Saturday Link Special #7

First off, I'd like to say how humbled and grateful I feel for the huge notice the blog got this week. Thanks to those who commented, read, or spread the word about the blog. I didn't feel like I was speaking into dead internet space. You all can't see the numbers but let's just say my heart stopped for a second when I looked at my stats. Thank you.

I'd also like to give a somewhat belated thank you to Cherie from Ready.Write. Go. and S.B. Poscente from Three Hours Too Soon for giving me The Irrisistibly Sweet Blog Award.

I'm going to be on the lookout for other bloggers to hand this one off to. Actually, I'm always on the prowl for good blogs. I may not always comment on your posts, but I'm reading. The highest compliment or blog award I can give is one of my weekly blog spotlights. I'm looking for blogs that not only post regularly but have helpful and good information for writers and readers. If you know of such a blog please send me an e-mail. I'm open to suggestions.

Now to the linkage for this week:

Let's start off with The Epic Post on Trends (YA & MG) by author/agent Mandy Hubbard. A very good post and another cry to writers to get on the MG bandwagon. Then for some tough love from author M.J. Rose over at the Huffington Post she writes about Things No One is Brave Enough to Tell Self-Published Authors.

On the topics of writing I have for your delectation:

Finding Oomph in your writing over at In the Jungle. Envisioning a Story from A Storyteller's Musings. Pushing your characters and Character Curve-Balls from Crossing the Helix. A great pause and check post on The Mid Point Shift over at It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets an Agent. Two great posts on show vs. tell  here and here from Kidlit.com.

Dealing with getting an agent and publishing, agent Jennifer Laughran posts about word count guidelines for children's, MG, and YA. And she posts about choosing an agent based on comparisons to the author's they represent.

Looking for something fun to do in a writerly way? Check out this great blog round robin over at Greenwoman or consider participating in a flash fiction contest over at Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire.

Keep the great blog posts coming everyone and thank you for being part of the online conversation about writing. Have a great weekend.