IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The 2024 OFFICIAL MASTER LIST: https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Special Feature - A to Z Challenge Veteran, Author Yvonne Lewis

Today I have the honor of featuring one of my dearest blogger buddies, someone I often refer to as my online mom – author and poet, Yvonne Lewis. I met Yvonne during the very first A to Z Challenge!

Tell us a little about your theme for this last Challenge:

My theme for the last Challenge "Blast From The Past" to me was special as it took me back to my formative years when Rock'Roll was just staring out and there were so many singers that went on to greater things. The songs are still being played today, it was a wonderful era to be a teenager.

Which movie was your favorite?

My favorite movie is "Somewhere In Time" starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, It was a real weepie and had some wonderful background music.

This was our third Challenge together. Do you remember anything from the first one?

What I remember from the first Challenge was I was first to sign up, it was fun and I made many friends yourself included. It was also the start of gaining many followers, up til then I only had a few.

You are a BIG fan of Daniel O Donnell. Confession time – how many times and places have you seen Daniel in concert?

Alex this next question is the granddaddy of them all. I have seen Daniel in concert in excess of 150 TIMES. Over a 14 yr period that is. I have seen him in S. Ireland, N. Ireland, England, and Scotland. In the US I have seen him at Branson MO, Las vegas, Palm Springs, Pasadena. Toronto, Wilkes Barre, Providence and Nashville TN.

You also met Challenge founder, Arlee Bird. What is he REALLY like?

What is Arlee Bird REALLY like? well Alex not to make Arlee blush, he is a real gentleman. He made both myself and brother most welcome in LA. It was the highlight of my vacation. As you imagine him to be in Blogsphere that is how Arlee is in person.

You are a master poet and the author of two books. When did you discover poetry as a writer?

I wrote my first poem in 1994 when my dog died, I didn't write again until 1998 when my first grandchild was born. Little did I think that from then on I'd be writing poetry 14yrs later. My mother passed away 10 days after my grandchild was born, three days later was told my husband had terminal brain cancer and he too was gone 2 months later. I found I could express my feelings into poetry and as the years have gone on have written much more lighter poems.


Yvonne is the author of two books and I asked her to describe her latest for you:

WRITTEN FROM THE HEART:

This book that I wrote
Was to let the readers see.
That after many years of heartache,
There's fun and laughter in me
.
Like going to the park,
And descend a slide
While my children and grandchildren
Conveniently disappear and hide.

The book also enlightens people
My blessings I do count.
There are many worse off than me,
That I do not doubt.

My love of traveling is evident to see,
Touring the U.S. and Spain.
So I can escape from
Britain's continual rain.

Also Daniel O Donnell concerts,
I really do enjoy.
I'd travel to the ends of the earth,
To see my "Danny Boy".

The "Blurb" of the book,
I'm proud of I confess.
For the final part was written
By fellow blogger Alex....no less.

I wrote this book in the first place,
To let the whole world see.
But most importantly
That my family would be proud of me.

I know some of you have already bought,
I'm so grateful for a start.
I think there's a poem for everyone,
In "Written From The Heart"

- Yvonne Lewis

Visit Yvonne at Welcome to My World of Poetry and purchase her book at Amazon

Co-host Ninja Captain Alex is the author of CassaStar and CassaFire and his blog can be found HERE

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Guest Post, Rachel Morgan: The A to Z Challenge Helped Me Promote My Books



We're very happy to have Rachel back! She's a repeat guest poster, and you also probably remember her from her amazing stop motion and WINNING A-Z Promo video. Without further ado...

The A to Z Challenge Helped Me Promote My Books 


The great thing about the A to Z Challenge is that we always get to "meet" a whole lot of new people. So I thought ... wouldn't it be great if I could introduce all these new people to the series I'd just begun publishing? Well, I thought it was a great idea! But how to link my A to Z theme to my Creepy Hollow series ...

Well, by fiction, of course (I am, after all, a writer)! Violet, the main character in the series, is one of an elite force of faeries training to become a guardian. Guardians protect humans from dangerous fae creatures that find their way into the human realm. Sooooo, as a background to the Creepy Hollow series, I decided to do 26 flash fictions about 26 different assignments Vi's been on in the past, involving 26 different fae creatures.



And that's where my theme, An A to Z of Creepy Hollow Fae, came from. Some fae creatures were those that people recognize (like elf, goblin and kelpie) while others were completely made up (like canttilee, flimsickle and nascryl). It was fun (though a lot of work), people enjoyed the stories, and it lead to them clicking through to download copies of my books :-) In April I sold more than double the number of copies I sold in March. A coincidence, perhaps, but I like to think it was because I was sharing more of my story world every day with new readers.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007FRJGXI


The Creepy Hollow Series

Rachel's Links


Thank you, dear A to Z Challenge, for giving me the 
chance to share my story world with new readers 
:-)


If you're an author, what unique methods 
have you used to promote your books?




Please give us your feedback about the A to Z Video Contest.   See the post from Monday May 28th and leave your comments.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Feedback Needed Please!

Badge artwork by A to Z artist Ada Z
    This post brought to you by Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out:         

         Today I had originally planned to post about the negatives of the A to Z, but instead something else came to my attention which I wanted to get your opinions on before I continued with the Challenge evaluation.   I will discuss the bad next Monday.

Something else we'd like some feedback on:

        Here's a link that was brought to my attention through my Google Alerts for "Blogging from A to Z Video Challenge"    You might enjoy checking this out. I found it to be quite a surprise.   I've never seen a YouTube notice like this which includes not only all of the entries for the A to Z Video Contest, but also many links to blogs that have something to do with the A to Z April Challenge.  Check this out.   Your blog may have been included.   Have you seen something like this from YouTube before?

            So far in the Reflections or the evaluations posts I haven't read anything about the A to Z Video Contest.   I'll tell you more of my thoughts about the contest in a couple of weeks, but perhaps you can tell us yours in today's comments.   Did you pay much attention to the Video Contest?   Do you think it added value to the Challenge?   Were the video promos that were later linked to on Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere effective in reaching those unaware of the Challenge?   

             Did you watch any of the videos?   If you missed them, you can find them at YouTube or at the A to Z Video Challenge.  How did you like this year's video entries?   What suggestions would you give to the entrants?

               Would you be interested in submitting a video for a future contest?  Would quality prizes such as gift cards, video related equipment, cash, or something else be a greater incentive to participate in a contest of this nature?

              What suggestions do you have concerning a video contest for the A to Z Challenge?   Are there other types of pre-April contests we might consider to bring more attention to the A to Z Challenge?



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