Dragon Soldiers

Hello A to Z challenge accepting people. My name is Susan Gourley and I'm thrilled to be part of the team here at A to Z. This is my first year as an administrator and my fourth year participating in the challenge. I served as a minion to Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh last year so I'm confident I'll handle the responsibilities involved in my position this year.

I write romance as Susan Kelley and have 12 books published by a small press, two of them bestsellers. I'm also published in high fantasy though that's a story for another day. I'm a member of the Pennwriters Board and am busy helping plan the annual conference. I also am a long time member of RWA and one of the administrators of the IWSG blog. My personal blog is Susan Says where I post every MWF except in April. Enough about me.

One of the reasons I'm confident I will be successful as an A to Z show runner is the great squad of Dragon Soldiers who will be helping me.

Please check out these fellow bloggers and drool with envy at their really cool Dragon Badges. We could use one or more recruits if you'd like one of those badges to enhance your blog sidebar.

Laura Clipson found at My Baffling Brain, a blog I've followed for a while now.

L.Diane Wolfe a veteran of the challenge and also an IWSG blog administrator.

Sabina Leybold whose blog, Victim to Charm is full of variety.

Shanatala at Shanayatales who shares the most interesting book reviews.

Ann Bennett who is a new friend to me and so graciously enlisted into the Dragons.

With an all female team, maybe we should have been called Amazon Warriors instead of Dragon Soldiers. But we would welcome any gentlemen into our midst should one step up. One thing I love about our team is our  diversity. Writers, teachers, public speakers, photographers and all of us with a wide variety of interests.

And that brings me to today's piece of advice for the Challenge. It might be tempting to use the category tags to select blogs that are the same as your own. But one of the great ideas behind the challenge is to meet bloggers from all worlds of fun, entertainment and weirdness. Visit outside your category and you'll find some fun and interesting posts.

Have you met my soldiers yet? Care to help us out? Will you visit outside your category? See a glimpse of spring yet?

Characters Who Blog

It's getting closer to the start of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge -- are you getting excited? I've already started working on my blog posts, and I can't wait to share them! But for today, we're going to hear the A to Z's from someone else, a character many of us hold in the highest of regards. Well, I do at least. 

So let's hear it from the most famous wizard in the world . . . 

I hope you enjoyed hearing from my favorite wizard, Harry Potter! You still have time to join him and sign up to participate from the A to Z Challenge. It's going to be a blast! Join us and have a little alphabetic awesomeness. 

Harry Friday everyone, and as always, happy blogging. 

A to Z Co-host S. L. Hennessy can be found blogging at Pensuasion.

Meet Your Co-Host: John Holton

I'm John Holton, host of the blog The Sound of One Hand Typing, simulcast on The Sound of One Hand Typing FM. (I'll the answer the question, "whaddaya mean, simulcasting?" next week.) I chose the name "The Sound of One Hand Typing" based on the Zen riddle ("what is the sound of one hand clapping?") and the fact that I type with one hand thanks to a stroke a few years back.

I've been blogging daily since July 1 of last year. My blog covers just about anything (as you've heard, it's kind of the Seinfeld of blogs); you might read about music, old TV, math, cats, technical topics, and anything else that crosses my mind on a given day. I enjoy challenges, and also participate in A Round of Words in 80 Days, the bimonthly "Battle of the Bands", and Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

This is my fourth year doing the Challenge. During my first Challenge, I used the word list from the NATO spelling alphabet; the year after that, members of the Chicago White Sox from the late 1960's and 1970's; and last year, I winged it, just picking random words and writing about them. I have a better theme than that this year, which I'll share on March 23, the same day we all do. (I've already posted it, because I was so excited, but plan on posting it again that day.)

I'm a retired (as in "out of work and on Disability") computer person with experience in training, development, support, installation, and system administration. The blog has helped me become a better writer. Do I have a book inside me? I'm not sure just yet, so I blog to fill in the time while I figure out the answer to that one.

There were two reasons I wanted to be on the staff of the Challenge this year:

• I get a lot of joy out of doing this every year, and wanted to "give back" in some way, so I could help other people enjoy this as well.
• I wanted to find something to do with my time now that I'm not actively working. Being part of the blogging community is a lot of fun, and making connections with other bloggers fills that void.

Now, onto some of your questions:

• Susan Scott asks: Do you like sleeping? Do you remember your dreams? I enjoy sleeping, maybe more than I should. I remember some of my dreams, but more the settings than the people.

• Barbara in Caneyhead asks: What would you do if your pc died in the middle of the AtoZChallenge? I have a desktop, a laptop, a smartphone, a Kindle Fire, and my wife has an iPad. I think I'm covered. On the other hand, if all were plugged in and we had a massive power surge, knocking everything out simultaneously, I'd run down to the library.

• betty asks: How do you manage your time during the A/Z challenge? I get as many entries written before April 1 as I can, and use Sundays to finish the ones I haven't done.

• Luann Braley asks: Have you ever dropped Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke to see what would happen? I've never done it, but I remember an episode of Two and a Half Men where Jake did it.

Looking forward to this year's Challenge and getting to know more of you! See you soon!

Lessons from the LEGO Girl on Blogging from A to Z

Your Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge experience can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. Having a theme for the month can be helpful; yet, there is no rule that says you need to have one. So how can you get the most bang for your blogging buck while figuring out what to post every day in April and visiting hundreds of other blogs in the process? Do something that will grab your readers’ attention and get people talking about (and linking to) your blog posts.

Vancouver based artist Courtney Pearson used Legos to depict various subjects such as dancing and tributes to Sherlock Holmes, when she participated in the 2012 Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge. To date, her cute alphabet inspired displays are one of the most memorable blog posts in the history of the challenge. 

What makes Courtney’s theme so interesting is that she bucks the writing trend that packs the A-to-Z Challenge year after year. Most of her blog posts contain one-liners while others are no longer than a single paragraph. Although this former A-to-Z Challenge participant fell short of completing all 26 days of blogging, here are two useful lessons that can be gleaned from her efforts of showing more, writing less and adding a much appreciated touch of whimsy to our alphabet blogathon.

Making Arrangements Says it All

Use food, knickknacks or other items around the house to illustrate a theme related to a letter of the alphabet. For example, try creating a smiley face for the Letter S, using fruit, vegetables or cereal. You could also do a collage depicting what your ideal vacation looks like. New Years may have passed but there is still time to create a vision board for your bucket list, yearly resolutions or general life goals. The A-to-Z Challenge is a good opportunity to share the process of making a collage, showing readers how they can make one on their own using similar materials. This would be PERFECT for those of you who are into scrapbooking.

A Photo a Day Keeps the Writer’s Block at Bay

Take Wordless Wednesdays to another level by posting one image of a person, place or object representing a letter of the alphabet, every day in April. Of course, this means you have to take photos yourself (which is easy since the camera on your cell phone has probably already been taken for a spin many times over). If 26 photos sound daunting to you, consider using images as a backup for days when you don’t have the time or interest in writing yet another 500-word (give or take) blog post to keep up with the letter of the day.

These two lessons can help to make your Blogging from A to Z Challenge fun because they involve less work and more play. So, if at any point you find yourself short on words in April, take these lessons into consideration and you just might survive the A-to-Z Challenge.

What is YOUR plan to ace the Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge this year?

A-to-Z Challenge Co-Host Nicole Ayers writes about magic, theaters and women in the U.S. Navy at The Madlab Post. Chat with her @MadlabPost on Twitter. 

Meet your co-host: The Multicolored Lady

Hi, my name is Csenge, and I am a storyteller.
No, really, I do that for a living.

I have been blogging for 8 years now. I started my first blog when I came to the USA as an international student (I a originally from Hungary) and I needed a way to keep all my friends and family updated without writing billions of emails. I soon started a parallel blog in English, to keep my new American friends updated - and it the rest is history. Currently I have three regular blogs; two of them in English, and both participating in the A to Z Challenge because I am a chronic overachiever that way.
This is my fourth year in the challenge. Last year I was a minion on Team Damyanti, and this year I am a co-host. I am exactly this much excited about it:

On The Multicolored Diary I blog about storytelling, and my storytelling-related adventures: Gigs, conferences, festivals, new folktale collections and storytelling CDs I enjoy, things like that. For the past two years I had folktale-related themes (Weird Princesses and Tales with Colors). This year I am doing my most ambitious theme yet, but in order to find out what it is, you'll have to wait for the Theme Reveal Blogfest! (or better yet, participate!)

On MopDog, I blog about Hungarian weirdness, such as the cartoons of my childhood, strange Hungarian proverbs, and Aggressive Piglet jokes. Last year I barely made it through the alphabet, but this year I am all prepared, and even have a theme! Again, you'll find out later.

Apart from blogging and telling stories, I am also an author. My first book in English is a collection of 55 folktales that feature superpowers (pretty much anything from Invisibility to Sonic Blast). It is titled Tales of Superhuman Powers, and I wrote it as a resource for storytellers and teachers who want to get students interested in traditional stories. Also, because I love superpowers. I'm a nerd and a gamer, I should have said that up front.

Oh, and you can also follow me on Twitter, where I most tweet about storytelling, epics, books, and TV shows.

And now, for some of the questions you submitted:

Do you remember your dreams? (from Susan Scott)
Yep, I usually do. I am also pretty good at lucid dreaming (being aware that I am in a dream without waking up). Dreams are stories, and they don't always make sense, but I like them anyway :)

Which do you prefer, horses, dogs, cats, lizards? (also from Susan)
Dogs. Definitely, 100%. I'm a huge dog person. I have an English Sheepdog called Elderberry. I also love puli dogs (hence my second blog) and Irish wolfhounds.

Johnny Depp or Robert Downey Jr., and why? (from Barbara in Caneyhead)
RDJ. Because Iron Man.

Have you ever dressed up in some costume and ran into Walmart wearing it? (from Naila Moon)
Heck yes. I am in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) which means that when I need to shop during an event, I run in and out of all kinds of stores wearing historical garb (either 16th century Italian, or 2nd century Sarmatian, depending on the day). I love the looks I get :)

Happy A to Z everyone! I'm looking forward to visiting with you in April :)