One Lovely Blog Award

Recently, I was nominated by Rich Weatherly, author of Closed Doors, a Trilogy, for the One Lovely Blog Award. I am very honored that he chose my blog. In the relatively short time I've known him, Rich has proven to be an all-around great guy to know. Of course, I shouldn't be surprised, after all, he is a fellow Texan and military veteran. I hope you will join me in visiting his 'Welcome To My Place' blog on a regular basis. Thank you Rich for this award and for all you do to help others. 

Now for “The Rules”:

If you are one of the nominees for the One Lovely Blog Award you must do the following:

• Thank the person who nominated you and link to them in your post. (see above)
• Share seven unknown things about yourself. (see below)
• Nominate other bloggers and blogs you like or admire... 15 or so if possible (see below)
• Contact the bloggers you nominate to let them know and to link them back to your post so they can read "The Rules", too. (Will contact them when I have a link to share)

Seven unknown things about Lynn Hallbrooks

1.  I am part Irish, which is only a problem when I'm upset.

2.  I was born in New York but have lived most of my life in Texas.

3.  I have sung a couple of duets at my church with my friend.

4.  I am about to be a grandmother for the first time.

5. I have judge the quality of children's books by the reaction of my Godson.

6.  I am a slow reader but I believe it is more of an advantage at times.

7.  I prefer silence when I'm reading or writing. Noise does not induce concentration for me. I'm not really sure how people, youngsters in particular, can  multitask like that. 

My nominees for the One Lovely Blog Award are less than fifteen.  After learning I was nominated, I made a list of blogs that I came across.  Each   blog posts spoke to me for different reasons. I hope that you will take a moment to see if they speak to you as well. Fair Warning some may require a hanky. 

Tracy James Jones

Alisha Paige - Ruby Vines - Wolfgang Pie

Jeff Bennington

Christine Cunningham

Jonathan D. Allen

Constance Wallace

Caleb Pirtle III

Norma Budden

Food Babbles

Shelley Workinger

Doug DePew

Once again, thanks Rich Weatherly for giving Call Sign Wrecking Crew on the Run, the One Lovely Blog Award.

Hope everyone has a lovely one!

Lynn Hallbrooks

co-author to David McKoy

co-owners of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Tracy James Jones recently surprised me with the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. 

Some of you may remember that Tracy interviewed us and I turned the tables and interviewed her. It was great fun to do back to back interviews.

Speaking of fun, I have to mention 7 true facts about me. Let me see if I can come up with some fun ones. 

1. I love to sing along with music...just about everywhere.

2. I love eating chocolate in any form, actually I love most sweets.

3. I love reading a good mystery.

4. I love reading a good medical thriller.

5. I love art but I don't go out of my way to go to an art gallery unless my son or daughter's work is showing. 

6. I love going to the movies with friends.

7. I love my co-author.  Although there are some days I don't like him very much, he's still one of my best friends.

—————-

 After searching through my blog lists for just the right posts that deserve this award, here are my 15 nominees:

Belinda Witzenhausen 

Jeff Bennington  

Kelly S. Gamble

Jenny Hansen

Lauren B. Grossman

Eddie and Connie Kay Beesley

Lynnette Labelle

Leslie Moon

Ami Hendrickson

Mistress Suzie

Russell Blake 

Tim Greaton

Hannah Warren

Paty Jager

Writers in the Storm

I hope you took a moment to either scan or bookmark these posts. Each in their own way, are very inspirational. If you read them, then I hope you learned something that will inspire you. After all, creative humans desire inspiration.

Have a great one!

Lynn Hallbrooks
co-author to David McKoy
co-owner of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC


 

The Sunshine Award

Tracy James Jones presented me with The Sunshine Award. I am very honored indeed. It seems that Tracy and I run in some of the same circles. I guess that's not surprising since we are both authors and bloggers. About a month ago, Tracy interviewed us. Then the next day, I interviewed Tracy. 

I’m supposed link back (see above), answer some questions about myself, and then tag more people.

1. What is your favorite Christmas/festive movie?

I have many Christmas favorite movies but among them White Christmas is a must see every year. What's not to love...there is Christmas = the spirit of giving, singing, dancing, and military all in one movie.

2. What is your favorite flower?

Carnations are my favorite flower. They come from the florist in so many different colors these days.

3. What is your favorite non-alcoholic beverage?

My favorite non-alcoholic beverage is Dr. Pepper.

4. What is your passion?

I think my most overwhelming passion is helping others...that and eating sweets.

5. What is your favorite time of year?

Right now my favorite time of year is when school starts and I have more time to work. :)

6. What is your favorite time of day?

When the house is quiet...I prefer quiet to think, write, and read.

7. What is your favorite physical activity?

My favorite physical activity is singing.

8. What is your favorite vacation? 

My favorite vacation would be one where I didn't have to lift a finger for a whole week. I could spend time lounging and reading uninterrupted until meals and/or drinks were served to me. 

Now I’m supposed to nominate 10 other people for this award. 

I searched my blog lists for just the right posts that reflect Sunshine in some form.  If you do not have time to read the posts then please either skim or bookmark for later.

Writers in the Storm - This article shows both the storms and the sunshine.

Wodke Hawkinson


Amberr Meadows - Amberr is helping some stray cats with our assistance? Can you send her some Sunshine?

Christian Fiction for Your Kindle


Kate Donahue

Norma Budden

Frederick Lee Brooke

Damyanti

Shelley Workinger

Shannon Mayer

You know sometimes it isn't easy to find sunshine in this world of ours. I hope you found some with these posts. If so, I hope you spread a little sunshine in your next blog or maybe just smile at someone.  Simple things can be all the sunshine people need to make their day even better. Thanks,Tracy for sharing your sunshine with me and making me smile. :)

Have a great one!

Lynn Hallbrooks
co-author to David McKoy
co-owners of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

Thoughts on writing skills

I've taken some of our reviews to heart and I'm making an effort to make our second book even better than our first. I've been doing some research.  I'll freely admit that I'm confused about lots of different aspects of writing. I think part of it is the conflicting information out there on the Internet and in books. 

Below are our main challenges. I've provide some of the research I've done. I hope you'll take a moment to peruse the links provided so we can be on the same page.:

Speech tags:

Complaints have been that we use them too frequently and/or use 'said' too often. 

A friend gave me this link:

Speech Tags

The question I have is this: when authors have several characters in a given area, how do you differentiate them? Especially if they are all military types who talk about the same. 

Expressing thoughts of a character:

Apparently you aren't supposed to use quotation marks, attribution tags, or even italicize them. 

Places I've visited for help: 

Fiction writing: How to write your character's thoughts

How to write Thoughts of a Character

My quandary is how do you deal with thoughts alongside of dialogue? In particular, if you want to show what the character is thinking versus what they are actually saying or doing. 

Writing a book series:

I'm also trying to figure out the best way to handle writing a Series to allow for mini references to previous books in the series. Here are a couple of places I've visited:

How to Write a Book Series

Why Authors Should Write a Series of Books: Lessons Learned From Patricia Cornwell

I think I have a clue as to how best to handle this. I guess time will tell.  

Today, I'm turning the tables and asking you, the reader of this blog, to share what you know on these subjects. In particular, how you came by this knowledge and can you provide a reference link. 

I'm hoping this will be a win-win situation. Those that are looking for help will hopefully get some. Those that have knowledge and experience will get to help others.

Thanks and have a great one!

Lynn Hallbrooks