I’m honored to announce that my true story, My Grandmother’s Candy Dish, was selected from thousands of submissions and published on March 20, 2018, by Chicken Soup for the Soul’s anthology, My Amazing Mom: 101 Stories of Love and Appreciation. Continue reading
Brother new, sister blue, I miss you.
Both lost at age four. Pain is evermore. Continue reading
Announcement
One of my poems, Sister Blue, won First Place at NY Literary Magazine. Sister Blue will be published in the NY Literary Magazine anthology, Awake, in December 2016. Awake will be available in print or as a free kindle download. Continue reading
A wealth of new awards for Friendly Fairy Tales! Woo-hoo! I decided to celebrate our third snow day in a week by sharing this abundance of new awards. I’ve been gifted the Real Neat Blog, Liebster, Hearts as One Drumbeat, One Lovely Blog Hop and the Premio Dardos Awards. The only one I had previously received was the Leibster Award. Continue reading
This Holiday break, while recovering from stomach flu, I read JK Rowling’s new book, Silkworm (published under her pseudonym, Robert Galbraith). Has anyone else read it? In it, the author is less than kind in her portrayal of bloggers. Heck, she is less than kind about publishers and agents as well. One of her characters observes that we need more readers and less writers.
I rethought blogging, now that I’m nearing my two year mark. Am I a writer who would be better off stopping and being a reader? Then my blog received an award and I was asked a series of questions about how and why I blog. Do I think it’s going to do me or my career any good? Those are good questions. I’m not a traditional blogger, in that I don’t usually write vignettes about my life and family, but I do put myself in my writing, always. We all have our reasons for blogging. Some of us have health issues, and we are isolated inside our houses. Some of us are poets, and we all know how rich poets are…. Not. Some of us are just starting out, and hoping to learn as we go. Continue reading
I’m a Spring baby, born to dance like the spring flowers. To share my spring joy, I made this video:
I won’t tell you how many years I’ve seen, but I wouldn’t trade one because they’ve brought me to this happy place. This year, I’m hoping for clear weather on my birthday, because I want to visit the ocean with my three kids. I’ll try to take some pictures for all of you. Meanwhile, some birthday treats for anyone who wants to be part of the party:
People ask, what are blog awards and should I accept or not? Blog awards are acknowledgements given blogger to blogger, and all you have to do to accept is drag the award icon into your own post and respond with appreciation to the nominator. That’s a minimum bar, anyway, you can google to get more specific on “rules.”
But should you accept? I have seen reasonable arguments on both sides. The abstainers tend to consider blog awards a distraction from writing, too time consuming or believe them to be a fiction designed for search engine optimization (SEO).
Somehow, without my noticing, I have reached my one year blogoversary. WordPress let me know, and I was actually surprised. I’ve hardly noticed the year passing, I love the WordPress community and publishing. I even find myself thinking about attending BlogHer, although the likelihood is low, given my three kids need my time.
I started blogging without much clue, just putting stories up to make it easier to get copies to requesting beta-readers. Over the last year, I have been welcomed by other bloggers, who have become friends, you know who you are! To take a snapshot of progress, friendly fairy tales has 1379 followers and 36,293 hits since June from 103 countries. I have published nearly 50 fairy tales and over 110 poems. That averages about one story and two poems a week. I have had such fun sharing and hearing back from readers of all ages. I counted up all the likes laboriously some day after I passed 10,000 total and not since. No idea how many like I have now, as WordPress is keeping that knowledge pretty tight these days, but I know I have 8,123 comments. Holy Mackerel! Thanks WordPress, for all the information you do give, it’s more than I can process most days.
I have also collected well over a hundred awards, and I have even more thanks to share for these: Continue reading
Ho ho ho! I’ve been to the North Pole, and when Santa heard that you’ve all been naughty and/or nice, he decided you needed some presents! You might prefer a rainbow loom, chocolates, plane tickets to Tahiti, diamonds or the new Beyonce CD, but I’m afraid all I can afford to fit through the internet wires are these little treats. Each and every one of you bloggers should take a present, if you want one, with my good wishes.
I never imagined the response I have gotten to my fairy tales, here on Friendly Fairy Tales. I originally put up stories for family to be able to read them without my providing everyone copies. (I have a BIG family.)
The warmth of community I have found has been a fairy tale come true for me. I love all the comments. I love hearing that others love fairy tales, and even more, that others love my stories. And all the awards make me happy, more on that below…
Thanks to everyone who visits, who likes, who comments or even just enjoys my stories, my photographs and my poetry. For all of you, I have made an underwater visual fairy tale (a new video!!), called Fairy Fish Tails, which has an original score composed by my oldest son.
The video was a long time in the works, and as a result, I have been slow to pass along thanks for awards, but here goes:
Happy Halloween, and to all my fabulous fellow fairy tale lovers, here are some treats (I’ll leave the tricks to the fae tonight):
Thanks to the blogs I visit, who have filled tonight’s cauldron with treats of many kinds. Some of my favorites, I got again and again! I love when that happens! 🙂
Thanks to Dear Kitty or Petrel41 for the Reader Appreciation Award!! Love her lore, wide-ranging from animals to current events to women’s issues. Hope you get a chance to visit her. 🙂
Thanks to lifebeinggirly for the Versatile Blogger Award. She is adorable, and I love that she is flying the girly flag high. We all need to love who we are, because we are pretty darn terrific!! Painttheworldwithwords then chimed in with another Versatile Blogger Award. Amreen is a poet, a designer and a talented blogger with a penchant for beauty. Here is a lovely poem by him:
The soul of my poems
define the tune of my life
singing my presence.
~~~
Amreen Shaikh
Thanks to In My Hands for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award! If you can’t get enough of black and white cat pictures and Chekhov, then you must check her out. Cats and great literature. Who can resist that? Then Bullying Prevention came in with another nomination for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award! He is doing god’s work, trying to make the world a better place for all. I’m delighted to see posts from both, they are always food for thought and very moving.
And a new and different icon for the Versatile Blogger Award from Chronicles of a Public Transit User. Oddly enough, we both almost died when we were four. We also both love Halloween. Kudos for a great award posting, too, worth a visit!!
I can’t tell you all how important all of you have become to me. I love to hear your comments, to see your likes, and to read your posts. I’m still here, spinning my stories, pairing photographs and verse, and trying to express my inner voice. Something crucial has changed, though. I feel more connected and less alone than I ever have in my life.
Together, through our words, I believe we can change the world forever. Make it a place where it’s okay to be yourself. I don’t have to look like Angelina Jolie (hey, I wouldn’t turn it down…) to write a good story. We don’t all have to be writing the same things. Viva la difference!! I cherish all of you, and I hope you all have fruitful, productive and glorious Novembers. Special hugs to those of you starting Nanowrimo, you go!!
I nominate these special trick or treaters to share my loot, please reach a hand in the cauldron and take any treats you like (or none if you don’t have a sweet tooth):
aCuriousGal
Tails from Paris
antilandcaper
Persecution of Mildred Dunlap
Dully Pepper
And some Halloween pictures to thank my readers and fairy tale lovers everywhere:
Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham
Do you have a favorite soup? I can’t choose, I like so many kinds, from the thick chili to the clear-brothed chicken vegetable. One of my sons prefers my cream of mushroom with shiitakes and the other likes best my Queen Green Soup. Don’t tell him, but it’s a cream of blended vegetable chock full of kale, spinach and/or chard. My daughter still prefers noodles, but I’m working on her.
Today, I’m making celebration soup. I hope you will join me at the table and break bread with me over some home-cooked soup. (Lots of veggies, sorry!)
First ingredient in any soup, some food, from seeds! Thanks to Belsbror for nominating friendlyfairytales for a Seed of Light Award. The light shines on the seeds in gardens around the world. No seeds, no food. Thanks Belsbror for this award that helps us remember.
Thanks to Donicia, a warm and creative blogger, for her delivery of stock ingredients. Her Grand Award included the Best Moment Award, Semper Fidelis, Shine One, the Awesome Blossom, the Very Inspiring Blogger, WordPress Family Award, the Versatile Blogger Award, and the Most Creative Blogger Award. I’m going to cook those together, nice and slowly for a clear, deep stock. (Since I have them all already, I’m using my award token to accept.)
Thanks to Maria M, a fabulous writer and dog lover, at decidinglybob for some spice: the Versatile Blogger award.
Now for a taste of the islands: Thanks to Bia Helvetti at childoftheisland for the Reader Appreciation Award. I am new to her blog, and I am delighted to be exploring it. Here are her words: Bia Helvetti is a Story Keeper who writes folktales and ballads based mainly around the mythology of Britain and Ireland. Whether reworking the old stories or spinning new yarns, her tales bear the mischievous claw marks of her dark humour, passionate feminism and romantic Gothic influences.
Here’s the 10 veggies: Thanks to Deo at Deo Volente for 10 more awards, some of which I’ve already received: the Sunshine Award, the Awesome Blossom, the Reader Appreciation, the Because You Are Fantabulous Award, the Versatile Blogger Award, the Liebster Award, and the Most Creative Blogger. If you don’t know Deo, you should visit him, he is a very smart and inspiring person with a lot of wisdom: “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” To accept those, I will repost my award token:
He also gave friendlyfairytales three new awards: the Outstanding Blogger, The Kreativ Blogger Award, and the Your Blog Makes Us Smile Award.
Trying out a new nomination format: to some terrific bloggers, please accept the following awards, no strings attached, simply an outpouring of admiration and a desire to share the love:
KeithGarrett, please accept the Seed of Light, for your delicious ghost story poems;
LavenderMoonGirl, please also accept the Seed of Light, for your magical nature poems;
BooknVolume, please accept the Grand Award from Donicia above (or any subset), for your restful Quiet Moments;
StockResearch52’sBlog, please accept the Versatile Blogger, for your amazing photographs, like fairy tales themselves;
WindAgainstCurrent, please accept the Versatile Blogger for your science, nature and recent fall colors, sigh;
ACuriousGal, please accept the Reader Appreciation Award, love your photos and love your comments;
MungaiandtheGoaConstrictor, please accept Deo’s Big Ten (or any subset), for your devotion to endangered animals;
DiffusetheMuse, please accept the Outstanding Blogger, for your consistent great poetry;
PhotographicRhodes, please accept the Kreativ Blogger for really connecting with subjects through photography; and
KindnessBlog, please accept the Your Blog Makes Us Smile, for your constant inspiration.
I hope you will check out these terrific bloggers, who really make my reader a fun place to be. I hope you enjoyed my celebration soup. A walk in the woods is a great way to celebrate a warm meal. Care to join me?
Thanks for the awards and thanks for reading!! I deeply appreciate the lovely feedback I’ve gotten these last six months, and it has come to mean more to me than I can say. (Just don’t tell Hubby, he might be jealous!)
Warmly,
Brenda
Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham
Friendly Fairy Tales 