Rena Sherwood Named January, 2011 "Most Intriguing AC from Yahoo Writer" by Her Peers

Unfortunately, Associated Content from Yahoo doesn't have any Academy Awards to give out to its writers. There are no golden statues that we can sit up on the shelf and stare at as our shining moment of glory.

In fact, if you believe Google's newest comments, blogs and articles AC shouldn't be allowed to exist on the face of the map. Nonetheless, as long as I get to be a part of the AC community, I will continue to provide a forum for AC contributors to recognize their peers for a job well done.

Granted, I'm not stupid enough to dare to call these awards "The Best Of" anything. Let's face it writing, like a lot of the arts, is subjective. What I like, you might hate and vice versa. I do think; however, that there are writers that are unusually "intriguing." What that means is that they write about subject matter that is interesting or they write in a way that is unique.

That is why I created "The Most Intriguing Writer" awards; to recognize these unusually talented individuals. I have enjoyed giving out this recognition at the end of the year for the past four years. However, 2011 is the first time such awards have been recognized monthly.

In January, a call for nominations went out for the January award. AC contributors were encouraged to nominate their favorite AC writers. These included:

Sivaramakrishnan Aranthanarayan,
Donna Cavanaugh,
James R. Coffey,
Jenny Heart,
Verna Hendrickson,
Kristie Leong,
Shirley Mandel,
Mike Powers,
Sandy James,
Tony Payne,
Donna Porter,
Delicia Powers,
Rena Sherwood,
Michele Starkey,
Christian Taylor and
Brandy Williams.

A judging panel consisting of Diane Ciatto, Carol Roach, Bridgitte Williams and myself reviewed the nominations by reading at least three articles by each nominated writer. Then each nominee was awarded up to 25 points in categories, which included accuracy, intrigue, memorability, and quality.

After tabulating all judging results, a clear-cut winner for January was uncovered. She scored 75 out of a possible 100 total points. Her closest competitor scored a total of 60 points. I am, therefore, proud to announce the "Most Intriguing AC from Yahoo Writer" award for January, 2011 goes to Rena Sherwood.

Rena is beloved here at AC for many different reasons. According to judge Carol Roach, " Rena is deeply passionate about her work. She has known and studied pets all her life, which made her the perfect choice for the featured pet contributor for AC."

She goes on to say, "Rena's work is engaging, well researched, down to earth and written so that everyone can relate. She also writes on a variety of topics such as health, reviews, writing, fiction and so on." Finally, she notes, "Rena has been published in 'A Cup of Comfort For Horse Lovers', 'Scifaikuest' and 'The Best of Every Day Fiction.' Additionally, she also won the best of AC Award 2010."

Judge Diane Ciatto notes, "Rena has an eclectic mix of articles from the pet lover's of all shapes and kinds to how to write web content. She is a writing machine."

Rena has a lot of fans at AC. Some of them couldn't wait to provide quotes for this highlight article.

Candice L. Collins writes, "I love Rena's work. She has a way of pulling you into her stories that won't let you go until the last word. Even then you end up wishing they would go on." She goes on to say, "thanks Rena for sharing your talents with us. Don't ever stop writing!"

Another peer, Lee Hansen offers, "Rena's care, compassion and love for animals clearly comes through in so many of her articles. Her knowledge on the subject has given me an education that I would not have gotten had it not been for her expertise. Rena also stays true to herself and to her convictions."

Maria Roth says, "I enjoy Rena's sense of humor. Additionally, her freelance writing advice is very helpful."

As a fan of Rena's myself, I echo all of those comments and more. While her writing abilities are obvious, something else should be noted. Rena is a delightful individual who is supportive, caring and helpful to her fellow writers. That is also worth its weight in gold.

Congratulations Rena. We love you and like Candice said, "Don't ever stop writing!"