Always Here If You Need Me Award

A grateful thank you to Phillip McCollum for nominating me for this interesting award. In his own acceptance post, Phillip says he’s horrible when it comes to following up on blog awards. His humble honest admission filled me with guilt. No one is more tardy with award follow-ups than I am. I got to thinking what a terrible person I must be (again). Then I realized that some of us are not comfortable shouldering a lot of praise. With this cunning piece of rationalization under my belt, I was saved from another round of depression — not to mention some nasty self-assessment!

Nevertheless, I’m trying to turn over a new leaf (perhaps there will be a promising chrysalis underneath) by following Phillip’s example and responding promptly for a change. Besides, this award is new and deserves some special attention. Author Briana Vedsted has this to say about her brainchild:

This blog award is for those bloggers out there who are especially caring and loyal to their friends. This award is to thank you for being there with me, through good times and bad. And for going above and beyond the call of duty to cheer me up when I was low.

I’m not sure I fit the bill exactly, but Phillip has suggested the award is “a way to let a blogger know that they said the right thing at the right time.” While I would not describe myself as a superstar, I think I’ve put a few pucks in the net at that end of the rink and have the comments to prove it. (Let us tactfully ignore those occasions when I have said something outrageously annoying!)

There are just two aspects to this gentle award:

Five Things That Make Me Happy

1. A pot of hot orange pekoe tea.
2. Seeing some strong view and visitor numbers on my blog.
3. Reading a book with interesting new ideas.
4. Discovering new post rock/ambient, neofolk, and progressive rock music.
5. Writing posts and journal entries.

My Five Nominees For the Award

1. Lucinda Elliot, who is a complete lefty but generously tolerates my conservative ways anyhow. Check out her delightful “cod Gothic” novel, That Scoundrel, Emile Dubois. You will find a review on this blog. Lucinda posts entertainingly about all things gothic.
2. Mari Biella, who is at the beginning of what may well be an impressive writing career. Her engrossing horror novel The Quickening is reviewed here on my blog. Mari likes to unearth innovative new authors, pens perceptive reviews, and writes engagingly about literature.
3. Jim Graham, who is a much better friend to me than I am to him! Jim writes terrific sci-fi novels, two of which (SCAT and Birdie Down) are reviewed on this blog. These days, Jim is writing some excellent posts about the intriguing ideas behind his books. His latest novel, Army of Souls, has just been released.
4. Callmeshebear, who combines fabulous photos of the Toronto area with some truly inspiring writing. She Bear shares her photos under a creative commons license and was Freshly Pressed last December. Her blog is imbued with a pleasing openness and sincerity.
5. William Hoop, who lives with ADHD and tries to help fellow sufferers. I’m new to William’s blog, but it looks like a great place to find some support and encouragement.

Rules: Post a picture of the award somewhere on your blog. List five things that make you happy. Choose 5 people to nominate who have been a virtual shoulder to cry on, checked in on you when they knew things were rough, or has always been there for you. Comment on their blogs to thank them and let them know you nominated them.