A-Z Creativity

In keeping with Heather's post about the 2016 Blogging From A-Z Challenge, I'm beginning to turn over ideas in my mind as to what I want to write about for next year's event. I haven't settled on what I want to do yet, but you can be sure I'll be putting more thought into it as I want to do something unique (as do we all, right?).

Over the years, a few enterprising and industrious writers have compiled their April posts and published same, mostly in fiction format. Now, it that's not being creative, I don't know what is.

I've had ambitions of doing the same for years, but haven't done anything about those posts. Most of the material relates to writing and would help others in some way, but as they say, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'. I still haven't removed the material from my blog, but I do have them in individual files.

Do you have anything special you're turning over in your mind? If so, have you started plotting yet? I don't know about you, but I've got my thinking cap on.

Have fun planning when you get there!

28 weeks until the 2016 Challenge. Have you thought about your A to Z posts yet?

It seems like a long time from now, doesn't it?

More than half a year. 28 weeks. 195 days.

But, how many of us said we wished we'd been MORE prepared for the A to Z Challenge?

Admit it. Almost all of us.

So, why not start thinking about it now?

With 28 weeks ahead of us, we have plenty of time to plan.

Now, what to plan?

There are so many things.

These categories might get your blog ideas flowing.

ANIMALS: (AN)
ART: (AR)
BOOKS/REVIEWS: (BO)
CRAFTS: (CR)
CULINARY: (CU)
EDUCATION: (ED)
FASHION: (FA)
FILM/MOVIES: (FM)
GAMING: (GA)
GARDENING: (GR)
HISTORY: (HI)
HUMOR: (HU)
LIFESTYLE: (LI )
MEMOIR: (ME)
MUSIC: (MU)
MYTHOLOGY: (MY)
PERSONAL: (PR)
PHOTOGRAPHY: (PH)
POLITICS: (PO)
SCIENCE: (SC)
SOCIAL MEDIA: (SO)
SPORTS: (SP)
TRAVEL: (TR)
WRITING/STORYTELLING: (WR)
ADULT CONTENT: (AC)

If this list doesn't do it for you, then maybe you could start your own list.

What do you like to do?
What do you like to talk about? Read about?
What are your favorite things about where you live?
What subjects are you interested in?
What do you want others to know about you?
Why do gnomes wear hats?

You get the idea!

It's never too early to start thinking about your A to Z posts.



Heather M. Gardner
The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Return of the Weekend Follies Star Trek Style

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My name is Stephen Tremp and I’m a writer of speculative fiction. My fourth novel, Salem’s Daughters, is set for release October 1st. To pre-order a copy for $2.99 Click Here. 

Don't Be A Stranger

What a wild ride it is to be part of this group. There is so much energy but that energy is needed. I have my own blog and am part of the IWSG admin but I still wasn't prepared last year when I volunteered to be part of this group. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes.

The administrators of the Challenge have soooo much enthusiasm and creativity. They constantly brainstorm on ways to make the challenge better every year. From the outside, it may seem like the majority of the work in done during the craziness of the challenge in April, but there's actually a lot of things going on all year long.

It has been such a privilege to be part of this but I am stepping down as an administrator this year. I'll still be helping out as someone's minion next April and I would never miss participating in the challenge but I will be leaving all that behind the scenes work to the other wonderful people of the Challenge. Thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this endeavor and for letting me be part of it. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for asking me to step up last year. With a lot of regret, I'm stepping back this year but not out.

As an experienced A to Z'er, I'm already thinking about my theme for next year. I expect to be able to visit even more blogs than I did last year since I won't be administering anything but myself. I'll still be promoting and encouraging everyone to participate and keeping going to the end.

Finishing the Challenge is a terrific, fulfilling accomplishment. So, I'll be seeing you all in April. In the meantime, I hope you'll visit me at my personal blog, Susan Says.

Themes That Rocked the Challenge - Elizabeth and My Little Pony Artwork

Today I welcome author and artist extraordinaire, Elizabeth Mueller! I’ve known her for many years and have seen her talented artwork. She really did something unique with it for this past Challenge.

Your theme was My Little Pony fan art – what made you choose that theme?

To be honest with you, I had already written 50% of the A to Z's posts (on writing) and scheduled them before April started. Being the hermit that I am, I had barely heard about a successful adult coloring book by a self-published artist, and I thought to myself, I can do that! I can draw just about anything, and people can color my art. Also, drawing takes less brain power and after having Babykins, my brain has been pretty mushy since.

Feeling a bit weird about where this was leading, because I typically keep my art low key, I asked my daughters what they thought about a My Little Pony fan art theme for the Challenge. I wanted to retest my skill in drawing horses (horses were my first drawing love). It turned out that they loved it, and volunteered to color them for me. You should've seen the amount of hours they dedicated!

How long did it take you to draw all those ponies?

Straight up? About three hours all squished together just to *draw* them. Not counting the coloring. Or researching A to Z worthy flower names. Or inventing the storyline. Or getting them printable worthy. (And the scheduling of the posts is a whole 'nother story.) Whew!

Which letter was the most difficult?

X was the most difficult! I searched each letter of the alphabet for flowers and then I'd comb down each one to see which sounded the best sounding name for the character. Xs didn't have much of a selection and we (yes, my daughters helped me, it was a labor of love!) had to do many searches on different sites.

Which flower was the easiest for visitors to guess?

There were many flower names that had a good number of correct guesses, but I'm thinking Zinnia won the race. I suppose that is a very popular flower.

Which flower was the most difficult for visitors to guess?

Adonis, Firethorn, and Knotweed are a tie--no one was able to guess those guys. Not very common flowers, are they?

You had a cool prize for those who made the most guesses, right or wrong – tell everyone about it.

As you said, my goal was to get as many friends to participate. Right or Wrong. It was a little party every day for us! I converted every one of the illustrations into coloring pages along with edited versions of the stories I had included in the blog posts. I did the illustration process backward: I pencil sketched them and then colored them for the Challenge before I had turned them into coloring pages. Turned out alright anyway, though.

What theme are you considering for next year?

That is something I'm still mulling over!

I bet it will be something good! Thanks again, Elizabeth.


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