So, according to the rules, I need to post this cute little icon (happily grabs), link to the person(s) who nominated me (done! see above), tell people seven things about myself (see below) and pass on the award to 5/7/14 other people (er…how about three?).

Seven things about me:

1. I’m bilingual. I speak English and Urdu–the language of Pakistan, the country where I grew up. Hands up if you’d heard of the language before reading this post.

2. My husband and I got engaged in Hong Kong. We spent a month there and I loved it. Would love to go back there someday and take the kids.

3. Currently, I have a 2-liter bottle full of soil and grass seeds on the window sill, and steelwool rusting in a small bowl of water on the kitchen counter. These are otherwise known as the “What is a Biosphere?” and “Why is Mars Red?” experiments. Why yes, I am a homeschooling mom! Why do you ask?

4. Apparently, when I was a wee little tot, I had a pet lamb (Rabia had a little lamb, little lamb… no, it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, does it?). I used to ride it, and it would butt me affectionately in the tummy. It was scared of my mom’s high heels and would run and hide if it heard her coming. It would also eat clothes off the line. But the little lamb grew into a great big sheep and it was given away (or turned into dinner, I suppose).

Or so they say.

I have no recollection of such a pet, and I still wonder, to this day, if it is not a hoax perpetrated upon my gullible younger self.

5. Speaking of perpetrating hoaxes: When I was a preteen, I convinced my 5-years-younger brother that we were all a family of witches who’d been sent to earth to study humans. However, since he was born without magic, we’d have to leave him behind when we returned to Witch Land.

He was most upset.

Oh, I was a horrible sister. I’m better now.

6. I have this weird squicked-out can’t-look-away fascination with giant squids. And titanic battles between sperm whales and giant squids in the black depths of the ocean.

7. I take my tea the British way– black tea with two spoonfuls of sugar and a splash of milk. And biscuits to dunk into the tea are mandatory (I use Ritz crackers, since I can’t find any of the brands I grew up with here in the US, boo).

I pass along this award to:

• long-time reader Liana Mir
• long-time reader and fellow HTRYN-ite Prue at What’s it All About?
• another fellow HTRYN-ite Lisa at Writing, Dreams, and Drops of Ink

Cross-section of the spine.

Atmospheric structure and high altitude sickness.

What did you learn this week?

Why yes, it is possible to lift up a house with balloons. A teeny house. With weather balloons.

Some people make model airplanes. And others build rockets: 121, 000 feet in 92 seconds.

The days of the eyeglass-and-mustache Mr. Potatohead disguise are numbered: Japanese company comes up with realistic 3D face replicas.

Does it come in German Shepherd? BigDog

It’s snowing right now. It’s like a bad bad April Fool’s day joke.

Just so that your stop here isn’t completely wasted today, have some links (please, they need to go from my browser to yours–I have too many tabs open!):

Via Jo Anderton, the tale of a novel that languished in a publisher’s slush pile for… well, read it to find out. And, also via Jo, a feel-good piece: 7 R’s of Positivity for Unpublished Writers

Eona, the sequel to Alice Goodman’s Eon, is coming out this month, with a GORGEOUS cover.

The Query Tracker blog has an, uh, interesting roundup of publishing news today. *grin*

I forget where I picked this up from, but this site has 360 degree panoramic city views. It’s a lot of fun.

How’re you all doing?

How to keep short stories short: A list of tips

Confessions of a slush reader: why should I care?

In the meantime–while I’m thinking this through–here are some thought-provoking links on the topic of goal-setting:

Holly Lisle talks about figuring out the theme for your life, realizing what your philosophy, needs, wants and interests are, and fitting your goals to match those.

Here’s Juliette Wade on breaking down your goals into smaller, achievable targets. Figure out the logistics of reaching a goal. Thinking of writing a novel this year? How many words a day will you have to write? Where will you find the time to do so? What will you give up? What kind of planning do you need to do before you write? Research Beijing? Create a language? Write character dossiers? Sit down and come up with a strategy, or else you’ll be struggling pretty soon.

J. A. Konrath has a comprehensive list of resolutions for writers written over a number of years. Worth checking out for inspiration.

Celebrate your rejections. Really. Because getting rejections means that you’re completing stories and sending them out. Congratulations. If you’re getting rejections, you’re doing the job of a professional writer.

Still not convinced? Got the rejection blues? Tired of always being aspiring? DGLM’s Michael Bourret on enjoying the pre-published stage. And here’s a light-hearted look at the perks of being unpublished. Having seen books get savaged by Amazon reviewers, there are many days that I am grateful to be on this side of the Great Publishing Divide.

Here’s (upcoming) YA author Jodi Meadows on not giving up.

If you’re not interested in waiting for the Publishing Fairy to sprinkle you with gold dust, you can bypass all the gatekeepers, and go indie. There’s even a blog carnival for indie writers (via JA Marlow)!

Seth Godin on  hope and the magic lottery. I love this bit (which I think writers looking to build their fan base will appreciate):

If your business or your music or your art or your project is truly worth your energy and your passion, then don’t sell it short by putting its future into a lottery ticket.

Here’s another way to think about it: delight the audience you already have, amaze the customers you can already reach, dazzle the small investors who already trust you enough to listen to you. Take the permission you have and work your way up. Leaps look good in the movies, but in fact, success is mostly about finding a path and walking it one step at a time.

(Speaking of Seth Godin, here he is again talking about moving on from traditional publishing.)

I found myself nodding enthusiastically at all of Rachelle’s suggestions, except for the one about Twitter (which leaves me just baffled, probably since I don’t have a Twitter account and don’t intend on getting one; I’m trying to conserve my time, not find more creative ways to waste it!). I wholeheartedly agree about doing something to get out of your comfort zone. It doesn’t have to be big (like crossing the Sahara on camelback). Small things count, too! It could be making a presentation when the thought of public speaking makes you blanch, or taking up drawing despite being told for years you were never any good at it. For years I’d convinced myself (and informed everyone I knew) that I was not musical; then I discovered the piano.

I’d also add a caveat to item#5 (take trips): Most of us would love to take trips to exotic-to-us places (I want to visit Mongolia, which would also be taking me out of my comfort zone!), but often do not have the time or money for it. But we can take trips to new places right in our home towns. Go somewhere you don’t normally go. Take part in community activities and festivals; farmers’ markets, library book sales, community dinners. Enjoy exploring the place you live in. There’s something to be said about gaining a depth of experience as well as breadth.

And… read, read, read! Grab non-fiction on topics that interest you. Scan the magazine racks for a new-to-you magazine. Browse coffee-table books. Buy books that just strike your fancy at yard and library sales.

Any other items to add to this list?

Not related, but also interesting links for the week:

• Behind the Scenes: Mike Allen on the making of Clockwork Phoenix (one of the few anthologies I’ve actually bought).
• How to Find Your Writing Voice (wait, you mean it’s not behind the couch along with legos, stale cheerios and overdue library books??)
• And, oh so controversial, yet presenting another way of looking at writing fiction for a living: Dean Wesley Smith’s Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing articles, via Djmill’s Blog.

Read anything thought-provoking or inspiring recently on the ‘net?

And Paperback Writer has a list of tools to help you come up with titles.