I've been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award!

                My friend Rosanne Dingli has nominated me for the Versatile Blogger award, a kind of pay it forward way to bring some attention to fellow bloggers:


Thanks, Rosanne! It’s been kind of a rough autumn for me – the boost is much appreciated.

This comes with a responsibility to say seven things about myself, and to nominate five more deserving bloggers. I don’t have all that much interesting to say that I haven’t already said, so you probably know these things:

1.       Last year I got my 30 year pin as a volunteer firefighter (I joined on my 18th birthday), and this year a certificate for 20 years as an emergency dispatcher.

2.       I have Seasonal Affected Disorder: Winter quite literally drives me crazy.

3.       My fiancĂ©e is half my age – and twice my maturity.

4.       I can’t stand America’s two great drinks: coffee and beer.

5.       It took me over three decades from the moment I first ventured into fiction writing as a child to getting my first novel published.

6.       My humor column, Slightly Off the Mark, was named after a line in a newspaper story about a bowling league.

7.       I was known throughout my school years for being painfully shy.

Now, on to nominations that, I admit, I picked somewhat at random because I couldn’t decide among all the excellent bloggers:





Linda Nagata  (Who holds a special place in my heart because she taught me a short story writing correspondence course I took – by snail mail! – many years ago):  http://hahvi.net/


11 comments:

  1. Mark, thank you so much for passing this on to me! I'm touched. And for that I won't even hold it against you that you don't like coffee. In fact, I'll drink your share, too. :)

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  2. Thank you, Mark!

    Like you, I don't like coffee or beer.

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  3. Mark - this is a lovely blog, and thank you for thanking me so heartily. You well deserve all the attention you can possibly get... especially in the middle of your Winter. Summer has started out very strangely this year - it's getting more and more tropical here, which means the earth is tilting. Oh-oh!

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  4. I agree with Rosanne that you have a great blog, and you are a great person! Also, an excellent writer!

    by the way, if you don't like coffee (which I love, and I learned to love it later in life after I got married) do you like tea? iced or hot?

    congratulations for so many things and hang in there this winter! May God grant you happiness always. Take care!

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  5. Cradle robber?!? But, she beats me in mental and emotional age! That's two out of three.

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  6. I'm packing my bags right now, Rosanne ...

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  7. I'm amazed at the number of people who don't like coffee and beer; when I was young, I thought I was the only one.

    Lena, I love both iced and hot tea -- I'm drinking it iced right now, but don't tell any of my British friends. My drink of choice is Mountain Dew, but I'm trying to cut back some.

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  8. Congrats Mark! I'm not versatile. I usually just make fun of people.

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  9. You could argue the versatility part ... making fun of people is my area of expertise, also.

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