Organization - What? At This Time of Year?

My office is NOT this organized!

Organization. It is a word at once ominous and yet freeing. For me I find I am very organized right up to a certain point, and that point always changes depending on the things I have to do. Right now I must prepare for Christmas (yes, not the only one I know), blog, study marketing and begin a rough outline of a marketing strategy, try to get some writing and reading done, pay bills (notice where they are in the lineup!), and still remain sane.

From Point A to Point B

I have a group of “online” friends who I correspond with regularly. I find that I turn to them at least once a day to help keep my head organized. Not because they tell me what to do, because they don’t. But having a "point A" to go to whenever I need to get back on track seems to help, like an outline does while I’m working on a story, or a road map does when I'm traveling. Checking in with them helps me return to my path when I’m way out in a field somewhere.

And you? Do you have a method that helps you stay on track? If you share it, we might be able to incorporate something new into our “staying sane” check list. That said, I wish you all happy holidays, and, I’m looking forward to “seeing” you in 2015!

Images from:
tobifairley.com
awtechnology.com

Lisa Buie-Collard is the author of "Evangeline's Miracle". Her new release "The Seventh Man" is coming to Amazon.com in January 2015
Contact her at: lisabuiecollard.com

Themes That Rocked the Challenge - Cat Starr and Travels Around the World!

Today we welcome Cat Starr from Astral Traveller and her travels around the world!

Your theme was travel photos from around the world – what made you choose that theme?

When I travel, I keep a daily blog of what I did and what I saw. However, only a few of my photos ever make it to the daily story and rarely do I focus on one topic. Occasionally, I will write in more detail about a place I visited and include more pictures. I saw this challenge as a way to write on specific topics and share more of the stories and pictures that interested me during my travels.

Which letter was your favorite?

My favourite was F = Food shopping in Barcelona. This is still one of my all-time favourite experiences and I highly recommend the Cook and Taste cooking school in Barcelona. Coming in at a close second is J = Jewelry shopping in Santorini. This was a very personal story because I am usually very frugal in my purchases.

This one was definitely a budget-breaker that led to another questionable decision -- walking down over 300 steps to get to the dock!

Which letter was the most difficult?

X! I never really found anything that would fit for X or Z. that will be my biggest challenge next year as well!

How many palaces have you visited?

I’m not really sure! I think The first palace I visited was the Royal Palace in Madrid. The Casa de las Rosas in Buenos Aires is a beautiful building built in the style of European grand palaces. It was on a cruise to the Baltic that I really started visiting palaces. In St. Petersburg, I visited the Hermitage Museum, which is really a collection of five separate palaces. Then there was Catherine’s Palace and Peterhof – the one Peter the Great designed based on Versailles. I also visited a palace in Stockholm and watched the Changing of the Guard, complete with the Horse Guards and a band on horseback! I visited two palaces in Copenhagen and finally the Palace of Versailles – in order to compare it to Petehof. As for London, I’ve walked by Buckingham Palace, but never been in it. Same with Holyrood in Edinburgh – it was closed when I was there due to a royal visit.

What was the most interesting thing you saw at the Helsinki Market?

At almost any market, it is always the food! In the Helsinki Market, it was Finnish fish from Lapland, salmon soup and paella -- that is definitely not the same as paella in Spain! In fact, I really think they need to call it something else (not that it wasn’t good – just not paella!).

What was the weirdest food item you saw in Barcelona?

This is an easy one, the whole goat heads and the “pig faces” (basically just the skin of the pig head).

Where on Earth is Kotor?

Kotor is a small port community in the country of Montenegro. You sail through some beautiful fjords to get to the Bay of Kotor and this beautifully walled town. It is stunning!

What theme are you considering for the Challenge next year?

I have been one more adventures since last year – one to the UK and Ireland and one to the Canadian Maritimes. Therefore, I’ve built up a lot more stories to share! G will probably be for Gaspe – one of my favourite experiences this past year.

I lived in the UK for a while – look forward to those photos, Cat!


Co-host Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh is the author of Amazon Best-sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, and CassaStorm, and his blog can be found HERE

7 Themes for the Blogging from A-Z Challenge

With the holiday season around the corner, the last thing on people's minds is blogging and what to write as far away as next year. Me? I'm full of good intentions that get lost along the way, so I like the thought of advance planning.

I already know what I'll be blogging about in the A-Z next year, or so I think for right now, until another shiny, new idea comes along. In case you haven't settled on a theme yet, the holidays are a great time to look around and see what possible fun and exciting topics you can cover.  Here's my shortlist of things I'd be interested in seeing done during the Challenge.

A-Z of planning for a new year (Helpful, if you're the sort who can't seem to get things rolling motivation-wise or resolution-wise when January 1 hits)

A-Z of getting though the holidays with your sanity intact (think, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc. or any other one for that matter. This guide will help you organize and delegate tasks before, during and after the holidays)

A-Z of planning and researching your projects (Some of us are useless when it comes to getting ourselves organized and ready to work when we're taking on anything new, including writing a book)

A-Z of handmade gift items (If you're good with crafts and such and like the thought of personalized gifts)

A-Z of fun projects for children (This might interest you if you're that relative who gets landed with the job of babysitting all the little tots during family gatherings)

A-Z of getting through the A-Z Challenge (This guide would help the disorganized among us to plan for the chaos that descends during the A-Z if we do little or no planning beforehand)

A-Z Holiday Devotional (If you're religious or spiritual and use devotionals to jumpstart your worship sessions)

Can you think of any other fun topics that would be great to tackle during the A-Z? Anybody planning to take on any of these? Have you started planning for the A-Z?

J.L. Campbell lives in Jamaica and writes romance, women's fiction and young adult fiction. She blogs at http://www.joylcampbell.com