"Two wrongs may not make a right but a thousand wrongs make a writer.”

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Coming Clean and Going Green


I stole fledgling sprigs out of the ground from around this shrub in my mother's yard while she was at the hairdresser's. It was woody and deep and I dug and dug to capture a root line. I dug and dug whilst looking over my shoulder, but I don't know if I dug deep enough, and I slogged home with my efforts and then had to rush to get them in the ground as a storm front moved in like the hand of God and the temperature plumeted.



Going green is not just a way of life, it's a state of mind. April is a month for planting trees, and Sarahjane at writing in the wilderness also planted a bug in my ear and now I'm turning my blog carbon neutral. There is a new program to help us do that. Just click the link below to find out about it then you can pick out a button from the website's assortment like this one.

Get your button here. This is not merely symbolic. They'll plant a tree for you when you follow the link, helping to neutralize the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog. The trees will be planted in the spring of 2010 by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Now, to soulmates. Tricia at Talespinning recently bestowed the Soulmates Award upon me. Isn't it beautiful? It reminds me of orchids bursting out of an organic cauldron.

She claimed on her blog that I track the Far North for litterbugs. When I catch one, I make him/her sift the sands of time or write flash fiction, which ever. She so knows me!! I do far worse than that when I catch a litterbug. You may discover the evolution of this award at Christi Goddard's A Torch in the Tempest. Thank you Christi and thank you Tricia.

To pass this on I must spin some new folklore for you.

Sarahjayne has her own Christmas tree farm and also digs the holes for her customers who buy "live" trees as an incentive and to help make the drive to her out-of-the-way farm carbon neutral.

Amy lives beside a suspension bridge and has a writing hut underneath the approach where she can keep an eye on the river traffic and watch the sun set and rise as she writes and writes and writes her way to fame.

Talli Rolland lives near Hyde Park in London. She frequents Speakers Corner on Sundays; in fact she has her own corner. She has attained a loyal following of thousands who come out on Sundays to hear her read from her new novel.


One final thing I'd like to share with you this morning. I've been published today in Pure Francis!! I've also had my short story "Canary" published in Full of Crow. Nothing feels finished until it's found a home and these two pieces have. I will also be in Steam Ticket in May. This is the literary journal published by the University of Wisconsin and they are always looking for new writers. As Simon Larter pointed out here, we are their legacy.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you writer-friends who interact with me here. Thanks for extending a hand and helping me stay on the writing path, pointing out obstacles and pitfalls, without even realizing it. You all rock!

22 comments:

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

I, too, find support and inspiration from fellow writers like you, Yvonne. This is a wonderful post. I keep meaning to get that Carbon Neutral badge, so I'm going to click to it from here.

And congratulations on all your upcoming publication. You have been really working and now comes the deserved results. Write on!

Wine and Words said...

I think that is probably the nicest award of any I have seen. Congratulations on such good friends and on being published in the Francis!

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

My dear, huge congratulations on your publications!!! How very exciting for you. Congratulations, as well, on your award.

We plan on planting a couple of trees ourselves this spring. I haven't decided yet what kind, but we lost a tree to a storm, so it only seems fitting to replace it with two.

Unspoken said...

You have me in tears! Sweet you. You have no idea how much your kind words about my writing hit me today... of all days. Thank you!

And a big CONGRATS to you on being published in The Francis!
xxAmy

Liza said...

Congratulations on your award and your publications.

Talli Roland said...

Ah hahaha!

That was brilliant Yvonne - thank you! I guess I could go get my own stand at Speaker's Corner and read out my novel - I'm quite close to it in reality! :)

Have a great Sunday and thanks again!

Yvonne Osborne said...

Tricia,
Thank you so much. And thanks again for the Soulmates Award. I love it!

Wine and Words,
Thanks! I really like Pure Francis.
I appreciate your kind words.

Carol,
Thank you! And yes, I like your math skills! That sounds exactly right, two for one.

Amy,
You're so welcome. I'm glad you like it. Have a great week.

Lisa,
Thank you for the well wishes. I appreciate every word!

Talli,
Hi! Yeah, I had fun with this one. Glad you like it. Have a great week.

sarahjayne smythe said...

Congrats on your awards and your upcoming publication. You are a writer I admire greatly. :) and thank you for my award.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Sarahjayne,
Thank you so much. The feeling is mutual!!

Anonymous said...

I am over-the-top excited for you! I'm not blowing smoke when I say that you deserve it...and those editors are superhumanly clever to publish your work. well done! I'm going to check out your carbon neutral widget. And, yes, checking out other writer's blogs is very encouraging. it's all about spreading the positive ions around, right?

mary.anne.gruen@gmail.com said...

Congratulations on this beautiful award, which you thoroughly deserve! I'm looking forward to checking out the new winners.

I almost feel guilty that I'm going to be cutting down some tree saplings this week. But the mostly white pines that we have around here become sickly if they grow too closely on top of one another because of the thin acid soil and their their 100 foot eventual height. Sometimes you need to thin them out to see the survivors grow tall. They're magnificent!

In the Adirondacks the growing season is two to three months at most (depending on the place). Without the towering white pines in the southern section, it would be a very bleak place.

Mayowa said...

Congratulations!

I've enjoyed reading your posts and i'm sure other readers will.

mary.anne.gruen@gmail.com said...

I really loved your "America of the Missing." You said so many things, had so many levels. Brava!

I'm a storyteller more than a writer. I couldn't begin to do what you do.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Sarah,
Thank you. Your encouraging words are exactly what I'm talking about here. Your opinion means so much.

Mary Anne,
Thanks! And thanks for the info on white pines. I love them and planted four this past weekend about twenty feet apart and now I'm thinking that is too close. Geesz. It's hard to imagine them getting that big! Your place sounds lovely and you're right to thin them.

Thanks for reading my poem in Pure Francis!! Thank you for your support.

Mayowa,
Thank you so much! I hope you're right. I thought your post on self-publishing was very insightful and I'm going to go back over to your blog as soon as I get a chance. (sneaking around at work isn't the right time!)

Suzanne Casamento said...

Congratulations on all your new publications! That's great news.

I love the image of Amy living in a writer's hut near the suspension bridge. The upward lines seem metaphorical.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Suzanne,
Thank you. Yes, I thought I pegged Amy pretty good! This is an amazing group of writers. I wish I could visit every post by every person I follow and spend more time with everyone who follows me. You know...it can become a bit daunting.

LARCHMONT said...

Congratulations on your publications! Well deserved. You have a wonderful and inspiring blog.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Samuel,
Thank you so much. I really needed that this morning. So much.
Thanks.

Enchanted Oak said...

I checked out your poem in Pure Francis and loved it. Those yellow petunias are inspired! Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. It allowed me to meet you. You write very well. I'm always excited to meet fine writers. You keep me challenged and inspired. Let's stay in touch?
Try Magpie Tales at magpietales.blogspot.com? A new prompt every week starting about now.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Enchanted,
Thanks!! Yes, let's do keep in touch. It's easy enough with google connect etc. And I would like to check out the magpie tales.Thanks.

Jingle said...

neat!
Happy Earth day!

kanishk said...

How very exciting for you. Congratulations, as well, on your award.

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