by Grammar Girl |
Two lovely bloggers have been kind enough to give me the Versatile Blogger Award, and according to the rules, I am required to tell all of you seven interesting things about myself and nominate fifteen other bloggers.
I’d Like to Thank the Academy…
But first, thanks to the two people who saddled me with this chore delighted me with this honor. 
Lorca Damon, a sassy author (Autism by Hand and others) and the 2010 National Prison Teacher of the Year. (Top that! I, for one, would never mess with her.)
Erin Berry, author of The Chronicles of IDIOT (“You are correct, there is a government conspiracy.” But it’s not what you think.)
Seven Interesting Things About Me
This will be easier if we all pretend you care:
- I am named after a flower (the mignonette), not a steak. And yes, I know that mignon is the masculine form of the word in French. I have a dude’s name.
- I was a big slacker in college and only got my act together after graduating. Take heart, parents. Your kid might eventually pull through too.
- I adore dogs. I love them so much that I don’t have one because I know it would take over my life. I dedicated my first book to my dog (and my husband).
- I like small spaces. The biggest house I’ve ever lived in was ~1700 square feet, and it felt ridiculously big and unnecessary. It had rooms I never used.
- I fantasize about living off the grid or on a boat.
- I went to an “open concept” elementary school, which means there were no walls between classrooms.
- I like skiing because it’s dangerous and I’m so bad at it that I have to concentrate completely on what I’m doing. I imagine that it’s similar to the experience other people get from meditation.
Other Bloggers: Tag! You’re It
There’s a reason I’ve been putting off this post: I don’t subscribe to blogs anymore. I only read links that people post to my Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ accounts. It’s not something I planned; it’s just the way things have turned out. So, these are the blogs of the people who I find post the most interesting links to my social media accounts (in no particular order), sometimes it’s their own posts and sometimes it’s something interesting they’ve found. Congratulations, and apologies.
1. Stan Carey (@stancarey) “Writer, editor, lapsed biologist” in Galway, Ireland
2. Alan Headbloom (@headbloom) His business is “helping foreign-born professionals communicate with more comfort and accuracy.”
3. Peter Sokolowski (@PeterSokolowski) Lexicographer at Merriam-Webster, spelling bee pronouncer, all-around nice guy
4. Bedford Bits (@BedfordStMartinsBits) [Disclosure: St. Martin's is my publisher.]
5. Galley Cat (@GalleyCat) MediaBistro’s publishing industry blog
6. Christopher Penn (@cspenn) He knows online marketing.
7. EvilWylie/Andrew Schaffer (@evilwylie/@andrewschaffer) Funny guy. And he writes.
8. Gotham Writers (@gothamwriters) “Writing tips, articles, and news from a leading writing school.”
9. Ben Zimmer (@bgzimmer) “Linguist / lexicographer / word nerd . . . Boston Globe columnist.”
10. Scott Sigler (@scottsigler) This guy once went on a 100-city book tour…in a car. Or something like that. He’s hard core.
11. Jason Rutherford (@PublishingGuru) Lots of great links about publishing and writing.
12. Lisa McLendon (@GrammarMonkeys) “A guide to the slippery parts of language.”
13. Dennis Baron (@DrGrammar) “The world’s only consulting linguist and a real grammar doctor.”
14. Erin McKean (@emckean) “Founder of Wordnik.com, recovering lexicographer.”
15. Nieman Lab, the Neiman Journalism Lab at Harvard (@NeimanLab)
Now I feel like I’m leaving people out, but you can see all my favorites on Twitter to find even more wonderful people. Seriously, I could list 50 more people. Guilt! Guilt! (My favorites are a mix: truly my favorite posts plus things that look interesting that I want to save or read later and questions I meant to answer for people. Don’t judge: I get to most of them.)
The Rules
Feel free to disregard these rules—I’m not your taskmaster—but this is what I was told:
1. In a post on your blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.
2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.
3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
5. In the same post, include this set of rules.
6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs. [I'm cheating on this one and posting to Twitter.]
I don’t know any other Mignons apart from Mignon the punk musician, who is also a woman. In English I think it sounds more like a woman’s name than a man’s; in any case it is a lovely word, and the name suits you.
Honoured to be included here, and in such fine company.
Thanks for the nomination, Mignon. Someday, I hope to find the time to carry it forward.