September Wrap Up

When I was writing Double Negative, I started researching reading and literacy programs. What I discovered made me very nervous about the future of our country. Our low literacy and illiteracy rates are shocking.

Here are two stats from literacy advocacy groups that made me sit up and pay attention.

• 33% of the population in Los Angeles 
• 25% of the population in New York 

have been identified as being low literate or illiterate.

So when I learned that September was National Literacy Month (NLM), I decided to try something to promote literacy awareness, and I targeted writers as participants. Since I didn't know if this would work, I started small. Here's what I did.

• I created a List on Twitter @WeWrite4U_Lit, telling about NLM.
• I wrote 12 Tweets (three sets) for those interested to copy and paste, and I supplied sources.
• I posted a Linky on my blog just so I knew who would be interested.

This is what happened.

• 18 people signed up
• We generated a lot of (I couldn't keep up with them, so I don't have a count) of Tweets and RT's
• Some writers became very creative and Tweeted with the @WeWrite4U_Lit and a free book link
• On International Literacy Day, we joined the #selfielit event and posted selfies as we read books. This turned into a nice promotional bonus for several writers.

For the first time out, I think this was a success. I loved that we were using Social Media for such a positive and important cause. I plan to do it again next year with some changes based on what I learned. 

And so that's a wrap for September. It's been a hot but glorious summer. I hate to see the sun move low in the sky and the days grow short, but it's part of the cycle of things. I know fall will bring its own joys and rewards. 

#atozchallenge #roadtrip - Stormy on the road less traveled.

 Hi!
It's ME!

Stormy the Weather Gnome!

We're changing things up a bit so you don't get bored.

Don't worry, we're still on the road to nowhere, still can't drive 55, AND still running against the wind.

I went to visit some of those go-getters at the beginning of the list.

Here's a few that I think you should visit.

Remember to tell them that you're visiting from the Post A-to-Z Road Trip!

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AJ Lauer from Naturally Sweet!
One of the most excellent co-hosts of the Challenge.

Her Alphabet theme was 'Things I Know'! She knows a lot! She talks about all kinds of stuff. Life lessons, writing, her favorite things and a few of her favorite people! Never a dull moment during her Challenge posts!

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Nita from Nita's Books

Nita reviews books. You know. Books. See, something we all have in common! She specializes in children's, middle grade, and young adult book reviews so her A to Z Theme was full of awesome goodness. Authors like: Diana Lopez, Joanne Harris and Lisa Yee. 

Days and days go by and no one leaves her a comment. Let's say hello to her today.

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L.G. Keltner from Writing Off The Edge

You've got to hand it to people that can whip together a new piece of writing for 26 days in a row. L.G. wrote a drabble (a 100 word piece of fiction) for each A to Z Letter day.

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Kristen Dyrr from Random Musings from the KristenHead

This A to Z Theme is CRAZY cool! Kristen talks about all things wonderful including, but not limited to, TV shows (Almost Human, Teen Wolf, Elementary, The X-Files), nature, podcats, iPhones, and Androids!

But, that's not the best part! Her posts are riddled with tweets and gifs and pics and hilarity! I love how she ties it all together, each post better than the next.

Thanks for visiting with us today!
Are you finding any great blogs on your trip?

Why Highlighting Books is an Easy Way to Participate in the A ot Z Challenge

When I began participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, blogging about books was a no brainer.  I figured I had a large collection of books, I knew alot about books, and I loved books, so why not?

Except that after I started in on the challenge I realized my choice was going to prove more difficult than I expected.

Why is that?

Because you can't just choose books randomly from the alphabet.  There are choices to be made:

1. Horror, romance, mystery, picture books, etc?
2. Blues, pinks, golds covers
3. Adults, Young Adult, picture books
4. Books you've read or books you want to read
5. Books you have at home or books you want to own
6. Male writers or female authors
7. etc, 

See? The choices drove me batty. 

Not really.  I was already batty. 

Anyway, my first year I thought I knew what I was doing! I chose books that I'd had at home and had read all or part of. I thought I was being authentic by only highlighting books I knew something about. 

Imagine my frustration when I got to the letter Q. Fortunately I found a copy of Alex Haley's Queen. I hadn't read it but I kept that secret to myself. Take a look at what I dork I was!

Fortunately, I had my braces removed and I'm back to looking somewhat less like an overgrown 8th grader.  Anywho...

My list of books continued up through XYZ. Of course I cheated with the letter X but what are ya gonna do? 

What I learned from my first year is that while it was cool to highlight books from A to Z I needed a tighter definition because my type A self wasn't satisfied until I'd put a chokehold on my choices. The next year I chose to highlight kids books.  I can't remember if it was Young Adult, Middle Grade, or Picture books but you get where I'm going with this, right?

Give yourself more specific directions because "one man's attention to detail is another man's glut of information"  which I interpret to mean, you'll have an easier go of it if you pay attention to the details.  Choose Young Adult books then you'll be more focused and the stars will align for you.  Or at least you'll have focus.  

As it turns out, in the years since I started participating in the A to Z Challenge, I learned that I was so interested in reading kids' books, that I narrowed the focus of my book review blog, An Unconventional Librarian, to only kids' (middle grade, young adult, picture) books which makes my life focused and pretty happy. 

And I'm probably the only person on the planet who knows all of the book titles that start with XYZ. Which might only come in handy on Jeopardy.   

How do you choose your topic for the A to Z Challenge?