Ladies Who…Dare to Inspire

Posted on May 31, 2010 by MAL

As part of my monthly promise from April (click here to read about it), I am going to pick another lady who has inspired me this month to represent the ongoing award.

Kat from 3bedroombungalow.

Not only has she moved to a completely new country (she’s American and she now lives in England) with her two children, but she faces on her own it while her husband is deployed to war. It takes a heck of a lot of courage to face every day, to blog about it, to have such a wicked sense of humor about it and to watch as her children morph into tiny British people calling her “mum.” Readers are attracted to her blog, in my opinion, because she consistently writes really funny, real stories, she’s honest about her fears and giggles, and she has a unique point of view….that and her heart is humongous. I’ve never met her, but you can just tell that she has a whole lot to give.

Enjoy the award, lovely Kat! I look forward to meeting you this summer, I hope!

Ladies Who…Dare to Inspire

Posted on April 30, 2010 by MAL

On a lighter note from my previous post, I’m getting on the band wagon, and creating my own award.

To kickstart the award ceremonies off, I’m going to announce a few people who have been on my mind.

There have been a few people who have truly made a difference in my life since I started this blog, and I would like to recognize them. They may not know they have; they may not have reached out personally, but in some way, these people have made me re-think my opinions, helped me to succeed in my own quests or just written such brilliant entries that it inspires me to better myself.

Every last Friday of the month from now on, I will be acknowledging one female blogger who I feel dares to inspire. She doesn’t have to just inspire me, she can inspire the world, one little girl or a dog. It’s up for debate.

Without any further ado, in no particular order, I’d like to pass on my award to the following people:

Mid-Atlantic English – Michelle reached out to me last month, and asked if I would join her on the journey that is Script Frenzy. Without her introduction, I wouldn’t have done it, or even known about it. Plus, she is so generous with her comments and feedback.

Smitten by Britain – Melissa is one of those women who I feel took me under wings when I was just starting out. Her love for Great Britain inspires others and her continual effort to put out great blog posts inspires me to keep my blog up to standard.

Bristolian Moments – Sabrina, don’t worry, you don’t have to share this if you don’t want to! She is just getting started, but I applaud her for starting her blog and sharing her incredible anecdotes, to emailing me when she first moved to this country to see if we could meet up and for being courageous in her attempts at making friends. She’s more ballsy than I!

A Literal Girl – Her grasp of the English language is only something I can aspire to one day. Her entries are always filled with such specific insights into everyday life, you wonder how she notices such seemingly mundane moments and turns them into …well, magic. She showed me around her town of Oxford and took us under her wings. And, at the age of 23, I know she’ll do alright for herself!

Erika Lopez – A monster girl. She is gutsy, ballsy and has opened her heart to the me and the world like no woman I have ever met. She has just started her own publishing house, and has so much in the hearth right now, you just have to go look for yourself. Incredibly talented writer, artist and woman. The way she manipulates words leaves me breathless.

Seattlite Imagery – Only just getting to know Alisha, but she and her husband have made the plunge and are official world travelers. Since that is where Jock and I are headed, I look to her blog for beautiful stories, insights and plain old ideas for my own life. She is also writing a book (I guess that’s what we unemployed gypsies tend to do!), and she exudes light and love.

RULES:

There are none!

If you’d like to pass this award forward, feel free. Otherwise, just go on and gloat.

(Also, if you do post it, it would be fantastic if you could give me a link back!)

Script Frenzy Update – Day 28/30 – I did it!! I won!

Posted on April 28, 2010 by MAL

Two days early, and I am up to 104 pages! I still have about six pages left to actually tie the whole story together, but it feels good! Since to win Script Frenzy, you only need 100 – I have completed it!

Also, the staff at Script Frenzy have been giving their updates, I decided to copy them and let you know a bit about my screenplay.

Genre: Romantic-Comedy

Title: The Vegas Effect

Logline: Four friends have hit the dregs of life – an abused, career-driven wife, a depressed, sex-starved actress, an emotional construction worker who cares for his autistic brother and a womanizing, recently fired, stock market trader. The only way to shake their lives up is a trip to Las Vegas. (still working on this)

Outline: My Novel.

1. The climax of a script tends to come in a fight, a kiss, a revelation or an explosion: If you had to characterize your script’s climax as one of these, which would you pick and why?

There is a fight that comes after a big revelation.

2. Your script is almost fully formed! Or almost to 100 pages at least. Break it down for us:

Best Line:

MILES

You know. Every American has a

phone number that begins with 555.

It’s in the movies and on all the

television programs. Everyone knows that.

This line is stolen from real life.

Worst Line:

GREGORY

As much as I’d like to beat my

gum’s with you, gotta get back to

work. Let’s make it snappy.

Very bad line, but kind of goes with character.

Funniest typo: “Kis Kis” – somehow I forgot the extra S. The word doesn’t have the same effect without the extra S.

Best visual: “Main Character crawls on all fours through vanity area to main room. She slowly crawls around the room, turning off all the lights. The DOOR IS KNOCKING more and more agitatedly. She crawls under the bed.”

And, most importantly, does your script test positive for the presence of an animal? (Pet / beast / pest): It does! A mountain lion!

Bradt’s Travel Writing Competition

Posted on April 22, 2010 by MAL

I have entered one of my entries from here (edited and tailored for the competition) in a travel writing competition. I would GREATLY appreciate you voting for me in the People’s Choice Award. Ultimately, the main prize will be determined by the judges, but the People’s Choice gets published in the travel guide website.

Exciting, no?

So, send it to all your friends, and let’s get me winning! Pretty please. That would be fantastic. There is also a new sidebar widget with the button. Click below to read and vote on my entry.

Lots of love,

MAL

Pursuit of Happiness – Blog Styley

Posted on March 18, 2010 by MAL

Since beginning this blogging world, I’ve been amazed at the people I’ve met through it and because of it. I’ve also been amazed at how comforting it is to have an outlet to express myself. Melissa at Smitten By Britain named me as one of the blogs that makes her happiest. I am honored because surely that’s the whole point of this darned thing.

First off, rules 101 of Happy 101 is to list the top ten things that make me happy. Here goes:

Jock (especially when he laughs)
My Mom (especially when she laughs – it’s the most infectious laugh I’ve ever heard)
My Sister and her son
Talking about anything and everything with my two best friends – Courtney and Jessica –
Writing,
Traveling with friends and family (so excited to have Charlie and Eileen come in a few weeks)
Working Hard
Sunday Roasts
Speaking French
Dancing

The next step is to name ten other bloggers that make me happy. These are the people whose blogs I always look forward to reading, and check to see when their new posts will be up.