to the fullest. I love her photos and enthusiasm! She recently started a new series called “Living the Big and Beautiful Life” that you might enjoy.

August McLaughlin (augustmclaughlin.wordpress.com): A wonderful, talented lady who shares her passion for writing through her blog and books. August has some of the best insights I’ve read on everyday life and success. I love her health tips and witty sense of humor.

Sheila Pierson (sheilapierson.wordpress.com): A writer who pens some of the most profound and inspiring poems and short stories that I’ve read. She has a gift for conveying emotion through her words and connecting with readers.

Russel Ray (russelrayphotos2.com): A photographer and blogger from Southern California who helps keep me grounded with reminders of the United States and words of wisdom from his grandmother, among other platitudes. A great melding of stories and photos.

♡ The Tale Of My Heart ♡ (justsimplyinlove.wordpress.com): Although he doesn’t comment often, I know he’s there because he visits my blog and always leaves his “Like.” It’s an honor because his blog is popular, and for obvious reason — his poetry, prose, and imagery are genuine works of art.

4. Be thankful.

I am thankful for great readers like you who make blogging worth the effort. A special thanks goes to Lada Ray for her nomination and to Jennifer Avventura for creating the award.

5. You cannot award someone who has already been awarded. And you cannot give the award back to me.

True, but I can acknowledge Jennifer Avventura for creating the award. Her initiative has taken on a life of its own.

6. Don’t forget to tell the bloggers you’ve awarded.

7. Let them know about the nomination.

These are duplicates, methinks. I will if they don’t post a comment on my blog first!

8. If you don’t want to pass on this award, that’s okay too. Just admire it.

I’ll pass it on and admire it.

9. Post the award logo.

Done. Well, two actually.

10. Post seven things about yourself.

Based on the original criteria, I don’t have to share seven more things about myself. That’s a relief! I would rather focus on the award giver and six recipients; seven things, one per person. After all, it’s an award to acknowledge the readers, not the blogger. Please visit their blogs and learn more about these intriguing people and their fascinating stories.

ONE MORE ROUND OF THANK YOUS

Thanks again, Lada and Jennifer!

M.G. Edwards is a writer of books and stories in the mystery, thriller and science fiction-fantasy genres. He also writes travel adventures. He is author of Kilimanjaro: One Man’s Quest to Go Over the Hill, a non-fiction account of his attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain and a collection of short stories called Real Dreams: Thirty Years of Short Stories. His books are available as an e-book and in print on Amazon.com and other booksellers. He lives in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife Jing and son Alex.

For more books or stories by M.G. Edwards, visit his web site at www.mgedwards.com or his blog, World Adventurers. Contact him at me@mgedwards.com, on Facebook, on Google+, or @m_g_edwards on Twitter.

I Received the Versatile Blogger Award!

I was surprised to receive the Versatile Blogger Award (VBA) from esteemed author and blogger Ella Medler. Thank you, Ella! It’s an honor. Ella is a super duper colleague in the writing field. Please check out her awesome work!

Versatile Blogger Award (VBA)

What is it?

As far as I can tell — details are rather sketchy and only the creator knows for sure — this lofty-sounding award is basically a mutual admiration society where bloggers recognize their peers for writing quality blogs that touched them in some way. The VBAs honor the blogger rather than specific posts. It’s a chance for bloggers to pat themselves on the back like the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does with the Oscars. Until someone starts giving out Blogscars, the VBAs will have to suffice.

What are the criteria?

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award. I nominated 15 outstanding bloggers below. Congratulations!

Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.

Thank you, Ella. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.

Visit Ella’s blog at http://ellamedler.wordpress.com/. You’ll be glad you did.

Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. (I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)

The envelope, please…

Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.

And the nominees/winners are (in alphabetical order):

August McLaughlin – Savor the Storm (http://augustmclaughlin.wordpress.com/)
CR Hiatt – McSwain & Beck (http://mcswainandbeck.com/)
Craves Adventure – Our Travels Out West (http://cravesadventure.wordpress.com/)
CrissCrossingIndia – Adventure Travel and Photography Across India (http://crisscrossingindia.wordpress.com/)
David C. Cassidy – Because Life is a Really Good Story (http://davidccassidy.com/)
Donna B. McNicol – 2 Taking a 5th (http://www.2takinga5th.com/)
KG Arndell – Musings of a Dark Fantasy Writer (http://kgarndell.com/)
Jeff Whelan – SpaceOrville (http://jeffwhelan.wordpress.com/)
Lada Ray (http://ladaray.wordpress.com/)
Lesley Carter – Bucket List Publications (http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/)
Pranjal Borthakur (http://pranjalborthakur.wordpress.com/)
R.M. Wilburn – Ponderous Things… (http://ponderous-max.blogspot.com/)
Sheila Pierson – I Write, Therefore I Am (http://sheilapierson.wordpress.com/)
The Jumping Polar Bear (http://jumpingpolarbear.com/)
Vanna Smythe – Fantasy Author (http://vannasmythe.com/)

Congratulations, winners!

Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Hmm, seven things about me. Okay, here goes:

1. In the past decade I’ve lived in nine different locations in five countries on four continents.

2. I proposed to my wife on one knee in a gravel parking lot. She said “yes” anyway after I whined about how much the rocks hurt my kneecap.

3. I joined the Cub Scouts for the first time with my son and am his den leader. I did not participate in scouts as a kid, and this is the first time in my son’s young life that he’s lived where there’s a troop. It’s been fun scouting vicariously through him. Today we built and shot off bottle (water) rockets. It brings out the kid in me!

4. My favorite sport is baseball, but I took a liking to cricket when I lived in Africa because it looks like baseball with different rules.

5. I have a falsetto singing voice like Roy Orbison and Chris Isaak and love to belt out the karaoke version of “Oh! Pretty Woman.”

6. I enjoy getting to know people from around the world. One of my favorite things to do is to meet up in one location with friends I met elsewhere. Today, in fact, I’m getting together in Bangkok, Thailand with friends I met several years ago in Seoul, Korea.

7. One of the toughest challenges living overseas is missing those foods that you love but can’t buy abroad. I miss dishes from my favorite restaurants, not to mention perishable foods that I can’t ship. Thank goodness I can buy and ship beef jerky, cereal, and granola bars. But every once in a while I suffer from store-bought Christmas eggnog withdrawals.

Congratulations to the new VBA winners, and thanks again to Ella Medler for nominating me!

M.G. Edwards is a writer of books and stories in the mystery, thriller and science fiction-fantasy genres. He also writes travel adventures. He is author of Kilimanjaro: One Man’s Quest to Go Over the Hill, a non-fiction account of his attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain. His collection of short stories called Real Dreams: Thirty Years of Short Stories available as an e-book and in print on Amazon.com. He lives in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife Jing and son Alex.