H as in How Do You Make it Work? - by Matthew MacNish

Hello A to Z Challengers!

How has your April Challenge been going so far?

Personally, I've found a great balance between feeling not so much overwhelmed, but pleasantly challenged, and having great fun discovering new blogs and bloggers at the same time.

Hard is why we call it a challenge.

It's not easy writing a blog post every day except Sunday for an entire month, and even we co-hosts who are seasoned bloggers don't have the easiest time making it happen without freaking out a little bit.

How do we pull it off?

Well first of all, every blogger is different, but I would wager we co-hosts all use similar strategies. First, we schedule our posts ahead of time. There's nothing wrong with flying by the seat of your pants and drafting your posts the morning of for regular blogging (I do it all the time myself) but it would be really difficult to make that work for the A to Z April Blogging Challenge, and any time you did spend writing a post would be time you couldn't spend visiting blogs.

I don't actually write all 26 posts before the challenge even beings, but I do write about the first 10-15, and then I write another week's worth of posts each Sunday until they're all done. You can of course pick whatever strategy works for you, but we would highly recommend figuring out some plan for writing as many of your posts ahead of time as possible.

Another thing we do is get Help.

Not only do we have another fabulous list of Co-Hosts this year, but all of us have minions/assistant/helpers as well. When you're checking a list of literally thousands of blogs, it helps to not have to do it all alone.

My assistants this year are Sylvie Hanes from Life from An Optimist's Point of View, and Carrie-Anne Brownian/Ursula Hartlein from Welcome to My Magick Theatre.

They help us go through the list, and highlight great blogs with great themes, and also find people who aren't participating, or might need a reminder if they aren't up to date with their posts.

Have any questions?

Feel free to ask questions here, in the comments.

You can also reply to the co-host responsible for your section of the list in the email we sent announcing the challenge.

You can also ask questions by emailing us at contactatozteam@gmail.com. Find us on Facebook, and Google + as well.

Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you are all enjoying the Challenge and discovering tons of great new blogs! - Matthew MacNish

You can find me at My Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr

The Letter G

You've set your GOAL. You're posting on your blog every day for 26 days, and you're visiting as many blogs as you can daily.

Were you nuts?

Of course. That's part of the fun.

Here's a song to motivate you to move ahead and post that letter H. Listen to it, then charge ahead.

You can do it.

ONE LETTER AT A TIME.

See you at Z!

A to Z Challenge - F - Go Farther!

We are one week into the Challenge!

It may seem like we still have a long way to go. But don’t give up now. Push yourself. You CAN go father then you think. Dare to dream big and keep pressing onward. You will amaze yourself at what you are able to accomplish if you just refuse to quit.

And when you aim for the moon, sometimes you do land among the stars.

I know, because I wrote one book and then decided to go a little bit farther. And today, my fourth book releases. I definitely went farther than I imagined!

Dragon of the Stars

By Alex J. Cavanaugh

Science Fiction – Space Opera/Adventure/Military

Print ISBN 9781939844064, EBook ISBN 9781939844057

What Are the Kargrandes?

The ship of legends…

The future is set for Lt. Commander Aden Pendar, son of a Hyrathian Duke. Poised to secure his own command and marriage to the queen’s daughter, he’ll stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

But when the Alliance denies Hyrath’s claim on the planet of Kavil and declares war on their world, Aden finds his plans in disarray. Entrenched in battle and told he won’t make captain, Aden’s world begins to collapse. How will he salvage his career and future during Hyrath’s darkest hour?

One chance remains–the Dragon. Lost many years prior, the legendary ship’s unique weapon is Hyrath’s only hope. Can Aden find the Dragon, save his people, and prove he’s capable of commanding his own ship?

Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Kobo - Indigo - Amazon UK

E is for Exorcism

Few words in any language can illicit such strong emotions as the word exorcism. Most cultures from the beginning of time have believed in and practiced some form of exorcism. 

Can a person be possessed, inhabited, made sick, or controlled by an outside malevolent force? Can certain events in a person’s life trigger an open a door for such a thing to happen? And if so, can that hostile presence be excorcized. 

I believe mankind is a three-fold being of body, soul and spirit. So the question arises, can something invade a person, pitch a tent, and set up shop? And if so, would this happen in the realm of the body, soul, or spirit? Or can it latch on and hitch a ride, following a person around and being a general al-around pain in the ass? 

In an exorcism, the process is relatively simple. It comes down to authority. The trespassing spirit is kicked out by an authority that is bigger, stronger, and badder. That’s it in a nutshell. 

That being said, the person possessed has to want to be delivered. If they do not want to cough up the spirit, well, there’s not much that a bigger authority to can do because the host, for whatever reasons, decides to allow the evil presence to remain. Power would be a good example. Addiction is another. Some people enjoy a good pity party. The choices are many. 

Groaner of the Day: What happens when you don’t pay your exorcist bills? You become repossessed. Rimshot please. 

Stephen Tremp is a Speculative Writer and blogs at Breakthrough Blogs. His theme for the 2015 Blogging A to Z Challenge is The Supernatural and Paranormal. His latest work, Salem’s Daughters, is due for release Labor Day Weekend 2015.

A Special A to Z Tribute: Tina Downey

         On this day when many of you celebrate Easter I wish to greet you in your celebration of that important event in our history.   Spring is well underway as is the 6th yearly Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.  We are off to a wonderful start and I want to thank all of you for keeping your posts active during this time.   I've been finding some outstanding posts on an array of topics as I'm sure you have been reading as well.  

       There is a beloved member of the A to Z community that I want to acknowledge and she is one that I'm sure that more than a few of us miss greatly.  I also have a story to tell that has inspired this special Sunday post.   I'll let you decide the significance of this story.

Dedicated to Tina Downey

      I've received a number of inquiries as to why the 2015 A to Z badge says "For Tina" on it.  Some thought that they had received the wrong badge that was intended for someone else.   In order to answer this question for any others who might be wondering why Tina's name is on the badge it's because this year's challenge has been dedicated to Tina Downey who passed away last August 23rd.  For several years of the A to Z Challenge Tina had been a strong motivator and the backbone of the April event, working on A to Z throughout the years as her labor of love for A to Z to make each April more successful that the previous one.

      If you'd like to read more about Tina and her A to Z legacy you can read my tribute or the A to Z Team tribute to her.  On September 8th, 2014 there was also a A to Z community wide tribute to Tina on many blogs of those who loved and appreciated her.   My Sunflowers for Tina tribute tells the story of what I did in her honor and that leads up to my story of what happened recently.

A Message from Tina?

     

      A couple days prior to the Sunflowers for Tina tribute I planted 20 to 30 sunflower seeds in a area behind my house.  About half of these were planted in the area shown above.   Sometime in late January--about the time the A to Z list opened-- I noticed a plant sprouting that I initially took to be a weed of some sort, but in hopes that it was one of the sunflowers actually growing I let it be.   Over the next month or so this plant began to grow rapidly until it was over 6 feet high.  I watched daily for a flower to bloom as April approached.  A few days prior to the first of April signs of a impending bloom became evident.

     On April 1st, the opening day of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, the blossom opened.  In the photo above you can see the complete sunflower plant.

   Here is a closer view of the bloom as it appeared on April 1st.

     On April 2nd the flower had opened a bit more.

      By April 3rd the sunflower bloom was becoming more robust.

       Here is how the flower looked on April 4th.   The plant appears to be doing well and I'll be keeping watch over the course of April to monitor its progress.

What Do You Think?

       Is this somewhat miraculous?   Or merely a well-timed coincidence?    I'll leave it to you to decide.  All I know is that out of the over 20 seeds that I planted in drought-stricken California in what is lousy and perhaps even toxic soil and receiving no care other than a few rains, in my backyard one sunflower bloomed for Tina Downey on April 1st as the first day of the A to Z Challenge was underway.

        Let us know in the comments what you think.  What I do know is that right outside my kitchen window is a daily reminder of Tina and A to Z.  Every time I walk into my kitchen and look out the window there is one sunflower standing tall.   When I go into my backyard I take a moment to walk over to that flower and marvel.  Few of the things that I plant in my yard actually grow or remain for long if they do grow.  But there is one sunflower there now.  And at just the right time to watch over the A to Z Challenge.

         If you planted any sunflowers for Tina last fall, did any of yours appear yet?   What do you think about the uniquely timed appearance of my sunflower?

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