Traveling Dragons

Yesterday, L. Diane Wolfe of Spunk on a Stick honored me with two Dragon Awards. Thank you so much.

Diane is both an author and a professional speaker. She’s also generous with her advice and news, plus she promotes other authors on her blog. Diane writes the Circle of Friends books. Stop by and see her blog and leave her a comment - and check out her series.

The first award was the Heart of a Dragon Award. Here’s what Diane said about this award:

The Heart of a Dragon Award is a very special award for the blogger who inspires you and/or others to go above and beyond or the blogger who helps keep us all connected.

Here are the rules:
1. Post the award on your site with a link to the person who gave it to you.
2. Pass it on to the blogger(s) who inspire you and list why they are receiving the award.
3. Post a comment on their blog.

I’m going to pass the Heart of a Dragon Award to two wonderful bloggers:

1. Sylvia Dickey Smith of Rules to Live By
Sylvia is a terrific author. On her blog, she writes introspective pieces that make me think and look inside myself.

2. Lisa Gurney of My Life as a Daughter
Lisa may not pass on this award since she’s taking a break from blogging, but I still want to give it to her. Her blog is the amazing personal story of her journey taking care of her mother who has Alzheimer’s. She’s honest, caring and, I think, an incredible person to share her life and feelings with the world.

Diane Wolfe also gave me The Dragon’s Loyalty Award:

The Dragon's Loyalty Award is an award for the loyal fan/commenter, whether the recipient is a fellow blogger or just a someone who follows and comments regularly.

Here are the rules:
* If you have a blog, post it on your blog with a link back to the site who gave it to you.
* Leave them a comment on their site, email, etc. to let them know.
* If you don't have a blog but have a website, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or other type account, post there with a link back.
* Pass this on to 3-10 loyal fans.

Again, thank you for this honor. If Diane hadn’t already received it, I would pass it on to her. There are so many of you who stop by daily to say hi and join in the discussion on Straight From Hel, it’s difficult to narrow the list down to just a few. I’m going to award three people:

1. Stephanie Faris of Steph in the City
Stephanie writes romance and young adult and blogs about her pursuit of publication, as well as other fun stuff like celebrities, dating, short fiction pieces, and some very funny pictures. And somehow she finds time to stop by Straight From Hel, bless her pea pickin’ heart, as we say in the South.

2. Elspeth Antonelli of It’s A Mystery
If you’re a writer, make sure you follow Elspeth. On her blog, she offers advice about writing. In the last couple of weeks, she’s blogged about characters, genres, killing off characters, friends who think writers sit around all day doing nothing, titles and more. Luckily for me, she also comes by Straight From Hel and adds her 2 cents, which, even without the sagging economy, is priceless.

3. Laura Eno of A Shift in Dimensions
In the “About Me” section of Laura’s blog she says, “I write and write some more. Did I mention that I write?” She blogs once or twice a week, and each one is worth reading, like the day she did headlines that should have had an editor. Or Flash Fiction Fridays. Or the day she passed on an award to the wonderful Tomara, then gave ten reasons why she follows/stalks Tomara. I’m very glad Laura stops by Straight From Hel - I look forward to her comments and her avatar (a cat on an open book).

And there you have it. I’ve passed on two awards to a total of 5 people. Those wonderful bloggers can pass the award on - or not. It’s up to them. I’m always honored and amazed when people give me an award, but I know some choose not to pass it on. And that’s fine. Either way, I think these are five bloggers to check out, if you aren’t already familiar with them. Tell ‘em hi for me!