Your Key to Surviving the A to Z Challenge on Mondays

By now, I’m sure that many of you are aware that surviving the Blogging from A to Z Challenge in April is no easy feat. My fellow co-hosts have made it clear that scheduling posts in advance and picking a theme are some of the best ways to complete the challenge. So, you don’t have a theme, yet? No worries! I can help you create a schedule -- at least, on Mondays -- even if you’re plan is to wing it when writing posts for the April challenge.

In April 2012, Dale a.k.a the Smurfdok at Smurfin’ the Web partnered up to merge our Monday Movie Meme (MMM) osting duties with the alphabet, since we both signed up to participate in the A to Z Challenge that year. If you want to know more details, check out my previous MMM introduction to challenge participants, which shares the history and more in-depth information about this meme.

Here’s a Cliff notes version to get you up to speed: The Monday Movie meme is a weekly blogging event where I post a different theme or topic on Mondays and then list my selections of movies that fit the topic. Participants (that would be you) then follow suit by posting a list of their own movie choices on their blog, of course, linking back to my original post and leaving a comment to let me know they participated. I will then visit their blog to find out what movies they picked for the week. This year, the Monday Movie Meme will continue to operate throughout the A to Z Challenge, so my themes and topics will coincide with the letters G, M, S and Y.

Want to know the best part about this weekly meme? You don’t even have to wait until April to participate. You can get started this week, next week or on any Monday leading up to the A to Z Challenge in April. An early start will get you into the swing of things, providing great practice for when the challenge starts. So, what do you say? Are you game to join me? Let’s Rock it out!

~Nicole
A to Z 2013 Co-Host
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@MadlabPost on Twitter

Getting to Know Your Co-Hosts - Tina, Life is Good

ABOUT ME

Name: Tina Downey

Blogs: Lifeis Good

Publications: Until They Have Faces, an anthology of stories of the homeless, a fundraising coffee table book

Other Places to Find Me: Twitter: still can't believe I did it...@TinaLifeisGood. I don't do other social media, it's just too much to keep up with. I'd rather write...

10 GETTING TO KNOW YOU QUESTIONS

1. "Where do you hail from?"

I'm a first generation immigrant, born in Sweden. In 1974 when I was almost nine, we moved to America for “just a year”. We lived in Silver Spring, MD. However, for my senior year of high school, The Swede got a big promotion and we moved to Colorado. Well, he dragged me kicking and screaming across the country is more like it... I shouldn't have wasted that energy, though. Colorado is my dream home. I love almost everything about this state except the hot summers. The smallish community (formerly farming, now high tech silicon valley stuff everywhere) with the magnificent view of the foothills and Longs Peak/Mt. Meeker is a wonderful place to raise children. They're living my childhood in Sweden – go knock on a door and see who's free. Or what happens more often, there's the knock on OUR door. We're THAT house where everyone gathers and I love that.

2. Would you ever join a team that was headed off to colonize Mars?

Yes, I actually would. I'm a die-hard sci-fi fan, and The Engineer is an inventor, and dreams of doing this. So how could I say no. It's a pretty safe “yes” though...I can sound like the supportive, adventurous wife, but with little risk of ever leaving my beloved Colorado. There are parts of this adventure that DO appeal to ME too though: the whole fresh start thing...and space travel...

3. "Who is your favorite fictional character and why?"

I should probably pick some Jane Austen or Mark Twain or other “classy classic” character, but I like Eve Dallas of JD Robb's futuristic cop series. She's my exact opposite, so that's probably why. When I need a break, I splurge $7.99 and buy the next book in the 35+ book series. I think I'm seven behind...good mind candy, and since I'm hypoglycemic and can't eat REAL candy, it's my justification.

4. "If you were a contestant on the CBS show "Amazing Race" and could pick ANY movie character to be your partner, who would it be and why?"

James Bond. Let's be more clear, Daniel Craig's James Bond. C'mon, who else could do ANYTHING they'd throw at us? I love this race. It is amazing (haha) to see places and cultures I might never, ever see. I don't have much time for TV anymore, and we don't have cable (got data plans for smart phones instead, something had to go...) so I haven't seen it in a while. I'm confident he could “carry” me, and I love martinis, too. We'd both be seeking the same thing at the end of the day.

5. What's your biggest frustration in blogging?

Not enough time. I'm a schedule woman, so I try hard to carve out my time for it, but I'm also a wife, a mom, a volunteer teacher, and there are only so many hours in a day. Setting priorities is hard, but it's life.

6. "Have you ever wanted to be a rock star?"

No, but I wish I could sing on key. What I REALLY want is to be a best-selling author...sigh.

7. You're house in on fire, assuming your kids, pets, and other living things are safe, what do you grab as you head out the door?

My mom has made me some amazing Creative Memories photo albums, and I've made some myself, waaaay before the blogging bug infected me permanently. I'd grab those. Two of them are the boys' baby books. Of course, they're not done. The Transporter is 6 months old, and OYT has ONE picture affixed in it, the rest lying loose on the pages...some day...

8. "Where do you go to "Get away from it all"?

We go camping in our 1968 Forester camping trailer. The Engineer has redone all the systems, so it's still peddling along despite its need of another new paint job. We pull it with our prison van. Not kidding. The van still has the outline of the “Colorado Department of Corrections” logo that adorned both front doors. It seats twelve and then has a huge cargo area behind it. Nothing like having two teenage boys separated in the car by an entire bench seat...We prefer state and national forest parks with bigger sites, no hook-ups, and more privacy. The only thing I don't like about camping is pulling out of the site and heading home...I could seriously be a campground host.  I think. I've got enough bossy in me to do the job...

Thanks for making it this far. We're supposed to do 10 questions, but I'm so far over the word limit you get 8. I promise to be more brief during the challenge, but it's hard to get to know someone in a few words. Especially a wordy, talky person such as...me.

I'll be writing about “Adventures in America” - what it was like my first year as a Swedish immigrant. Last year's #atozchallenge I taught a word or two of Swedish a day, included a picture and a childhood memory. I'm thinking this will be similar, but you won't be learning a foreign language...hope to see you then!

~Tina, and yes, Life really is Good

What you can do RIGHT NOW to Ensure a #atozchallenge WIN??

You're all signed up for the A to Z Challenge. (If you aren't, go on, run and do it, I'll wait.) Now you must be thrilled you've done your bit for your blog by entering it on the list. You can relax till April. 

NOT. I have news for you.

To get the best out of a bloghop the size of a T-Rex on steroids (just go look at the sign-up list now to see what I mean), you need to put yourself and your blog on steroids, right away. 

Here are 5 ways to do it:

 1. There are no rules stating you should start blog visiting in April. Start with the list now, and if you visit and Comment on 5 new blogs a day, you would have covered at least 250 by the time the challenge comes around. This challenge is all about building a community, and schmoozing with other participants will guarantee your AZ posts hordes of comments come April. 

2. Preschedule your posts now, so you can focus on comment love in April. Even if you can't be online during some of April, that's no reason to be discouraged. Point 1 above will ensure your blog remains active with comments even on the days you're away.

2. If you're on twitter, tweet your posts using the #atozchallenge hashtag  and comment on other posts that use the same tag. 

3. Follow @AprilA2Z and better still, follow other participants on twitter. It's easy to do if you start following the peeps on this twitter list. 

If you're not on this list, tell us on twitter, and we'll add you. Discuss the #atozchallenge themes, compare how many posts you already have scheduled, cheer on other participants. Mingle.

4. Talk about the challenge on your blog, on Facebook and Google+ and any other social media you're part of. The higher the buzz about the challenge on your blog and on these media, the more visitors you can potentially attract. Tag friends, start a discussion.

5. Check your blog. Is it easy for a visitor to comment or do they have to sign up on some vague machinery to do it? Have you turned off CAPTCHA ?

If you are a challenge veteran, and have something to add to the above list,   fire away in the comments!

Do You Luv the #atozchallenge?

Words from the Bird: 

      We will soon be announcing our individual co-host subordinate administrative assistant teams.  Alex has already announced his.  I will be doing so on my Friday post at Tossing It Out.  Soon we will also be adding a special tab at the top of the A to Z Blog page with our helpers listed.  Be sure to stop in to get to know all of these fine bloggers and follow their blogs along with those of the co-hosts.  We are all here to make the Challenge more fun and more efficient for everyone.  We appreciate the support you give us.

      The A to Z Team will be trying to address as many of the concerns some of you have been asking about here on this blog in the weeks to come.   If there are any topics that you would especially like to see us discuss here please let us know.   Watch this blog for important A to Z updates.

A to Z Luvs U:

     Tomorrow is Valentines Day so don't forget the one you love.  Over the past  couple of weeks many of you have been showing some A to Z Challenge love with some truly endearing promo posts.  It's so nice to see so many love letters in honor of the letters of the alphabet and the Challenge that goes hand in hand with those letters.

Here are a few bloggers who luv the A to Z Challenge enough to have included a post on their blog about it:

Thank you Belinda Nicoll at My Rite of Passage for telling your readers about what you're planning for April.   Sounds like a great idea to me!

Don't worry, Deena at e-bookbuilders.   You sound like a natural for the Challenge and I think you'll do a great job if your A to Z promo post is any indication.

Danielle Zecher has decided to take on another Challenge after enjoying last year's A to Z.  She talks about it in her post on the blog Sweet Tea Reads.

Sunni at Surviving Life announced the Challenge and at the same time did her bit of public service with instructions on how to remove the Captcha word verification from Blogger blogs.   If you're still wondering about this process, check out Sunni's post.

Rebekah Loper says she's not going to do this year's Challenge, but she gave us a very nice promo post.  Maybe she'll talk herself into participating after she reads her own post.

Teresa at Journaling Woman added her own bit of Challenge news with a reminder for others to sign up.  Good to hear from you, Teresa!

Carol Kilgore tossed her blog into the A to Z fray.  Stop by Under the Tiki Hut to wish her well.

A challenge enthusiast from India, Phil of Philipscom posted a big announcement about Blogging from A to Z on his blog.

Keep Spreading the Word:

       Thanks to all of you who have been telling others about the April Challenge.  I know that there are many more than I have listed here.  Feel free to promote each other's A to Z posts with your own posts.  A big part of the A to Z Challenge is about networking and building community.   Be sure to keep on visiting the list and making new friends.

        The A to Z Challenge is all about the participants!  And we luv all of you!

Related articles

• Why YOU should consider doing the #atozchallenge, but why I'm not . . .
• Building Your Blog Readership Through the #AtoZChallenge
• This Is the Place for #atozchallenge News!

Meet Author AJ Lauer: Author of Armageddon: Pick Your Plot

Please join me in welcoming today's guest, AJ Lauer, an A-Z participant and author. The book you're about to hear about is so unique I think we'll be burning of some fiber optic/cable/whispernet or other magical stuff that makes books go from Amazon to my beloved Kindle in about...oh there it is. I've interviewed AJ so you can get to know her a bit better.

A-Z Participant Profile: AJ Lauer, author of Armageddon: Pick Your Plot

Hi, AJ! Welcome to the Blogging from A-Z blog! Why don't you start by telling us about your blog?

Naturally Sweet started as a place to put my early-college angst. It was a way for me to keep in touch with friends from high school and my first boyfriend, a daily journal of writing snippets and figuring out how I fit into the college scene. Over the years it has become a bit more intentional. I use it now still to keep in touch with friends, but also to reflect on my profession and our adventures here in Colorado. And of course to share my writing efforts.


 How did you find Blogging from A-Z? 
Last February, I caught a horrible, awful cold. After about 2 days of whining and moaning and TV, I got bored and challenged a fellow writer friend to a duel. We spent the next four weeks duking it out creative-writing style in a shared Google doc. It was so much fun to push myself to write every single day. When we finished I knew I needed another challenge, and knew as soon as I saw it, that A-Z was the perfect next thing!

You've already signed up for this spring's challenge. What brought you back?
I had so much fun last year! I met several of my favorite blogging buddies, and truly enjoy the challenge of coming up with things to write about every day for a month. A-Z is also part of the reason that my co-author Dan approached me to write Armageddon. He is a talented graphic artist and does something super-cool every year for his birthday. Last year he decided to have an armageddon themed birthday party in honor of the Mayan calendar myth, so decided to make a Pick Your Plot book that explores apocalypses. He'd seen that I had been doing a lot of writing, so asked if I would like to co-author the project. Of course I said yes - how could I resist such an offer? So I'm back this year for the challenge of the writing, and also just to see what neat things come out of it.

Wait, a Pick Your Plot book?  Yup - kind-of like a Choose Your Own Adventure (TM) book. The endings range in topic from Ragnarok to nanobots to (of course) zombies. Since it's about apocalypses which are by nature somewhat unavoidable, you die in 33 of the 42 endings. The odds are definitely not in your favor, but each one is written to be entertaining. Our friends who attended Dan's party loved the book and immediately asked about 'real' publishing, so we decided to go for it. Feedback so far has been very positive - you should check it out! ;)

That sounds awesome! What are you writing about for A-Z this year? Well, last year I did the theme of "things I like" because it was general and easy to come up with topics. This year I've decided to write a scene or character description for each letter. It will be a bit more challenging, but should lead to some fun stuff. I'll start pre-scheduling posts in March, to make sure I've got enough time to do each one well.

Thanks for stopping by! We look forward to seeing what you write this spring. 

Thanks! I'm definitely looking forward to it

AJ's blog: Naturally Sweet 

The Book! Armageddon: Pick Your Plot 

Other places to find AJ: Facebook (public), Facebook (book fanpage)