Ruth Pennebaker tossed a 15-year-old granddaughter into the plot of her novel after her husband said a middle-aged woman taking care of her dying mother was a yawn. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a first novel for the Austin-based Pennebaker, a veteran journalist and avid blogger. 

Blogger? You say?

Her blog is called The Fabulous Geezer Sisters; her sister has actually left for a different pasture so — truth be known, it’s singular Geezer.  I found that her blog is a finalist in the Eleventh Annual Weblog Awards for Best Writing. I bookmarked it for later.  

With over 156 million blogs out here, any effort to recognize top dogs is welcome relief. 

The Bloggies are a great way to find things you wouldn’t other wise find. A blog can win a category for a maximum of three years. So new talent doesn’t have to sit around waiting for someone to expire. 

Among the categories are Humor, Food, Best Designed, Best Photography, Art/Craft/Design, (I like Just Something That I Made ) Politics and Gossip. A grand prize is Weblog of the Year.  In that contest, I’m watching Hyperbole and a Half, and Smitten Kitchen.