Me and the A to Z: Guest Post from Mary at Giggles and Guns

Me and the A to Z

I'm smiling, no laughing, that Lee wants me to write about my experience with A to Z 2011.

Let me tell you...

See this doppel of me from Facebook? There's a reason it's not a photo. I'm bald now due to A to Z 2011. I'm kidding. All but a few patches have grown back. If I do a comb-over like a middle-aged man you can hardly tell. Honest.

        I watched the 2010 Challenge from the sideline. Most of it anyway. I discovered it late and was embarrassed to join half way through. I promised myself I would do the next one. When registration came up I jumped right in. I started preparing posts in February. I was on it like fleas on a dog. All I had left were my six doozies -- Q, V, F, Z, U and Y. I refused to skip an entry. A couple of times I think I was almost putting up posts only a few hours apart.

       As April approached I watched the list of blogs to visit grow ... and grow ... and grow ... More than once I prayed the monitors would shut down registration. They finally did. At something like 1200+.

       Seriously, guys, what were you thinking? My original plan of scheduling posts and spending xx amount of time visiting new blogs and checking out old friends was lost. No way. After all life goes beyond blog reading. Life, eye strain and headaches can put the brakes on visiting all those sites in 30 days. Best laid plans and all that. I think it was August by the time I got to the final participants. (My humblest apologies inserted here.)

      I notice that a lot of folks hit the high hundreds (and even thousands) with new followers. I didn't gain that many. Maybe because I didn't follow every blog I visited. Everyone handles the whole following thing differently. Some click the Follow Me button everywhere they stop. Some follow only those who write a certain type of posts. Some only follow where they want to return. To each his own.

      Well, A to Z 2012 is fast approaching. I was prepared to blow it off this year. But the more I see that button and read how excited everyone is the more I have to join, no, want to join. Besides, what would I do with all the posts I've already written. They wouldn't make sense to use any other time. That's right, guys, I'm ready. Bring on April!

My hints?

• Prepare early

• Keep it short

• Turn off the darn captcha and word verification. Many participants skip blogs where those are necessary. (Guilty) Imagine 1200 blogs each requiring two steps to leave a comment. That's a lot of wasted time and typing. I block anonymous comments on my blog because of an overzealous shoe salesman. Again to each his own.

THE most important thing to remember ...

ENJOY YOURSELF! Have fun. It's all about the fun and friends, old and new. I'm looking forward to visiting everyone -- hopefully, before the A to Z 2013.

********

There are just a few days left to submit you A to Z promotion video.  Look in the appropriate tab at the top of the page for more details.    Here's something fun from Tracy Jo Blowers at A Brand New Day.

Related articles

• A to Z Challenge and The Wistful Nebulae (breakthroughblogs.blogspot.com)
• Is it just me? (amultifariousme.wordpress.com)

Relax and Have Fun: Guest Sheri Larsen

REWIND:    I remember when I first heard about the A to Z Blogging Challenge.  It was last March, only a few weeks before the challenge was scheduled to begin. “What a fabulous idea!” raced through my brain. I was so excited at the thought of being included in an event with so many other bloggers that I signed up.

Obviously, there were ideas that immediately came to my mind for a few letters. But then I started to think about it, really started to think—THE ENTIRE ALPHABET—and then quiver, shiver, and sweat. How was I to handle committing to a new letter each day? What had I done?

What about those strange letters like X and Z? Or what if I had another commitment on the day P was supposed to be posted and there was no way to fit that letter into my post? How could I be unique? Would I make my posts about writing, which is what my blog is geared to? Or should I veer off course? If so, what the heck do I write about? What if there was an earthquake, a hurricane, or a flood?

I think you get my drift here.

With the help of a few deep breaths, I put an axe to that train of creative-diluting thoughts and went for the fun angle. I decided to stick to my normally posting days of M-T-F, highlight whichever letter fell on said day, and committed to seeking out new and interesting ideas to post about.  

FASTFORWARD: This challenge is to exercise your thoughts and push you out of that safe comfort zone. How else do we expect to grow if we don’t try new things? Whether you’re looking to grow as a blogger, a writer, or as a thinker, this challenge is for you.

Here’s a list of some fun ideas. All are special days celebrated during the month of April. Use this list as a reference if you feel stagnant during the challenge. I’ve even shared with you my official logo I’ll be using for all my ‘April’ posts! Hope you like it. 

APRIL is:

• ·     Autism Awareness Month = Letter A
• ·          National Frog Month = Letter F
• ·         National Humor Month = Letter H
• ·         National Educational Mathematics Month = Letter M
• ·         National Volunteer Month = Letter V

Of course, there are individual days to celebrate as well. April:

• ·         1^st – Cents Day = Letter C
• ·         3^rd – Find-A-Rainbow Day = Letter R
• ·         6^th – Jump-Over-Things-Day = Letter J
• ·         10^th – Encourage a Young Writer Day = Y
• ·         13^th – Scrabble Day = Letter S
• ·         21^st – Kindergarten Day = Letter K

For a more complete list and for fabulous explanations of each, click HERE. (can you link the HERE with this http://familycrafts.about.com/library/spdays/blaprdayslong.htm. *credit for research goes to family crafts

Sheri Larsen is a published freelance and short story writer, and KidLit author. Her current YA novel is with literary agents, and she’s preparing to sub one of her picture books to agents. Her website, Writers’ Ally (http://writersally.blogspot.com), is where she explores writing, children’s literature, and motherhood. She lives in Maine with her husband and four children.

We're still accepting A to Z videos until Sunday March 11th.  Details can be found in the tab at the top of this page.  This video comes from Reka at A Chronicle of Dreams.

Related articles

• My A to Z Blogging Challenge Secret: How I Survived.... (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• #atozchallenge: Sunday Summary March 4, 2012 (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• Training for the A to Z Challenge: Guest Post from Journaling Woman (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• Tackling the Taunting Letters: Guest Alana Garrigues (a-to-zchallenge.com)

Getting to know the Hosts- Konstanz Silverbow

           

My name is Konstanz Silverbow.  I am not yet published but I hope to be soon! 

My signature says everything you need to know about me:

"Proud Creator of magical worlds, fictional creatures, ideal super heroes and sarcasm since 2007!"

(Okay you probably want to know more. . . .)

My main Blog: Nothought2small

I also run another blog with one of my bestest friends: Writeaway

I also have three Facebook pages, and you can also find me on Goodreads & Google+!

(I wont bore you to death with more links but now you know that's where you can find me and all the links are on the sidebar on the Nothought2small blog) 

And now. . .. the interview you have all been waiting for. . . .
(okay probably not but I would like to make myself think that)

 What is the most daring thing you've ever done?

There are many things I could answer this with but I have to say, I think agreeing to Co-host this challenge has been the most daring of them all.  I really have no idea what I am doing when it comes to blogging.  When I accepted the invitation to co-host this year, I had 38 followers on my blog.  Only four months later and I now have 350.  

What is your favorite article of clothing?

Hmmmmm. . . .I don't know.  I think it would have to be either my T-shirt that says ‘Muggle' or my t-shirt that says ‘Trust me, I'm a Writer'.

 What is your favorite monster?

This questions is very general so I could answer in many ways.  Most people consider Dragons to be monsters.  And I LOOOOVE dragons.  (If you don't believe me, you can see a small portion of my dragon collection HERE) So, does my love for dragons count as a love for a monster?  (I don't really consider them to be monsters).  

 If you had to dress up as your favorite literary character, who would it be?

Ooohh all the choices. . .   I think I would create a costume that allowed me to have a little piece of all my favorite literary characters on it. 

What is your favorite fairy tale, urban legend or nursery rhyme?

I don't really have ONE Favorite.  I love researching the original tales and comparing them to what people know the Fairy tales to be today.   It's fun to know why they are referred to ‘Fairies' which I will actually talk about in April for one of my posts. 

What's the strangest item you've used as a bookmark?

A stick of glue.  (It didn't stay there long. . .) 

 Do you have any nicknames?  What are they and how did you earn them?

Not really.  Tina calls me ‘K' (which I love btw) But other than that I just go by Konstanz. 

Name one habit you want to change in yourself:

I have this awful habit of blogging and updating my blogs and always checking them and it has gotten to the point that I never have time to write.  I would really like to change that and get more writing done. 

Tell us something interesting or shocking about yourself:

Something interesting: I play the Violin, Organ and Piano. And I plan on going to college for Music. 

Some A-to-Z Questions:

What was your favorite A-to-Z post from 2011?

I didn't participate in anyway last year so I really can't say.  Sorry.

What brought you to the A-to-Z originally?  Tell us about your first A-to-Z:

Last year I saw the badge for it on Elizabeth Mueller's blog and although I thought about joining, I didn't.  But Elizabeth is also the one who asked me to co-host so Elizabeth is what brought me to the challenge.  This year will be my first year doing it.

 Are you doing a theme? Are you writing & scheduling posts in advance?

I am doing a theme.  I'm not really talking about what my theme is until April (although I did mention it above sort of). I am writing the posts and scheduling everything in advance so I have time to visit other blogs and comment lots!

What is your favorite letter of the alphabet, and why?  What letter do you like least?

I love, love, love 'D' and 'F' specifically for the challenge.  Aside from the challenge, my favorite letter is 'S' and I don't know why.

I don't, don't like any letters.  For the challenge, I am not liking  'A','Q', 'X', & 'Z'.  But putting the challenge aside, I love all the letters.