One Hundred Posts, Three Quotes, and One Big Thank You!

September 19, 2015Sue Archer 62 Comments

I can’t believe Doorway Between Words is celebrating its 100th post!

Back when I started this blog in March 2014, I had a goal to write once a week. I managed to stick to that schedule most of the time. I even took up the gauntlet and wrote for twenty-six days in April during the 2015 A to Z Challenge.

What’s kept me motivated to write is my incredible community — all of you who have read, liked, and commented on my posts. I hope you’ll all still be with me when I reach 200 posts. 🙂

It seems appropriate that I have also just reached 300 blog followers. Thank you to all of you!

I have been remiss lately in posting additional thanks to those of you who have given me blog awards. I appreciate each and every nomination, even if I don’t always have the time to write up seventeen random facts about myself.

Here are some special individuals who have nominated me for awards in the past few months:

Alex Hurst, for her must-see Must-Read Blog Award

Lori MacLaughlin, for the Creative Blogger Award

Bradscribe, for the Liebster Award

Shawn, for the Real Neat Blog Award

Nimmi, for the Premio Dardos Award

I have also received a request from La Sabrosona to participate in the Three-Day Quote Challenge. I thought I’d share three of my favourite quotes that seem appropriate today:

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mahatma Gandhi

I wrote about the importance of integrity and communication in Would Your Captain Be Proud? It’s still one of my favourite serious posts. When I write this blog, I feel like I can be me in all my forms — my serious side, my zany side, my scholarly side, my imaginative side. Thanks for making me feel comfortable being me.

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.

George Bernard Shaw

I have this one up on my sidebar for a reason. It reminds me that communicating involves more than one person, and that thinking about your audience is the single most important thing you can do when writing. You are why I am here. Otherwise I’d be writing to the coldness of cyberspace, and who needs that?

Just do it.

Nike

I dithered a bit before I created this blog. What if I didn’t like it? What if I didn’t know what to write? What if it was a spectacular failure?

Sometimes, you just need to do it — take on those challenges and see where they take you.

This one’s taken me to a really great place. And I’m glad you were here to come along with me for the ride. 🙂

Love to you all,

Sue

Image by Kirsty Hall via Flickr/Creative Commons

Versatile Blogger Award

January 14, 2015Sue Archer 38 Comments

Thank you to Lori MacLaughlin, who nominated me a while ago for the Versatile Blogger Award. I am honoured to receive this blogging award. (And I am glad that I finally have the time to sit down and write about it!)

Lori writes about her self-publishing journey on her excellent blog Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams.

For those who are not familiar with the Versatile Blogger Award, you can find the rules here. To accept this award, I need to list 7 random facts about myself and nominate 15 blogs that I feel are versatile (with an emphasis on blogs that I have recently followed).

Here are 7 random facts about me:

1) I hate coffee. No, really.

2) I started wearing glasses when I was ten years old.

3) I watch Love Actually every year around Christmas time, and I’m still not tired of it.

4) I can lift my left eyebrow without moving my right one. (A good skill to have when you need to look skeptical about something.)

5) I prefer sweet foods over salty foods. Hands down. So if you want to bribe me, do it with a brownie and not potato chips. Just sayin’.

6) I’m addicted to my Fitbit. Best fitness tool ever.

7) In one of my high school plays, a Greek tragedy called The Bacchae, I played the role of a wild woman who rips up animals with her bare hands in a crazy rage. Talk about playing against type. Seriously, I’m a nice person. I promise!

It’s tough to pick 15 blogs from the many excellent blogs that I follow. Here’s my short list. Some I have read for a while, while others are new to me but have intriguing and creative voices. I’m looking forward to seeing where they will go.

Writing-Focused Blogs

Eric John Baker – Eric tells it like it is, and helps us to get through it. He has a fantastic sense of humour.

Everwalker – Everwalker provides thoughtful and well-researched posts about the writing process.

Often Clueless, Always Shoeless – Olivia shares her personal observations about life and writing.

Suffolk Scribblings – Dylan gives excellent writing tips and also writes great indie book reviews.

The Write Transition – Carrie writes hilarious observations about life along with informative posts about writing and books.

Creative and Unusual Blogs

Albert’s New York – Albert the dog chronicles his experiences with his People in New York. Albert is super talented. You’ll love this even if you are not a dog person.

Bradscribe – Brad provides well-researched and creative commentary on sci-fi pop culture.

Here, in This Country – Chronicles the experiences of a Norwegian woman living in the United States.

Petros Jordan – Petros features different types of cool and unusual maps.

Planetary Defense Command – Our Planetary Defense Commander gives us creative ideas for story settings along with wonderful book reviews.

Variety Blogs

Here are some life-focused blogs that I started following when I participated in WordPress Writing 201 last December. (There are many more – I wish I could have included them all!) These bloggers write about a variety of topics, so I think they have proved their versatility. I’ll let their blogs speak for themselves:

The Confused Young Adult

Thanks again to Lori. I’ll do my best to live up to this award! And thanks as always to my readers, for supporting me on my blogging journey.

All the best,

Sue

Readership Award

August 7, 2014August 7, 2014Sue Archer 21 Comments

Fantastic blogger Celine Jeanjean recently nominated me for the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award. This award recognizes people who support other bloggers by being active readers who make thoughtful comments. Thanks so much, Celine! I feel very honoured to be receiving this award.

One of the things I love the most about blogging is connecting with other bloggers and having great conversations. If I read someone else’s post and I have enjoyed it, I try to comment. It’s hard to find the time to read everyone’s posts and even harder to spend a lot of time on commenting, but it’s been so rewarding for me. It’s allowed me to meet new friends and develop new ideas. And I hope it’s helped other bloggers to feel that they are not alone in this writing universe.

If it weren’t for my readers, there would be no purpose for my writing. So thank you to everyone who has ever read, liked, or commented on my posts.

I’ve posted the full rules for this award at the bottom, which I am following in spirit. I’d like to nominate the following readers for the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award:

Lori MacLaughlin, who regularly posts thoughtful and encouraging comments not just to my blog but to many other blogs that I follow. Lori is a class act who completely fits the “team member” focus of this award. Thank you, Lori, for continuously making my day by chatting with me about my posts.

Shelley Sackier, who faithfully reads every single one of my posts and writes wonderfully positive and detailed comments. Shelley, if there were more readers like you, everyone would want to blog every day just to receive those comments. Thank you, Shelley, for always making me laugh.

Melissa Janda, whose supportive and thoughtful comments during my starting months and beyond made me believe that I really can write a blog worth reading. Thank you, Melissa, for encouraging me when I needed it most.

Sonia Lal, who has given me such positive feedback on my posts and has made me realize that yes, other people do get my sense of humour. Thank you, Sonia, for taking the time to let me know that you enjoyed my posts.

Thank you to Celine Jeanjean, who truly deserved this award. I am happy you were nominated for it.

And special thanks to Nicole, Jaso, and TL, who do not have blogs but have supported my blogging by chiming in with their positive comments. I am grateful to all of you.

A great reader is someone who collaborates with the writer to build something even better. Thank you, readers, for helping me on my way.

***

Here are the original rules for accepting this award:

The Nominee of the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award shall display the logo on his/her post/page and/or sidebar.
The Nominee shall nominate 14 readers they appreciate over a period of 7 days (1 week) – this can be done at any rate during the week. It can be ALL on one day or a few on one day and a few on another day, etc.
The Nominee shall name his or her Wonderful Team Member Readership Award nominees on a post or on posts during the 7 day (1 week) period.
The Nominee shall make these rules, or amended rules keeping to the spirit of the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award, known to each reader s/he nominates.
The Nominee must finish this sentence and post: “A great reader is…”

DBW Receives the Liebster Award!

May 14, 2014July 8, 2014Sue Archer 20 Comments

This week my blog was nominated for a Liebster Award. For those of you who may not be familiar with it, it’s an award that brings attention to smaller blogs liked by fellow bloggers. If you’d like to check out the origins of this award, I found a great post on it here.

Eva from In the Garden of Eva nominated me for this award. Eva blogs about her career as a writer and makes fun observations about life and writing. Thanks so much for the nomination, Eva!

The rules for accepting this award keep changing over time. Here’s what they are today:

1. List 11 random facts about myself.
2. Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated me.
3. Nominate 11 more blogs who have less than 200 followers and let them know they’ve been nominated.
4. Post 11 new questions for those bloggers to answer (if they wish to accept the award—it’s completely optional).

Since this is bound to be a longer post, I am going to start with my nominations so I can highlight some great blogs. If you’re still with me after that, you are welcome to read All About Me!

I’m sticking with the spirit of the award by nominating blogs I have followed for a while that have a relatively small audience (under 300 followers) and have consistently posted great content. I’m new to the world of blogging, so I only have six of these blogs to nominate. To make up the difference, I’d like to highlight five other blogs that have too many followers to be nominated but are great sources of writing tips.

And the nominees are…

Andrew Knighton Writes – Andrew writes sci-fi/fantasy/steampunk fiction and pens thoughtful posts about the writing process, films, and publishing. He is a fellow Joss Whedon fan.

Brenna Layne – Brenna is a writer of YA fantasy fiction. I love the writing style of her posts, which cover a variety of personal and writing-related topics.

Diary of an Aspiring Writer – N J Magas is a writer of speculative fiction who wrote a great interactive A-Z series in April on favourite authors.

I Can’t Possibly Be Wrong All the Time – If you love Game of Thrones, then you definitely have to check out Pat’s blog. ‘Nuff said.

Writeaway – Joanne is a fantasy writer who recently published a post on self-doubt that completely blew me away.

Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams – Lori is a reader and writer of fantasy who shares my love of The Princess Bride and wrote a fantastic A-Z series on favourite fictional characters.

11 Questions for the Nominees to Answer (should they choose to participate):

1. What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?
2. What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year?
3. What do you enjoy most about blogging?
4. What do you do when you’re having writers’ block?
5. Why do you like the fantasy/science fiction genre?
6. If you could meet anyone you wanted, who would it be?
7. Introvert or extrovert?
8. Fill in the blank: “Writing is like _____________.”
9. Who or what inspires you?
10. Why should people read and follow your blog?
11. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

And here are five blogs that provide helpful writing tips (among other things):

Apoplectic Apostrophes

Change It Up Editing

Creative Writing with the Crimson League

Melissa Janda – A Time to Write

Write Through It

Thank you to everyone who has read and commented on my blog so far. I wish I could nominate all of you! And now, what you’ve been waiting for…(maybe)…All About Me!

11 Random Facts About Myself

1. I hate rhubarb.
2. I have always wanted to learn how to play the drums.
3. My favourite dessert is a Nanaimo bar.
4. My first major purchase was a typewriter (at age 8) because I wanted to write stories.
5. I am turning 40 this year, and I am still waiting to grow up.
6. I like to collect stones from the beach, when I actually get a chance to go there.
7. I am a huge Joss Whedon fan.
8. If I could have any superpower I wanted, I would pick flying.
9. I love to dance.
10. I once won a contest by singing “Let it Be” (I won theatre tickets).
11. I’m an introvert, so I don’t like talking about myself. Yay, it’s over! Oh, wait…

Answering 11 Questions

1. What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?

Selling those fun neon glowing bracelets and necklaces during concerts at a theme park. We got pulled out of the MC Hammer concert because it was too crowded. Go figure.

2. What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year?

It’s hard to pick—I read so many books! I loved Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings. I recommend Sanderson for anyone who loves epic fantasy and detailed world-building. In non-fiction, I recently read Your Network is Your Net Worth by Porter Gale. Unlike the usual boring business books, this one was very helpful and actually inspired me to take notes.

3. What do you enjoy most about blogging?

The community of people I have met here. I love the conversations and the thoughts that everyone is sharing.

4. What do you do when you’re having writers’ block?

I go for a walk to clear my head. I have the best ideas when I am moving around!

5. What’s the weirdest/funniest comment you’ve ever received on your blog?

My blog hasn’t been around that long, so I can’t say that I’ve received any weird comments. The nicest comment I have received so far was from a reader who said that my posts could help her ESL students. I was thrilled to hear it!

6. What’s the best writers conference you’ve ever been to? (And if you’ve never been to one, what conference have you heard good things about?)

I haven’t been to a writer’s conference. I belong to the EAC (Editors’ Association of Canada), and I am looking forward to their annual conference in June. The EAC provides lots of great seminars on writing and editing topics.

7. What’s your Meyer’s Briggs Personality Type?

I’ve done this one a few times, and I keep coming out as INTJ. According to Wikipedia, that means I “possess the unusual trait of combining imagination and reliability.” Sounds good for a blog writer. I’ll take it!

8. Fill in the blank: “writing is like _____________.”

playing the piano. You need to pull everything together into a coherent whole, and if you’re doing it well, you find that zone of contentment.

9. Who is your dream literary agent?

I’m not looking for an agent, but if I needed one, I’d want someone who always had my back, truly believed in my writing, negotiated like a champ, and coached me through the whole process.

10. Why should people read and follow your blog?

I started this blog because I believed that people like to learn about communication, but are often turned off because they are intimidated by rules or bored with how ideas are presented. This is why I added in the sci-fi/fantasy slant on things. Anyone who wants to master grammar, build better relationships, speak with confidence, or write well will hopefully find some fun and useful tips in this blog!

11. If you died tomorrow, what would you miss most about your life?

Hugs. Lots of hugs from my family. You can never have enough hugs.

Thanks, everyone! Now, off to work on my next post…