Yesterday I was the happy recipient of the Sunshine Award for “bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere,” which was bestowed upon me by a gentleman who blogs at A New Writers Life and Times. I think awards between bloggers are a nice way of telling others that we value their writing, their contribution both to the blogosphere at large and to our individual lives. It’s nice to know not only that there are people out there reading, but that some of them are benefiting from what you’ve written.

And in the end, I think that is one big distinction between different types of blogs. Some very clearly exist to enhance the “project that is me” and some exist to bring joy and help to others. In the past I’ve had to count myself as part of the former, but I am happy to be part of the latter now.

As is customary with blog awards (though I’m not sure how these sorts of traditions get started) I’m supposed to answer some personal questions and nominate some others (10 for this award, though I’m not going to be a slave to that number).

The Questions:

Favorite color: Nearly the full range of blues and blue-greens, with a few exceptions

Favorite animal: I can’t say I have one, though I am particularly fond of birds and particularly disdainful of mosquitoes. Everything else, I suppose, falls in between, but the reality is I love all animals (with the exception of the aforementioned mosquitoes) including the creepy ones most people would instinctively kill on sight or run from in terror.

Favorite number: Really? People have favorite numbers? I can’t tell you the only ones that come to mind to answer this question, because you’d be that much closer to hacking all of my passwords.

Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Dark roast coffee, milk, water, tea

Facebook or Twitter: Facebook (though I must admit my news feed is feeling more and more like just getting a bunch of drivel forwarded to my email). I’m on Twitter and I tweet links to interesting articles regularly, but honestly, I don’t automatically follow back in order to boost my follower numbers and I don’t read much of anything on there anyway. I think Twitter was kind of a neat idea but that it has turned into a constant stream of commercials for people and products. And I really, really hate commercials. In fact, this guy has articulated all the things I loathe about Twitter, smartphones, and the social media culture in which we (unfortunately) find ourselves.

My passions: books, literature (honestly, I can’t truly make myself believe these are equivalent), nature, Michigan, writing, great photography, creative and artistic expression in many forms

Giving or receiving gifts: I love giving the perfect, unexpected gift. But I like getting the perfect, unexpected gift as well.

Favorite city: I’m a big fan of many Michigan cities, including Grand Rapids, Detroit, Petoskey, Mackinac Island, and Lansing. But most of my favorite places are not cities. They are places like Camp Lake Louise, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and any of the tens of thousands of lakes, rivers, beaches, wetlands, and fields you can find in our beautiful state. I’m also a huge fan of Boston.

Favorite TV shows: currently Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Mad Men, Arrested Development, How I Met Your Mother

The Blogs:

These days I read comparatively few blogs. I find that I am using my limited time in other ways–writing short stories and novels and living in the “real world” with my family and my home more fully. But there are those I have followed, some for a rather long time and others just recently, that would certainly fit the bill. I’m not going to contact each of these people, because I know for sure some of them don’t deal in blog awards. Instead, I’ll let the pingbacks speak for themselves.

One upon a time I would have nominated The Sew Weekly, but it seems to have ceased existing in 2013 (though, if you sew or are interested in sewing, all the posts are archived there and you could spend weeks going through them all). And I have enjoyed the personal blogs of many of the contributors (you can still find them linked off the Sew Weekly site) but I’m spending much less time sewing this year than I did in 2010-2012.

These days I am still enjoying Pleasant View Schoolhouse and Mabel’s House, both of which I have read for the last several years. Anna and Liz are people who feel like good friends, though I’ve never met either of them and had limited personal interaction over email.

I still check in at Couture Allure for interesting vintage fashion news and information and just to smile at the lovely and odd photos, ads, and fashions of yesteryear.

But more of my time is spent reading blogs and articles on writing and the publishing business. One of the best new ones is Chad R. Allen’s blog. He has great tips and ideas for writers and those of us in the publishing biz. Chad is the editorial director for one of the imprints at the publishing house at which I work. He uses his blog not only to inform writers but to encourage them, so if you’re in need of a good word, go see Chad.

I am also finding much to love about Anne R. Allen’s blog. As far as I know, Chad and Anne are not related.

But the blog I read religiously and from which I have gained much good advice and through which I have enjoyed much excellent writing is Writer Unboxed. There is a whole slew of great contributors and anyone who writes fiction should be following this blog.

I guess that’s that. Happy blogging, folks.