#atozchallenge -- Comments! Get your comments here!

 

The Challenge starts on Friday. We hope you're all prepared, but it's okay if you're winging it, too.

Just remember, the Challenge is here to push you, so if you're feeling pushed, we're doing our jobs. 


In my humble opinion, there are 3 key elements to the Challenge.

*Daily blog posts.

*Responding to comments received on daily blog posts. Optional, but recommended.

*Visiting and commenting on other participants daily blog posts. Optional, but highly recommended.

 
Let's face it, we can't force any of you to respond to comments, or to visit others to comment, but it is part of the Challenge guidelines and the Challenge fun.

Leaving comments on a stranger's blog can be intimidating, but let's put it in perspective.

Bloggers are people just like us and they like to get comments on their blog posts just like us!

Not every comment has to be a full paragraph, re-stating the post's premise, and quoting the author.

Leave a quick remark. Like a sticky-note. Just enough to get your point across. Something you wouldn't mind receiving on your blog.

When you do comment, think about leaving a signature so they know where you're coming from, like your name and your blog title. Something you can cut & paste quickly onto the end of your comments.

You can make a hyperlink signature as well. HERE is the latest A to Z blog post on how to create one.

Remember, the Challenge isn't just about the destination, but the journey. This is your blogging community. Make the most of it.


Heather M. Gardner

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Co-host
The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Ninja Minions Attack!

Just who are the Ninja Minions? Only the most awesome bunch of bloggers in the world. They will be assisting me in April, helping this Ninja keep his sanity. 


What makes a Ninja Minion? Stealth. Know-how. Top blogging skills. And sheer awesomeness. 



Let me introduce you to this cool team of Ninja Minion Masters. If you’re not following them, you should!

Master of travel and New Zealand, Rhonda Albom

Master of introspection and honesty, Nicola Burggraf

Master of poetry and truth, Nilanjana Bose

Master of her writing and IWSG admin, Susan Gourley

Master of mystery and book blogger extraordinaire, Mason Canyon

Master of freelance writing and middle grade mayhem, Stephanie Faris

Master of mysteries and flash fiction, Yolanda Renee

Master of deep thoughts and contemplation, Ann Bennett

Master of snark and other-worldly writing, Patricia Lynne

Master of innovation and writing entrepreneurship, Melanie Schulz

Master of book events and youthful writing, Donna McDine

Master of music and rants, JA Scott

Now you see them – now you don’t! Because they are Ninja Minions…

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

The Joyful Brigade Hits the Road

It's almost time for us to hit the ground running with the Challenge. I'm happy to be a co-host for the second year running and I'll be ably assisted by the seasoned bloggers listed below. Meet the Joyful Brigade and say howdy!

Keith Channing is retired and lives in the middle of France with his wife and two dogs, where he mostly makes up and writes lies for the sheer pleasure of doing it. Some of them even rhyme. Many of these lies, both of the rhyming and non-rhyming types, end up on his blog, as do some of the photographs he's taken from time to time.

Contact Links:
Fuller bio is at https://about.me/keithchanning
https://www.twitter.com/keithchanning
https://plus.google.com/108165500792647138091
http://keithchanning.tumblr.com/

Bish Denham was raised in the Virgin Islands where her family has been living for over a hundred years. She worked for 23 years with abused, neglected, and emotionally disturbed children before retiring. Bish has been writing off and on most of her life, but it's only been within the few years that she's taken the plunge to self-publish. She now has two books out in the world: A collection of ten stories about the Caribbean trickster Anansi, called Anansi and Company: Retold Jamaican Tales and a novel about a vain young lizard who believes he has a destiny called A Lizard's Tail. She's currently working on a Caribbean ghost story and has been blogging 9 years. This will be her 7th A to Z Challenge.

Contact Links:
http://bish-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BishDenham.Author/
https://twitter.com/BishDenham

Betty Dmochowski Wooton has been blogging for close to 10 years under a lot of different names, but finally settled into her niche, A Bench with a View, about 4 years ago. She blogs about a variety of subjects and tries not to blog more than once a week so she can save time to check out and read lots of other blogs. This will be her 4th A/Z Challenge. In real life when she's  not blogging or reading blogs she's a medical transcriptionist. She has been married for 35 years and was recently blessed with a grandson born right after Valentine's Day 2016.

Contact Links:
http://viewsfrombenches.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/betty.wooton
https://www.facebook.com/walkhumblywithMyGod

Jen Garrett writes for, about, and around children all day. But sometimes she finds time to do the dishes at her home in Northern California. She also finds time to blog, participate in SCBWI, facilitate The Writers Bloc at her local library, query agents, and read mountains of books. How? We don’t know.


Contact Links:
lexicalcreations.weebly.com
Twitter handle @lexicalcreation
Facebook Lexical Creations and https://www.facebook.com/thewritersblocinplacerville/

Sheena-Kay Graham is a writer, Christian, proud Jamaican, Harry Potter fan, Divergent lover, Dauntless Faction, Book Obsessed. She blogs about her life, books, book reviews, her upcoming novels, and sometimes random fun, plus the movies she sees at the cinema.

Contact Links:
http://queendsheena.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SheenakayGrahamAuthor/
https://twitter.com/queendsheena
Laura Hernandez is the mother of four children and grandmother of three with another two arriving this summer. She is engaged to a retired military man and currently resides in Missouri. Her hobbies include reading, DIY projects and arts & crafts. She's always had a passion for books so wasn't surprised when she eventually started a blog. 

Those first few blog posts only had a picture of the book she read and a sentence or two for a review. Since then, reviewing books has afforded her opportunities that she never knew existed and Laura is very thankful for the many book-addicted friends she's been able to make.

Contact Links:
The Voluptuous Book Diva - http://voluptuousbookdiva.blogspot.com http://facebook.com/voluptuousbdiva
http://yabkd.blogspot.com and on Facebook http://facebook.com/yareeds
Twitter @VoluptuousBDiva 
Instagram @volptuousbookdiva

Michelle Wallace is a writer-in-the-making, on an adventure, a never-ending journey. Her many titles include writer, blogger, flash fiction junkie, wannabe poetess, educator. She looks forward to meeting and interacting with many different writers/poets/bloggers from many different places, as she believes that this potpourri of characters will enrich her life in one way or another, helping to mould and shape her writing experiences. Therein lies the success story~it lies in the actual journey!

Contact Links:
http://www.writer-in-transit.co.za/
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.wallace.author
Twitter link: @mishy1727 Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/14191973-michelle

And then there's me, J.L. Campbell. I'm plenty happy to have this great group of bloggers to help make the Challenge fun and easy. I live in Jamaica and write sweet romance, romantic suspense, women's fiction, new and young adult novels.

Contact Links: www.joylcampbell.com
https://www.facebook.com/jcampbellchambers
https://twitter.com/JL_Campbell
https://www.pinterest.com/thewriterssuite/

Thanks so much for stopping in, I hope you're looking forward to the Challenge as much as we are. Feel free to visit these bloggers and get acquainted.