Kudos - writercize #27 (A to Z 11)

Recognition feels grand.

I absolutely love brainstorming the writercizes for this blog, but even more than that, I love seeing the comments and responses people leave under the exercises, especially those who give the exercise a try.  I recognize some writercizes are more intense than others, and for those of you participating in the A to Z Challenge, it can be A LOT to take the extra time to write a thoughtful post, but you are fabulous for doing so.  It is fascinating to me how many different responses can come from one idea, and proof positive how creative the blogging community is.

So, thank you for your participation and Kudos to you for making the time to do so!

Now, onto the interactive writercizing bit ...

Just over a week ago, Nutschell at The Writing Nut mentioned my writercize blog in a post and gave me the One Lovely Blog Award, with the instructions to 

1- Accept the award on your blog with a link back to the original post.

2 - Pass if on to 15 other blogs you have newly discovered.

3 - Contact those 15 bloggers to let them know that you have chosen them.

As this blog focuses on writing exercises, I would like to graciously accept the award (thank you Nutschell!) and change up the instructions just a tad. 

Rather than posting a list with links to blogs, I'd like to describe the blog I received the award from and describe a few blogs I've stumbled across over the past few weeks, along with their links.  If I mention you, you've received the award and may choose to accept per the original instructions or my altered instructions!  I will add comments as time progresses and I discover fabulous new writers and blogs.

writing exercise:  Leave a comment on this post with the name, URL and a short description of a blog you think the world should know about! 

Since this is a Kudos post, you are welcome to link to describe your own blog, but please be sure to write about another person's blog.  After you've written the description, send them a comment with the link to this page to pick up the following award pictured below.

(In lieu of my normal "click read more for writercizer response" I am recognizing some blogs within this post.  I'm giving a shout-out back to Nutschell, along with a summary of five other bloggers.  This list is by no means exhaustive of talent I see, so be on the lookout for more recommendations via comment or in the future.)

Thank you to:

The Writing Nut:  Nutschell, author of The Writing Nut blog is an amazing resource for writers, especially MG and YA writers, within the Los Angeles area and around the world via her blog.  She has researched the writing arena, from genres to inspiration to editing, agents and publishing, and she generously posts her findings for anyone to see.  She also posts the occasional book review and personal reflection.  If you have any interest in getting published, check out her blog.

Kudos to: 

Pocketful of Playdough:  Brianna, the author, started her blog just around the same time as I started mine and she was the first person to click "follow" that I didn't know personally, which was thrilling, so a special thank you also!  Brianna blogs about running, parenting and writing in a manner that is always engaging and vulnerable (which, lest you misunderstand, is by no means naive - for she is published and quite wise - rather to say charming and raw).  You feel instantly like a long-lost friend who is privileged to know her thought processes and emotions, especially as they pertain to the very self-aware task of writing.  Brianna is blogging her way A through Z creating blogs for biblical characters and her knowledge will be impressive to religious and secular readers alike, but what really stands out is her fresh, humorous voice.

Jaydee Morgan:  A self-entitled blog (to the best of my knowledge!), this is a refreshing read offering very short posts that are insightful and thought-provoking about writers and the craft.  If you're looking for three paragraphs that will leave you with a smile and affirmation, check out her blog!

Life in Retrospect:  NiaRaie, the author, offers a fresh, young voice on breaking into the world of writing.  She reads and writes a lot, and references interesting little tidbits from mainstream culture.  What I really love about her blog is that after analyzing an idea, she asks her readers a specific, pointed question as it pertains to the topic, and it's a great way to read a wide array of perspectives.  (i.e. "Any tips to add on developing emotion in your stories?"  "Any recent discoveries?  What are your invaluable writing resources?")

The Alliterative Allomorph:  Jessica Bell has partnered with her friend Nicole Ducleroir during the A to Z Challenge to write a daily post inspired by a one word emotion.  Followers are encouraged to guess the emotional word prompt and post a comment with their guess.  Fun, fun, fun.  Jessica's posts can get a little raunchy, so if you're a parent of a student looking through writercize, beware, but otherwise, check her out. 

Quilts Seam Just Right:  The author, "umbrellalady," posts about cooking and quilting.  I'm not a quilter and can hardly sew a seam to save my life, but I really do like to cook and especially love to eat.  For the month of April, umbrellalady is posting homemade recipes along with pictures that she took of the food and it makes my mouth water every time.