Time to Clean My Cage

Thanks to one of the blogging community's most powerful new writers, Sarah Hina, it's time to roar! Canterbury Soul and Vesper, two of my twilight compatriots, also provoked me a little while back. The jungle is all a-tremble tonight.

About the award:

Seamus Kearney of Shameless Words believes in powerful writing, and he believes that it can be, and is, found in many places on the internet. This award was developed by him to put forth that belief and to encourage writers to roar.

The rules are simple and can be found at the original site. Please follow the link and pick up your award. The Shameless Lions Writing Circle.

The most fun about this award is that each recipient shares the key ingredients he or she sees in powerful writing. Here's mine:

1. Surgery. Above all, I believe writers exist to dissect the human psyche. Everyone is bombarded by the superficial. Writers burrow deeper. We don't settle for the simple smile or the simple tear. We slap our rafts down in the white water and dare it to whip us through the cut canyons. We get bloodied. We get wet. That's okay. The ride is worth it.

2. Wings (or if your genre dictates, those creepy flying monkeys). By the second or third sentence in a story, the wings of another world should swoop down and rip you off your sofa and carry you off to a brand new landscape. A story is a quantum leap into a parallel universe. If you feel your shoes scraping on the ground, you need to suck more helium.

3. The Artisan's Touch. Powerful writing is like a master craftsman's wares. Words are the pottery. Sentences are the hammered copper bowls. We have a whole dictionary as our palette (unabridged, if you dare). Great writing says it in new ways. It's the only way I know that scribbles of ink on a page can begin to glow.


Many, many of the writers/bloggers I would recognize have already received this award. I do have the opportunity to name a couple more (although they may have received the award too). I hereby bestow the Roar Award on:

ELECTRIC ORCHID HUNTER. An amazing blog. He posts when inspiration strikes, and what he might lose in volume is more than made up in quality. He shares his biology background in order to teach, make us think, and show us facets of the world we might not otherwise see. In addition, he's a hell of a writer.

ANGELIQUE. A freelance writer who posts life observations, family foibles, and curiosities in the world. When she turns to fiction, her crisp, direct style delivers a bright energy. Always a pleasure to read.

I'm proud to be part of this community. Keep pushing against conventions, never run from an idea, and take no prisoners!