Gary Pennick Guest Reflection from the Alphabark Challenge

Today we have the amazing privilege of having one of the most infamous A-Z affiliated bloggers (and I say affiliated since he has never really, though that's up for debate... participated in any of the A-Z Challenges)  graciously allowing us to use his satirical Reflection Pawst.

To really understand how special this is, you need to know that Gary does the Challenge in his own way.  One year it was backwards through the alphabet, this year he had his Alphabark Challenge, run by Penny, the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar.

Despite his "disdain" for a month long Challenge which "hogs the blogosphere" he probably does more to promote our endeavors than most.  We love our Gary and his trusty sidekick, and graciously thank him for all he does behind the scenes for us.  Take it away Gary and Penny!

The Alphabark Challenge, 2014! Reflection Pawst.

"A" if for "Arf!"

I'm having a laugh

"B" if for "Bark"

Sometimes I snark

"C" is for "Chihuahua"

Hello, how are ya? 

"D" is for "Dog"

A pawblished blog

"E" is for "eekPawblishing"

If that's your thing

"F" is for "Feline"

Having a whine

"G" is for "Gary"

How very scary

"H" is for "Howl"

Without a scowl

"I" is for "Insect"

A bug I detect

"J" is for "Jack Russell"

The dogs that hustle

"K" is for "Klahanie"

Pawmoting I see

"L" is for "Loon"

A Canadian tune

"M" is for "Metrosexual"

Such a transport ball 

On all things Metro

Didn't you know.

"N" is for "Noodles"

Oodles of noodles

You stick them in water

Just like you ought ta

And what have you got

One silly noodle stuck to the pot

"O" is for "Ogopogo"

Way to go, go, go

Canadian lake creature

Is what we feature

Ogopogo can kick Nessie's rear

Take that, you Loch Ness dear

"P" is for "Poodle"

Which rhymes with noodle

Doggy jumps through hoops

And you scoop its poops

"Q" is for "Query"

Hi pawblisher, deary

"R" is for "Rivet"

Don't you forget

The noise of a frog

Over there on a log

There you go

I toad you so

"S" is for "Sasquatch"

Go have a watch

Don't say, "Big Foot"

Or you might be kaput

"T" is for "Toadstool"

How very cool

No, not that load

Not a stool from a toad

"U" is for "Unread"

Start over, instead

"V" is for "Vacuum" 

Instead of a broom

Knowing my luck

My vacuum wont suck

"W" is for "Weird"

Oh, how they cheered

For the Alphabark

That's having a lark

Not lark as in bird

Haven't you heard

"X" is for "Xerox"

Photocopy your cocks

Place your butt on the screen

How very obscene

"Y" is for "Y am I doing this?"

Am I taking the p**s?

Look below

And you will know

"Z" is for "Zest"

My good-natured jest

I did this with Zeal

How do you feel? 

The above, a recap

That makes you clap.

Sadly, my friend

We've come to the end

That sums it up
From this lovable pup
Just one last thing
I do bring.

The reflection pawst
From your cordial host
The Alphabark Challenge
My friendly revenge. 

Gary blogs at Klahanie, where his goal is to take away the stigma of mental illness and to spread kindness, love and peace to all who visit.  Please go say hi.  You'll make a great new friend!

#atozchallenge #roadtrip - Stormy is on the move!

Yeah, keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel
Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel
Yeah, we're goin' to the Roadhouse
We're gonna have a real
Good time

(Roadhouse Blues by The Doors)

So, welcome to our second leg of the Post A-to-Z Road Trip!

Stormy the Weather Gnome and I are going to try to hit at least 20 new blogs a week from the Challenge list and tell you about a few of them in each of my posts.

When you go visit these awesome blogs, please make sure you tell them that you're visiting on the Post A to Z Road Trip!

No trip would be any fun at all without visiting Alex J. Cavanaugh!

Ninja Captain. Rock Guitar enthusiast. Science Fiction Adventure Author extraordinaire. Blog Genius. Music and movie connoisseur. IWSG creator.

Need we say more?

If you're not visiting his blog regularly, you are missing out.

Tara Tyler Talks
Tara Tyler

Stormy and I LOVE Tara and we always have a great time visiting her blog. She is a mom, a teacher, an author, and a lazy housewife (her words, not mine). She has a new book coming out soon and I'm so proud of her and excited to see what she comes up with next.


The future's uncertain
And the end is always near.

Let it roll, baby, roll.
Let it roll, baby, roll.
Let it roll, baby, roll.
Let it roll, all night long.


Christine Rains-Paranormal Romance Author
Christine Rains

Christine's 13th Floor Series is one of my very favorites and I'm looking forward to what she's got up her sleeve. She always adds a twist to a tale you think you know and proves you, oh so, wrong.


DL Hammons

One day, DL put up a few paragraphs of his writing for all of us to read on his blog. I can still remember my heart pounding while I read it and the premise still haunts me today. I really want to finish reading that story and I hope that we all get the chance to do just that.

Have you heard about Write Club? Well, DL is the founder of the Club and he really wants you to go visit his blog and check it out, maybe even sign up! There's only a few days left.

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

Two Rewarding Results of Writing in Response to Blogs You Visit

Did you know that writing responses on your blog is of the quickest ways to feature a blogger in one of your posts? 

There are many ways to use the topic of another blogger’s writings as a springboard for your own blog’s content. Consider posting content that elaborates on a comment that you left, if any, on his or her original post. You can also forego commenting altogether, and write a response on your blog, making sure to link the post that sparked this subject you’re covering.  

No matter how you approach this method of responding to blogs you visit, it’s a win-win situation for all parties involved because it comes in handy where marketing and content creation is concerned.

Writing in response to the blogs you visit helps to cure writer’s block. Reading someone else’s perspective on a topic, or learning about certain experiences he or she had, is likely all it takes to revive your creative juices when you find yourself coming up short of blogging ideas.

Writing in response to the blogs you visit fosters interaction between bloggers. There is a good chance that bloggers whose post you’re responding to will visit your blog if you leave a comment on what they originally wrote with the permalink to your reaction. This might even lead to a mention and link in their latest blog post, which is one of the easiest ways for you to gain new readers. In the same breadth, linking to their post in the body of the content you write also helps to send your visitors their way – helping both blogs to build a network within the blogging community.

Have YOU ever written a comment that ended up being as long as the average blog post?

Nicole Ayers hosts the 'Monday Movie Meme' while also writing about independent film directors and their work at The Madlab Post. When she’s not keeping up with Jack Bauer, she also tweets.

Themes That Rocked! Challenge Participant Lanise Brown and Libraries From Around the World

Please welcome book reviewer, Lanise Brown!

Your theme was libraries around the world. What made you choose that for the Challenge?

My idea for the challenge sort of came last minute. While I was thinking up a theme and searching for cool bookish things online, I came across an article about the amazing libraries of the world. And I had my theme.

Which one was your favorite?

It’s difficult to pick just one, but I think the Rijksmuseum Research Library in Amsterdam and the José Vasconcelos Library in Mexico top my list.

They were all very unique – which one was the most unique or even odd?

The most unique and unusual was Mexico’s José Vasconcelos Library because of the building’s size, the painted whale skeleton that’s on display in the main hall, and the fact that the library’s been nicknamed the Megabiblioteca (megalibrary).

Which letter was the most difficult?

All of the letters towards the end of the alphabet were challenging, but the letter X was the toughest by far. No states or countries in the world begin with the letter X, so I had to resort to cities. Eventually, I found the Zhangzhou Campus University Library in Xiamen, China. There weren’t many pictures of the library though.

Have you ever visited any of the libraries you featured?

Sadly, no. But I hope I’ll get to visit a few of the locations some day.

Which one is the oldest?

The oldest is the National Library of France, which was founded in the 14th century. I featured the library’s Richelieu Reading Room that houses the library’s rare and antique collections.

If someone let you loose in one of those libraries, what would you do and how long would you stay?

Oh my goodness. I’d be like a kid in a candy shop. I’d probably grab more books than I could possibly read, and take a lot of pictures of the architecture. I’d make it a daylong event of course.

If you do the Challenge again next year, do you have a theme in mind?

I’ve been thinking about next year’s challenge. I suppose I’ll go with the rarest books from around the world, or I might even continue the library theme. There are so many more libraries to share.



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

Guest Reflection: Maria Dunn #atozchallenge

Today please welcome Maria Dunn, one of the A-Z Challenge participants.  I've been reading reflections, and will be choosing some special ones to feature here at the A-Z.  Here's the first in the series.

As I reflect on this year’s A to Z challenge, I find a smile come to my face, satisfied to have completed another and already planning for next April.  Why smile?  Well it feels good to accomplish something that is, well, a challenge.   It is always fun to reacquaint with friends from the previous year’s challenge, meet new friends and cultures, and discover talented bloggers to follow.  It’s also a real delight to find how I grow through the challenge.  I appreciate alternative views a little more.  I find myself more compassionate towards the hurting.  I understand blogging, writing, and thinking a bit better.

1.     Loved catching up with some blog friends I made in last year’s challenge.

2.     Loved meeting new friends.

3.     Loved visiting with people from diverse cultures and from around the world.

4.     Loved being challenged to write.

5.     Loved being challenged to think and grow.

6.     Glad to be back blogging again after such a long hiatus.

7.     Sad so many didn’t finish.

8.     Glad I learned so much from some great bloggers like Silvia at Silvia Writes, who wrote on all things Romanian and Sharon at Shells, Tales, and Sails who taught us about all things fruit.  Did you know there was an ice cream fruit?

9.     Sad I wasn’t able to visit 5 new A to Zers every day.

10. Glad for those I did visit and revisit.  I hope to continue to check out others on the list in the coming days and months. 

Things I learned that were helpful.

1.     It was valuable to check in with the challenge website as often as I could to see the daily post there.  Often there were helpful tips to enhance the challenge experience.  Also, those who are commenting on the challenge website are among those who are surely continuing and so they make good first visits.

2.     It was nice not to have a particular theme, but I find that I enjoy visiting those who did, so I am thinking about that for next year.

3.     I like being able to find out more about the bloggers themselves.  So I appreciate reading the about me link and seeing their photo.  I may have to do a better job of that myself.

4.     I really liked when someone recommended another blogger, and I usually went over to visit them as well.  So I did do that a few times.  If I plan it out better, I'd like to include  more recommendations or bloggers I found worth a visit.  There are plenty I could and would recommend.

5.     Last year I planned it out a bit more.  That was helpful especially when time got tight.  However, I feel less stress about it at this year’s conclusion.  Is that because it wasn’t all new or because of just getting to it when and if I could?  I don’t know, but I think, if possible, I’ll plan ahead a bit next year.

Thank you to all who stopped by.    Thank you to the all the A to Z team for your dedication in seeing this through and encouraging all of us.  I don't know how you do it, but I know it wouldn't happen if not for you.  I appreciate you.  And thank you again, Lee, for your brainchild.  Really enjoyed visiting with each one of you.

                                                                                                                  God bless, Maria

A to Z Challenge, 2014

Thanks for being here, Maria and sharing your thoughts with us.  Maria blogs at Delight Directed Living.  Please pay her a visit.

~Tina, who apologizes for the late posting of this.  8th grade graduation festivities got the better of me.  Mea culpa...