And The Award Goes To...

The very wonderful Heart in San Francisco over at Guilty With An Explanation has awarded me the "Blogging That Hits the Mark!" award.

I'm almost positive I had an acceptance speech in my back pocket, but I just felt around back there and, um, I only have a couple of Legos and a dead Cheeto I picked up off the rug an hour ago. I could have sworn I chucked the Cheeto into the trash. But maybe I accidentally got rid of the speech instead.

Since fate has chosen to intervene, let me merely say thank you from the bottom of my heart for this fantastic award. The cute little logo will be given a place of honor in my blog sidebar.

Yes, like any self-respecting Angeleno, I am highly appreciative of any and all awards. I even watched the Quill Awards this past Saturday night hoping my name might magically be announced as the winner of the fiction award.

Clearly, it didn't happen But, my little baby of a novel is in progress so maybe one day the stars will align and I'll be nominated for a Quill Award!

In case you're unaware, the Quill Awards are a sort of popularity contest for books. Some publishing big wigs nominate the books and then the general public gets to go online and vote for the ones they think are best.

While watching the show, I found out that one out of every four books sold in the US is a romance novel.

I'm sure it's harder than we all assume to write a good romance novel. After all, romances need a good plot, compelling characters and snappy dialogue, just like any other novel. Much has already been written about the romance novel being dissed because it's primarily written by women. I certainly agree with that train of thought.

Gosh, maybe I should switch my fiction novelist aspirations over to romance! It might be more fun than "serious" fiction. Just think, if I switch over to romance, then I could write things like, "The searing heat of Sinclair's gaze melted her insides."

Or how about, "Madeline's fingertip crackled with electricity as she lightly traced the outline of Sinclair's mouth."

Uh huh.

In fact as it turns out, Cormac McCarthy, (pas moi) won the General Fiction award for The Road. But, he did not win Book of the Year.

Nope, that honor went to romance novelist Nora Roberts for Angels Fall. Come to think of it, I sort of love the fact that a romance novelist beat out McCarthy in the Quill Award's popular vote. I suppose those corporate big wigs figured they'd better give Nora her award even if it made them feel sick to do so.

Someone must have reminded them how folks threw eggs at a limo the last time the winner of a popular vote didn't get the prize he deserved.

Sigh.

And on that note, although I may have no power to nominate books for the Quill Awards, I will share my nominees for the "Blogging That Hits the Mark" award:

1) Malik over at Solar Souls. Most everything Malik writes is on point. He's academic, but he's not in the ivory tower. He's real, opinionated, and his October 24th essay skillfully takes apart the arguments that justify using the n-word. Love it. Someone press print and pass it on over to 50 Cent and Jay Z asap. American Gangster my ass...

2) Anonymous over at MultiCultClassics. Anonymous was/is in advertising and now offers an honest look at what Madison Avenue is trying to sell us. And of course, it all comes through the lens of that much beloved buzzword, "diversity". It's always a fascinating read on so many levels and opens my eyes to what's behind what I'm seeing on TV and in print.

3) Neil over at Citizen of the Month. Neil is incredibly witty, but not just for the sake of being a suave, urbane Angeleno. Today's post on Michael Jackson is precisely why I love his blog. And if you're not currently reading his blog, a word of advice: Don't drink anything the first time you head over there. Especially not any sodas. They'll burn when they come shooting out your nose while you're laughing. Don't say I didn't warn you.

4) "Me" over at My American Melting Pot. I don't know what her real name is, but every time I read her blog, I really reflect on how we're all doing with our "melting pot" status here in America.

So, go forth and vote for your favorite nominees by clicking on those links with your mouse button. I hope you enjoy discovering something new.

Comments

Malik Akbar said…
Thanks for the nod Liz. I have to give my vote to the American Meltingpot. Interesting stuff.
Congrats on your award. I am going to check out the blogs you linked to.

If you are going to ditch your literary fiction writing forget romance, the money is in street lit son!

I'm kidding but I am worried as I get ready to send out my ms to agents, my non-street lit writing self will have a hard time. Where/who are the solid commercial fiction black female writers?
Liz Dwyer said…
Malik,
You're welcome. I hope more folks come over and engage in what you're talking about.

NYC/CR,
Oh yeah, can't forget about that street lit. That stuff flys off the shelves. I could be Zane part deux or something. Except none of that mess won book of the year. I can't imagine why, can you?

And your worries are also my worries. I don't want to be pigeonholed into one little box.
1969 said…
Can't wait to read all of the blogs and congrats on your award :)
Liz Dwyer said…
1969,
Thank you! Definitely check out the links. They're all great reads.
Oh, wow, Liz, they are ALL new to me. Thank you for a new reading list that sounds fantastic.

Years ago, when I realized how popular Romance novels were, I thought, "how hard can it be?" and decided to support my children by writing them.

And then I read one.

As it turned out, diabetic comas were not for me, and my brilliant plan was abandoned before I had written a single bodice-snatching paragraph.

I look forward to voting for YOUR novel in next year's Quill Awards.
none said…
I so totally agree. congrats and thanks for the good read.
Liz Dwyer said…
Heart,
Too funny! I think it's got to be hard to write a good one because otherwise it just sounds like absolutely ridiculous drivel.

Gosh, it'd be nice to have folks be able to vote for my novel in the Quill Awards. :)

Hammer,
How nice of you to say! Thank you!
Monday's Child said…
congrats and thanks for the links... have just spent a pleasant lunch hour reading :)
Liz Dwyer said…
Monday's Child,
Thanks for visiting! Glad you got some good reading in! :)
Jameil said…
at first when you said "me" i thought you were talking about yourself. lol. congrats!! one out of every four books sold in the US is a romance novel?? that's insane. i tried my hand at romance noveling just as a short story the first time i heard how popular they were and couldn't stop giggling. the prose was just so out of control to me!!

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