Join Something: Guest Post by A to Z Veteran Matt Conlon

 
     Today's guest is Matt Conlon who blogs at =]V[= and other blogs as well (a complete list can be found at his main site.  He is a veteran A to Z participant with two years with two participating blogs under his belt.  Join him as he talks about his latest project.

I started blogging only a few years back with the intention of leaving behind a sort of journal that I and my loved ones could look back upon in the years to come. I loved the idea that someday my kids, grand-kids, etc. could find out who I was by reading the thoughts I had bouncing around in my head. As I looked into blogging, I couldn't help but get excited about the idea that people I didn't know were going to read what I wrote, and comment.

I tossed up my first blog post and waited for the comments to pour in. They didn't. Perhaps it wasn't interesting enough. I started taking content from other places and re-posting it. Nope, that didn't work either.

I looked around for a blog directory on blogger (the platform on which I started) and came up with nothing. I was shocked that there wasn't a place I could look at a list of blogs about this or that. I started searching Google for "blog about humor" and stuff like that and found one or two here and there. Left a few comments. After a few months, I got a half dozen followers, and it was almost like work!

Eventually, I stumbled upon the A to Z challenge, purely by chance. I signed up, and within the first couple of weeks my followers had sprouted from somewhere around 32 to over 100! Not only were people reading my content, but they were commenting! I found a few dozen great blogs which I still follow today, and created great relationships with wonderful people I may never have found otherwise. 

The 2011 A to Z challenge came to a close, and while recovering from a month of blogging like I'd never blogged before, (cause I hadn't!) I realized how powerful a blog challenge can be. Further, I realized how fortunate I had been to have found that one blog that linked to it! ...But what if I hadn't?? It certainly wasn't all that easy to find, I only happened to hit the "Next Blog" button on blogger and found a link to it on someone's side-bar. 

Thus, JoinSomething.net was born. The idea behind JoinSomething.net was to create a community where bloggers like us could come and register a blog challenge, or a blog circle, or come look for challenges and circles to join. There is also a user forum where you can come and post a link to your latest blog post, or join in some of the goofy word games we're playing, or simply mingle with other bloggers. 

We are currently tweeting updates about challenges, forum posts, blog hops, etc. Tweet your latest blog post @Join_Something and we'll re-tweet you.

Our hope is to bring more readership to your blogs, more exposure to your blog challenges, and help lost bloggers find a place to share and find content. 

I hope to see you there!

http://JoinSomething.net

- Matt Conlon

http://mattconlon.com

How about you?  Are you ready to join something?  Check out the links to see what Matt's talking about.



.

Alphabet Remix - Stop Staying Silent about Suicides

These blogging prompts are brought to you by Nicole at The Madlab Post....

It’s time for The Alphabet Remix - A Writing Prompt Idea Engine Treating A to Z Blogging Avoidance Disorders

After reading recent news reports about NFL player O.J. Murdock's suicide -- and talk of a grim trend of suicides among players, I couldn’t help but wonder if the story will quickly lose traction in media outlets since everybody appears to be focused on the Olympic Games. So today, S is for Suicide and we’re remixing it to find topics that you can blog about during the next Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Surprising Suicide Statistics
Write about a suicide statistic that you either just learned about or think that many people are unaware of. This means covering something other than what the average person may already know such as the common statistic that women are less likely to commit suicide using firearms, compared to men who kill themselves. Instead, find a statistic that may surprise your readers -- like, more or less suicides occur in a particular state/town/city/country or job, etc. than in any other industry or location.

Suicide Stigmas
Since some men and women who are considering suicide hesitate to seek help due to stigmas associated with this act, try blogging about ways that people can change their perceptions regarding mental illness, depression and bipolar disorder.

Your Stance on Suicide “Selfishness”
It is not uncommon to hear people labeling suicides as a selfish act because of the pain caused to people left behind. So, write a blog post that summarizes or explains in detail, your position on the matter -- tell readers whether you agree or disagree with viewing suicides as “selfish.”

Suicide in Sports
Highlight little known sports related suicides that have taken place during a regular season or during the off-season. You could also write about suicides among female athletes, which is a topic that your blog readers may not be familiar with because the media does not seem to cover it as much as it does suicides among male athletes.

Now, on to something bright. The WINNER of last week’s Silver Screen Alphabet Soup game is...

Marta Szemik who writes at her Self-titled Blog

Marta correctly unscrambled all ten Silver Screen related terms that start with Letter S. Her prize packages includes: Title of Alphabet Wizard, the authority to pick the letter for the next Alphabet Soup game and the option to pick the Monday Movie Meme topic for an upcoming day on my blog. I’d also like to send a special thanks to Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out for unscrambling five of the ten correctly.

Congratulations Marta!

Here are the Answer’s to Last Week’s “Silver Screen” themed Alphabet Soup:

1. cdnSuatork is Soundtrack.
2. tamnntuS is Stuntman.
3. rpoSrpsetrvuiciS is Script Supervisor.
4. neSec is Scene.
5. lSaet is Slate.
6. uSgadtenso is Soundstage.
7. uqelSe is Sequel.
8. rSotodbyar is Storyboard.
9. tuebsSilt is Subtitles.
10. rrudonSduunoS is Surround Sound.

Happy Friday, everybody!

Sign up for the Monday Movie Meme, a weekly group blogging series that inspires discussion about entertainment in a whole new light and provides recommendations for your DVD, on-demand or theater fix. New topics are posted every Monday at The Madlab Post!
.
NICOLE 
@MadlabPost on Twitter

A.E. Howard and her Flight of Blue!

 Today’s guest blogger is A.E. Howard! She’s a writer and an artist, as you'll see if you visit her blog. She is sharing with us an  interview with Reginald Long-Tail Jackson Weaver, Opossum Sorcerer, who is a character in her book Flight of Blue, released recently. We love the voice of this character, and wish Anna all kinds of success with her book. Take it away, Anna!

--------------------------

I sat down with Reginald the other day to get his view on the events in Flight of Blue, and also to fill in some of the blanks that I didn’t discover while writing the story. Some of the things happened so fast, I had to go back for details.

AEH: Reginald, thank you for being here today. I know you’re very busy.

Reginald: Yes, terribly busy indeed. What is it that you were so desperate to know that you dragged me out here?

AEH: Ah, well, some of the folks who’ve been reading the story I wrote about you and the other, you know, Flight of Blue and they want to know more about you. One of the questions I hear a lot is: what makes you different from normal Opossums?

Reginald deadpans me.

Reginald: I take it they have not yet read the book, have they?

AH: Uh, well, it just came out like four days ago, so, no, most of them haven’t.

Reginald: So you have dragged me out here to ask silly questions that people could easily understand if they simply read that... that... amusing little tale of yours.

AEH: I’m sorry, “amusing little tale”?

Reginald: Yes, that story in which you felt it necessary to render with precise detail situations that you found amusing while skipping over salient information about the folk you were supposedly writing about.

AEH: This is about the “playing possum” thing isn’t it?

Reginald: That is utterly irrelevant.

AEH: Oh, admit it, you don’t like how that made you look.

Reginald: I will tell you as I told Kai, that little trick has been ensuring the survival of my people for millennia. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a little subterfuge to protect oneself when one is threatened.

AEH: True... but you’re “little trick” as you call it has become a sort of saying in the human world. It can mean anything from “feigning death” to “playing dumb” depending on how it is used.

Reginald: (bristling up his fur just a tad) How it is perceived in your world does not make it any less effective a strategy.

AEH: But it could be perceived...

Reginald: Oh, enough already. Perhaps the idea that the incident could be misconstrued, has, in fact, bothered me somewhat since you wrote the story. But what is done is done and cannot be undone. So let us move along with this inquisition you call an interview, shall we?

AEH: If you insist. Okay, so when we first meet you in the story, you’re naked by the side of the road, having been injured by a car. But later we see you dressed like the other Opossums, was there a reason you were running around nude?

Reginald: You have got to be joking. This is what you call an interview? I mean, other than the fact that you might be attempting to humiliate me with the reminder that I must masquerade as a common possum by running around in the buff when I am not with my folk, I can see no reason such a question is even relevant.

He’s glaring at me with those little round eyes at this point, and I’m beginning to wonder if messing with a powerful sorcerer is such a good idea. Even though he’s so cute when he’s grouchy. Oops. Don’t tell him I said that, okay? He really might curse me then.

AEH: Okay, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I just think it’s interesting.

Reginald: Of course you do, so a note on that little curiosity makes it into the story, and yet nothing about my family or lineage does. Now that is some interesting material.

AEH: Okay, then, Reginald. Tell us a little bit about your family... and, er... your lineage.

Reginald: Finally. A decent sort of question. Let us see. When you let me speak long enough in the story to introduce myself, you discovered that I am none other than Reginald Long-Tail Jackson Weaver, Sorcerer of the Third Order. And yet after that fascinating name and title, you asked no other questions, but rushed off, willy-nilly, into some discussion of how Kai and Ellie sneaked a stretcher out of the house to carry me in. I mean, really.

AEH: Er, Reginald? Your lineage?

Reginald: Ah yes, where was I? Let us see. It may interest you to know, although given your mundane tastes, perhaps not. But it should interest you to know that the First Order of Sorcerers died out seven generations ago. In our struggle to maintain our way of life, stranded here in the Middle Realm, our magic almost died out with the First Order as the Second Order, the magical line of Weavers, had no other magical line with which to procreate. But it was discovered by a fortunate accident as it were that there were traces of magical blood in the Jackson line, even though no full-blooded Jackson was a sorcerer. But my great-great-grandfather Archimedes Weaver (and his mother was a Long-Tail from the First Order), went against his parents wishes and married a girl from what all of them presumed to be a non-magical line, the Jacksons. And so it was that their descendants, and others from the two families that married as well, become sorcerers, not quite as powerful as their predecessors, but the magic lives on in us, the sorcerers of the Third Order.

AEH: Reginald, about their love story...

Reginald: I have not yet finished with explaining how Opossum folk take names. You see, I bear the surname of both my ancestors, as well as my great-great-grandfather’s mother, which indicates...

AEH: Reginald, I hate to cut you off.

Reginald: No, you do not. You are bored. Admit it.

AH: No, no, I’d love to learn how your surnames work, but right now, we need to stop, we’re taking up too much space as it is. Another time perhaps? The coffee’s on me...

Reginald: Humph.

AEH: Okay, then, thanks for your time!


I will confess to beating a hasty retreat at this point; he really looked unhappy with me. And, well, he has been known to curse things out of vengeance... I would hope after the traffic light incident, he’d have learned his lesson, but you never know...

Purchase Flight of Blue: Paperback | Kindle

A.E. Howard’s Author Page |

Alphabet Soup - Silver Screen Staples

This word puzzle is brought to you by Nicole at The Madlab Post...

It’s time for Alphabet Soup - The Word Scramble Puzzle of A to Z Wizards!

Since Sheila Siler who blogs at Sheila Scribbles won the title of "Alphabet Wizard" during the previous Alphabet Soup puzzle, we’re focusing on the Letter S today. The name of her blog also has me thinking about writing -- particularly screenplays, now that I’ve completed a draft of a short film that I’m working on this Summer. Today, S is for Silver Screen.

Unscramble the following Silver Screen related titles, credits and terms. The first commenter who is able to correctly unscramble all or most of these screen credits at best wins this weeks’ Alphabet Soup game. Answers and the name of the winner will be posted here at the A to Z blog during next week’s “Friday Fun Time - Alphabet Remix.”

1. cdnSuatork________________

2. tamnntuS________________

3. rpoSrpsetrvuiciS________________

4. neSec________________

5. lSaet________________

6. uSgadtenso________________

7. uqelSe________________

8. rSotodbyar________________

9. tuebsSilt________________

10. rrudonSduunoS________________

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYBODY!

Sign up for the Monday Movie Meme, a weekly group blogging series that inspires discussion about entertainment in a whole new light and provides recommendations for your DVD, on-demand or theater fix. New topics are posted every Monday at The Madlab Post!
.
NICOLE is @MadlabPost on Twitter

Social Media Tricks from A to Z from C.Lee McKenzie: An Post A-to-Z Road Trip Special

       C. Lee McKenzie can usually be found at her blog The Write Game, but today she's here visiting us at Blogging from A to Z.   She's also celebrating the release of her latest book Alligators Overhead, which you can find out more about by clicking on the links at the bottom of this post.  

If you're a writer, you want others to know who you are and what you're writing. You want to find other writers to connect with and readers who will buy your books. Today the publisher's budgets allow for very little support unless you're a bestselling author, so getting the word out is pretty much your job. Of course, if you're self-published it's 100% your job. 

 Social Media to the rescue. 

      And, in my opinion,  one of the quickest and most painless of these media is Twitter. 

     I thought it might be helpful for those A to Zers on this  Road Trip to have a few Twitter Do's and Don'ts--kind of road signs to read along the way--so here's my A to Z Twitter  Tips.

A. Ask for help. Do you need feedback on your WIP or do you want to know what readers think of your published work? Ask. Tweeters are eager to jump in with comments.

B. Be nice. Be kind. Snarky works for some, but like my grandmother always said, "You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar."

C. Converse with your readers and other writers. Get to know them. Let them know you. That generates interest in your work.

D. Discover stuff: quotes, facts, other writers with the same or similar issues.

E. Events are out there on Twitter. Find out about them. Post some of your own. Maybe you're doing a giveaway or hosting a launch on facebook. Make sure your Twitter followers know about those.

F. Find a job. Writing doesn't always pay the electric bill, right? Here's a link that takes you to JOBSEARCH

G. Grammar check. There's always a prescriptive grammarian hanging out on Twitter. You just have to nudge them and they'll give you the "correct" answer. *Raises hand and admits to a touch of the prescriptive grammarian in her.*

H. Help others. When you're in a Twitter conversation you often find that a writer could use a "hug" or encouragement. Maybe just a, "I've been there and understand" will be enough.

I. Issue book updates or where you are in your current WIP. That creates a bit of buzz and interest.

J. Joke a bit and have fun. This is a great way to take that break from the scene that's not working. It's a great way to connect with others in the same situation. Who knows, you might pick up just the prompt you need to return to that scene and finish it. 

K. Keep in touch. I might be away from home and on my iphone, but I can pop into Twitter, say hi, share where I am and what I'm doing. My main blog might be quiet, but my "microblog" isn't.

L. Look for agents or new publishing houses, accepting submission. Link up with an agent and start a dialog. Who knows, they might like your style enough to check your blog out. It's happened. And I personally know of one contract signed because the agent loved the writer's blog style so much.

M. Motivate others and you'll motivate yourself. In 140 characters it's easy to say something encouraging.

N. Never be all about "ME."  Care about the people you follow and who follow you.

O. Open longer exchanges. I often DM a friend and say, "Check email" or "Call me" when I want to discuss something in more depth.

P. Practice writing short, specific and effective sentences. Be clever. It's good practice for writing anything.

Q. Quotes--share them. I love to find a great quote while I'm Tweeting. 

R. Report problems. When you see a blog post that's gone weird because of a code issue, alert the blogger on Twitter. I had someone do that for me, and I really appreciated it. I hate it when something's not right with my blog posts.

S. Search, using the search tool to find someone you'd like to follow. 

T. Tweet about conferences before you go to a conference. Establish a rapport with the presenters and those attending. This year I tweeted with an agent and knew she'd been out walking on the beach. When I met her at dinner, I had a way to introduce myself by asking her how she'd enjoyed her walk. Nice ice breaker.

W. Writing. Writing . Writing. Get help. Give help about this amazing talent you and the others on Twitter have. You never know what exchange might trigger an idea.

X. X-out people who don't follow back or interact with you. You want your Tweeter followers list current. Here's where you can find out who's following you and who's interacting with you .http://t.co/B1wMdPmg

Y. YOU. Be who you are. 

Z. Zippy Tweets pay off, so don't be mopey, just honest. "2day I'm not writing anything my dog couldn't chew up." 

Happy Tweeting. And  . . . ahem . . . RT if you found this helpful.

C. Lee McKenzie

http://writegame.blogspot.com

http://cleemckenziebooks.com

https://www.facebook.com/AlligatorsOverhead

Alligators Overhead AMAZON http://tinyurl.com/895whec

                         B&N http://tinyurl.com/8y4d4el








-