Write on

As you might know from my 'Everyone's a Winner' post, I'm always up for a bit of competition even if my hit rate is pretty low.  The past thirty eight years has yielded:

• An oven ready chicken in return for telling a joke.  The giblets were still inside, which made Polly next door drool with pleasure (she was a boxer dog).
• A case of lemonade as reward for dancing the can-can.  I belched all week.
• Tickets to see England vs Cameroon via a phone-in when Zoe Ball did the Radio 1 Breakfast Show.  The phone call was more exciting than the match.
• A sailing jacket for 'living the team's values'  oh yes.  It makes people think I like sailing and cheats the wind like nothing on earth.  Oooo,h taped seams!

So it has been very exciting to start getting recognised for my writing.  Last year I came close as a finalist in the Cosmo Blog Awards and this year I made the looooooong list in the MAD Blog Awards (MAD standing for Mums and Dads in case you were wondering).  I've  discovered that I haven't made the final but that's ok because these things not only add a little frisson of excitement to your life but also offer the opportunity to watch and learn from others and particularly in the case of the MAD Awards I have found some great new blogs to read.  And if you want to get good at writing, you have to read, read and read!

You can check out all of the finalists here: http://www.the-mads.com/awards/ but my personal favourite is The Kraken Wakes; finalist in the Most Entertaining category.  I will warn you in advance that it is extremely sweary - the strapline of 'Forming a black hole of fury so you don't have to' should be a good indicator to you of her take on the world. 

But it's not the swearing that makes it stand out for me.  What I love about this blog is that the author; Cath Janes, writes absolutely fearlessly and engagingly about her life whilst taking great big swipes at anyone who thinks it's alright to patronise other people - from card shops treating grown women like mindless Barbies to magazines printing salacious articles about celebrity mental health issues, she ploughs through them like a jacked-up Evel Knievel screaming along at 100mph whilst wielding a machete.  When you read something like that, so exhilarating, refreshing, and just a little bit scary, it urges you to go on, find your voice, get on that motorcycle and write your heart out.  I'm off to find my leathers....