Very Inspiring Blogger Award

I am very very grateful to Jocelyn Leahy for nominating me for this Award last week.  Her blog at tribalmysticstories is one of the most inspirational I follow. Not only does Joycelin share wonderful stories of her early life in Papua New Guinea, but many posts about various types of art and writing. Jocelyn is both an artist and writer herself and shares interesting information about both. Additionally, she writes about environmental, political  and topical issues of real interest. Her blog is versatile, inspirational and very informative.

I agree with Joycelin when she says that ‘blogging is fun, but often not easy‘. My blog was seven months old at the end of February – not exactly a baby any more, I suppose; more like a toddler. I’m definitely still finding my feet. Like Joycelin, I think it’s hard to know what to post, or not. Right now, I’m doing several flash fiction challenges whilst fitting in posts about aspects of history, traditions and writing. My blog is entitled, ‘Bringing History to Life’, after all. I write historical fiction, but I enjoy lots of other genre as well.

So, the rules for this Award are as follows:

1. Display the award on your blog.

2. Link back to the person who nominated you

3. State 7 things about yourself

4. Nominate 15 bloggers, link to them, and notify them about their nominations.

Right then, I’ve done the first two, so now I have to get on with the third and divulge seven things about myself. Just bear with me if they cause a yawn or seven . . .

1. I/we have six children. I know that’s on my About page, so is no secret, but I thought I’d say a little about them today. Only last weekend, a blogger I follow asked me whether I ever wrote about my children on my blog – which I don’t, as a rule. So I’ll mention a couple of things here. My children have been a part of who I am for 42 years now. Despite teaching and being with young people on a daily basis, I still suffered from ‘empty nest syndrome’ for years after they’d all left home. I was Mother Hen no longer! Well, that said, I/we have four sons and two daughters: girl-boy-boy-girl-boy-boy. Very neat. They all have similar looks and colouring but very different temperaments – and careers in life. My second daughter also has a WordPress blog. She is a great photographer and writer, and writes some lovely stories and poems: a real ‘Fairy Mind’ you might say. (I’d better not say anything else about them or I might not get my choccies and flowers on Mother’s day next Sunday!)

2. Millie Thom is my pen name, derived from my parents’ names, Millicent and Thomas. My own married name is far too boring to use as a writer – although my editor strongly disagrees! He thinks our surname is ‘joyful’! No more about that.

3. Eggs are my favourite food (as well as cheese) – which is just as well, considering my husband’s a vegetarian. If I so much as grilled a lamb chop when we were first married, he’d have to leave the house!  He’s become immune to most meaty smells over the years, as all the children eat meat. He lives on egg, cheese and nutty dishes and, fortunately, we all love lots of fruit and vegetables.

4. I’m an Aries. I’m very impatient and impulsive – much to my husband’s annoyance. If something needs doing, I have to do it NOW. My impulsive nature is under control nowadays (mostly) but in my younger, single existence many moons ago, shopping and me didn’t go together at all. I bought so many things – including clothes – that I hated once I got home. I don’t believe in horoscopes, by the way. This is all just coincidental. For a start, I don’t lose my temper very often, which is not an Aries trait. Aries is a fire sign, but my ‘fiery’ temper is rarely more than a spark.

5. I miss living by the sea, despite having been away from it since I got married 45 years ago. I miss the smell of it and the sound of it, and being able to paddle in it when I took the dog for long walks. The Irish Sea is always freezing, but I did venture in for a few dips – swimsuit and all – as a child. And I loved to watch the sun setting on the western horizon.

6. I love doing research and tend to get carried away with it when doing it for my novels. I suppose I just enjoy learning new things, so I spend hours following links which have nothing whatsoever to do with what I started to look up in the first place.

7. The four seasons hold a fascination for me and I can’t imagine living in a place where the landscape looks the same all year round. Every season in Britain is wonderful and it’s amazing to see the changing colours. I know many places worldwide enjoy similar seasons, and I also know that people find wherever they grow up to be beautiful and ‘normal’. For me, the year is all about the seasons.

Lastly, Number 4.

I find many of the blogs that I follow inspirational, for various reasons. Many of them have either already had this award or state that they’re An Award Free Blog. So here are some I really like which, I hope, don’t fall into either of those categories. I have looked, but I could have missed something.

* Forestwoodfolkart

* 1874: First Impressionist Exhibition

* Scraydotwo

* Draliman

* Sam Rappaz

* Aquileana

* Priceless Joy

* Plum Tree Deamer

* Diana George Marcos

* Farindanaz

* Mara Fields

* Alex F.