A to Z Ideas: Monday Movie Meme from guest Nicole of Madlab Post

Nicole from Madlab Post

        Stuck for ideas of what to write about during the Challenge in April?   The ideas are everywhere and a number of bloggers have been offering their suggestions based on how they are going to approach this year's Challenge or what they did in years past.   Here's what Nicole from Madlab Post is going to be doing.












The Monday Movie Meme Invasion of April’s A to Z Challenge

      Finding inspiration to blog every day is a challenge alone. This struggle can easily be elevated when you are faced with the task of blogging along the lines of the alphabet. I have found that keeping to a schedule helps minimize the risk of writer's block and blogger burnout all year long. My general blogging schedule includes writing a post every Monday, for the Monday Movie Meme that I co-host with Dale aka Smurfdok at Smurfin' the Web.

Monday Movie Meme History & How it Works

       Dale and I host the Monday Movie Meme, a weekly blogging activity where Participants list and discuss movies that fit the current topic or theme chosen by him or me. If the topic is "What are Your Favorite Best Picture Oscar Winners?" or "The Big Payback: Revenge Flicks", then you would either leave a comment on the host (The Madlab Post or Smurfin' the Web) blog with movies that you can think of that fit that topic or you can write a blog post with your answer, making sure to link to the host and also leave a comment on the host blog with a link to your blog post, in order to participate in that week's Meme.

While a simple list of movie titles will do just fine.... especially for those who do not participate by writing a blog post and only leave a comment with their answers, it's also more fun to write a brief explanation of why you chose a particular film or basically, which characteristics of the film coincides with the Monday Movie Meme topic....if you choose to participate by writing a blog post with your answers. These explanations help other participants who are unfamiliar with any of the films on your list to learn more about the movie and determine whether it is something that they would want to rent or buy on DVD or at the very least, keep a lookout for it on their local TV listings.

Our Monday Movie Meme Plan for the A to Z Challenge

In April, Dale and I are both participating in the 2012 Blogging from A to Z challenge and thus, we are incorporating our Monday Movie Meme topics within the challenge. Each Monday in April, he and I will choose topics based on the current letter of the alphabet that is being covered during the A to Z challenge.

A to Z Challenge Participants are Invited

Bloggers who signed up for the 2012 A to Z challenge are welcome to also participate in the Monday Movie Meme, which offers some structure and motivation to write...a benefit that many of you who are still wondering what to write about may find quite useful...on Mondays, at least. After that, you're on your own. Just kidding. I'm still trying to figure out what to write on other days of the week, myself, so you're not alone. We're all in this together...another reminder of why it's so fun to be a part of the A to Z Challenge. In the meantime, A to Z Challenge bloggers are also welcome to participate in the regular weekly Monday Movie Memes from now until April. If anything, it will allow you to try the memes on for size and get into a routine of blogging on Monday.

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Getting to Know the Co-Hosts - Matthew MacNish

Name: Matthew MacNish
Blog[s]: The QQQE, Project Mayhem, Afterglow Book Reviews, and, of course, this one.
Other Online Info: Twitter: "@MatthewMacNish," Facebook: "Matthew MacNish"
Publications: My short fiction has been published in the anthology Literary Foray, from Static Movement Press, and the online magazine: Vine Leaves Literary Journal.


10 GETTING TO KNOW YOU QUESTIONS

01. What is the most daring thing you've ever done?
Not something I plan admitting to on the internet ... although, one thing I can mention is: back in high school, in Minnesota, I went to winter camp, and one night, we sat in the sauna for hours, and then jumped through a hole cut in the ice down at the lake - naked.

02. What is your favorite article of clothing?
My shell-toed Adidas, any pair.

03. What is your favorite monster?
Gary Gygax's Gelatinous Cube, from Dungeons and Dragons. I even wrote a piece of flash fiction about it, for Underneath the Juniper Tree, which you can read: Cubic.

04. If you had to dress up as your favorite literary character, who would it be?
Hmm. Normally I would say Gandalf, from The Lord of the Rings, but Jeremy went with that the other day, so I'll say Aang, from Avatar: the Last Airbender (the most excellent animated series, not the terrible live-action film), because I want to ride that glider.

05. What is your favorite fairy tale, urban legend or nursery rhyme?
Beren and Luthien.

06. What is a cause near and dear to your heart?
The environment.

07. What's the strangest item you've used as a bookmark?
Another book.

08. Do you have any nicknames? What are they and how did you earn them?
Big Bird. I suppose that's because I'm tall? Or was it because my friend who made that one up is so short?

09. Name one habit you want to change in yourself:
When I drink too much, I sometimes end up hungover. I'm okay with the drinking part, it's the hangovers I'd like to get rid of.

10. Tell us something interesting or shocking about yourself:
Not sure about shocking, but it's probably interesting that I used to own a small, independent record label in Minneapolis. It was called Butterbeat Records, and we produced 12" vinyl singles, mostly hip-hop, trip-hop, and electro. It was so small, and so before the internet got big, that you can't even find much about it on Google.

SOME A-to-Z QUESTIONS

01. What was your favorite A-to-Z post from 2011?
I'm afraid I have to admit I've never taken part in the A to Z challenge before. The enormity of the commitment always intimidated me. Then Arlee and Alex talked me into it, and now I realize it's not nearly as difficult as it seems. So don't be afraid! Sign up, pick a theme, schedule some posts, and you'll be good to go.

02. What brought you to the A-to-Z originally? Tell us about your first A-to-Z:
See above. I have been following and reading many A to Z bloggers for, what is it now, three years? I've always enjoyed the posts, but this will be my first A to Z!

03. Are you doing a theme?
I am, and it will be revealed in April.

04. Are you writing & scheduling posts in advance?
Absolutely. I can't imagine doing it any other way.

05. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet, and why? What letter do you like least?
I'm not sure. K for Katana? S for Samurai, Sword, Sorcery? M for Magic (and Matt)? I'm not really sure. I love language, and I love letters, but I seem to have an affinity for the crooked ones. My least favorite is probably C. C wishes he could be S or K, and sometimes he tries to be, but he never quite manages it.



Voting for A to Z Video Challenge is now open.  Please click on Voting tab at the top of this page and fill out the ballot.   Links to videos can be found there as well.






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#atozchallenge: Don't Get Lost in the Shuffle, Link Tips

It's not uncommon for people to post links on their blogs, but it can be troublesome when it directs someone away from your own blog and takes them elsewhere.  Sometimes they end up clicking through a few links and losing track of where they started.  Sometimes they just forget that they started elsewhere.

To keep this from happening, I wanted to pass along a little html secret I learned, which will allow you to post a link that will automatically open a new window, keeping your own blog open instead of replacing it.

In order to post the coding and keep it visible, I will replace the carrots < > with parentheses ( ).  When you do this coding on your blog, be sure to replace any parentheses with carrots.

The following is what it looks like when you create a typical link:

(a href="http://www.thewarriormuse.com/")(/a)

You enter the name for where you want the link to lead, like so:

(a href="http://www.thewarriormuse.com/")The Warrior Muse(/a)

In order to change this coding so that you will not replace your blog page with another page, instead opening the link in a new window, you need to enter the following after the quotes that enclose the URL:

target="_blank"

Your new code will look like this:

(a href="http://www.thewarriormuse.com/"target="_blank")The Warrior Muse(/a)

Don't forget to replace those parentheses with carrots (or whatever the heck those symbols are called.)

You won't get lost in the linky shuffle again if you use this little tip!

May you find your Muse.

Shannon

#atozchallenge- Fiction and SOS Call for Writing Prompts by Damyanti

 All A to Z participants have  some or the other plan for how they're going to meet the challenge. Like last year, I'll be doing fiction, based on prompts left by readers. Like I said in my last fiction post on this blog, please send me prompts---I only have 10 so far!

Challenge me with an interesting picture that you would like me to write on, and drop me story starters, each sentence/phrase beginning with a different letter (i.e. the first word of the starter must start with a different letter from A to Z).  Since I'm co-hosting, I need to schedule all A-Z posts in March, so I can get on with hosting duties---this is an urgent request!

You can drop me the prompts in the comments on this post.  You may also mail me the pictures and story prompts at atozstories at gmail dot com.You need not be participating in the A to Z Challenge to challenge me with either a story starter, or a picture, or both. The more the merrier! Last year I had asked for word prompts, and I got loads to choose from! This year, I'm taking it a step further.

As a sort of warm-up and illustration of what I hope to do, I'm pasting below a picture, a story starter( both randomly chosen) and the resulting drabble.

Story starter: The only thing remarkable about ...

Picture:

 The only thing remarkable about Miranda was her voice like coarse sugar, which proved to be her undoing at the  Annual Charity Halloween Ball. The minute she spoke they knew who she was. She never won any prizes.

One year she went clad in a fencing costume with the back of her head split open, dripping blood. Every time someone spoke to her, she coughed and removed a bloodied handkerchief from her lips.

Since no one wanted the handsome carpet ruined by too much blood, they declared the winner early. She went up to the dais, and fell down, quite dead.

#atozchallenge: Sunday Summary March 11, 2012

Official A to Z Logo Badge
Artwork by Ada Zdanowicz

For most of you in the United States, did you remember to set your clocks forward for Daylight Savings Time?

The A to Z Video Challenge Contest ends tonight.  We must have your videos turned in by 11:59 PM EST tonight Sunday March 11, 2012.  Finalists (which may be all submitted videos since there are so few) will be selected by readers via a voting poll which will be made available between March 15th and 19th.   Since there are so few videos entered, the poll may actually appear earlier than March 15th.  Be watching the A to Z Blog site to vote for your favorites.


Kern Windwraith at The Odd Particle [Re]View decided to take the plunge into the alphabet soup of April.  Don't worry, Kern, you'll be fine.

Deena will be busy in April as she participates her blogs Deena's Days and On the Road with U2.  On the latter she'll be doing her 26 favorite U2 songs from A to Z--that should be fun.

Of Glass and Paper made the A to Z announcement to make it official.

Victoria at Always a Booklover makes a hard sell for her readers to join the Challenge.  Good promotion Victoria!

November Rain has her own special A to Z blog at A-Z Bloggit Write.  She debuted her site with a Challenge announcement.  Go over and become an early follower.

Rek from A Chronicle of Dreams submitted her video offering last week-end and had a few more words to say about her entry and the A to Z Challenge.

Some great Challenge tips are offered at a post from RJR Daydreamer.  This might be a good checklist for everyone to review.

Ruth at Welcome to Me offered a Challenge post awhile back showing that it's not always all about her.

LB from LB & J blog is taking the big plunge to make her first blogging challenge the April A to Z.  She's planning a fun theme revolving around Disney.

The official announcement of acceptance was made at Club Creative Studio.  I guess we should be expecting some creative posts from this blog.

Suze at Analog Breakfast offered some helpful tips about A to Z Blogging on her site.

Pick a day at My Write Spot and you're apt to find something about the April Challenge.  Donna's doing it right/write.   Maybe you can help her out.

My dear blogging friend Debra Harris-Johnson from Dream Weaver puts the A to Z Challenge in perspective as she reflects on its value and its potential for those who write.

A to Z co-host Damyanti is still looking for your help with story prompts for her April Challenge entries.  Read about it at Amlokiblogs.

Telling others about the A to Z Challenge works.  Read the story at The Writer's Experiment for a testimonial.

I missed this mention from early last month.  Jan at begin...begin again made the announcement shortly after sign-ups opened and I'd be amiss not to mention this.

Rhonda Parrish is asking readers to ask her a question.  Go to her blog to find out why.

Pam at 2 Encourage tells about how her Challenge theme in April will be about "The Blessings of Blogging".  There are so many aren't there.

Carrie Anne Brownian will be digging up characters to bring back to life.  Hmmm--that maybe isn't phrased quite right.  I've made it sound like a zombie theme.  You'll have to go to her site to read more.

You might find it helpful to read Jo's fine article at In Which We Start Anew--good advice for all.

Jarm Del Boccio at Making the Write Connections wants lots of bloggers to join in the A to Z Challenge.  She would also like for all of you to stop by and give her a little help.

The Left Wright Brain also took the time to promote the A to Z Challenge with a nod to famous alphabetist Sue Grafton.

JoJo at Tahoma Beadworks and Photography has made the A to Z commitment with an announcement of intent.

Ms. Pat at just sayin' has a lot going on, but she's moving forward with the April Challenge on top of everything else.

Texas Yellow Rose from Phoenix Once Again does some contemplating about the Challenge--yes, it's going to be fun.

Story Gush gushed about the Challenge.  Well, at least gave a short mention.  The chosen topic sounds like a fun one.

Kela at Teardrops On My Book also gave A to Z a plug just in time to make this week's Sunday Summary.

We're trying to keep up with all of the mentions.  If you run across one that you think should be included in the next Sunday Summary, please let us know.  Make sure you stop by today's featured blogs and tell these bloggers hello.

Another video entry came in, this one from Rachel Morgan:




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