I nominate. . . for Top 10 Emerging Influential Bloggers, 2007

Note: I have notified Janet there appears to be confusion over the dates on Shelby's blog dates.
Note: Everything fine, Shelby's blog is now officially nominated - will show on list next week at official site. YES!

Emerging Influential Blogs, 2007 a writing project by Janet Toral has bloggers posting their nominations for:

The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007

You, I, we, all have a bit more time to think about our choices, that is if you are not a procrastinator like me.

This, in Janet Toral's words, "is a writing project of identifying new and emerging blogs that are making an impact to its readers in 2007. These are blogs that started anytime from August 1, 2006 to the present. They are gradually gaining a considerable amount of readership and influence."

The easy part is following her directions to write a blog post naming ten (or less) emerging influential blogs anywhere in the world! You can update the same entry up to July 28th. Just remember to include a link to her post and also post a comment there to let them know you entered! Only one entry per blogger.

I have procrastinated as usual, so, in order not to completely mess this up, I am nominating a few NOW while it is on my mind.

But before I nominate the others on today's installment, I have to mention a blogger that I am nominating, but not, because, well, you'll understand - Chris at Out and About. Chris was in my writing class and strongly influenced my going for it, more than she knows (OK, she might now that this is written.) She gave me the confidence, well not gave me, pulled mine out of me. She also is encouraging to all of us, both that class and the writing group that followed. But she gives us something more, she is not shy about critiquing in a manner that does not feel like an attack, but just plain old good horse sense. She is also the person who blogged first; I had never even looked at a blog. Once I saw hers, I was sucked into the blogging world. She has written on her writing, on writer's block, on life in general. She showed me the possibilities. So, I hold her responsible, but y'all can't when I mess up, I am not letting her take that, too!

Being that she is a bit more (make that a LOT more) involved in "husband and young teen and work and teaching part time and writing her first novel and general life than I" (if for no other reason than I am retired and she is far from it) she has had little time to blog. It has gone by the wayside, but her novel first draft is done! For that reason, I cannot nominate her, but if she were blogging, I would and if she tells me before the deadline she will be blogging again, then I will add the link, officially nominate her, and send you her way. She has an easy style of writing.

Now, on to my first three other nominees, who have influenced me greatly, again, in order of meeting them.

Shelby at Time With Shelby, was the first blogger I bookmarked and continued to read. I look forward to her blog every day that she writes. She, unlike me, is a woman of fewer words, but they catch your attention, whether she is writing briefly about something she has seen or thought, just a line about a photo, or keeping us up to date on her goal to become a lawyer, after starting it later in life than one would advise. She writes honestly, and obviously thinks things out. If you are looking for an example to illustrate perseverance, just use her. You need nothing else, no add-ons, no defining moments other than her law school quest. I am so unlike her, by nature, and find myself occasionally, actually thinking why not be more goal oriented like Shelby.

She also has an eye for beauty. Before she had a camera of her own (or time to take pictures) she would post pictures taken by others to head her posts -- giving them credit, of course, (wait, not "of course", some don't bother, she does). Every photo she found in some way was not just striking but fit the words she was writing, I couldn't pull that off in a million years.

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Shelly at This Eclectic Life is a professional storyteller and it shows, as others have pointed out in her blog posts. Leon likes to joke that her life stories are quite embellished when I share them with them. (yes, they are worth repeating) "Now, Marcia," he will say, "I don't think it really happened that way. She is a story teller and story tellers make up things." I know he says it to get me to defend her in my exuberant way so he can laugh, but we all know the truth don't we, life is more interesting at times than fiction, we just can't always tell it as interesting as it is, Shelly can! That, however is NOT why she is nominated, nor is the fact that when reading her blog you will think, like I did, that she has been blogging for years; she gives that illusion of knowing what she is doing, so I easily skipped over how long she had been blogging, I had to ask her. (and the others, too)

I am nominating Shelly because she spreads link love like a madwoman, offers to help us, sponsors contests, regales us with Shelly tales, turns serious on us, and feeds us more links than we can absorb at once. Add to that she has badgered us about a few favorite things, teased us with things to come, reminded us of what came before. . . and now, has even pushed us to start knitting and crocheting squares for afghans for Camp Sanguinity.

~~~~~

Matty at Running on Empty is, also, my nomination, a woman who tells it like it is whether she is happy, angry, sad, or bound and determined to make us laugh. I would say she shoots from the hip, aims carefully, then sometimes just lets the bullets fly as they may. Now that may not be accurate description, but I love her style and am having trouble putting it in Marcia words. I suppose one way to put it is Matty is a champion of people, the downtrodden, the misunderstood, the lonely. She is also wiling too help, and let us know that we can help, too - and a bit crazy. Why, she even volunteered to judge a writing contest at Shelly's (The same one she won, did I tell you Matty is funny? No? Well, I should have.) Now, bloggers are a friendly bunch, but we are all just a tad bit competitive about something, if only behind the scenes -- so I would say Matty is a brave woman - and don't bother whining to her. . . she will tell you the truth as Matty sees it.

She may have titled her blog, Running on Empty, but she seems to have more energy on empty than many of us running full on high test.

That's it for now. . . You all have some bloggers to visit, blogs to nominate, and crocheting or knitting to do I hope. Look on my side bar, you will see the link to Share A Square, if you don't have one, why not grab one at Shelly's for your blog, I know there are crocheters and knitters out there that don't know yet, in spite of our efforts.