The Lovely Blog Award - a Feel-Good Moment

Look, look, LOOK what I've got:

The awesome Trisha at Word+Stuff awarded me with a Lovely Blog Award. Shucks, isn't she kind? And may I just say to whomever designed the award - adorable! Gorgeous teacup with little rosies = too cute.

The official rules of the Lovely Blog Award are (and we know how much I like rules):

1. Accept the award, post the award on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link. They don't say anything about an acceptance speech. Le sigh.
2. Pay it forward to some other blogs you have newly discovered. Well, I have a couple, which I've noted below.
3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen. After all, what's the point of winning something if you don't know about it, right?

So, here are the winners of my Lovely Blog Awards:

1. Carolyn Arnold at A Writer's Journey. Carolyn is a mystery/thriller/suspense writer, and she is an a-maze-ing blogger. Her blog is full of excellent tips and encouragement on writing, but it's also filled with really helpful and fascinating tips on crime detection and police work. Interesting to read even if you're NOT writing a mystery or crime novel. What's more, Carolyn must put in a 28-hour day because she updates her blog everyday, as far as I can tell.
2. Peggy Blair at Getting Published. Peggy is the author of The Beggar's Opera, which is due to be released in North America and the UK in spring 2012. Her story was short-listed for the prestigious Debut Dagger Award, she’s received a personal recommendation from crime writer Ian Rankin, and her book has been snapped up by European markets at the important Frankfurt Book Fair. On top of it all she's just a great gal, her blog is extremely readable, and she has a huge archive of writing tips and advice.
3. The team at The Chrysalis Experiment. I just love these guys. Three up-and-coming writers provide great weekly prompts for short stories - the idea being that short fic is one of the best tools a writer can use to hone his or her craft. Stories can be between 1,000 and 10,000 words and everyone is welcome to join in the fun. Oh, and they also featured my short story this week, but I would have given them the award even if they hadn't :)