What Should We Do with Blog Awards?

Sometimes it still comes as a shock to me that anyone visits my blog and cares about what I have to say.  So when I received my first blog award, I was completely unprepared.

My first thought was of being tremendously flattered.  I think my exact reaction was, Me? Seriously? That thought was quickly followed by gratitude to the giver.  And then I wondered what to do with the thing.

Others post their awards in the sidebar of their blog, but I knew that approach wouldn’t work for me because this blog also acts as my professional website.  Rather than deciding anything, I just thanked the giver and kept the award tab open to remind me to do something about it “someday.”

Later, a second award followed and then a third.  Soon I had a stack of open tabs waiting for me to decide something.

(And I’m really not bragging or complaining.  I appreciate every award I’ve received.  I’m just bad with decisions sometimes—who was I supposed to pass the award on to? what interesting facts could I share?  Besides, if you follow me on Twitter, you’ve heard about my addiction to internet browser tabs—4 different browsers and about 200 open tabs at any one time.)

Then I received the “Write Hard” award from my friend Mercedes M. Yardley.  This award was different.  This one wasn’t just about my blog.  This one was about me.

In the words of the award rules:

“Think: writers who work at their craft, writers who never give up despite the odds, writers who constantly turn out quality work. Writers you admire.

Wow.  I think I might have looked around for the Punk’d hidden cameras at that point.  Then I read what Mercedes said about me:

Jami consistently has some of the best blog posts that I have ever seen! Add that to a kick-butt manuscript and heart as gold as her name, she definitely earned this award.

*sniffle*  Yeah, this one I couldn’t put off until later.  So here I go:

The Write Hard Award

The rules are simple.

When you win:

1. Post the picture above to your blog.

2. List at least three writers who you feel live up to the “write hard” spirit. Think: writers who work at their craft, writers who never give up despite the odds, writers who constantly turn out quality work. Writers you admire. Optional: explain why you think they are awesome.

3. Include these rules or a link to them.

4. Notify said writers of their victory. Ask them to pass on the torch.

5. Continue being awesome.

The list of writers who inspire me or who I admire would be huge.  Anyone who puts in the time and effort to follow through on their dream falls into that category.

So I narrowed down my list by concentrating on those who have done everything listed in number 2 above—and did it all while overcoming daunting challenges in their personal life.  Mercedes is at the top of that list, but I suspect giving it back to her would be against the rules.  Drat.

1. Margeanne Mitchell: I think Margeanne/Murphy was a nurse in another life.  She fixes what other writers would give up on—the “unfixable” manuscripts near death’s door and bleeding with critique comments—all while taking care of her ailing parents.
2. Rachel Graves: Rachel went toe-to-toe with brain damage—a situation even more threatening to writers than losing both typing hands—and survived to get her first multi-book contract.
3. Wendy Sparrow: OCD and two kids on the Autism spectrum aren’t enough to stop this dynamo from being a talented and prolific writer on her way to being “the next big thing” among YA authors.

Yes, I’m friends with all those people, but I didn’t pick them because we’re friends.  I picked them because I admire them so much.  And I’m friends with them partly for that same reason.  I’m in awe of what they’ve accomplished—and what they haven’t let stop them.

Now, what to do with the rest of the awards…

What writers do you admire and why?  How do you do handle blog awards?  Display them in the sidebar?  Add a separate page under FAQ or About?  Ignore them?  Do you have any suggestions for me?  *channels Wendy Sparrow and shakes you*  Help me!