Thinking blogs

Maxine (may the blessings of the blogosphere rain down upon her) has nominated me for a Thinking Blogger Award.

Ooooh - I'm all of a flutter ...

But then I found this on John Baker's blog.
Ooops ... I had wondered but then couldn't find a link back to the original site ... glad my techy shortcomings thwarted the process!

So being me I've decided to do it anyway in order to promote blogs I think (!) people should know about. But I've taken down the image in order to subvert the original aim.

So now I have to nominate 5 other blogs.
Ouch. Only 5???

And then (this is where it gets a bit meme-ish) they're supposed to nominate 5 others.
But only if you want to!

So here - with great difficulty - are my 5.

But if you haven't already done so, I'd heartily recommend checking all my other links.
They wouldn't be there if I didn't think they were fab!

Rachel from North London
I've only come across Rachel recently. She was one of those people lurking on the periphery of my vision but only now has she come into focus. I wish I could have been there earlier.
Rachel survived the Kings Cross bombing on 7/7. Her book on the subject is due out this July.
She speaks with authority and integrity, refusing to allow her experiences to be (mis)used to justify Islamophobic hysteria.
Here's a recent quote from her blog:

I have been honest and open on this blog since I started it, writing freely about personal and political matters which I care passionately about. For the most part I have loved it, it has been a roller-coaster ride and the support, advice, feedback, comments, suggestions, debate from readers has been fantastic. There have been times when I have been seriously under the cosh and coming here and writing has been life-saving. It has helped me deal with depression. It has helped me deal with PTSD. It has allowed me to campaign about issues I feel strongly about. It has allowed me to link to the blogs of others. I have made friends in real life through this blog, and it has been a privilege and a pleasure to have a window into other people's worlds, and to share some of my life and thoughts with you all.

Skint Writer
Skint aka Derec Jones has been blogging a bit less lately, but he's still a natural thinking blogger. Derec started his own publishing company, Opening Chapter, and published his own books - a novel, short stories, poetry collection and recipe book. Eclectic or what?
He then went on to publish Kate Bousfield's book, Coven of One. (Kate blogs at Inner Minx.)
He also organises regular online writing competitions.

Fiction Bitch
Fiction Bitch aka The Tart of Fiction, writes intelligent and thought-provoking posts on all things literary providing stimulating debates and a great resource for info.

Afrocentric Muslimah
Afrocentric Muslimah aka Saaleha is a Muslim woman in South Africa with a prodigious talent and oodles of wisdom, humour and heart.
To give you an idea - her last 4 posts have consisted of recipes, an intelligent and balanced response to a hate-filled email that has been doing the rounds, a piece of writing about the smell of damp earth, and a heart-breaking story of her visit to Maputo.

Shameless Words
Shameless is a New Zealand/Irish journalist living in France.
His blog is filled with photos, music, paintings, poems, short stories and chunks of life.