Versatile Blogger Award
Welcome to The "Write" Blog. I love Science Fiction, Comedy and life in general. Thanks for stopping by!
I recently had the honor of being interviewed about my life and my novel, The Deep Freeze. The opportunity to share some of my goals and accomplishments was very exciting. My humor also manages to sneak its way in there so feel free to read and laugh!
http://amybethinverness.com/2011/10/28/interview-with-tammy-holloway/
Have a sci-fi day! ~ TLH
The contest I just entered taught me a few things. The statement: The “Writer’s” Job is Not to Judge, But to Seek to Understand by Earnest Hemingway, was on one of the blogs that commented on my work. It caused me to research a little about Hemingway. It is very motivational when you find out how much of a “normal” person someone like Hemingway was. He did not have some elaborate degree in writing, nor did he have a flawless personal life. Throughout his life he was married 4 times, sustained an injury by pulling what he thought was a toilet chain and committed suicide because of his mental status. However, he did do great things as well. He seemed to enjoy writing since high school and also served in WWI and received a medal after saving the life of another soldier. One of the lessons he learned about writing was to always be positive. This is something I also do as a result of my father.
The comments I received from the contest were all taken into consideration and I sought to understand each one. However, I will continue to follow Hemingway’s other statement as well:
My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way. – Ernest Hemingway
Learning the process of writing is coming to me the more I write and research successful authors, not necessarily the comments made on my work. I appreciate any and all comments since people were nice enough to take the time to look at my material, but I will only try to understand the reason for each and use it as a guide for further research. I find that the hard part for most is finding what to write about. I am quite the opposite. In the meantime, I will write all of my crazy stories in the best and simplest way I can.
Have a sci-fi day everyone! ~ TLH
Nervous, worried, scared someone might make fun of your work? When I started this journey not so long ago, I had these fears. My first was how others might feel about my writing. After getting up the courage to finally show some of my material to others, I then felt worried about it being stolen. After getting past that I finally realized I really wanted to write….and be good at it too. I decided to get involved in a writers association. That led me to writers conferences, which led me to an old English professor of mine, which directed me to a writing coach. This is where the nervous part comes in. I actually paid a professional to look over my work.
(I’m sorry but I have a spaghetti noodle jammed up in my thumb nail and it is THROBBING like crazy!)
Anyway, She did exactly what I thought she would do and I was humbled. However, that did not stop me. I knew it was going to need work. Heck the only writing skills I have are from college essays and simple English courses. I never actually studied writing like many of you have. What I did keep in my mind was that I had creativity in my mind. Story after story flows through me and I just needed the writing skills in order to present the material in an exciting way. Needless to say, I’ve learned so much from many people like you and I thank all of you.
I plan to repay you. I want to give back what had been given to me and then some. How? By Inspiring, researching, sharing, teaching and guiding those who are new to writing like all of us were at one time. Imagine your very first day of writing; the day you decided you wanted to “be” a writer. What was it like? How did you feel? These are the things that will inspire new writers. It is not about how you succeeded or how you wrote a best seller; but how you got up and fell down a million times before finally getting to a point of success.
People fear. That’s what we do. Fear gets in the way of so many wonderful things in our lives and we must conquer it. You are all wonderful people. Every person is unique. Your words mean something to others. Not just some of you…”All” of you. Maybe the words help get you through the day. What if they help someone else get through the day too? You are amazing and deserve only the best! Stand up to your fear and face it!
New writers reading this, hear me out – Write! WRITE! WRITE!!!..and share it so we can marvel in your world and you can grow into an amazing writer as you hope to do! Take fear out back and kick its ass! I believe in you. Fight for what you want and ignore what others want “for” you. This is about you and you are special. Listen to only those who mean to help you improve; those who have experience. Take it in and learn from it. Smile at those who criticize you because they could never be capable of growing as you will. They will look back one day and regret. Forgive them and move on. Become stronger by pushing through all the twists and turns along the way. Never throw away any of your work! It is what may become one of your best sellers one day. Become a leader for new writers as you follow those you admire. Grow, achieve, become, inspire! Pass on this great form of expression! and of course, GOOD LUCK!!!!
(I am going to soak my thumb in peroxide again….I am seriously stupid. How does one injure themself while doing dishes? By the way, don’t scrape dried spaghetti noodles off the pot with your nails OUCH! Guess that’s why people call me goofy:-p)
Have a wonderful sci-fi day everyone! TLH
“On Writing is both a textbook for writers and a memoir of Stephen’s life and will.”
Read more at Stephen King’s website
The more I find out about Stephen King, the more I see myself. The only differences are the fact that I am a woman of course, and that I do not have good discipline to write every day. I do have other obligations such as college but that is a choice. I am going to purchase this book and get even deeper into the world of Stephen King since I am heading in that general direction. This could be interesting to say the least but I feel it will really help give me perspective on my direction. I also feel motivated and inspired by such a wonderful science fiction author. My writing improves by the day and I feel great about that. It is true, the more you write, the better you become. I guess it is the same for anything. I have a gift but it is not going to happen without some work involved. Writing is fun…but it also has its challenges. Who motivates and inspires you?
“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”
“Dozer”
Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH
Stanford University is Offering Computer Science Courses Online, Free to Anyone
Go here to read about it:
http://www.geekosystem.com/free-stanford-courses/
Deadline is today!….October 9th….Register. I did.
Sorry it is so short but I wanted to post this as fast as I could! Awesome!
I don’t know how many times I’ve watched people fall into the same old routine. You know? The one that everybody thinks is “right for society”. I am NOT one of them. I fall into the “I do what I want” category. Stubborn? Yes. Happy with my choices? Yes. Can you say that about yourself? There seems to be an order that is followed in society to be “in” with the rest of the crowd. I see neighbors fighting back and forth over who has the best lawn ornaments or people acting all serious because humor is “immature”. What about the type of car we drive or the clothes we wear? If you think about it….who is in charge of these decisions anyway? I know I sure do not want someone picking out my outfit for the day or deciding what my attitude should be at any given moment. I know what is morally correct and I know right from wrong so I make my own decisions based on that. The decisions that make ME happy. That means I am going to continue to be my goofy self….even as a professional writer and accountant. No I am not going to go to work in a clown suit but it sure would make the accounting world a lot more interesting wouldn’t it? HA! I also choose to laugh over watching the news and all the sad stuff. I get too mushy as it is. I am just filling the “fun” category. I will leave the rest to those who can endure such painful information.
I also enjoy being inspired. This is one of my favorites that I pass on to others as I see fit. It is a great read for anyone struggling with ANYTHING. It is presented in such a way that anyone can get a grasp on what is being said. My favorite part is the explanation of power and choice. He explains how we have the power to choose: Choose happiness, not sadness. Choose to give, not take. Choose to laugh, not cry….and so on. It also describes how wonderful the human body is, which most of us take for granted. I like the way it is described in the book. It cheered me up and that’s what counts. I hope you find your “Write” Thing….and find your happiness:-)
That’s a good word to describe this prestigious award that I found out I was nominated for. Thanks to a group of wonderful bloggers, this award came to be and people like you and me get recognition for all of our hard work;-) Never in a million years did I intend to receive such high recognition, yet Kimberly of Kimberly Inspired felt I deserved it. How wonderful to think I made someone feel that good to nominate me! I inspired the inspirer! How cool is that?
Just type Versatile Blogger Award in your google bar and hit search. There are countless numbers of bloggers being recognized across the internet and the comments are all so positive and happy! What a great way to show other bloggers just how wonderful their stories, poems, life, photos, art, etc. actually are!!
The Rules of the Versatile Blogger Award:
1. Thank the person(s) who shared the award with you by linking back to them in your post.
2. Pass this award to 15 recently discovered blogs and let them know that you included them in your blog post.
3. List 7 things about yourself.
Now for my part in this endeavour:
#1 – Great big hugs to Kimberly Inspired for nominating me for this award! How wonderful to find out how much someone appreciates my blog! Thanks Kimberly!!
#2 – This was the hard part. I did not take this award lightly. I wanted to make it as special as Kimberly did for me. That meant I had to sacrifice some of my writing time and homework time to get it done. After researching the award on the internet and finding out just how many people were honored by receiving it, I knew I couldn’t just put together some half-hearted list. After 2 days and several hours of research and reading blog after blog, these were my picks for this award:
http://kimberlyinspired.wordpress.com/ 
Yeah sure, this is the blog that nominated me, but she too has something to say that should be recognized. Her happiness gleams through her posts which pours over into the world of bloggers. I love reading about how happy someone is and her blog should not go unnoticed. She is amazing. She also loves photography and is very good at it. Pictured above is one of her beautiful shots.
http://laughteriscatching.com/ Aka: Tinkerbell 
I am impressed when I read her blogs. She is young, smart and to the point. Great blog!
http://astoryeveryday.com/ 
This blog shares our work, if we so choose. They have a great amount of followers that read these stories and it is a wonderful way to share a variety of stories to the public.
http://belchdini.wordpress.com/ Aka: Stabs in the Dark 
A great blog for reviewing horror with a side of humor. Love it!
http://mdweigand.wordpress.com/ Aka: Tales of a Fairy Lantern 
His stories and poetry and absolutely wonderful. Every word draws you in more and more.
http://www.homesteadersheart.blogspot.com/ 
What can I say, this blog inspired me to start blogging a couple of years ago. She is sweet, funny and makes you feel the comfort and laughter that is shared in her own home. Her latest challenge….to join her in giving up the one thing we all love so much….SUGAR:-)
http://riverunderwater.wordpress.com/ Aka: Colleen Ponce 
The art work on this blog has to be seen not described. Stunning! I love horses and this drawing touched my soul.
http://diaryoflifeloveandme.wordpress.com/ 
I just love this blog. She shares her every day through a diary. Very cool!
http://nmichaelhawe.wordpress.com/ Aka: The Realms Between 
From beautifully written stories and hand crafted metal sculpting to sharing recipes on how to brew root beer…This blog is a must see!
http://whileitwasfallingapart.wordpress.com/ 
What can I say, her blog brought back some wonderful memories for me. She also reminds me of myself and how I fell into writing. Oh how I hated those term papers:-) One of her latest posts made me smile – “Carrot Love”
http://suehealy.wordpress.com/ 
She helps writers! That’s right…She has some really awesome information on her blog to help us out from competition websites to making her own “write a novel in 6 months” competition. The contest started October 1st but I am sure she would let you in on it!
http://bardicblogger.wordpress.com/ 
Yet another helpful blog for writers. This blog is incredibly informative and I strongly recommend visiting it.
http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/ 
Her site offers writers a chance to win a contest! It is from October 21-23 and all you have to do is visit her site, read the requirements and sign up! Too cool! Thanks Brenda:-)
http://ronsrants.wordpress.com/ 
Survivor of a lightning strike, his sadness of life with illness and his fight with COPD brought tears to my eyes as I read some of his experiences with depression and encroachment on an unknown fate. His blog deserves recognition as he brings to light some of the “real-life” trauma from all of his medical conditions.
http://neekswrite.wordpress.com/ 
Monique has a very clever way of writing, which she picked up from the movie “Out of Africa”. She has bloggers give her 3 random words, then writes a story with those 3 words in it. She gets quite a response from it and I love the stories she makes from the words! Great blog!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU! YOUR BLOGS ARE CHANGING THE WORLD:-)
#3 – Now it’s my turn
Hmm, 7 things about me…. If you really want to know:
FEW – A FEW…things about me
Family – Education – Writing – Adventures – Fun – Emotions – Working
Family:
“A”- number-one in my book! I love my husband with every inch of my being and we share a special bond. Nothing pleases me more than putting a smile on his face every day. He lights up a room with his beautiful personality and I am one lucky woman to have him in my life.
Buster is one of three dogs we have. He is 12 years old and still going strong. He has been a great dog through the years and we take the best care to cater to his elderly status. His fame brought him more friends than either of us lol! His silly tail trick landed him a space on The Planet’s Funniest Animals and managed to win $100 and an exclusive T-Shirt.
Daisy was a second edition and turned out to be a very compassionate, loving, nurturing dog. You wouldn’t know it if you pulled up in our driveway though. She sounds like she is going to eat your face off. However, that said, at six months of age, she helped us raise two baby groundhogs we found stranded on the side of the road. They were successfully released into the wild which was sad but rewarding all at the same time. We bought her because of my depression after four miscarriage and our plans were to breed her in the future.
Rush is the newest edition and the smartest of the bunch! Border Collies are typically smart dogs anyway, but Rush tops them all. He amazes us with the amount of words and sentences he can understand at less than 6 months old. He is also very agile with strong herding instincts. He crouches and waits for Daisy as she runs back and forth in the yard and it is quite the attraction lol! In the evenings, Nathan kicks the soccer ball high in the air for the dogs. It only took a couple of turns before Rush figured out where the ball went and actually looks up for it to return. Buster and Daisy never really picked that up for some reason. The ball would just land and they ran for it. Rush jumps high in the air to catch the ball and usually falls short or jumps way too high and that is hilarious to see! He is our stud dog for Daisy. I think we will wait a couple of years for breeding though. It is a lot of work and time. Just having them all around us is a great feeling. We love our four-legged kids.
Education:
Important, necessary and I feel very accomplished with a Bachelor’s Degree on my wall and a certificate showing I graduated with honors (Magna Cum Laude). I always wondered what that meant. Now I am proud to know and have the honor written on my degree.
I am well into my Master’s Degree now and keep pushing forward. The classes are much harder but understandably. It is my master’s after all. I am studying Accounting of all things. I actually love math and enjoyed tutoring for several years. I like to work numbers and have a meticulous way of doing things. Accounting is much more than numbers though but it makes the idea even more challenging. I just hope to become the best CPA I can be!
Writing:
This has to be third on the list for obvious reasons. I have to put my education first in order to get the grades required in the master’s program. They are much higher than undergraduate studies.
I love to write. When I was in high school, I wrote poetry and did not realize it was an outlet for me then. I loved to draw and paint with oil also. I must have painted dozens of pictures. One picture made 2nd place at the fair. I painted a picture of Hank Williams Jr. lol! I guess they thought it was good enough to place.
I now write with all of my physical and mental self. I write as if the whole world is reading, but I write without thoughts of what will make me money or not. I just…write. I do have a novel well underway and that is what got me started on this blog. I knew I needed improving before I could finish The Deep Freeze and I wanted it to be my absolute best before finishing and publishing it. I have since attended several writers workshops, joined a writers association and chamber of commerce, and try to write something every day (pending homework of course). I entered two writing contests and placed in the top ten of one. My piece “About My Mother” is published on Amazon! I was so excited about that. I realize how important it is to build a platform as a writer so I was off to a good start! I now have a second story submitted in a contest. I will hear the results one way or another by the end of this month (October).
Adventures:
This one is best left to pictures, so here are a few…..
Fun:
Nathan and I are always goofing off, wrestling, chasing each other or the dogs and creating affordable ways to have a good time. Last year, we had a good snow and couldn’t leave for a week. We made a seven-foot snowman and sled down the driveway on huge trash bags….seriously. We’re nuts! Two peas in a pod. Anyway, the list goes on and on and would be wayyyy too long to write so instead I will share a few of our funny pictures with you.
Emotions:
Boy do I ever have them! My feelings (no pun intended) on the matter are simple. They make me who I am! If I went to a shrink there is no doubt in my mind they would diagnose depression but duh! Of course I have some sad moments in life. Who doesn’t? I suffered loss and so have many other people in the world. At my worst, I went through mourning over the loss of my spouse at the time. It was sudden (car accident) and I was immediately traumatized to such an extent I had to make myself live. I didn’t want to eat, I didn’t want to move…heck I didn’t want to breathe! I took something for about a week and it just numbed me. I didn’t feel like myself. I couldn’t shed a tear…which I normally do on command. I decided to do my own therapy. Whether that was the right thing to do, I don’t know, but I wasn’t taking zombie pills anymore, that’s for sure! I watched comedy and laughed and laughed all day long. I must have seen Dumb and Dumber a thousand times! I love that movie. Every so often I would take every picture out, watch the wedding video and cry so loud people could hear me in other countries. Buster was always right there by my side licking my tears away.
Through determination, I managed to come out of the slump and push forward with my favorite metaphor – A bulldozer. I now have Nathan in my life and we cherish everything about our relationship. Our time together is well spent and our friendship is incredible. I still have bouts of depression and he is always right there by my side. That comfort gets me through anything every time. I guess I could say he drives my bulldozer!
I am empathetic and genuinely “feel” for others when I find out about their pain. I have to be careful with it because I get too caught up and have to refocus on myself. I truly want to change the world and make it a better place. I want others to have happiness and comfort as well. My “giving” personality made some people take advantage and I have to pick and choose the direction I take now. I do not regret the countless places I volunteered at though. They are a part of my life….my adventures…and they fill the part of me that yearns to be filled…..to give of myself without asking for anything in return.
Working:
Every once in a while, I get the chance to help my husband put up garage doors. It is our dream come true. We enjoy every waking minute together and had hoped to run a business for ourselves one day but for now, this works! About once a week or more, Nathan comes home with the work truck and we make an evening of putting up garage doors and openers. It sounds boring but, believe me, far from it. I’ve learned so much that a lot of the grunt work is left to me while Nathan magically puts together a working garage door. It feels great for me to be able to help and we get to spend that much more time together. It is uninterrupted, quality time. Nathan is very good with his hands. He has experience in construction from building a house from the ground up to rock-work. Every now and then he is requested to do a side job (usually family) and we also go together on those jobs. His sister has a farm and once in a while we help out. It has been fun learning about farming. We’ve loaded hundreds of bales of hay, planted thousands (yes thousands) of collards and cut and loaded them when they were ready, chased down calves and herded cows. We really enjoy helping them out.
Re-roofing the Farm House after a Bad Hail Storm
Planting Collards
Other than that, I stay home for the most part. I take care of the home and the dogs while spending as much time as I can on homework. From time to time, I travel to thrift stores and try to save us money wherever possible.
Well, that wraps things up for the Versatile Blogger Award requirements folks! I hope you enjoyed the ride! Again I would like to thank Kimberly for my nomination! You truly inspired me to pass on this prestigious award:-)
“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”
Tammy Holloway
“Dozer” 
Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH
“You have the right to remain silent…anything that you say…as I hold you against me. If your heart is tired for the rest of your life, lay your love on me.”
I really like that phrase in the song. I feel that way every time I am in the arms of my husband. I just hope I give him the same or more. I strive to make myself a better wife everyday. Some people consider it a job and feel it is just too hard. Well if it is a job then I picked the right career. I love and cherish my marriage each and every day!
What are your rights?
– You have a right to be unselfish and to give all of you to the other person without a thought of anything in return. There is no 50/50. There is no 80/20….It is just….do whatever needs to be done…period. If the other person is non-responsive, find out what you can do to help them. It could be a struggle with something that needs your attention. Never point fingers at each other and refrain from using the word “you” in arguments.
– You have the right to communicate and ask your spouse how their day was instead of jumping in to let them know all the things falling apart in the home. It waited all day….It can wait a little longer. Positive communication is the key here. Yes there will be arguments, yes there will be some things that cannot be helped, but put all of your focus on how it is being presented so the other person does not get hurt over and over again.
– You have the right to gently touch them, show you care and say “I love you” to show your compassion for them. Touch is so simple, yet means so much. Hold their hand in public, pull out their chair at dinner, open the door for them. These are small gestures that say you care. Send a text that says “I love you”.
– You have a right to be completely devoted to the other person, ignoring the world around you and focusing on the absolute in front of you. No the grass is NOT greener on the other side. Remember your first right….Unselfishness.
– You have the right to ignore that stuff that causes the majority of problems and to realize money does not bring happiness, but in fact, your spouse does. Money comes and goes. We live on the bare minimum. Our entertainment is each other. We laugh, we play and we have a great friendship. Things like TV, outside friends, gatherings and work take away from the quality time. Use the time you have together wisely. Enjoy it and remember why you married them.
– You have a right to point out the fact that your spouse is “HOT” and they look sexy. Question: Do you want someone else to do it for you?….Didn’t think so. We all enjoy compliments…especially from someone we love.
– You have the right to NEVER and I mean NEVER use the word D I V O R C E.
None of us are perfect. We all make mistakes and have to live with them. I’ve been married before and circumstances beyond my control ended it. We shouldn’t have to put up with abuse and death cannot be undone. Remarrying should be looked at as a second chance. Take what was good and bring it forward, while enriching the new marriage. When two people are truly in love and get married for all the right reasons, it should work with these thoughts in mind. #1 most important – Unselfishness. Selfish people can’t have these things. They are one of the “100/0” kind. Not exactly quality marriage material. They can have all the money and things as far as I’m concerned. I have the most valuable thing in the world….A great marriage.
“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”
Tammy Holloway
“Dozer”
Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH
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