#atozchallenge #roadtrip -- Stormy meets some NEW friends!

 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.


Pam Margolis from An Unconventional Librarian.

Pam's A to Z theme...of course...BOOKS! Books for the Middle Grade reader. So many fun, exciting, and interesting titles.

Old books, new books, award-winning books! More books than you can shake a stick at!
Go check them out!

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And now, for some NEW friends!

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C. Lee Mckenzie from The Write Game

This was a very inventive theme and probably a giant pain in the ass to pull off!

 

The Write Game's Theme AtoZ Blog Challenge

2014 - Stuff I Learned or Laughed at from Bloggers in the 2013 A to Z Challenge.

 

Each day C. Lee would give clues to a mystery blogger and everyone had to guess who it was! Lots of fun watching who would guess first and guess correctly!

 

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S.L. Hennessy from Pensuasion


S.L.'s A to Z theme was fairy tales, inspired in great part by some of her current favorite TV shows, movie adaptations, and books.

Just to name a few! G is for Grimm. N is for The Neverland. U is for Ugly Stepsisters. W is for Wolves and Witches. And of course...Z is for Zombie Princess.

Did someone say Zombie Gnome?

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

Why Show Up?

I'm amazed every year during November when so many writers take on the challenge of NaNoWriMo. Challenge is the correct word as they attempt to write a novel in a month. Reading their tortured posts and updates on social media makes me wince in sympathy. 50,000 words in one month is hard work and some do it year after year. I gave some tips on succeeding at NaNo on Monday.

In April, thousands of bloggers will sign up for the A to Z Blogging Challenge. 2015 will be my fourth year and I couldn't be more excited. But honestly, after that first year I wasn't sure I would ever take it on again. It's work. But then my blogger friends were doing in, some of them running it, and I took the plunge again. I had learned some things the first year and the second year there was as much fun as there was work. I met so many wonderful bloggers outside the novel writing community and learned from them. My third year, I served as a Minion to Alex J. Cavanaugh and gained another perspective on the massive effort that is A to Z and appreciation for the people who started it and keep it running.

Some things I learned is that blogging isn't just about book promotion or 'building my platform.' And participating in the A to Z blog isn't just about growing my blog readership. It's about being part of a community. A welcoming community who offer understanding, advice and opportunities.

I blog three times per week at my personal blog, Susan Says, and take turns on the IWSG blog as well as occasionally at The Susquehanna Writers blog. And now you'll see me on this blog once or twice per month, one of those wonderful opportunities I mentioned. Like those taking on the work involved in NaNoWriMo, there are good reasons to show up and keep at it. Whatever your motivations for blogging, joining hops, posting regularly and being part of a community, you have to show up and work at it. I'm thrilled to show up here and be part of this team.

Why do you show up to blog on a regular basis? Are there days when it feels more like work than fun? Has blogging become easier for you with experience?

Susan Gourley writes science fiction romance and epic fantasy. She blogs at Susan Says, has a Facebook page and Tweets as Susan Kelley. This is her first post as a new member of the A to Z team.

Themes That Rocked - Historical Travels with Carrie-Anne Brownian!

Today we welcome Carrie-Anne Brownian, author of historical fiction set mostly in Europe and Asia. The locations and towns she featured were truly amazing and a great lesson in history and geography.

Your theme this year was geographical-historical locations in your books – what made you decide on that theme?

I felt like it might be more accessible to a wider range of readers, with more obvious interest than my prior two themes, characters I’ve created and chapters I’ve written. Not everyone is so interested in a theme revolving around someone’s writing, but many people are interested in travel. I’m also a Sagittarius, known as the Traveler of the Zodiac.

What city or location was your favorite?

I think my favorites were Kutaisi, Georgia, and Isfahan, Iran, both beautiful cities which have been continuously inhabited for thousands of years. I’m very eager to visit both of them someday, and to see beautiful places like the Bagrati Cathedral and River Rioni of Kutaisi, and Isfahan’s breathtaking Grand Bazaar and Khaju Bridge. It also meant a lot to me to positively feature two Iranian cities, since my family were dear friends with an Iranian family when I was growing up, and I know from my own experience that these are good, intelligent, modern, hospitable people, not xenophobic terrorists.

What letter proved the most difficult?

In terms of finding a wide sample of pictures to use, the most difficult letters were U (Uelen, Russia), O (Odžaci, Serbia), A (Abony, Hungary), and F (Fereydunshahr, Iran). In terms of finding a wide variety of information about the cities, A, O, and F were also among the most difficult letters, and V (Vratsa, Bulgaria) also proved to have somewhat of a dearth of in-depth information available. Many people have problems with X, but once I found the two cities I wanted to use (Xánthi, Greece, and Xanten, Germany), I was overwhelmed with both pictures and information.

Emotionally, the most difficult letter was Z (Zagreb, Croatia), whose post I put off and wrote very last of all. Croatia committed massive war crimes against Serbs, Jews, and Roma during World War II, to such a degree that even the Nazis found them too sadistic. And many modern Croatians have celebrated or downplayed those atrocities. That shouldn’t be swept under the rug. However, I had to keep thinking of Ivan Vranetić, a young Croatian who rescued many people (including his future wife) because it was his second nature to do the right thing, and of my characters Zvonko and Mirsada. Entire peoples are not evil.

Yerevan, Armenia was fascinating – have you been there? Want to travel there?

At the moment, the only countries outside the U.S. I’ve been to are Israel and Austria (and I was only in Austria physically, due to an emergency middle of the night plane landing for a sick passenger). Someday I’d love to see Yerevan, one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited cities. I only hope I can make myself understood, since the bits and pieces of Armenian I’ve taught myself over the years are Western Armenian, and Armenia’s national language is Eastern Armenian. There are a number of important differences between them, beyond the pronunciation of some letters.

You did a lot of research for your posts – what were some of your sources?

Some of them were sources I’d used before for my writing, and I referred back to old print-outs or had to hunt them down again. I know the place I tracked down the information from some of my print-outs on Lille, France wasn’t where I’d gotten it from in 2002, but at least it had been transferred to a different website in the years since. I also used Jewish Virtual Library for information on a number of my cities, such as Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and Xánthi, Greece.

I know this is generally frowned on in serious research, but I used Wikipedia as a jumping-off point in a number of instances. It’s important to follow the links to outside, more scholarly sources, which in turn often leads you to other good sources of information. Many cities also had official websites for tourism or about their histories.

During your research, what surprised you the most?

One of the big surprises was finding out how some of these cities had been destroyed, sometimes more than once. With some cities, such as Tartu, Estonia, there isn’t much left of the historic buildings, due to so many fires and so much warfare. And yet these people kept rebuilding.

What was it like visiting Israel?

It’s truly a land of miracles and wonders, where old coexists with new, and every stone is steeped with deep, rich history and stories. My three favorite places are the Old City of Jerusalem, with its thousands of years of history and so many different cultures; Haifa, Israel’s best-integrated city, where members of all five of the country’s major religions live together peacefully; and the Galilee, an idyllic, peaceful, generally quiet region.

What theme do you think you’ll tackle for next year’s Challenge?

It’s once again going to be a theme related to my writing, but not directly related. It deals with one of my areas of greatest historical expertise, and two of the subjects I’ll be featuring were discussed during this year’s Challenge. I also included photographs related to a few of the other subjects to be featured. As a final hint, it’s going to include subjects from places including Bulgaria, Armenia, Ireland, Albania, and Bosnia.

Awesome! Look forward to your posts, Carrie-Anne.


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

What Your Visiting Behavior Brings to the Blogging Table #atozchallenge #roadtrip

You know those movie scenes where someone shows up unexpectedly on the doorstep of distant relatives, friends or lovers who are so overjoyed to be visited by another human being? In my experience as a blogger and two-time (or three-time…hard to recall right now) road tripper, this is similar to what someone feels like when you visit his or her blog. 

That is why your continued participation in the A-to-Z Challenge Road Trip counts the most; (most of) the blogs you missed way back in April are still cranking out the same, if not better, material that is worth a look-see. Even if you visit one blog a day from now until April roll around again, that will mean a lot for the bloggers who are operating those online entities. To them, it’s more than a visit. What you do (or don’t do) and what they see mean the difference between whether the blogosphere remains buzzing with activity or goes stale.

When you visit blogs, they see that some activity exists where there was once none. This traffic motivates a newbie blogger to put up a new post again. This is all that’s needed to get the ball rolling. The views you bring also keeps a seasoned blogger alert with an urge to grow his or her readership by putting one’s best foot forward.

When you read blogs, they see that their efforts were not made in vein because someone, somewhere, is paying attention. Not only did you stop by for a visit, but you're actually listening to what they have to say. This is especially evident in cases where bloggers have inspired a post on another person’s blog or ignited discussions around one particular topic. Anyone can visit but it takes an interested individual to read a blog post from beginning to end and then respond to it in a way that comes by total surprise. 

A few years ago, a Canadian blogger who I favored for some time had been featured in my local newspaper. She likely would have never even knew about the feature if I didn’t contact her about the article. So, someone in the states read her blog and thought it provided enough valuable information to warrant a mention in a newspaper. Who knows how the feature got from point A to point B – it could have been recommended from one friend to another, a magazine editor could have been doing research on one specific topic and just happened upon her blog. The possibilities vary but all it took was for someone to read this woman’s content.

When you comment on blogs, they see that there are people behind those visits and views; people with varied opinions and experienced; people who might share common interests; people who are an example of how big the world is compared to our little universes around us; people who also help us in creating and joining little universes within the larger one. You stopped by for a visit, were all ears for what was on their mind and either had a cup of coffee with them or brought some of your own to share. 

Bloggers see a reader who is willing to interact with them and enjoys further discussion on the content presented in a blog post. They see someone who is cooperative enough to step out from behind the shadows of the blog pages where he or she once lurked, and become a part of something that could turn out to be fun.

When you participate in the Post A-to-Z Road Trip by visiting, reading and commenting on blogs from the A-to-Z sign-up list, the people behind these places see that our A-to-Z community stretches far past April. They see a community that is like a gas station – open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They see how being a part of the A-to-Z Challenge can help them reap long-term benefits by the very nature of attracting new readers and hopeful friends to learn, laugh, cry, vent and celebrate with for as long as the effort is put forth on all sides.

How many new blogs have YOU visited this week?

Can you describe the most favorite or most interesting blog post YOU read this week while visiting new blogs?

A-to-Z Challenge Co-Host Nicole Ayers provides some insight on films that need to be on your radar at The Madlab Post. She is a proud supporter of the American Red Cross and is usually up for some brief Twitter (@MadlabPost) conversations.  

The Moon is round

It's full moon tonight, and it'll be low enough in the northern sky to shine through my bedroom window when I'm asleep.  I explained why in my blog yesterday.

I like moon-gazing, in fact I like all sorts of natural phenomena, which is why I'm working on making that my theme next April. I'm a long way from being the only moon-gazer, and the moon has played a huge part in our folklore and mythology.  Csenge is a better person to tell you about that than me, and then, of course, there are all those other stories with reference to paranormal influences from the moon!

Whenever I see the phrase "The Moon is round" I think of an old game that was in a book of 'Wonders' I had as a kid, showing various party games to mystify your friends.  The idea was that you had a stick (or pole, or rod) which you used to draw on the ground a circle (representing the moon), then adding two eyes, a nose and a mouth with dots and a line.  You recited "The Moon is round, and he has two eyes, a nose and a mouth" followed by passing the stick to the person on your left and asking them to do it exactly as you did it.  Most of the time the person would not follow your actions perfectly, and you said "No, try again", or passed on to the next person.  Anyone that did it exactly as you had you congratulated, which mystified the rest of your friends even more.  The secret was that you drew the moon with one hand, but passed the stick into your other hand before passing it on, and most people never changed hands.  Silly, but a fun (or infuriating) way to pass the time - especially with nothing more than a stick to play with.

If you're still wondering about a theme for next April's A to Z Challenge, you could look at games, children's games, folklore, or your preferred science.  If you cover any of these things in your blog, why not add a link in the comments below.

Jemima Pett writes scifi-influenced stories for children and adults, including the Princelings of the East books - mystery with a time travel twist - and her new series about asteroid miners caught up in a freedom fight.
Follow her blog Jemima Pett, Author
The Princelings website
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Characters Who Blog

First of all, I want to say my first official "hello" as a new member of the A to Z team! I am honored to be joining this amazing group and I simply cannot wait for April to get here.

My favorite part of the A to Z Challenge every year is always checking out all the different themes people come up with. I'm often surprised at how inventive they are, not to mention how wide-spread. The themes we come up with are wonderful reflections of each blogger's own interests and, in a way, our chosen themes express our personalities.

Which got me thinking . . . I wonder what themes and topics some my favorite characters would come up with if they blogged. Would they write about books or TV shows? Scientific studies or supernatural forces? 

For example, what would the blog of one of film's most infamous villains look like? Well, let's see . . .

I've got to say, if Mr. Vader really did have a blog, I'd be his very first follower. I could use a few lessons in world domination. 

Have a villainous Monday and happy blogging!

Upcoming A to Z Challenge Co-Host S. L. Hennessy can be found blogging at Pensuasion. 

It's Friday! What is your #FridayReads ?

We made it to Friday, friends, hooray! Give yourself a pat on the back.  If you're like me, you're always reading and Fridays are no exception.  If you're short on ideas during April's A to Z Challenge maybe you can do a #FridayReads post each friday? Surely you're reading something, right?

Currently I'm reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.  I know it's not my usual kids' book, but I'm reading it for one of the book clubs I host at work.  It's a great story of Louis Zamperini, Olympic champion, WWII vet, POW survivor, and all around amazing guy.

It's non fiction so if that's your schtick then you'll understand why it's ben on the New York Times bestseller list for years.  Nonfiction takes me a long time to read, because I have to look up all the references and then I get distracted learning what an atoll is, for example, and then before I know it, I've spent an hour studying something marginally related to the book.  

But oh the knowledge I've gained!

The better news is that the movie of the same title is slated to be released during the holiday season and it looks like a winner. I'm sure I'll drag my family to see it.

So, that's my #FridayReads.  Post yours below!

Pam

Asteroind Mining: Good Idea or Bad?



You can visit guest blogger Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs 

After spending a year gazing at Vesta , NASA's Dawn spacecraft was set to cruise toward the most massive space rock in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter — a voyage that will take nearly three years. 

Dawn slipped into orbit last year around Vesta — about the size of Arizona — and beamed back stunning close-ups of the lumpy surface. Its next destination is the Texas-size Ceres, also known as a dwarf planet (folks, these are some very large pieces of rock!!!). 

Vesta and Ceres are the largest bodies in the asteroid belt littered with chunks of rocks that never quite bloomed into full-fledged planets. As cosmic time capsules, they're ideal for scientists trying to piece together how Earth and the other planets formed and evolved. 

This Being Said: A group of wealthy, adventurous entrepreneurs announced a new venture called Planetary Resources, Inc., which plans to send swarms of robots to space to scout asteroids for precious metals and set up mines to bring resources back to Earth, in the process adding trillions of dollars to the global GDP, helping ensure humanity’s prosperity and paving the way for the human settlement in space. 

“The resources of Earth pale in comparison to the wealth of the solar system,” said Eric Anderson, who founded the commercial space tourism company Space Adventures. 

Nearly 9,000 asteroids larger than 150 feet in diameter orbit near the Earth. Some could contain as much platinum as is mined in an entire year on Earth, making them potentially worth several billion dollars each. 

The new company is backed by Google’s CEO Larry Page and executive chairman Eric Schmidt, former Microsoft chief architect Charles Simonyi, and Ross Perot Jr. The venture also counts on filmmaker James Cameron, former astronaut Tom Jones, former JPL engineer Chris Lewicki, and planetary scientist Sara Seager as advisors.

Platinum Alone Is Worth:  around $23,000 a pound — nearly the same as gold. Mining the top few feet of a single modestly sized, half-mile-diameter asteroid could yield around 130 tons of platinum, worth roughly $6 billion. One possibility might be to find a useful asteroid and push it closer to Earth. A fairly low-power solar-electric ion engine could nudge a hunk of rock into orbit around the Earth, effectively creating a small second moon that could be easily accessed. 

Asteroids contain water that can be used for drinking and broken into its constituents. Oxygen is valuable for life support in space-based habitats, while liquid oxygen and hydrogen are both used to produce rocket fuel. Having a “gas station” in space could help enable missions to Mars and beyond. Such a refueling depot might allow people to permanently live and work in space, another goal of Planetary Resources. 

Question: Do you think its a good idea to mine asteroids by pulling these monstrosities into our orbit? Better speak up now or forever hold your peace because it's probably going to happen. 

 Reference

Storyteller's Perspective: 5 Things a Storyteller Can Do for You, and 5 Things They Won't

Following in the line of my previous post, here is another handy list about the little-known profession of storytelling.
Let's say you located a storyteller, and you would really, really like to throw some money at them in exchange for their visit to your school / library / museum / festival / theater / children's event. There is a problem, though: Many times organizers are not quite clear on what a storyteller is, and what it is that we do - or don't do. Not making things clear in advance can result in awkward conversations, mutual annoyance, and toddlers having uncontrollable pillowfights on the storytelling stage.
In order to make sailing the ocean of story smoother, here is a handy list.

STORYTELLER'S DON'T...

1. Babysit.
This is important, you guys. Do NOT expect the storyteller to watch the kids while you walk off to have a beer at the festival tent. Storytelling is performance and entertainment, not a child care service. Most of are are not even qualified for that.

2. Train your students.
Don't take a storyteller into your classroom and then sit down in the back to grade papers / read the newspaper. If your students are disruptive, it is not the storyteller's job to break up the story in order to keep regulating them. Do the courtesy of helping to create a classroom environment that allows for the best possible storytelling experience.

3. Work for free.
Okay, so sometimes we do. On very select occasions. But never assume we do it for free just because we enjoy what we do.

4. Do stand-up.
Some of us are funny. A lot of us are funny. Some of our stories are funny. That, however, is still not the same as stand-up comedy. Stories require longer attention and investment from the audience. If you plan on having three hundred mostly drunk people in a hotel restaurant with music in the background, storytelling might not be your best bet.

5. Do background noise.
This is essentially the same as above. If you have people playing cards / having conversations / filling out raffle forms / getting their nails painted, invite someone who does music. There is nothing more annoying that being delegated to being a background radio channel at an event and having to speak your stories while people have their backs turned to you.

Okay, so these five probably sounded outrageous and self-explanatory, but you would be surprised what storytellers run into every so often. Better safe than sorry.
And now for the more entertaining part:

STORYTELLERS DO...

1. Work with adults.
While most of our invitations are for schools and children's events, we do work with teen and adult audiences. In fact, there are many stories that are too long, too serious or too complicated for children. It is always a special pleasure to have engaged grown-up audiences.

2. Educate.
We like telling stories, and we like talking about our stories (yeah, I established that before, didn't I). Storytellers work well with school and library programs because we bring a lot of extra knowledge along with our tales. Storytellers are not just pure entertainment. We also educate and question. We do breakout sessions, classroom discussions, and workshops. A lot of us are educators by origin. Do ask.

3. Adapt.
Ever thought "too bad there are no stories that would go with this theme?" Stop thinking that. Storytellers have vast repertoires and it is part of our job to seek out new stories and new topics. However outrageous your theme for Summer Reading Program or history class is, ask a storyteller if they can work with it. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

4. Travel.
We do. Quite often. You might have to cover the cost, but we will come to you and bring all our stories. Don't let distance stop you if there is a storyteller you really want to hear.

5. Return.
Storytelling is not a one-shot show. Most of us have enough stories and themes to work with for years and years in the same place. And the more we return to the same audience, the more we learn about them, and the better we get at picking the right stories for them. Just because you heard a storyteller once, doesn't mean you heard it all.

In case you are interested, try finding your local storytelling organization. For the USA, you can search through the National Storytelling Network. For Europe, you can look for the Federation for European Storytelling. For the rest of the world, search for storytelling in your respective languages, or look for Facebook groups! There are a lot of us out there.

Cheers!

Csenge (@TarkabarkaHolgy) at
The Multicolored Diary - Adventures in Storytelling
MopDog - The crazy thing about Hungarians...

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?

Themes that Rocked the Challenge - Classic Monsters with Mina Burrows!

Today’s featured Challenge participant, author Mina Burrows, rocked with a theme of classic monsters!

What made you choose classic monsters as your theme for the Challenge?

I had a few themes in mind this year, but ended up asking my blogger friends for their opinions. They helped me pick the monster theme. I’m a huge fan of classic literature and am fascinated with classic authors and the original monsters they created. Monsters like Washington Irving’s Headless Horseman or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. These beasts and their stories have mystified fans for years, and I thought it would be cool to highlight them.

Which monster was your favorite?

This is a tough one to answer. Out of this year’s A-Z posts, I think the Orc was one of my favorite monsters. These creatures, or a version of them, have been referenced in classic literature like Beowulf and then of course reinvented thanks to J.R.R. Tolkien. Orcs are menacing, man-eating, elf-like beasts and I just love them!

Many came from movies – care to guess how many monster movies you’ve seen over the years? How many of the films you featured have you seen?

I can’t even begin to guess how many monster flicks I’ve seen. I know I saw a ton when I was a kid, but I’m not sure if those count when I can’t remember much of the movie anyway. I believe I saw most of the monster movies from my A-Z posts, including almost all of Universal’s mash of monsters. Off the top of my head, I haven’t seen the latest Godzilla film (*smacks forehead*) and The Creature of the Black Lagoon.

Which letter was the most difficult?

Y. I wanted to choose Yeti, but that was another way to say Abominable Snowman so I couldn't do that one again since I used it for my A post. I ended up choosing Yule Cat, which I thought was so cool when I discovered it. Come to think of it, Yule Cat would be a great story to retell or write a spin-off in some cool way.

Are you a gamer? Did any of your monsters come from RPG’s like Dungeons and Dragons?

I used to play a ton of video games. Now I play stuff with my kids like Lego Star Wars and Harry Potter. Zombies are probably my favorite with respect to gaming. I’m a huge Resident Evil fan. When I decided to post on Dragons for the letter D, I knew instantly I would discuss Dungeons and Dragons. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about that game realm, but I had a wonderful time learning about it from Timothy Brannan’s blog, The Other Side. He has an amazing depth of knowledge about monsters, witches and the D&G realm. He's incredibly talented.

Do you think the Loch Ness Monster is real?

Yes I do! There is too much unknown lurking in bodies of water like the Loch Ness that I think it's completely plausible. That and there have been many sightings. In general, the Scottish Highlands is known for its legendary tales of magic and mystical forces like fairies, druids, witches, stone circles, gods and Nessie too. I think there may be some truths to the legends.

How many Godzilla films have you seen?

Gosh, I've forgotten how many. Several, when I was younger because I had two older brothers who made me watch stuff like that all the time. I was the youngest, so I didn't have much choice it what we watched so I’m glad I liked it.



Do you have a theme in mind for next year’s Challenge?

Not yet. I've been thinking about it too. I’ll probably do what I did this year and come up with a few ideas and let the readers pick. When you get audience or reader participation, you get people involved in the process and somewhat expectant or excited about what's to come.

That’s a good idea. Although I’d be worried what they might choose for me… Thanks, Mina!



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

Letter Play - A Mixed Bag O' Fun!

After going on hiatus following a 2012 run, my Friday Fun Time series resurfaces today! Those of you who are new to the game, fear not...the instructions are simple: Guess the grocery store products that each letter represents in the following photos. I will announce the winner who has the most correct answers, in a future blog post. 

#1:

#2:

#3

#4

#5

Can YOU identify and name the items/products that these letters represent?

Thank goodness it's Friday! Have a super duper one, everybody!

A-to-Z Challenge Co-Host Nicole Ayers discusses movies at The Madlab Post. She continues to support the American Red Cross and discuss various topics on Twitter.  

Storyteller's Perspective: 5 Things You Can Ask a Storyteller, and 5 Things You Shouldn't

When people ask me "So, what do you do for a living?" and I answer "I'm a storyteller," there is a whole scale of reactions that can be expected from any given conversation partner, ranging from awkward confused silence all the way to "That is SO COOL!" Like many other people with unusual jobs, us storytellers also hear many comments and questions repeated over and over again, and while some of them are endearing and intelligent, others kind of grate on our nerves. In order to make everyone feel better, here are some things you should and should not say next time you meet someone who identifies as a storyteller:

Negative Top 5: Na-ah you did NOT!

1. Can you actually make money with that?
Apart from being a rude question to ask anyone in any field, it is also kind of ignorant. If I'm a professional storyteller, I am obviously making money from it. How much is none of your business.

2. So you are a politician? Ha-ha-ha!
Ha. Ha. Ha.
No, my stories are good.

3. Wow, you must be a very good liar.
Again, rude! Calling anyone a liar is not a good start for a conversation. Also, stories are by far not the same as lies. I believe in every story I choose to tell.
(And, for the record, I am a terrible, terrible liar)

4. So, what books do you read from?
Wanna see a storyteller fume? This is the question that'll do it. Even some people who have seen me tell on stage, and without a book in sight, congratulated me after for "reading" great stories. No, we don't read. We tell. By heart.

5. Can you do some stories for us for free?
Sure, can you clean my house for free? How about doing my taxes for free? Storytelling is a profession and a performing art form. If you wouldn't ask a musician or a stand-up comedian to perform for free, don't ask a storyteller either. And if you would, shame on you.

Positive Top 5: That's a great question!

1. What kinds of stories do you tell?
We love stories and we love talking about them! Also, by asking you avoid making assumptions about what we do as a storyteller. Also, note that "tell" is better than "read."

2. Are you performing in the area?
As performers, we are likely to travel a lot for gigs. If you are really interested, feel free to ask where our next show will be, and maybe you'll hear something cool!

3. Do you know any good stories about...?
Yes. Yes we do. And if not, we love to look for them. Ask about something you are interested in, and let us help you track down the tales you need!

4. What kinds of audiences do you work with?
Instead of asking flat-out if we would do your daughter's birthday party for free, find out what we like to work with. Some storytellers happily tell to anyone between the ages of 0 and 100, while others prefer a specific group such as elementary schools, teenagers (my personal favorite), or museum visitors.

5. That sound cool! Where can I find out more about it?
Storytelling events and organizations are all over the place. It is likely that there is one in your neighborhood too! And if not, there are multiple online communities. If you really want to find out more about what storytellers do, don't be shy to ask!

Generally, storytellers love talking about stories, and love talking about what we do. No one goes into storytelling for riches and fame - we do it as a passion. If you know the right questions to ask, you will learn about great things!

You can find Csenge (@TarkabarkaHolgy) at
The Multicolored Diary - Adventures in Storytelling
MopDog - The crazy thing about Hungarians...

BLOG BLOCK!

No. This not a blog block: 

This is a building block. 

But if the above chunk of rock fell on your toe, you would probably yell, “Oh, damn!”

Not this kind of dam. Do not be confused. 

Blog block is a painful malady. Fingers are raised to the keyboard…the pressure is on to produce funny repartee and…..zip. YA GOT NUTHIN'! It’s a horrible feeling.

What’s a blocked blogger to do? There are several options.

ACCUSE YOUR MUSE OF GOING A.W.O.L.

 BLAME YOUR LACK OF WEB PRESENCE ON WRITER’S CRAMP

AND WEAR BRACES ON BOTH WRISTS AS PROOF. 

PLACE A DISCLAIMER ON YOUR BLOG THAT YOU ARE WAITING 

FOR THE LAST BLOOD MOON OF THE LUNAR TETRAD WHICH IS SEPTEMBER 27, 2015. 

THIS BUYS YOU QUITE A BIT OF TIME TO CONTEMPLATE BLOG TOPICS.

OR...

YOU COULD RELY ON THE INTERNET GODS TO GIVE YOU A FEW IDEAS! 

It’s simple. Turn off your inner editor and procrastinate productively (Whaa?). Scour the net for unique images that speak to you. Pinterest is a great place to start. Photographer websites are good, too. Check out http://emiliopasquale.wordpress.com/    (Remember to not nab the photos. Need I say more?)
Need a quote to get ya going?  Try Brainy Quote or GoodReads’ popular quotes.

There is so much out THERE…in that unseen, untouchable ether which we lovingly call the ‘net’.
What? How do I know so much about blog block? Uh…well…you see…OMG! Where are my wrist braces? I think I left them outside at the last blood moon. Oh, I’m not scared. My muse will find them!


 Today's colorful post was brought to you by the inimitable Helen Jameson!

**all images borrowed from free image sharing sites - thanks!**

Step on the Gas! A September Check-In #atozchallenge #roadtrip #LifeisGood

The Summer is winding down but if the activity in the blogosphere these last few days are any indication, our sun shiny days are to be continued. Having this in mind, I noticed a quick and much needed tune-up to my blog-visiting engine while participating in the Sunflowers for Tina blog hop that took place earlier this week. It was easy to take on the task of visiting 100+ bloggers since Monday September 8^th mostly due to determination and willingness to see how other people joined us in paying tribute to our late Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge Co-Host, and Co-Founder of the A-to-Z Challenge Road Trip – Tina Downey of Life is Good.

Although the task has yet to be completed, I stumbled upon a Robyn Alana Engel's Life By Chocolate blog, which reminded me of our previous detour seeking out blogs named after food. Since I started visiting blogs randomly based on my familiarity with them, it led me to many places that I haven’t visited in a long time such as Elizabeth Mueller’s blog. This experience has given me the idea that getting through mini blog hops within the A-to-Z Community has multiple benefits for the Road Tripper:

• It helps you get back into the habit of visiting blogs on a regular basis. So in other words, it’s a huge plus for those of us who pulled over on the side of the road numerous times. What a great way to play catch-up.

• It gives you the chance to measure how long – in hours or days -- it would take for you to visit a certain number of blogs. Having this knowledge can make things a little easier as you break your visiting down into small, manageable chunks.

• There are sunflowers on every blog on the list. Now I don’t know about you, but, being presented with a bright outlook for the day is enough for me to want to visit someone’s blog.

Most (if not all) blogs on the Sunflowers for Tina list have participated in the A-to-Z Challenge during one year or another. Since this means that many of these blogs did the 2014 challenge and survived to tell all about it, driving through this little memorial highway would count toward your road trip visits and also give you the chance to make some new blogging buddies. So, I’m calling out all bloggers who are on this A-to-Z Challenge Road Trip with Heather and I to step on the gas!

It is a great feeling to achieve the intimidating feat of visiting over 100 blogs in just a few days. Doing so means there is a chance that we can visit everyone by next Spring if we apply even a little bit of this diligence to the remaining portion of blogs from April’s alphabet party. It’s just a hopeful thought.

A-to-Z Challenge Co-Host Nicole Ayers takes readers behind the movie scenes at The Madlab Post. She is currently being influenced by top-notch magicians while continuing her campaign to benefit the American Red Cross.