Versatile/Inspiring Blogger Award

Sue Archer, Arcane Halloween, and Jacqueline Crawley nominated me for awards earlier this year. The awards are the Versatile Blogger Award and the Very Inspiring Blogger Award (I’m glad I wasn’t placed into the minor leagues of the simply “Inspiring Blogger Award”). Both of these awards work in a similar manner: the awarded bloggers list seven interesting things about themselves, and then pass on the award to a whopping fifteen other blogs. So, I’m combining the two awards, and will begin with seven things about myself:

1) I was one of the original “Children of the Corn”.
2) My nickname is “Clamslayer”.
3) My bachelor’s party was chasing rhinos at night during a thunderstorm.
4) My wife and I were born on nearly opposite sides of the world.
5) My grandfathers were pilots during WWII: one in Europe, one in the Pacific.
6) I have more master’s degrees than anyone should.
7) I have snorkeled the Seven Seas (or haven’t, depending on definition).

I’m passing the award on to the following blogs, should their authors wish to carry the torch:

Joseph Nebus runs two WordPress blogs: Nebus Research and Nebus Humor. If mathematics and comic strips isn’t a versatile enough combination for you, then consider that he sometimes posts about comic strips which are about mathematics! Even if you think you’re not interested in math, you might like some of his latest posts about estimating the number of goldfish in his backyard pond. Another post has left the phrase “assume a spherical cow” stuck in my head.

The Books That Time Forgot (one of my favorite blog names) is primarily a book review blog, but still shows great versatility, by discussing a mix of relatively older works (such as those of Edgar Rice Burroughs) and 1980s World War III / apocalyptic pulp novels. I enjoy the short plot summary format; some stories come across as silly when their plots are boiled down – Tarzan discovers a lost city of left-handed people, seduces its queen, and runs off with her magic gemstone as the city is destroyed by a volcano. Okay, I admit I made that up, but you get the idea.

From Couch to Moon (another great blog name) is also a book blog, primarily reviewing older science fiction and fantasy. However, the blog is versatile in reviewing books from different time periods, and discussing past and present science fiction awards. At times, the blog even wanders near the edge of the dark forest known as “literature”, a place from which I escaped in my childhood only with the help of the mysterious Mr. Cliff.

Books, Brains, and Beer is written by a friend of Couch to Moon (or perhaps they’re mortal enemies; I’m not good at reading people). If you like From Couch to Moon, then you’ll probably like this blog as well. It seems to focus a bit more on modern books, and might wander a bit deeper into that dark forest. UPDATE – after I began working on this post, I noticed that the blog had been closed; I’m recommending it anyway as the posts are still available, and there’s always a chance the closure will be reversed.

Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations also does book reviews, often of older science fiction, but also posts themed collections of cover art images, which I’ve really enjoyed.

At Battered, Tattered, Yellowed, and Creased, Admiral Ironbombs mixes in reviews of hard-boiled crime novels (and a few other genres) with his science fiction and fantasy reviews.

Sean Munger is pretty much the definition of a versatile blogger. I primarily enjoy reading the history-related articles on his blog, but he also blogs about wine, heavy metal music, writing, volcanoes, and who-knows-what-else.

James Pailly has two blogs, Planet Pailly and Tomorrow News Network. Planet Pailly is primarily science-related, and the Tomorrow News Network is for his writing. Planet Pailly currently has a couple of short articles about the planet Mercury that are worth checking out.

Equinoxio presents interesting images and topics from all over the world. It might be a useful site to visit if you’re looking for some writing inspiration.

North of Andover is where Thomas Weaver posts (mostly) about writing-related topics, but from an editor’s perspective. I love having editors follow my blog, because they aren’t afraid to let me know when I’ve missed a point, or missed THE point.

I’m sure Nicholas Rossis has been nominated for these awards before, but I’m going to mention him here anyway. His blog includes writing and marketing advice for self-published authors, and he often gives away his own stories.

SC Flynn has a variety of posts over at SCy-Fy, most recently a series of interviews with science fiction podcasters and bloggers. If you’re looking for more blogs or podcasts to follow, SCy-Fy has several posts of links, accessible from the top menu.

MarzAat seems to pop up here with an answer any time I pose a question, and he has a diverse book blog as well. I’ve enjoyed his writing about Doc Savage, and I see that he’s also posted reviews of more recent works (Peter F. Hamilton).

All of these sites, along with a few other blogs of interest, can also be found in my right-hand column under “Auxiliary Forces”.

If your blog is versatile, or you know of another blog I ought to follow, feel free to post a link to it in the comments section. Also, if you’ve been following the blog for a while and I’ve neglected to add you to my auxiliaries, let me know.

Tags: award, awards, children of the corn, clam, clams, masters, rhino, rhinoceros, rhinos, seven seas, World War Two, WWII