Themes That Rocked the Challenge – Jenn Ventures into The Twilight Zone!

Today I welcome Jennifer from Scribbles From Jenn. For the A to Z Challenge, she ventured into… The Twilight Zone!

Your theme was the Twilight Zone show – what made you chose it?

As a kid, I was babysat by my brother who loved Sci-Fi. Since we only had one TV, and he was the oldest, I watched a lot of Sci-Fi. I came to enjoy the Twilight Zone because it didn’t have a lot of scary images. It didn’t need to; it was able to scare the bejeezus out of me, in black and white, without using blood, guts or gore. Now, as a writer, I appreciate the genius of Rod Serling. Additionally, I’ve come to see Rod Serling as visionary who, over five decades ago, wrote on topics that are surprisingly relevant today.


Which letter was the most challenging?

In previous A to Z challenges X was the most challenging, but this time it was the letter S. Not because I couldn’t find a T.Z. episode to match, but because I had about fifteen to choose from. In the end I went with a cult favorite, To Serve Man, but it was a hard choice.

Which episode was your favorite?

My favorite? I can’t really say I have a favorite, I like them all!

What made V’s Valley of the Shadow unique?

Besides the fact that the Sci-Fi worlds collide in this episode when James Doohan, who also plays Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, the engineer of Star Trek (1966)'s Starship Enterprise, is the dad of one of the main characters, I think it’s the fact that in Peaceful Valley miracles seem to occur due to technology. Again, Mr. Serling was ahead of his time as today’s technology really is creating the appearance of miracles.

What’s a great episode that most people haven’t seen?

A great, but little known, episode is No Time Like The Past. In this episode scientist, Paul Driscoll, acquires a time machine and with the help of a friend decides to travel back into the recent past to alter events and remake the present. After several failed attempts, he concludes that, “the past is sacred” and returns to his own time declaring, “… instead of continuing to fixate upon the past, he will now try to do something to positively impact the future.” With all that’s going on in our world today, I think that is still great advice.

Which episode was the creepiest?

As a mother the creepiest episode for me is Long Distance Call where a toy telephone becomes the link between a young boy and his dead grandmother. After her death she calls him on the toy telephone she gave him before her death, and beckons him to come join her. What’s creepy for me is how that episode has become a parallel to today. However, it’s not a toy telephone, it’s the internet, and it’s not dead grandmothers, it’s a variety of other things often just as bad.

Ever felt like you were in the Twilight Zone?

Yes! Haven’t we all? I wonder if that, and the thought-provoking writing, has anything to do with the longevity of the series.

What theme are you considering for the Challenge next year?

I’m not sure. I only hope I find something I enjoy as much as I enjoyed my theme this year. Blogging from A to Z on the Twilight Zone made the challenge so much fun!

Thanks, Jenn! We want the Challenge to be fun.


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

Some Bloggers I Want to Visit During AtoZ_2016

There are so many bloggers who come up with amazing AtoZ Themes each year that choosing just a few is darned hard. So I thought Mario and I'd do a quick trip over to these four on a test run, then do more before we wrap up our summer touring.

J.H. Moncrief always has something intriguing and sometimes on the darkish side. Chills and burrs even in August. Take a look at the cover of her book and you'll understand. We love visiting there. And we're betting she's got some great stories to share about Romania.

J. L. Campbell writes up some super romance Jamaican style. Here's her latest.

Hilary gives and gives and gives you some of the most amazing information about her part of the world and history. Sometimes she throws in accounts of her own Road Trips.

Southpaw is a generous blogger with all kinds of solid and useable information. Then she adds some more interest when she goes into stones--from amethysts to diamond to jade. And she writes cookbooks!

Can't wait to see what themes these four will come up with in 2016.

What are your favorite themes from 2015? Any ideas for 2016? What would you enjoy reading about from AtoZ?

One Blog at a Time - Simple Goals for High Mileage on the A-Z Road Trip

Photo courtesy of Geoffrey Arduini

It’s time for another pit-stop on the A-Z Road Trip. Check your tire pressure, fill up that gas tank and pack in some snacks as you continue on our highway adventure of visiting blogs on the 2015 April signup list! 

While you tune-up that browsing engine, remember the way to gaining the most mileage on this road trip is by driving in the lane that suits your ability be effective without any fuss. 

Dave Roller, who completed the April challenge at Home School Dad before transitioning over to YBD: Your Basic Dave, demonstrates that the key in making the most progress is by keeping things simple.

Rather than focus on a set number of blogs per day or week, Dave’s one-blog plan for his road trip activities call for visiting multiple posts on the same blog and then moving on to the next one. If you are looking for some ideas on how to have a more in-depth A-Z road trip experience, here is his recipe for creating maximum impact with plain and simple steps.

Visiting a new blog on the 2015 A-Z signup list and read posts in the following order...

1. Reflections post
2. An April blog post, going backwards from Letter Z to A
3. The most current blog post
4. Rinse and Repeat the cycle, starting with the reflections post on the next new blog to visit.

Having a simple plan allows you to get (and give) the most out of the A-Z road trip by visiting as many blogs as possible, at your own pace, one blog at a time. Dave’s one-blog approach is about as casual as they come while providing a chance to really dig deep into each new blog you visit and get a more well-rounded feel for what it’s all about. This is especially helpful when visiting blogs that may have done the challenge with topics that differ from what they’re normally blogging about during other times of the year.

So if you ever find yourself running low on gas in the fast lane, switching to cruise control can make your road trip activities a little easier to handle!

The A-to-Z Challenge Road Trip is hosted by screenwriter Nicole Ayers (The Madlab Post) and author C. Lee McKenzie (The Write Game), accompanied by dashboard buddy, Mario, who finds thecoolest attractions during roadside rest stops. 

Mario the Muse Contemplates His Next Road Trip

Mario had a great time in Oregon this year. He toured Ashland, sipping wine and taking in shows. He crossed bridges, strolled the beach and even coached the writer with him while she tried to bring in a decent draft.

He was one busy muse, but he held up under the rigors of travel. He not only came up with some inspiration, he took me on a car tour. It seems he's a car nut. Who knew? But he gave me an idea. If I could find a car with a name starting with X, Q and Z, I might consider this as a theme. Do you know of any X,Q,Z cars?

Here are some he fancies and says he wants to take his next trip in. Want to help him narrow his choices by telling him which one to buy?

So which one gets your vote? Since I'm the designated driver (Mario can't reach the pedals) I'm going for the canary yellow one. Raked and ready to roll.

Characters Who Blog

Yay, it's FRIDAY, the best day of the week! And what better way to celebrate it than with the first post-April installment of the Characters Who Blog series? I have a special one today, a character who takes me all the way back to my childhood. He's the man who taught us that we have everything we really need to accomplish our goals within us, we just need to realize it. 

So without further ado, take a peak behind the curtain and inside the blog of . . . 

I hope you enjoyed the blog of one of the most famous wizards in the literary world. And I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Happy Friday bloggers, and as always, happy blogging!

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

Steve Science and Other Fun Stuff

Hot Days in the Blogging Time

Here in the US of A, we're into the Dog Days of Summer (which has to do the stars and not with

From Wikipedia

dogs suffering in the sweltering heat). This year those days characterized by humidity and late day thunderstorms, run from July 3rd to August 11th. A great time of year to spend those hot hours inside and writing. Unless you're like me and love this time of year.

I attended a great writing conference in May. On the first day of the conference, participants are offered separate choices for the lunch time speaker depending on their status as published or not. The not yet published attendees usually have a speaker that fits their needs. The published authors' speaker is nearly always someone offering advice on promotion.

This year our speaker was Jane Friedman. Jane has a great blog with lots of information for writers of all levels. She's offering a  live webinar tomorrow, July 16th on How to Blog Meaningfully and Grow Your Audience. It's pretty pricey for me (about $30/hour) but I'm sure she has lots of good ideas.

But do A to Z 'ers need to take a class on how to be a successful blogger? I don't think so. There are so many terrific bloggers in this group, all willing to offer advice and lead by example. Haven't we all heard about SEO? Don't we know including images improves our posts and the dangers of including images we don't have the rights to?

I've also seen a few bloggers worried as they take breaks from blogging because of deadlines, vacations or personal issues. Will they lose followers? Will the WWW collapse or live on if a blogger takes a week or LONGER off? I believe a blogger can take a short break, especially if they let their faithful followers know they're going to be off line for a while. And if that blogger continues to visit and comment on other blogs while they're on break, they'll keep their connections alive. Check out some info Alex J. Cavanaugh shared on Monday about blogging frequency.

Would you pay for a webinar to help your blog grow? Are you taking a blog break this summer or do you take one during another time of year? Think it's okay to do that? Do you enjoy the dog days?

Themes That Rocked the Challenge - Disasters with Author Chrys Frey

Today I welcome author Chrys Fey! Her theme came from her Disaster Crimes series, and she explored disasters that occur from natural disasters to manmade disasters.

Find Chrys - Blog, Facebook, Website, and Goodreads.

What made you choose the theme of disasters?

I borrowed the disaster theme from my Disaster Crimes series. The first book in that series is Hurricane Crimes (a short story) and the upcoming sequel is Seismic Crimes (a novel). I am currently working on book three with an all new disaster, so as you can see disasters are on my mind all the time. I was learning a lot and having fun with my research, so I wanted to share that with the AZers.


Which disaster happens most often?

I could be wrong, but I think that would be lightning storms. Places all over the world experience lightning storms and they can happen just about any time of the year. I know some people don’t consider lightning storms as disasters, but consider hundreds of strikes in one region during one storm, getting stuck by lightning, fires caused by lightning, power outages...I can go on.

Which one is the most deadly?

This is a tricky question because all of them could be deadly. And a few could be considered the most deadly. For example: eXtinction (my X disaster) and Judgement Day (based after the Terminator movies) would be the end of the world as we know it. And a Zombie Apocalypse would be the end of humanity. Funny thing is two of those are fictional disasters. So I suppose eXtinction would be the most deadly followed by war, which I discussed in my Y post, because the deadliest war (World War II) resulted in over 70 million deaths.

I’d never heard of limnic eruptions. Can you tell us more about them?

Sure. Limnic eruptions are rare natural disasters that occur when dissolved carbon dioxide erupts from deep lakes, similar to volcanic eruptions. The carbon dioxide suffocates nearby wildlife, livestock, and humans. Good thing it’s rare, huh?

What are the chances of a quasar explosion affecting Earth?

For anyone not familiar with this term, a quasar is a compact region of electromagnetic energy in the center of distant, young galaxies surrounding a supermassive black hole. Now I’m not a scientist, but galaxies are said to act as quasars only during the early stages of their lives. Although there is a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, it is considered a middle-aged galaxy and the time for a quasar to occur is probably long gone.

Which disaster surprised you the most?

Oil spills surprised me the most because it’s not a disaster I think of a lot, but the impact is huge. Specifically, the Deepwater Horizon oilrig explosion in 2010 that dumped 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, how long it took them to cap the leak (87 days), and the fact that the Gulf still isn’t oil-free today.

How many of those disasters have you experienced? (And obviously lived to tell the tale!)

Well, let’s see...I’ve been through quite a few hurricanes and wildfires here in Florida. Those are probably the biggest disasters I’ve experienced. Hurricanes Charley, Francis, and Ivan from 2004 inspired my story Hurricane Crimes. For my Wildfire post, I share a personal story about a fire that almost took my home when I was a kid. Some disasters I’ve experienced on a smaller scale are hailstorms, floods, and lightning storms (of course).

What theme are you considering for next year’s Challenge?

I know some people will be sad and disappointed that I am saying this, but I might not participate in 2016. This past Challenge was a doozy and I still feel like I’m recovering from it. However, because I love A to Z so much, I will be doing an A-Z feature on my blog next year with 2 posts a month. As for 2017, you might see me then and I have a theme in mind, but you’ll have to wait to find out what that is. ;)

Thank you, Alex, for featuring me on the great Blogging from A to Z Challenge blog! I am truly honored that you thought my theme rocked. :D

Thanks for joining us today, Chrys!


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

Oops!

I didn't do a very good job in meeting my Road Trip Deadline. I was sure I could post on July 1, but I was so jet lagged that I wound up face in pillow instead.

Sorry, Trippers! 

However. I'll make some amends by showing you a great game for road trips. Remember that was one of my promises for the summer. I found this game in Ireland and brought it home. This would be a great way to keep you and the kids occupied and happy. It kept my friend and me very happy during our flight.

You roll the dice, the images are your route to a story you create. Simple and fun. All you need is pie tin or other way to keep the dice from spilling and you've got several hours of fun.

Happy Road Trip. Are you thinking about what your AtoZ Theme will be next year? 

Embracing challenges from A to Z: Notes from a 4-time challenge winner by Laura Roberts

Embracing challenges from A to Z:
Notes from a 4-time challenge winner by Laura Roberts 

       

           The annual Blogging from A to Z April Challenge has become a rite of passage for me. I can't remember how I first discovered its existence, but I do remember how intrigued I was by the notion of blogging on a daily basis, focusing on every letter of the alphabet – one at a time – as a special challenge.

         The first year I joined the challenge was 2012. Upon discovering that the organizers suggested choosing a theme to help keep your blogging on track, I decided to write about Awesome Lady Authors. The goal was to combat an irritating trend I'd noticed in the media, which seems to focus predominantly on male authors, despite the fact that far more women are reading – and writing – than men. I wanted to play up the female writers I knew and loved, and to discover more of them throughout the month. Writing about female authors based on the first letters of their last names, I discovered the excellent works of Xue Xinran (a double X, as I've always been a bit of an overachiever), and got a chance to promote the works of several authors I'm friends with, like poet Gillian Sze and spoken word performance artist Catherine Kidd. I also highlighted some of my childhood favorites, like Beverly Cleary (author of the Ramona books) and Louise Fitzhugh (author of my all-time fave Harriet the Spy). The whole exercise made me feel a lot more connected to my own writing, on a personal level that I had previously abandoned in my blogging, and seemed to resonate with fellow A to Z participants as well. But that was just the beginning.

         In 2013 I joined the challenge again. Having published the first book in my erotica series, Naked Montreal, the month before, I wanted to give my readers a less sexually-charged point of entry. I realized that many of my American readers knew little or nothing about the Canadian city of Montreal, and I wanted to help them get to know this alluring, French-speaking "Paris of America," through personal anecdotes about the time I'd spent there. So I wrote chose the theme "Montreal from A to Z," and went for it. Again, I felt inspired by the challenge, excited to share my thoughts, and wanted to keep going! After the 2013 challenge was over, I decided to turn my Montreal posts into a book. In November of that year, I finally published them as Montreal from A to Z.

          In 2014, I went a little more risqué. Drawing on my past as a sex columnist, I wrote nonfictional posts on the subject of Sex Toys from A to Z. And, as per my 2013 challenge, I published the results as Play With Me: Sex Toys from A to Z.

            Which brings us to 2015! This year I decided to double-down on my challenge themes. At my newly minted blog, Laura Roberts Books, I would write about my new hometown, San Diego, highlighting some of its most interesting hotspots, as well as the unusual bits and pieces that might not make the typical guidebook under the banner of "San Diego from A to Z."

           Meanwhile, at my erotica blog over at Buttontapper Press, I would also write about Sexy San Diego – focusing on more X-rated sights and performances you can find in the city. That way I'd have not one but two books completed at the end of April. I'm happy to report that I finished both of my blogging challenges successfully this year, despite the fact that it was twice as much work. The A to Z Challenge has given me plenty of material for my new books, one of which is launching today! Born from my April blog posts, along with plenty of bonus material, San Diego from A to Z hits shelves today at Amazon. I hope you'll give it a read, and that it will help inspire you to turn your own A to Z Challenge posts into a book.

       Visit Laura Roberts Books for her blog and past A to Z posts.

Who Are You?

I visit a lot of blogs during the week and over time, most of those bloggers become my friends. Good friends as in on a first name basis. During A to Z and other blog hops, I have the chance to meet new-to-me bloggers. Some are so interesting and I'm happy to have found new friends. But sometimes I can't find their names.

Perhaps their blog has a name relating to their area of interests, something like Bug Eaters of Pennsylvania. After I read through a fantastic post with delicious recipe for fried crickets and comment on it, I decide I want to follow this unique blog. Or I want to make my comment more personal by using the blogger's name. Or perhaps I want to tell everyone about this fun site by linking to it on my own blog. But no matter where I search on that blog, I can't find the name of the person or persons behind it. Who are they?

Sometimes people want to keep their exact identity from general knowledge and that is understandable. But even then, coming up with a name for your online presence is better than no name at all. For instance, one of the blogs I've discovered recently is SpacerGuy. It's a fun blog about Star Trek and SciFi stuff. I have no problem with the name SpacerGuy. It's a name I can call my friend.

I don't want to point out any of the blogs that I've found without a name but I'm sure you've run into a few of them. Check your blog title, your blog sidebar. Is it easy for a new visitor to figure out who you are? Do you have something in your blog header or the sidebar that lets visitors know what your blog is about? Is there a name they can call you if not your given name?

If your name is the title of your blog, then it's easy for people to know who you are. If it's not, do your visitors know what they can call you? Or should we just call you, Bug Eater?

June, the Love and Marriage Month

We're nearly halfway through 2015, time flying by as it tends to do. Have you written more than half the posts you'll produce for the year. Probably yes if you survived April.

June if a favorite month of mine. As a teacher, of course, it meant the start of summer break. But it's so much more than that. It's the month my oldest son was born, the month of my anniversary, the birthdays of two my sisters and generally considered a time for romance and marriage.

There will be weddings galore and many of us will be invited to at least one. The name June comes

Juno

from the Roman Goddess Juno, Juno was the goddess of marriage, pregnancy and childbirth. So which came first, the name of the month or all the weddings during the month? I think the name.

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind." William Shakespeare

But June isn't know just for marriage. June 6th was D-Day, marking the day when 160,000 Allied troops landed on be beaches of Normandy. A day to be marked forever.

June 14th is Flag Day in the USA representing the date when in 1777 when the Continental Congress accepted the design made by Betsy Ross for the fledgling US Navy as our national flag. My oldest son was born on June 14th but we didn't name him 'Old Glory.'

June's birthstone is the pearl, which was once thought to be a cure for insanity. So wear those pearl earrings just to be on the safe side.

Today, June 17th, is Bunker Hill Day in Suffolk County in Massachusetts, marking the battle at said hill during the siege of Boston in 1775. Not a widely noticed holiday but it was an important day.

Tomorrow, June 18th, marks the start of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting where followers do not eat from sunrise to sunset each day.

June 21st is Father's Day and the Summer Solstice. My husband is always thrilled on that day when our five boys come over to play all day. Maybe even a golf outing. I love that longest day of the year but I don't like how our hours of sun start to shorten again after ward. And for those long summer nights, here's some wisdom from The Old Farmer's Almanac. The warmer the temperature, the faster a cricket chirps.

"The summer night is like a perfection of  thought."  Wallace Stevens, American poet

Is there a June highlight I missed? Do you wear pearls and if so, are they keeping you sane? Why are there so many weddings in June? Are you number of posts for 2015 well past the halfway number for this year?

Themes That Rocked – Traveling the Globe with Photographer and Explorer, Yusuf Hashim

Hank Kaykuala is an accomplished poet and author.
During the Challenge, he highlighted some of his amazing poetry.
But part of his theme included highlighting the travels and explorations of his friend, Hank Kaykuala.
It was fascinating!

Part of your theme for the Challenge was This is the Modern Day Explorer – why did you choose to highlight Yusuf Hashim?

Yusuf is unique for two reasons:

Firstly, Yusuf Hashim is a Gypsetter, and an accomplished photographer. His photos are not only technically and visually fantastic, but the stuff that he shoots are mainly from locations that many of us usually only dream about. Often-times, Yusuf accesses these locations usually by directly driving his 4x4 go-anywhere Toyota Land Cruiser. Yusuf drives his vehicle across continents for photography as regularly as we fly from continent to continent. He’s driven overland from London to Malaysia not once but several times. He’s driven from Malaysia through China and over the Himalayas to India. He’s driven from Cape Town to Cairo, and from Cairo across the Sahara Desert to Casablanca. He’s driven right around South America from from Buenos Aires going north to Uruguay, Brazil,Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru , Chile, Argentina and round Ushuaia in Terry del Fuego and finished by reentering Buenos Aires from the Sourh. His idea of fun is to sail in a schooner in the Scoresby Sound of Greenland. And when he wants a photo of an active Volcano, for example, Mt Erta Ale’ which is Africa’s most active volcano, he actually climbed it and camped overnight on its crater rim above the boiling lava below. He jumped the bungee over Victoria Falls on his 65th Birthday. And last week, (May 18, 2015) he’s just celebrated his 70th birthday in the Todra Gorge of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

And secondly, not many people are aware that Yusuf retired 15 years ago, as Retail Marketing Director of Shell in Malaysia. After a sterling Jet-setting Corporate career in one of the world’s largest Oil Company, he metamorphosed into a Gyp-setting accomplished Photographer after retirement.

What is the Vacation of a Lifetime?

Yusuf’s idea of a vacation is ….getting hot by climbing 4 active Volcanoes in two weeks - 2 in Java in the first week (Mt Ijen and Mt Bromo) and another 2 in Africa (Mt Erta Ale’ and Mt Dalol in the Danakil Depression of Ethiopia) in the second week. The night time temperatures in the Danakil Depression is a searing 48°C. And to wind down and cool down in the third week …. flying to Iceland to shoot the Aurora Borealis in the -15°C Lake Myvatn Volcanic Region in Central Iceland. And perhaps sailing in the Scoresby Sound of Greenland after that.

Have you gone exploring with Yusuf in the past?

No, perhaps one day.

You posted some of Yusuf’s incredible photos. Which ones were your favorite?

All of them are great as they were snapped not only with the heart but ably accomplished with his technical skills. I will choose those which are rarely possible and difficult to come by (like the boy with the AK47, the passenger peering out the train window) and opportunistic ones (like the family going for the shared community bath where the elder girl had a toothbrush in her hands) A few are included here including the boy with the AK47. These are of a high resolution format.

Yusuf has taken people all over the world on photo safaris. What countries seem to be his favorite?

The flavor of 2014 was AFRICA – specifically Ethiopia. Last year Yusuf did 3 photo safaris covering the entire length and breadth of Ethiopia, which Yusuf says is the unpolished jewel of Africa. After decades of civil strife and political instability following the removal of Emperor Haile Selassie, Ethiopia has recently become safe to visit . Ethiopia has more than 50 Ethnic tribes who are living much like their ancestors did hundreds of years ago.. Yusuf’s photos chronicling the little known tribes of Africa, are like pages out of a National Geographic Magazine.

Yusuf Hashim says:
This is a Mursi boy, who couldn't be more than 12 years old, with an AK47 Kalashnikov on his shoulder. He demanded money when I shot this photo of him. I didn't want to argue with that globally acclaimed widow-maker, so I gave him 20 Birrs for this photo. That's equivalent to about 50 cents.

The flavor for this year seems to be Cuba, Iceland and Greenland. Yusuf took three groups of people to Cuba earlier this year. He says you must visit Cuba before Cuba warms up to the American tourists, and everything is spoiled by modernization. Cuba is like a state frozen in time, with delightful Spanish period buildings around every corner. Cubans are still very warm to tourists.The foreseen influx of American tourists in the near future, will probably transform Cuba into the usual tourist traps like in Egypt and China and Morocco. Then he took two groups to the freezing permanent Icecaps, glaciers and waterfalls of South Iceland, followed by North and Central Volcanic Region of the Island. In September this year (2015) he’s returning to Iceland which will be the appetizer for a Sailing Expedition in Greenland.

Yusuf Hashim says:
Their streets are still full of beautifully preserved huge gas-guzzling 5 liter, 50 year old American Automobiles

Tell us about the loneliest road Yusuf has ever traveled.

Yusuf told me the loneliest road in the world has to be the Routa 40 about 3000 kilometers from Patagonia to Ushuaia alongside the foothills of the Andes, across the Glacial Wilderness of the Glacial parks of Southern Chile and Argentina, with the Tres Torres and Mt Fitzroy on one side and Mt Aconcagua on the other, and leading to Ushuaia, the southern-most point of South America. When he drove around South America along this route, for days he saw only 5 or 10 vehicles apart from his convoy of 15 vehicles. Yusuf says, Patagonia is one of the places you must go to before you go to meet your maker. Here’s a sample of the photo opportunities in Patagonia…

Yusuf Hashim says:
Ruta 40, or Route 40 in Argentina, reputedly the loneliest road in the world. For nearly 2000 km, I counted less than 50 other vehicles on this god-forsaken track running alongside the Andes from la Puna until reaching the Glaciers of Patagonia

Where can we find out more about Yusuf?

Yusuf is presently rebuilding a new personal web page, so for more current information, check out his Facebook page or his Photo Safari Website.

Thanks, Hank! And I hope you get to join Yusuf on an adventure soon.


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

Attention: Give Us Your Best Excerpt! Paranormal Romance Blog Hop

Hello!

Happy June! Have you recovered from the A to Z Challenge, yet? It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun too, right?

This year was my fourth year participating in the hop, and every year I get a bit more organized. I wrote most of my posts in advance, which helped significantly. Maybe for 2016's A to Z Challenge I'll have all of my posts written in advance. We shall see.

In any case, there's rules, of course, but there is no ONE way to take part in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. So don't get too frustrated with yourself if your performance wasn't as fantabulous as some of the other bloggers.

One of the things I'm never able to do is visit ALL of the blogs during the actual challenge. So I appreciate the Post A-to-Z Road Trip. It gives me the opportunity to visit every blog that I was unable to visit during the hop. My goal is to hit at least five blogs a day. So by April of next year, I'll be all caught up for the 2016 event!

In the meantime, I have a blog fest to announce for all you fellow paranormal romance authors out there. I'm sure there's an excerpt that you've written that you just absolutely love. Don't be shy! Show it off to paranormal romance readers and the world.

Give Us Your Best Excerpt! Paranormal Romance Blog Hop is happening on July 14, 2015. For the day of the hop post your favorite excerpt from either a paranormal book that you've published, OR, a work-in-progress.

Readers love to read excerpts. So give them your best! Use this hop as a way to promote your book or to drum up interest in your work-in-progress. (I'll be posting an excerpt from my upcoming paranormal romance novel The Layneworth Monsters. It's available for preorder at Amazon for 99 cents until July 10, 2015.)

Visit the Give Us Your Best Excerpt page to sign-up! I look forward to reading your excerpts!

* * *

Jolie du Pre is a full-time author, article writer, blogger, and monster lover.

The Latest and Greatest on Pluto

NASA's $700 million New Horizons spacecraft will arrive in the Pluto system in mid-July after a nine-year 3 billion mile flight that started before Pluto was demoted to dwarf-planet status. 

But thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, we already some fascinating stuff about Pluto and its five known moons. The Pluto system consists of four tiny satellites —Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx — orbiting a "binary planet" comprised of Pluto and its largest moon Charon. They’re locked in odd rhythmic gyrations in a dance unlike anything in our solar system. 

What makes it so odd is that there's a double set of dances going on. First, Pluto and Charon are locked together in their own waltz "as if they are a dumbbell" with a rod connecting them. It's the solar system's only binary planet system, even though Pluto and Charon aren’t technically planets. 

But Pluto and Charon aren't alone, and that's where it gets more complicated. The four little moons circle the Pluto-Charon combo, wobbling a bit when they go closer to either Pluto or Charon, being pushed and pulled by the two bigger objects. 

Those four moons orbit Pluto-Charon in a precise rhythmic way, but with a twist: They also interact when they near each other. So it seems like they all dance to one overarching beat but not quite in the same way, just doing their own thing. 

Nix and Hydra exhibit chaotic rather than synchronous rotation, meaning they don't always keep the same side facing Pluto-Charon — and that it's very tough to predict their rotational movement. (Nearly every other moon in the solar system, including Earth's, is a synchronous rotator.) 

If you lived on Nix, you would not know if the sun is coming up tomorrow; it is that extreme. You'd have days where the sun rises in the east and sets in the north. 

Thanks for stopping by. I post here every first and third Thursday of the month. Don’t miss my June 17th blog as I’ll be posting on the James Webb Space Telescope. 

Stephen Tremp is a Speculative Writer and blogs at Breakthrough Blogs. His latest work, Salem’s Daughters, is due for release October 1, 2015. 

References: Associated Press and Space.com

My A to Z Road Trip Plan

If you read my May 27th post, you know I have a plan to visit 2-3 Road Trippers each day, and I'm doing it alphabetically. 

Wink. Wink. 



I doubt that I'll ever do anything again that doesn't involved organizing things from AtoZ.

So, I've visited A through G so far. Now I see that I have to adjust my plan, so if a keyword starts with the letter of the day, I'll visit that. I've already got my Z staked out. June will see a major slow down in my visits because I'm taking a vacation break, but I'll be back in July. Keep your engines running!

One thing Mario, my dashboard buddy/Muse, and I promised during this year's journey is a Road Side Rest Stop once in a while. This is where you can sit back, relax, breathe and rejuvenate. So here's our first Road Stop.







Unfortunately, there's often a very un-relaxing ad that pops up first, click it away and go for the relaxation. Even a few minutes puts you back on the road ready to roll.

Does planning help you save time and reach your goals? Are you good at planning and adjusting plans when you need to? What's been the best plan you've ever devised? Do you take a break to rejuvenate during the day?

Blog Blues and Brings Back Characters Who Blog

The first few months after the A to Z Challenge are always the hardest for me. I'm never sure what I'm supposed to do with myself. I sometimes find myself planning out posts that begin alphabetically, only to remember that A to Z is over. Sigh. What's a blogger to do? 

As a way to deal with my blog blues, I decided to come up with a few blogging challenges for myself, you know, to keep things interesting. On Mondays I'll focus on movies. Tuesdays are for reviews. On Wednesdays we wear pink . . . no wait, that's Mean Girls. 

Now as for my posts here on the Blogging from A to Z website, I'm thinking of bringing back my Characters Who Blog series (if you're new to this site, check out a few here and here). I had a lot of fun coming up with all the different literary and film characters and what they might write about if they had blogs of their own. 

Which prompts me to ask, what are some of your favorite characters from movies, TV and books? Are there any that stick out as particularly influential? Are they well known or tragically unheard of? And perhaps the bigger question, any Characters Who Blog requests? 

Happy Monday everyone, and as always, happy blogging! 

S. L. Hennessy can be found blogging at Pensuasion.  

Hitting the Road with Mario

We're all up against the clock these days. Being connected online does not save us time; it absorbs it like a sponge. Yet we're here, so how can we best meet our Challenges online as well as in other parts of our lives?

I've devised a plan for my start on the AtoZ Challenge Road Trip. 

First I've got a great blogger to share the load. She's efficient and she's dependable, and I greatly appreciate her inviting me to join her on this year's trip. Wave to Madlab Post on your way by.

Next I've convinced Mario the Muse to be my dashboard buddy. He's there to guide and inspire and keep me awake on the those long stretches.

As I start off, my plan is visit at least 2-3 bloggers each day who are on the road with me. 

I'm starting with any blogs beginning with the letter A and moving ahead through the alphabet. If there's no X, so be it, but I'll look for a blog with that letter.

So bye for now. I'm off to visit A blogs. Hope to see you as I make my way through those 26 letters. 

Do you have a plan? Is is just easier for you to wing it? 

Are YOU Ready to Go on the 5th Annual Post-Challenge Road Trip? #AtoZChallenge

Are YOU ready to cruise through the 2015 A-Z Challenge list? I sure am looking forward to visiting a number of blogs I missed in April. 

Thanks to the late great Tina Downey at Life is Good and Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse who started the Road Trip (formerly known as the Post-Challenge Challenge) -- by calling on each other to visit all of the blogs on the list before the next A-Z Challenge rolled around -- we now have this year-round event to stay active in the blogosphere during the "off-season."

I've had the pleasure of co-hosting this with the founding ladies and then continued with Tina after Shannon hitched a ride at a rest stop to embark on other adventures. Soon, Heather Gardner at The Waiting is the Hardest Part joined us as a travel guide and brought Stormy the Weather Gnome along to swap shifts taking the wheel on this open road of A-Z blogs. After racking up lots of mileage out here in blogland, Heather and Stormy parked their car in the garage for a tuneup earlier this year. Luckily, I gained another driving partner in C. Lee McKenzie at The Write Game who will be helping with refreshments, maps and other necessities to keep everyone's engine running and going in the right direction (i.e. forward) on the highway.

Starting today, C. Lee McKenzie and I invite you to join us on the 5th annual Post-Challenge Road Trip, a meandering journey through the 2015 list of A-Z participants, at your own pace, with your own rules, and very few expectations.

The most important thing to keep in mind is you're the boss of you're own schedule and approach to visiting blogs. Whether you want to visit one new blog on a daily basis or hundreds of blogs per day, you're the one at the wheel. The Road Trip is really just some buddies in the blogging community hanging out and visiting new voices in the A-Z world.

A few strateties that may have worked for Road Trippers include...

• Visiting all the blogs with similar topics or categories as yours
• Visiting all the blogs whose names make you curious
• Visiting all the blogs at even (or odd) numbers on the list
• Start from where you left off and keep on truckin'...
• Visiting blogs that are low (or high, or in the middle) on the list
• Visiting blogs randomly by just clicking on titles located in different areas of the list

Whatever you do, remember that signing up on the linky doesn't mean you're committed to visiting ALL of the blogs on the list. Coming along with us on this Road Trip just indicates that you're not done yet and would like to show your fellow A-Z participants some visiting and commenting love. These are among the things that keep a blogging community strong.  

Who's with us for the 2015 Post-Challenge Road Trip?

~ Nicole @ The Madlab Post

SIGNUP to Be Our (A to Z) Post-Challenge Road Trip Traveling Companions HERE:

Themes That Rocked the Challenge – Things That Go Bump in the Night with J.H. Moncrieff

Today we welcome author J.H. Moncrieff!

She had one of the best themes this year – it was riveting.

Your theme was Things That Go Bump in the Night. Why did you select it?

I've alway been fascinated with the darker side of life--creepy places, supernatural events, terrible people in history, unsolved mysteries--if it gave me nightmares as a child, I was all over it.

I recently made the decision to blog for my readers, instead of for other writers (although writers are always welcome, of course!). My old blog would have been perfect if I wrote inspirational self-help, but I don't. So I made the switch, and I'm happy I did, even though it's a lot more work and can require a ton of research.

Which subject was your favorite?

Easily the Dyatlov Pass Incident. It took the most time--I estimate I spent about six hours researching that post, and another two hours writing it. I apologize to everyone who probably freaked when the saw how long it was, but I really wanted to do it justice. That was important to me. Something terrible happened to those young people, and we'll probably never really understand why they died the way they did.

Which letter was the most difficult?

Strangely enough, P. I had three possible topics jotted down for P, but when it came down to it, I didn't feel like writing about any of them. It was a mad scramble to find a new topic, and I suddenly thought, "I wonder if the Phantom of the Opera was based on a real guy?" I have no idea where that came from, but it saved the day.

Did any of the subjects unnerve you while you researched and wrote about them?

Yes, Dyatlov really bothers me. The night I wrote the post, I couldn't sleep. I kept picking the evidence apart in my brain. Fire in the Sky bothers me too, because so many people say it's a hoax, but I can't see why all of those guys would make up this crazy story and stick with it so many years later. I don't believe in alien abductions, but that case troubles me. Also, Vanished. The fact that so many people disappear everyday is crazy! I would go mad if I lost someone I loved that way. The story of Julie Weflen haunts me.

What do you think happened at the Dyatlov Pass incident?

I really don't know. I wish I had a good theory. One of the people who commented on my post had a really good suggestion when she said the people were ordered out of their tent by someone with a gun, but that doesn't explain why their tent was torn to shreds. Or why half the victims died so much later than the rest, or where their horrific, strange injuries came from. That whole case is highly disturbing.

Would you stay in Italy’s abandoned asylum?

Sure! I've planned an awesome trip to Italy, and I really hope I can go next year, although I'm not sure how. Maybe if I sell enough books! (Ha,ha!)

You’ve experienced a haunting – have you experienced any of the other subjects?

Yes, I had a weird experience with a Ouija board, which I mention in that post.

What theme are you considering for the Challenge next year?

I'll do the same theme with different topics. It fits my brand well, I find it interesting, and people seemed to like it. I regularly blog about the dark side on Tuesday and Wednesdays, unless it's an IWSG day.


Thanks for featuring me! I really appreciate the opportunity. There's a lot of info about my book and the trailer HERE.
You can also find the trailer on YouTube

Thanks again, Alex!

Thanks, JH! Looking forward to your posts next year.


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