Shine On from L.D. Masterson

       Since my most recent Monday posts have been kind of heavy and even potentially divisive, I've been trying to keep things somewhat light during the rest of of the week on Tossing It Out.   One of my primary intents on this blog is to stimulate thought and encourage discussion.  I think I have achieved that, but at the same time some people have gotten upset with me because some opinions expressed here are different that what they believe.  Exploring differences is a good thing isn't it?   It's what I do though and if I weren't doing this I might be blogging about books I've read and so many of you are doing that far better than I could.

       In the past I have indicated that I no longer do the blog awards, but sometimes I break down and do it just to cool things down and to acknowledge the nice bloggers that passed them on to me.  Today I thank my very dear blogging friend L.D Masterson for passing on the Shine On Award.  I'm just going to hog this award to myself because L.D. said we could and it's just simpler for me.  And I get content for blog post.   Thank you L.D.!

The Shine On Award   

Here are the questions that were requested that I answer:

1. How long do you spend putting together a blog? --Of course it depends on the nature of the blog post, but I try to keep it down to a half hour if at all possible, but I can spend as much as two or three hours if I do research or add links.   These days I'm trying to do less posts like that.   In fact in the coming summer months you may be seeing some very strange short posts.  Something may be going to happen, but I don't want to discuss it until the end of summer.  Come to think of it, I guess you often see strange posts on this blog.

 2. What other writing do you do? --Ha-ha-ha!  Sometimes I scribble down ideas. On very rare occasions I might work on one of my novels or start an article or something.  I really need to work on this.  I love blogging, but it can be a big distraction.  I get distracted very easily.

3. Do you blog because you like to, or because you were told you have to by a publisher? - -I've told this story before, but I started blogging because I read that I could make money doing it.  Then I just started liking the writing and I realized that I had been neglecting my love of writing.  Blogging forced me to write (because I was compelled to blog regularly).  Now blogging is a sort of obsession which I hope pays off in some way down the road.

 4. What is a story your family likes to tell about you? - -So often those family stories are the ones that are kind of embarrassing.  Do you really think I want to tell them here?  Okay, they like to rib me about the time I walked to California from East Tennessee.  It's a long story that I hope to turn into a book one day.  My family likes to tell the first part, which is short, but it's kind of embarrassing.  If you ever meet my family they'll tell you the story eventually.  Or you can wait and read the book.

 5. When you visit another blog, do you promote it on social media?--I've gotten into a tweeting habit.  Sometimes I will tweet a blog post if I really like it and remember to tweet it.  On rarer occasions I will promote a link on Facebook, but honestly I don't think most people even notice.   I know I rarely chase down a link on Facebook.  Actually I don't have much time to be chasing down links.  What do you think I do?  Sit at a computer all day?    Well, maybe I do, but still...

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       Thank you L.D. Masterson!   If you've never checked out her blog make sure you pay her a visit.   She rarely fails to add a laugh and a lingering smile to each visit I pay there.

         How much time do you put into blogging?   Do you ever think about giving it up--or at least putting it on hold for a while?   Does your family like to embarrass you with stories you'd rather them not bring up?

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