Barbara's Meanderings

2. Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.

Probably the thing that shows how stubborn I am is my inability to stop believing that my novel, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, would be published. I kept sending it to publishers and got rejection after rejection. Even after five years of trying I refused to stop and it paid off for me when MuseItUp Publishing decided to publish it.:)

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

I see the little girl who was usually quiet but has a mischievous streak. I see a woman who has lived a long time but still has a long way to go before I stop. I also see someone who has followed her dream and is about to see it fulfilled.

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?

That all depends on whether you're talking about alcoholic or non-alcoholic. I love ice cold homemade lemonade or iced tea with lemon. My favorite alcoholic drink is a frozen margarita with any fruit, though strawberry ones are good, I like the original.:)

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

This also depends on the mood I am in. I get very little time to myself in which I don't have chores to do. But when I am free I like to do either of these things, read, write or bake.:)

6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?

I still have more novels that I would like to publish.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching?

I would have to say that I was not the class clown or an overachiever. I was really shy when I was younger and in college I did ditch classes. But on the whole I would say I didn't really pay as much attention in school during my undergraduate time. When I went for my Masters I really worked and became Phi Beta Kappa when I graduated.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?

I think it would be the last time I saw my father. That night when he dropped me off at the airport I had a feeling it would be the last time I saw him and I was right. The following week he passed away in his sleep. I had never gotten the chance to tell him I thought I was pregnant.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?

I'm always sharing things about myself in my blog. Though I also write about other people and events as well.

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

Again it would depend on the book and with whom I would be talking. I have a friend who lives far from me and we can talk for hours.

Congratulations to the lucky people who are getting this award.
Please pass this award on to ten bloggers you admire. You don't have to return the favor by giving me the award again. I'm thankful enough as it is for receiving it. Spread the love!

Thank you to all my readers and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to all of you. I hope that it is as romantic as you want it to be for you.

First of all, welcome to all of the new readers who have joined since yesterday. It's great to see so many people here. Please leave a comment and let me know who you are. If you have a blog, please leave me the link so I can read yours too. Apropos of that I want to let you know about a great contest for a DVD by Dr. Stan Gardner, on the blog called "Not Entirely British". This DVD is not out yet and will sell for $49.99. Go and check it all out and enter if you want it.

http://www.annebradshaw.blogspot.com/

*Just a note here. 

I want everyone to know that I am not supporting the beliefs of this blog, though I respect her beliefs. I am Jewish, so this is not my belief. But we are all bloggers together here and I'm supporting a fellow blogger. I am interested in learning more about other people's beliefs. Being a writer means that you want to learn as much as you can about everyone and everything. So go and see her blog and enjoy it.

I can't believe it, but I have joined another writing group. This one is on Facebook and it is called: the Children's Writers and Illustrators Group.

When I got there I realized that most of the group contained my friends. :) If you are a writer it doesn't matter if you are published or not you can join in either case. If you are published you can post and put your cover or your artwork on the board. If you aren't published you can tell about your book there too. The group just started so I have no idea where it is going, but it's good to have a group for children's writers here. Simon Rose, who is a member of one of my favorite groups, Real Writing Teachers, put me onto this and I joined immediately. The group has hundreds of members already like Real Writing Teachers, which was started by Robert Redmond who started his group with only about five people and it's grown to over fifteen hundred, a group can grow! So if you're on Facebook and you're either a writer or an illustrator for children here is the place to show your work. Go over and see if it's for you.

Time for the blog I am highlighting today and it's going to be: Heart's Desire Jewelry by Anne Marie. Her last post is for men who need help finding the perfect jewelry gift for their sweetheart for Valentine's Day. I loved her choices and could have spent a great deal more time clicking on each of the pictures. The photos show off the jewelry beautifully. I can honestly say that I would take any of those pieces of jewelry as a gift. 

Anne Marie is very talented and she has won prizes for her work. She has been nominated for an award and has posted the photo of the piece of jewelry on the blog. I love this piece and though I think it might be a little too large for me to wear, it's beautiful. The work is delicate and the colors remind me of the sea. She calls it "Ripples on the Floor of a Reflecting Pool" and it has been nominated as a semi-finalist in the KGI Worldwide Design Contest 2009. I could go on and on about the jewelry pictured here, but go and see it for yourself. 

She is also having a contest for a beautiful heart pendant necklace and if you are interested in entering this go right away and do it. I forgot and when I got there she had 185 comments all for entering the contest. I don't blame them. The necklace is really beautiful with a copper pendant and pink crystal bead necklace. Go and see it.  Also while you're there read the earlier posts, because Anne Marie is already a double winner for another jewelry contest! Congratulations Anne Marie. 

Just heard about a horrible bus accident with thirteen cars that was a mile long pile up. How horrible was that? There's no real word about it, but my heart goes out to all the people involved in that accident. I've been in too many accidents myself and even a tap can cause a problem. I'll never forget I was driving a much-loved Saab on the highway and it was bumper to bumper. I was exhausted and when the cars stopped I closed my eyes for a little cat nap, opening them when traffic started again. Well, I guess I put my foot on the wrong pedal and inched up with my foot on the gas instead of the brake. There was a huge SUV in front of me and I tapped it. Well that tap didn't do any damage to the SUV, although the driver got out and wrung his hands finding a tiny scrape. But my poor Saab was too low and it caused a dent in the hood. Not thinking much about it, I started driving without exchanging any info with the driver. I was in the middle of traffic and there was no policeman around. Plus, I was on my way to work as a teacher and didn't want to be late. So we let it go and as soon as I started driving the hood popped up blocking my view. I wound up tying it with a borrowed bungee cord. I can't imagine how awful these people feel. I hope there are no major injuries. But a mile long fender bender accident has to have been devastating for the first few cars. More tomorrow. Or else you will probably hear about it. More about my other accidents in the future.:)

Please leave a comment and let me know your feelings about anything here. 

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