Dystopolis by Ian Anderson

A-Z 2013: "Dystopolis"

Last year my theme was Beautiful Things, inspired by the title track of Gungor's album. I enjoyed it, and the challenge lived up to its name! This year I was all but decided I wouldn't participate due to another job change and an addition to our family. However, there was a story bubbling under my skin, and a couple nights before April I made quick plans to jump in no matter how unorganized I was.

The theme from last year had me writing about different objects that I considered beautiful, but this year I wanted something different, something more cohesive. The idea I settled on was a short story. The plan was to post a small portion of a dystopia each day of April, and at the end of the month I'd have a rough draft.

I had no outline to begin the month, and I had no idea if it would work (and that's still up for debate). The only bit of story I did have was the ending, and I wrote everything with that in mind. The challenge created a deadline that I thrived upon - and it really drove the story. I was forced to pound away at Adam and Evie's tale, even if I had no idea where it was going when I sat down. Those April mornings weren't something I dreaded, but something I looked forward to, something I needed.

And when I remained faithful to that deadline, faithful to the story, I found that the story flowed. Characters surprised me, events popped up that I didn't foresee, and the tale took up its own life.

Of course I couldn't sustain the pace of April. At times I'm glad for that, and at times I hope for the day when I can sit down every day with a deadline in front of me and allow the story to come to life. Maybe next April will be another step in that direction.

If you're looking for a way to jump start your blog or give yourself a deadline for that short story you've been meaning to write, why not join the fun next April? The A-Z Challenge will stretch you and encourage you, just as it did me!

Additionally, I hope you'll give "Dystopolis" a chance. You can now purchase the story for the Kindle on Amazon for $0.99. Stop by my blog, Reflections on things fantastic, to read a preview!

Thanks so much for being here today, Ian, and for the chance to get your book at such a good price! I'm looking forward to reading it – one of my favorite genres!

~Tina

Susan: How to Help Bloggers Connect Across Platforms

Please welcome Susan, who joined us this year for her first A-Z Challenge. She has an interesting proposal for next year – check it out!

~Tina

As a relatively new blogger looking for something to write about I came across the Blogging from A to Z challenge just at the right time. I had been blogging for about 8 months on my first blog, Sue's considered trifles which was intended to be the basis of a book on the English language from an enthusiastic amateur. I had sometimes deviated from my original intention and blogged about other subjects of in a different style.

At the beginning of Holy Week I had started posting to a new blog, Sue's Trifles in order to blog in whatever way I chose, while working on my original blog in a more consistent manner. I had already created and published two posts about letters of the alphabet, P and R and had begun making notes about other letters. I was considering taking the words PRECIOUS and WALK which do not have any letters in common. 

Precious is a word used to mean valued or special. Isaiah 28:16 is one example of its use in the Bible. However that was only going to use twelve out of the twenty six letters in the alphabet. An A to Z challenge was right up my street. I was at a slight disadvantage during the challenge as my blog was so new.

I also found that it was difficult to direct other A to Z bloggers to my A to Z posts. My username on WordPress is more closely connected to my other blog. I have learned a lot during and since the challenge about using widgets to customise my blog. I have also improved my Gravatar profile to help with this. I also created a page with a list of links to my A to Z posts, having seen a similar one on another blog.

I use facebook a bit, but have very few friends on facebook and don’t often look at links to it from blogs. However I set up a facebook page for my blogs during April. When I published post U, I had already prepared and scheduled my posts for the rest of the challenge, so I had a bit of “spare” time and discovered the facebook page for the A to Z community. I posted links to my posts from Q to the end of the alphabet on the appropriate threads there, but did not seem to have any additional traffic from this source, although I looked at some posts myself using links from the same threads.

Now as a blogger on the WordPress platform, it is simple for me to post comments on other WordPress blogs and keep track of the answers without flooding my email inbox. However, I found that to comment on other blogs, whether on blogspot or other web-sites required a great deal of patience, perseverance and ingenuity. Even then it often did not work. I had thought carefully about what I wanted to say, typed it and it either gave a page not found error, or just failed. I learned to copy my comments before trying to post them, but even so my failure rate was very high.

So here is my proposal. For bloggers who really want to interact with others on different blogging platforms, why not set up a facebook page for your blog. (You need to have a personal facebook account first.) The help pages on facebook allowed me to do this, so I’m sure you can manage it too! Then if you find a blogger you wish to give a comment to, use your facebook page identity to comment on the facebook page of the other blogger.

I’d like to do the A to Z challenge again next year. I have found some interesting blogs and wonderful bloggers through it. There are links to some of their blogs in my reflections post and on my links page. I have also learned a great deal about blogging and social networking. What do you think? Have you already set up a facebook page for your blog(s)? Did you use the A to Z community page on facebook? And how difficult is it for non-WordPress bloggers to comment on WordPress blogs?

"It's Time" Book Tour - Jeremy Hawkins

 

I have been making some changes on my site "Being Retro" [formally Retro-Zombie] that better suits the way I feel and the look that I have always wanted. I thought I would share a little more about me in another way that I know how and that is in my art/design. I had a little bit of an life altering situation in the start of this year, that made me open my eyes and made me come to realize that I wasn't going to be here forever. So I decided to share me with you in these four book that spans the last several years in my progression of where I was artistically.

 

 

I want to have a book tour I am not even sure how to do it, so I thought a giveaway that would include sets of the book, my t-shirts and Cds from the music label I work with. Anyone want me to host your site for a day, share a little more about me with you and your readers? If you are interested please contact me for open dates "RE: IT'S TIME": jeremy@jmhdigital.com

 

 

Also if you have any helpful advice, please share and I do appreciate all that you do... I also am going to contact a few of my close friends. The books are available at AMAZON right now, so I please take a look and I can send over a "digital edtion" for those interested being part of the tour.

 

It's art, who doesn't love art?

-Jeremy

Being Retro

http://www.beingretro.com/

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