Characters Who Blog

Well, it's December and time for one of my favorite activities, watching holiday movies! The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Home Alone, and my personal favorite . . . DIE HARD! (And yes, it absolutely does count as a Christmas movie). So I thought we might like to see what John McClane would blog about during the A to Z Challenge. Let's take a look, shall we? 

And there you have it, the A to Z series of a major action hero. I personally like his letter "K" the best! I hope you all have started thinking about what themes you might feature on your blogs next April. Have a wonderful Wednesday and happy blogging! 

Road Trip Themes for Blogging from A-Z Challenge Participants

The April A-Z Challenge is a big undertaking for bloggers of all levels. There's always the question of whether you will choose a theme or wing it when delivering on your commitment to post something on your blog every day for 26 days.

The real fun begins as you attempt to make your way in and around all 2,000 (give or take) places listed on the visiting map for this annual alphabet party town. While the insanely fast and wildly diligent men and women of our community manage to get it done, the A-Z Challenge Road Trip is for the rest of us. It brings remaining survivors together for an extended trip to cover additional ground leftover from April, but on cruise control.

So, here are two A-Z Road Trip inspired theme ideas that may help you with some of the toughest tasks in the challenge -- picking topics to blog about and visiting everyone on the list.

Blogs of the Day - List five favorite blog posts you read, for each letter of the alphabet. This theme involves visiting blogs on the A-Z signup list to find links that are worth sharing with your readers. In turn, those who visit to find out what your top picks are for the day will learn about blogs that might interest them. Everyone wins.

Of course, there is an alternative route to consider if you're the scheduling type of person who wants to enjoy the fun parts of this theme without the spontaneity of hitting "publish" every day. Since signups open up a few months in advance, you can start visiting blogs and go through their regular content to find something you like. Once you've found five different blogs for each letter of the alphabet, schedule your posts as usual and title them according to the traits they have in common. Or, just make up your own.

A-Z Social - Step it up a notch and be the go-to spot for all things related to what's happening within the A-Z community. Do a roundup of activities such as blog posts that are being shared (commented on, etc.) the most, tweets worth highlighting and/or blog comments that standout. As a surveyor of social activity related to the A-Z Challenge, your blog might become a cool watering hole for this community, in April.

Joining fellow bloggers on the A-Z Challenge Road Trip is an opportunity to visit undiscovered places and meet new faces you missed. However, making the Road Trip a part of your April blogging activities can be a way to make sure that you don't miss out on much!

Will you be taking any road trips during this holiday season?

The A-to-Z Challenge Road Trip is hosted by Nicole Ayers and C. Lee McKenzie who’s well-traveled  dashboard buddy Mario is gearing up for a great 2016!

Goodbye 2015. Hello Christmas.

It has been quite a year on the road this 2015. Here's a recap of some things that have made this year full and fabulous.


New Books Galore. Every time I visited a blog there were new books from the writers I've been connecting with for a few years. 

We had a great AtoZ Challenge with so many amazing bloggers entering to provide interesting and entertaining posts throughout April.

The Team put together a year long tribute to Tina who organized so well for the AtoZ Challenge. She was greatly missed, and hugely valued by her friends.

Some new Hops filled up the Summer Days and linked us with other bloggers we might have missed otherwise!

Unfortunately, a lot of the bloggers we enjoyed retired or took long breaks, but they left with grace and for good reasons.

Jeremy Hawkins designed a super T-shirt for the AtoZ Challenge Survivors. 

The Insecure Writers Group continued to be a huge success each first Wednesday of the month with so many excellent and supportive posts.


There's a lot more, but these were the highlights for me. Now I'm fastening my seatbelt and getting ready for 2016. This is my last AtoZ Challenge post of 2015, so I leave you now to hunt down the tree and find the egg nog.