Cleaning Out the Award Closet

First off, I want to say a hearty THANK YOU to J.C. Martin @ Fighter Writer for showcasing That Rebel on her blog on Friday. Each week she highlights one of her followers and I LOVE this idea. What a wonderful way to say thank you. J.C., you rock! Oh yeah, and she just got published!

Thank you to Donna Hole for awarding That Rebel the Happy101 Award. Donna honored me weeks ago and has probably forgotten all about it. But luckily I stored the award on the shelf, to remind me.



Thanks, Donna. And thank you for not giving up on me when I all but disappeared. I'm passing this Happy 101 to Jules the Rainbow Rebel, Words Crafter, Mary @ Giggles, Yvonne the poet, Terry, Postman and Melissa.

Next is the Honest Scrap Award. Thank you to Jules at Trying to Get Over That Rainbow, who gifted me with this one. HEY! Isn't that the Arm & Hammer dude?

Okay. So these 10 things will cover all the awards, okay? Hmm...

1) I started my second novel and am about 2000 words in. I have a working title, but it's not the one I want. So I can't share that yet.

2) No, I haven't finished Churches, Chickens and ChiChi's, I'm about halfway in to that one.

3) Yes, new novel jumped in and took over, demanding to be written NOW.

4) I've spent most of the last two weeks researching background for my new novel, delving in to all sorts of new realms and loving every minute of it.

5) The medication has kicked in and the depression is lifting. Some days are better than others. A couple of weeks ago I got a whole lot of work-type stuff done. The last two were about writing. This week, hopefully, will be about both.

6) While in the pit aka the wild gray yonder, I couldn't do diddly. Not write, blog, read, work, answer the phone, socialize, nor much of anything else. Other than watch movies and television and sleep for hours and hours and hours. Oh yeah. And eat.

7) Black Betty (my car) needs a new battery. And I need Click and Clack to tell me what's making those funny popping noises under my front end. Or is it in the back? A mechanic rode with me for an hour the other evening and she refused to misbehave for him.

8) I'm on a sugar tear and the cupcakes on two of these awards are looking might-y good right now.

8) I'm having fun falling back in love with my hometown, Villa Rica. We're taking it slow and easy and so far, so good.

9) I'd like to get another cat for Bugsy to play with. But who knows where I'll land next and finding a home for two is harder than for one. Or not. We'll see.

10) I can't eat eggs which led me to explore other options for breakfast. One of my favorites is shelled hemp hearts mixed with a dollop of Greek yogurt and fresh fruit. This morning it was a pear and vanilla mixed with five tablespoons of hemp seeds/hearts. They have a buttery, nutty flavor and are full of protein, Omega 3s and 6s, and are a great source of Vitamin D.

11) Did anyone notice that I have two number eights so you got eleven factoids rather than ten?

I'm passing the Honest Scrap award to a few people who, like me, are a-okay with baring all. These are some of the guts-sharing-est people I know. If you are a regular here, you'll recognize most of them.

Elliot @ So close, but... makes me cry with his elegant, gut-wrenching honesty.

Kobico @ Mindless Meanderings of a Middle-Aged Maniac. The first day I read her blog I knew she was a true sister because I had walked a mile or two in her shoes. She weaves the triumphs, trials and tribulations of her life in to magic. I always relate to something in her topic. She's also an avid home gardener.

Eric W. Trant @ Digging with the Worms is about as straight-forward and brutally honest as one can be, letting it all hang out, warts and all. I admire you for that, Eric. Never stop. This one's for you, Texas Rebel. Is that why y'all got a dubya in yur name?

Ivy Bliss @ every head I've had the pleasure to have known. Ivy is about four-foot-nuthin tall. Well, maybe I exaggerate a little. But you would never know it by reading her blog. This woman's a giant. And another let-it-all-hang-out kinda gal. I promise you will grin, if not outright guffaw when you read her posts.

Then there's Arlee Bird over @ tossing it out. On Wednesday's he does memoir. And boy does he do memoir.

Swinging around the circuit, I keep bumping in to Roland D. Yeomans @ Writing in the Crosshairs. The truth about Roland, who he is and what's going on in his world leaks out of his daily posts. These are usually writing lessons extraordinaire, including guest posts from the likes of Mark Twain (whose own memoir will finally be released), Raymond Chandler and Ernest Hemingway (who has it out for Roland). He's also generous with excerpts of his own short stories and novels.

Donna Hole is another one that speaks her mind. And her heart. Most recently she's agonizing about her writer status. Donna, you are an amazing writer. No doubt about it. You're also one of the most generous people I know.

I recently discovered Jayne @ A Novice Novelist who makes me smile with descriptions of what's going on in her world in the U.K.

Lastly, I found Tabitha Bird @ Through My Eyes a few weeks ago when I was in the middle of that dark depression and rarely on Blogger. Reading about her journey and her awarenesses touched a place inside me that needed to be sparked. She's on hiatus right now to finish editing her memoir, but I've linked you to the post that touched me so. Also read her puzzle piece post.

This award is full of Sweetness!

Thank you to Kathie at Just a Happy Housewife for The Icing on the Cake Award. I believe there was a tell-all attached to this one, too, but I've already bared all I'm allowed for one day. Kathie has a wonderful blog that lifts me up every time I read her.

This award goes to...hmm...actually, if you're here, reading this post and you don't already have this award, go ahead and grab it. It's so hard to choose and I love you all!

Now, for some music. Kek recently turned me on to the late Eva Cassidy. This cover tune is for a friend whose feelings I hurt a while back. We're all good now but: fact number twelve: I can be a bit callous at times. I know. Big surprise, huh? That Rebel's not perfect. Dang.

~That Rebel, Olivia J. Herrell