Monday, March 1, 2010

Sweetness and lies




Call the carpenter! I need a new mantle for all the blog awards sending me sunshine, beauty, sweetness and lies.
Huge bouquets of thanks to Stephanie Thornton for the breath of spring and the stunning Gerber daisy, to Wen Prior for a swirl of beauty and to Laurel Garver for a spoonful of sugar.



I received the dubious bald-faced liar badge from Stephanie, Bish Denham and Catherine Denton.
My duty is to tell you six lies and one truth. And yours is to guess which one is real. This is a writer's paradise.
1) It was a scorching hot day, dust rising in small clouds under my feet. I knelt down and raised my camera. Within seconds, a full-grown African lion leaped from a perch, landing feet from me and roaring like a freight train in my face.
2) I wandered through the crowds, looking across the vast expanse of green grass that transformed the desert sands. Notebook in hand, surreptitiously mopping my brow, I approached the winner, and landed an interview with Tiger Woods.
3) After a body-cramping plane ride across the Pacific, I was ferried to a small, private island near Fiji where the sand was white as snow and the sea was clear as an aquamarine gem. I surfed perfect glassy waves for a week and never wanted to leave.
4) The medical assistant led me to a room, told me to strip and put on the paper gown and left. I waited and waited and waited. Nobody came and the sounds of doors opening and voices nearby finally ceased. Clutching my meager gown, I peeked out my door and called out, "Hello?" No one answered. They'd gone home, forgetting me.
5) I can speed read a book in a few hours. Last year, I read 245 novels.
6) A rattlesnake coiled on a boulder along a hiking trail escaped my notice until it flung itself like an arrow in my direction, barely missing me as I sprinted forward, my heart beating like a kettle drum.
7) I have a secret agent I never told you about.
Passing awards has become a challenge since so many of these go around and around. So I propose that anyone leaving a comment and making a guess as to which one of the seven is true may choose any or all of the awards above and make up your own rule about passing it on. Wishing sweetness and tall tales to everyone.


29 comments:

Paul Greci said...

Congrats on the awards. Tricia, when I first read your post I thought you were telling six truths and one lie. Glad I re-read the beginning. If I had to pick, I'd say number 4 is true, not sure why but that's what I'm sticking with.

sarahjayne smythe said...

Wow. Congrats on all the awards. And I'll go with number 4, too. :)

Laurel Garver said...

Hmm, I think I'm going with #4 also. It has that agonizing ring of incompetence that is sadly everywhere.

I *almost* voted for #6, but then remember from a presentation during my daughter's snake-loving phase that snakes are very shy and tend to only bite humans when they have no escape route.

TERI REES WANG said...

...245..Books..!!!

I bow..

Sarah Wylie said...

Um, I'm voting 3 or 4.

And I *just* did a post on this award. You know what they say about great minds...;)

Bish Denham said...

These are great little stories you've told. #4 jumped out at me too, so I'm going to follow the crowd.

Stephanie Thornton said...

I hope #3 or #7 are true. Fiji is on my list of places to go and I would love to hear that you have a secret agent.

Robyn Campbell said...

Okay, you little fibber. Let us look at this through the power of deduction. Hmmm, I deduct 1,3,4,5,6,7 so it's gotta be # 2. You use to work for a paper, right Pat? EH? EH? Am getting warm?

So when do we get to find out? I had to wait all weekend with Bish. *grin* And I was wr wr wr wrong. There I said it. Please tell me I'm not 2 for 2.

Robyn Campbell said...

*Robyn points to herself* Speed reader here. uhhuh

VR Barkowski said...

Congrats on the well-deserved awards!!!

Excellent lies, so much fun. I'm going with #2 since you used to be a feature writer. But if you really can read 245 novels a year, would you recommend a speed reading course? I might finally be able to make a dent in my TBR stack. :)

Tamika: said...

Congratulations Tricia!

I loved your list, especially the one about Tiger.

Guessing that 245novels in a year is a big stretch!

Unknown said...

Congrats.... Wow!

I guess #4?

Anonymous said...

I can't pick which one is really true, I want them all to be! I love the doctors office one the most, that is so something that would happen to me, but I'm picking the lion is true. It'll have a twist in there like you're at a wildlife park and the lion is behind glass or something. Either that or you managed to escape a lion - and that would be worthy of a book all of its own!

Liza said...

I hope the Doctor's office isn't true, although one time I sat long enough that I could believe it happened to someone else too (the Dr. went to lunch while I sat there in my johnny). But, I'm hoping #3 is true!

Liza said...

I hope the Doctor's office isn't true, although one time I sat long enough that I could believe it happened to someone else too (the Dr. went to lunch while I sat there in my johnny). But, I'm hoping #3 is true!

Jemi Fraser said...

Great descriptions in all of these! I worry the doctor's office one could be true - something similar happened when my son was in the hospital. I hope it's not, so I'm going to guess... #1 because that would be so amazing!!

storyqueen said...

Going with #2.

(Although I kind of wanted to vote for 4, too....but when I read #2, I kind of thought it could have happened.)

Shelley

kah said...

I hop #7 is true. And I hope your agent sells one of your novels very soon. :)

MG Higgins said...

I say 2 or 4. Hopefully 7! But I think you'd tell us, wouldn't you? #5 is a possibility, but even if you could read that fast, I don't think you would--you savor words too much to speed through them.

Yvonne Osborne said...

I bet you have a secret agent!

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

I'm going with number 4...Been there, done it too...

Donna said...

Super lies, Ms Fantasy Writer.

* said...

My vote is for #3 or #4. You are one creative writer, girl!

Mary E Campbell said...

I have no idea which is a lie. I'm going to choose #4. Can't believe they would just leave you there. Congrats on your awards.

KA said...

I'll go for #5. I read fast, too, but I'm way too busy to read that many books in a year.

Linda Kage said...

I'm voting for #3, but I'm not very certain about my answer!!

Natalie said...

I can totally picture #4. That would be messed up if it was the one though--the others sound like fun.

PJ Hoover said...

Number 4 cracks me up! I hope it is true because it is too good to not be!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Wow, you are all so awesome. I love these guesses, but only Wen and Jemi got it! I just put up a new post with the full reveal.
Thanks again for playing!