#FridayFlash, NaNo and Writing About Writing

It's funny how things go.  When I first started writing there was no way I'd show my stuff to people. I also knew there would be a long way until I could muster the courage to do so. Although, I knew that nowadays writing doesn't have to be a strictly lonely activity, so I signed up for Twitter and started talking to like minded people. 

This is when I first learned about #FridayFlash. Oh boy, how badly I wanted to be a part of it!  But I was still shy, so I watched, read and learned. 

On May 2010 I finally gathered my wits and wrote my first flash fiction, Zombie Walk.  The response was so great that it even got published on an e-zine, Flashes in the Dark, and it inspired me to run a contest Zombie Luv, which was so very funny and a great success! Recently, to my surprise, it was accepted in the anthology The Best of Friday Flash vol. 2, or as we affectionately call it, BOFF #2. (I strongly suggest you follow the links and buy the thing. The stories there are... Wow!)

After that first push I got a little bolder. I wrote weekly stories and made great friends in the #FridayFlash community. I even joined WeSeWrimo (Web Serial Writing Month) and NaNoWrimo (National Novel Writing Month), and got some great writing experience from it. 

WeSeWrimo I "won" kind of easily, since you're the one setting your own goals. I was very modest and made the best of it. NaNoWrimo is something different altogether. You have to write 50K words in a month, and if you have never tried something like that, let me tell you this is no easy task. NaNo flunked very early on, but I wasn't too upset about it. 

A few months later life got the better of me and I stopped writing. It took me over a year to put it together so I could even consider the writing venture again. No matter, in due time I got back and I do write a few stories now and then, and even, *cough, cough* poems. O.o (Not showing those publicly, sorry! :P) 

Ironically enough, now that I write much less than I used to, I find myself writing about writing. Back when I started Randomities (this blog you're reading, if you're new here ;) I set a goal of sharing only my stories and other random stuff. What I least wanted was to write about writing, because I thought that such meta-writing was for the likes of Stephen King, not people like me. 

Well, life got the better of me again! Recently I was humbled and honored to be invited to join the #FF staff as a contributing correspondent. I hope I'll be up to the challenge! You can make your own mind about it by reading my first article: "NaNo madness this year? Thanks, but no thanks".

So, if you're curious to know why my NaNo experience flunked, and more importantly, why I'm totally okay with it, follow the link above. I hope you'll find it somehow useful. ;) While you're at it, I suggest you browse through the Friday Flash website. It's full of information and links to uncountable wondrous stories. Have fun! 

Pause

Hello everyone! It's been a while, no? Have you missed me? I sure have missed you all. :)


I've missed having time to write too, which I haven't had much lately. Or rather, at all! See, my last post was from 31st of August and I haven't been able to visit my writing pals' blogs or chatting on twitter or facebook. Do you realize my last post on twitter is over 20 days old? O.o


Yeah, things have been a bit crazy here in "real life". In fact, in the past few months I've moved from one side of the world to the other, I've changed professions and I've changed my main writing project altogether. Lots of stuff to deal with! 


(What is "real" after all? But we do have to care for our bodies, so we have to work and earn money, right?)


With all that happening and other things going on I realized it would be better to allow myself the time to take care of them and create a better structure in life to allow me getting back to my darling trolls and other characters. 


So this is an indefinite pause in randomities and my writing life. 


My hopes are that things will fall into place on the next few months, but if you feel this is taking way too much, please do give me a nudge! ;P 


Oh, right! There are some people who asked me to give feedback on their work. I will look into the material I've already received and those who are still to send me their work, please don't shy out because of this pause! If you still want this crazy woman's perspective, I still want to give it to you! heh


Well, that's a bye for now, but not a goodbye! XD

Visual Revolution!

Welcome to the new and improved Randomities!


With the new template and looks I've added a few pages to better call your attention to some of the coolest stuff we have here:

• Stories - A quick link to all serials and stand alone stories published here.

• Honorable guests - Spotlight to the generous people who contributed to enrich Randomities' content. Please let me know if you want to feature there. ;)

• About - blablabla, heh.

If you have a blogger blog I want to call your attention to this place:

http://www.bloggerplugins.org/

This is where I found most of my widgets, even some that are standard. The blog's host is most kind and helpful, taking time to answers doubts and working on requests. I strongly suggest you check his stuff out!

So, what do you think? Are the colors ok? Too many widgets, too little? Feedback please! :)

Uh, oh! Randomities Won the Sweet Blog Award!

In order to prevent another award withholding I'm posting this right away. See what a dutiful girl I've become? heh

Thank you Jemi, for this cute award. You're a sweetheart!

As per rules, to accept the Sweet Blog Award I should share seven things about myself, which I've already done. For these reasons I prefer to repeat myself over and over, I hope you don't mind. ;P

However, I'm most pleased to share the love with these sweet friends:

• Marisa Birns, from Out of Order Alice

• Monica Marier, from Attack of the Muses

• Gracie Motley, from Crone's Cauldron Publications

• Laura Eno, from A Shift in Dimensions

• Cecilia Dominic, from Cecilia's Random Writings

Please feel free to make your own rules girls, the important thing is to spread the love. :)

Uh, oh! Plethora of Awards at Randomities!

I have to confess something. I've always wanted to use the word "plethora" but I never had the chance before, so I kind of held out some of the award announcements for a while. :P

Well, this is partially true, since the Zombie Luv Contest kept me quite busy and the majority of them was granted during the crazy times in which I was evaluating or judging the entries.

Either way, sorry for the delay! This doesn't diminish by all means how much I appreciate the awards themselves and the lovely people who granted them to me. :)

The Fabulous Flash Award, was created by Jon M. Strother, the father of the #FridayFlash community. In his own words:

“I have decided to start the Fabulous Flash Award to spotlight some folks I feel deserve recognition for their, well… fabulous flash fiction.”

Gracie Motley was the amazing writer who passed it on to me. She writes the most incredible dragon serials, Fire and Water, and some flash fiction that engrosses you up to the end, making you ask for more. She's also very supportive on her comments and a great person to chat with. Thank you Gracie for this great honor!

This award rules are simple:

1. acknowledge receiving the award in a blog post
2. link back to the person who awarded it
3. select four other fabulous flashers to receive the award to keep spreading the joy
4. write one or two short lines explaining why you’ve chosen each recipient
5. optionally (I know not everyone is on Twitter) tweet, “I just gave the Fabulous Flash Award to (name). They’re worth reading.” Include a shortened URL back to your post in the tweet.

So to the fun part. I'd like to pass on this award to:

• Jodi MacArthur -- This woman is creepy; she writes things that will make your hair stand up. She's not limited to the darker side of the human mind though, her humorous pieces are fantastic, her poetry is deep and moving, and now she's also into a dark mystery serials that I'm most curious about. Her voice is unique, her stories are original and well constructed, I'm sure we'll hear a lot about her in the future.

• Ganymeder -- Catherine Russel has a fantastic sense of humor. See her last flash, Pirates Don't Play Easy that you'll understand. Her mastery in pacing carries you through the story at her will, releasing you only when she desires to. It's almost impossible to have the first reading of her writings with a critical mind; it's the reader in us that take over at first.

• Tomara Armstrong -- I had noticed her writing before, but it was her entry to the Zombie Luv Contest, Three Steps, that showed me how exceptional her writing is. It was my winning choice for quite a while. Of course this is not her only great story, she easily strolls from gruesome, to lovely, and won't shy away of curious writing challenges, coming up with fantastic results.

• Erin Cole -- She writes mystery and horror with exquisite word choice, trapping your attention with mastery. She has recently opened submissions to her macabre anthology, 13 Days of Horror. Check out the great array of writers she collected on the previous edition.

TheVersatile Blogger Award came from the awesome Valerie Valdes. Thanks! :D

She has two awesome ongoing web serials, and man, you have to check out her story that just came out at the Birdville Magazine!

Now, I'm not familiar with this particular award's rules, so I'm passing it on to a few people I believe deserve it:

• Maria Protopapadaki-Smith, from Mazzz in Leads

• John Wiswell, from The Bathroom Monologues

• G. P. Ching, from So, Write

• Lilly Mulholand, from Lily Mulholand, Writer

• Laurita Miller, from Brain Droppings

Finally, the lovely Monica Marier is the one who granted me the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you! :)

This award's rules are also simple, although more difficult to comply with:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

The solution for my dilemma was to acknowledge some great people I've met through the Zombie Luv Contest, so I'm passing the this award to these cool zombie folks I had the pleasure to meet through the contest: ;)

• Joanie Rich, from Tales of a Nightcrafter

• Kemari, from Kemari Writes

• Angel Zapata, from A Rage of Angel (I hope you won't mind the pinkness of the award, Angel, considering the general tone of your blog. :P)

• David Hernandez, from Dividing Canaan (Same pinkness comment goes to you too. ;P)

• Casper Woods, from Building a Universe

• Donald Conrad, from Flashtold

• Delia, from Procrastination Rehabilitation

• David G. Shrock, from Draco Torre

• Lee Hughes, from Lee Hughes Writes (Pinkness! Sorry? heh)

• Erik J. Krause, from Erik J. Krause's Writing Spot

• Melissa Webb, from Ramblings from a Word Weaver

• Matt Merritt, from One Block

• Amalia Dillin, from Good to Begin Well, Better to End Well

• Jason Beymer, from Beer and TV

• Miya Hayson, from My Literary Jam & Toast

Ohh, I made it to 15 people, yay! Now, those who were tagged with excessive pinkness, I'll understand if you decide not to accept the award if it doesn't fit too well the visual of your blogs. I just ask you to bear in mind that roses have thorns and the background is grey, at least. ;)

Congrats everyone! :D

Uh, oh! Randomities Won the Happy 101 Award!

My dear twitter friend Anne Tyler Lord, of the excellent Don't Fence Me In, sent me the best blog award ever: Happy 101 Award that stands for happiness and friendship. Thanks so much Anne! *hugs* :)

To receive this award I'm supposed to list ten things that make me happy, and pass it on to five people. I gladly comply:

1. Friendship: This award is mostly about the warmth of fellowship. It makes me tremendously happy to make new friends, like the ones I'm sharing this prize with, and to be able to maintain old friendships that could cool down with distance or time. (hi Former-Witch! ;)
2. Unconditional love: like the love we share with our pets, when we allow ourselves to. If you look at randomities' labels, you'll notice how much I dabble about my dogs, heh. Also, I'm lucky to have close friends who I love and am loved by unconditionally. This is a rare thing.
3. Pretty things: It makes me happy to see, watch and listen to the wonderful things that we, humans, are capable of making. In my view, art is something meant to elevate us.
4. The nature: It could fall into the pretty things category, but I think the nature deserves a topic for itself. It's astounding, isn't it? I'm always happy when hiking, climbing, swimming or just standing in a place untouched by man's crafty hands. The connection with the nature is inestimable.
5. Reading: Another thing that is encompassed by the pretty things category, but stands out. It makes me tremendously happy to travel to other worlds, learn about other view points, muse on something, and everything else that the reading experience can render us.
6. Food: Yeah, it's not just the endorphin of a good dark chocolate,heh, but the act of eating is highly pleasant, especially when accompanied by a good wine, in a table filled with friends.
7. Writing: Obviously! To create things, is something amazing. When the characters, the story, or the ideas don't let me sleep until I've given them enough attention, I'm truly happy.
8. Adventure: If you've peered into my profile, you know that already. I like highs, depths, speed, and even the surpassing of obstacles in life.
9. Love, in the romantic sense: I love to love, and be loved back. Intensely. Those who have felt this know what I'm talking about. I'd never exchange a broken heart for safety. Life is not meant to be dull.
10. Meditation: Like Anne, It makes me profoundly happy when I'm tranquil and balanced. To actually breathe helps a lot, and meditation is a good way of remembering how to do it.

Gee, I've been so reflexive lately! Wait and see, 'cause there's more stuff coming, heh.

Now let's go to the fun part! I'd like to spread the love to many people, but I'm limited to five, so here are the friends I'm bestowing the Happy 101 Award to:

Donna, the fantastic writer of Donna's Blog

Debbie, spreading the word about Ainu culture through Project Uepeker

Dan, poet and author of The Man Who Painted Agnieszka's Shoes

Phyl, writer, book reviewer and cat lover, of Bookishgal

Jem, poet and writer, of http://jemfyr.wordpress.com/

Uh, oh! Randomities Won the Sweetest Award!

The lovely Anne Tyler Lord, from the wonderfully helpful Don't Fence Me In, sent me this sweet award. Thanks so much Anne, you're a sweetheart!

Err, there's so much "sweet" in this post that I suddenly have an urge to eat something... guess what? Sweet! Hey, do you have a chocolate to spare? lol

Right, I'm supposed to tell you ten things about myself upon acceptance of the award. But since I already babble a lot about myself in most posts, may I refer you to this post, in which I'm a bald faced (but ineffective) liar, and this other one where I tell you some truths about myself you might find amusing?

Finally, I'd like to pass this award to the other Mari-girl Marisa Birns, from the entertaining Out of Order Alice. She's a doll! You'll understand why if you check out her delightful comments on every blog she visits. No wonder Marisa is one of the Randomities' best pals. (see widget on the side bar ;)

Ah, yes, if you don't understand the Mari-girl thing, pop on twitter, chat with us, and we'll explain who owns who, and what the heck I'm talking about, heh. ;P

Uh, oh! Randomities Won Another Blog Award!

There are people who are used to winning blog awards.

See the creator of this cool one, Lesa Holstine, from the Lesa's Book Critiques, and Jemi Fraser, from the (rightly so) popular Just Jemi, who passed it on to me. Thanks Jemi! :D

I'm not used to it, (yet? heh) so I'm totally *doing crazy dance*. Since you can't actually see me, I'm not blushing, no sir!

So, I'm supposed to tell you five outrageous lies and one outrageous truth about myself. Let's see...

1. I hate dogs. They're ugly, smelly, and not friendly at all!
2. I'm normal; I like normal.
3. I was once married to a Chinese man who made me tie my feet in order not to sell me away. We split up because my feet are too big and I couldn't bare the pain. He didn't get to sell me though, and at least I got to visit China!
4. When I was a a drooling teenager, I chocked with my food and got rescued by Johnny Depp. He even kissed me, but I'm not telling where!
5. I look way younger than I am; probably because I'm still an obnoxious brat.
6. I have more than 30 books published under a pen name because I'm too shy to make shameless self promotion. I'm also astonishingly rich, but I won't share a single penny with anyone; not even for good causes.

Now to the fun part: I'm passing on the Liar, ops, Creative Writer Award to Peter H. Fogdal, form the hilarious Danish Accent. Hey Peter, you're gonna have to come to Italy to get your award! heh

Psst! Don't miss his first novel translated to English.

Edited to add:

Holly mole, I must be a big fat liar indeed! The sweet Anne Tyler Lord, from the great Don't Fence Me In, has just sent away another Creative Writer Blog Award. Thanks so much Anne! :D

I know that as a writer I should be able to play with words at will, but I'm too stunned. So I'll jump straight to the fun part, and nominate the super cool Angie Capozello, from the fun Techtigger's Soapbox.

Also, you'll want to check out her serial fiction project The Penny Dreadful. I love it!

And I could never miss sending fun things to Kristi Thompson, from the humorous How Did You Get There, which has just been through a major aesthetic change that you must check out. (The content is even better, of course. ;)

Finally, since I've got two of the same award (not that I'm complaining! heh) you might want a double dose of lying? If yes, please tell me so and I'll be pleased to comply. ;)

On the other hand, if you think I'm deadly boring go ahead and visit the people mentioned up there. You won't regret it!

Uh, oh! Randomities Won the Kreativ Blogger Award!

Oh my, the incredible twitter friend Kirsti, whose blog How Did You Get There features hilarious and educating interviews, among other interesting things, gave me the Kreativ Blogger Award! Thanks so much Kristi! :-D

Hey, why don't you go pay her a visit? It's totally worthy!

Now, as per the rules, here are the seven things about me that you might find interesting:

1. I'm Italo-Brazilian, but I write in English;
2. Fantasy is my main thing. That's why this blog is so bizarre sometimes;
3. I currently live in Italy, but you knew that already if you talk with me on twitter;
4. I used to be a tax attorney (yuk!);
5. I'm a dog person, but I really love all kinds of animals, even bats (whaa?);
6. I do like sharing information and making conversation here and on other places. This is not not only about networking, but also about learning, helping others, and making friends;
7. I have hazel eyes. ;p

Finally, and very importantly, I nominate another twitter friend whose blog I find very creative and entertaining:

Susan, from the authentic & indie West of Mars.

She rocks! Literally, she's all rock'n roll, heh.

Hey Susan, check out the rules:

1- Thank the person who awarded you

2- Copy the logo and paste it on your blog

3- Link to the person who nominated you for the award

4- Name up to 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting

5- Nominate another Kreativ Blogger to pass the award to

6- Post links to the blog you nominate

7- Leave a comment on the blog to let them know they’ve been nominated