N is for Netiquette #AtoZChallenge

Netiquette is one of my favorite words. It is a combination of "net" and "etiquette", and it sounds rather dainty; it refers to the rules and guidelines of acceptable online behavior. Sometimes it is nebulous, and sometimes it feels like such a thing does not exist at all. Blame that last one on trolls.

In the spirit of generally being courteous to each other in online spaces, and especially while visiting each other during A to Z, here are some nice things you can do for your fellow challenge participants!

1. Write comments with substance. I know we talk about this a lot, but it bears repeating. Instead of saying "nice post!" and running away, pick something in their post that you particularly liked, and highlight it. It shows that you actually read the post, and the compliment is a great ego booster!

2. Follow your favorites. Visits during April are all nice and great, but it shows even more support if you sign up to follow the blogs you really like. Click follow, sign up for updates or newsletters, or pick any other option the blog offers. This way, you can keep up with them after A to Z!

3. Share on social media. If you find a post you loved, or a blog you enjoy, share their social media posts (tweets, Facebook posts, etc.). If they don't have them, copy and past the link and make some noise for them! :)

4. Support your artists. If you love the flash fiction they write, the poems they post, or the things they paint, draw, crochet, design, etc., consider supporting your favorite creative people! Buy the ebook, buy the print, order a T-shirt, or whatever you have the mood and budget for. Or if you can't spend right now, put them on your Wish List. See if someone surprises you :)

5. Leave a link! Please leave a link. I know this is also something we keep repeating, but I'm saying it again, because it breaks my heart every time when someone comments on my blog, and I can't find where they came from to visit them back. Please leave a link! Here is how you do it nicely.


If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click: 
LINK TO THE DAILY LETTER FORM

This form will close in 48 hours.

The A to Z team recommends TimeAndDate or WorldTimeBuddy for your time zone calculation needs.
We post at Midnight GMT.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the standard by which all time zones are based. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time zone used for UTC. That's why we use it.


If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click: 
LINK TO DAILY LETTER SPREADSHEET
(If you intend to make a copy of the spreadsheet, we suggest waiting until the form closes.)


https://goo.gl/9f9mfR
Click for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018! 

KEEP GOING!

A video to remind you of why sticking to the challenge matters. Please enjoy this motivation.



Keep making those blog posts and keep leaving comments for your fellow particpants. This is your community and here, you matter.

Music and Memories ( #AtoZChallenge )

Many things can tap into our memories and often music can evoke our pasts more so than any other stimulus...

      On my own blog Tossing It Out I frequently discuss music and memories.  For a time I even had one blog Wrote By Rote that focused on memoir and often music was a topic there as well.  Most of us enjoy music to some extent and we enjoy sharing what we like with others who might also like our favorite music.  Some blogs focus entirely on the subject of music while other bloggers regularly participate in music-themed blog events just as I do.

       My favorite music blog hop is Stephen T. McCarthy's Battle of the Bands in which participants post songs and ask readers to vote on their favorites.  Like most other participating bloggers, I post my Battles on the 1st and 15th of each month. That means another one will be coming tomorrow (Sunday April 15th).

       So, if you are a music fan, please drop by to vote on my Battle and take a look at the other Battles.  It's fun and it is educational--I've made some great musical discoveries doing Battle of the Bands.   And can you believe that I've participated in BOTB since 2013--we've been doing this thing for going on 5 years now.  I guess we really are having a good time with it!   You can too.  Want to join us?   If so, visit my next BOTB post and find out more.



If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click:
https://goo.gl/forms/48QoDubD8GkHuCs02
If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rPtJFrkS3BkyW64Kg5CcpR3p6G9HrCkYLz8wItESWMo/edit?usp=sharing


Click here for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nd9634nZWf1FmHFZ6ofKxBiIwGPWqkct9T9H5ugDQBA/edit?usp=sharing

     Do you ever blog about music?  Do you ever write memoir on your blog?    Are there any blog events that you've been participating in that you'd like to share with us?  

L is for Learning to Just Write #AtoZChallenge

For this post, I (Jayden) would like to welcome a guest author from Tupeak Hope - a great blog about patients and healthcare providers working together for the betterment of the patient's care. Here is a quick sample about learning to just write:

Learn to “just write”

Ignore the voices that tell you your writing is no good, regardless of whether those voices are external or internal. We all experience self-doubt or that nagging inner voice that says our writing is no good when in fact it may be fantastic writing.

We are often our own worst critic in a most unjust, cruel and even heartless way. We tend not to treat our own writing with the same level of respect and understanding that we offer to other’s writing that we may read.

Ignore the people who gave you feedback on your writing who have never once endeavored to write anything of their own original creation. Forgive them for the ignorance of the art because they simply don’t know what they don’t know.

Ignore those who may criticize you even if they may also be writers, for every person enjoys reading different types of writing. Just because your friend who writes suspenseful fiction may not like your food blog, that doesn't make your writing bad. I have read some writings that didn’t necessarily tickle my fancy, but the writing wasn’t technically poor or bad in any way. It just wasn’t my particular preferred type of reading material. As writers, we should be kind to one another.

You need to have faith that you can write and that you have put the absolute best effort you could into your writing, and learn to cut yourself the same courtesies that you would afford any other writer whose work you read.

You need to give yourself credit for having the courage to write whatever your preferred genre is, for there are many people who never even try.


If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click:
https://goo.gl/forms/W5xtiqnsCQruhnHu2

If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cnwfS6ZOkmpV2_Xvsj1W7h7XYPDYSLgUx8ZM_LcRpFM/edit?usp=sharing


Click here for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nd9634nZWf1FmHFZ6ofKxBiIwGPWqkct9T9H5ugDQBA/edit?usp=sharing

“When the going gets tough, put one foot in front of the other and just keep going. Don’t give up.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

K is for Kitchen #atozchallenge

As you're reading the blogs of your fellow bloggers and maybe catching up on a few other things, you'll probably make one or more trips to your kitchen to refill your coffee, make yourself something to eat, or to grab a bag of chips or cookies to bring back to your desk and to munch on. Maybe you've even moved your laptop into the kitchen to have those things within easy reach. Hey, whatever it takes, right?

I work from my desktop computer at home, which is upstairs from the kitchen. I'm fortunate in that Mary brings me what I need, since I have a few mobility issues, but usually the only thing I eat or drink while I'm working is coffee.

What are some of your favorite things to eat and drink while you're writing your blog or reading other blogs? What's your favorite place to take your laptop (assuming you have one)?



If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click:

https://goo.gl/forms/lhaqnSO8JI3Ox1vG2
If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14T4ONfZ_qDn65Nkg63jfVmXQGoadCVuDkox0XzI_x9c/edit?usp=sharing

Click here for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nd9634nZWf1FmHFZ6ofKxBiIwGPWqkct9T9H5ugDQBA/edit?usp=sharing

Enjoy, and keep on keepin' on!

J is for J #AtoZchallenge

"Don't assume that a single letter name is an initial. People do have names that are one letter long." -https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names

Hi from J, 2018 A to Z team captain, debut author interviewer at Operation Awesome, Speculative Fiction writer, blogger, Lenni-Lenape indigenous person, and someone with an unusual name.



Names are tricky monsters. People tend to take it personally when you call them by the wrong name. Interestingly, this applies even to people who haven't chosen their own name. In some cultures, parents select the name for their offspring. Sometimes this even takes place before the person is born! (If that didn't shock you it's because you live in a culture where that's normal.)

Some people do not have the same name their entire life. There's a childhood name, which is generally just a reference to parentage and birth order. At some point, the person distinguishes themselves in some manner and earns a new name. (This is not the same as a nickname.) Occasionally you'll even find cultures that offer a third naming opportunity in the elder stage of life. Religions sometimes add a name in the middle. There are also several cultures where a person retains their given (first) name but changes their surname (last name) after getting married. In some languages, the surname is first and the given name is second.

Around the world, there are cultures where names come from a "name giver" via divine messages. These names are often sacred and not shared with outsiders. Thus, a second name is generally chosen as a means of reference for outsiders.

I'm J. Just J. It was early in my life when I found myself surrounded by outsiders who demanded to know my name. The Name Giver hadn't visited me yet, so I didn't have one to offer. (And couldn't share that one anyway, as I can only share it with one other person.) I didn't know that people sometimes spelled J with a superfluous "ay" tacked on. I didn't understand the questions that resulted in my second, or middle, name (which I chose based on my tribe, and is NOT an indicator of gender). It's also fine to call me by last name (something I discovered people did when I ran cross country).

I love learning about names.

From where did you get your name? 
Do you know anyone else who received their name in a manner different from the one used by your culture?
Does your name indicate your gender and, if so, how do people of other cultures know this? 



If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click: 
https://goo.gl/QEustZ
LINK TO DAILY LETTER FORM

This form will close in 48 hours.

The A to Z team recommends TimeAndDate or WorldTimeBuddy for your time zone calculation needs.
We post at Midnight GMT.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the standard by which all time zones are based. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time zone used for UTC. That's why we use it.


If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click: 
https://goo.gl/nnq8Gp
LINK TO DAILY LETTER SPREADSHEET
(If you intend to make a copy of the spreadsheet, we suggest waiting until the form closes.)


https://goo.gl/9f9mfR
Click for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!

First #AtoZChallenge 2018 #AZChat Recap

Twitter #AZChat recap

Q1 Who are you? What's your blog link? #AtoZChallenge #AZChat

— AtoZChallenge (@AprilA2Z) April 10, 2018

Q2 Why do you do the #AtoZChallenge ? #AZChat

— AtoZChallenge (@AprilA2Z) April 10, 2018

Q3 Random Q: What app do you hate, but use anyway? #AtoZChallenge #AZChat

— AtoZChallenge (@AprilA2Z) April 10, 2018

Q4 What is the funniest name you have actually heard used in the real world? #AtoZChallenge #AZChat

— AtoZChallenge (@AprilA2Z) April 10, 2018

Q5 Recommend a blog that's not getting enough comments so we can all storm the castle! #AtoZChallenge #AZChat

— AtoZChallenge (@AprilA2Z) April 10, 2018

Thanks for joining us on this Twitter Chat. Hope you had fun! Stay tuned to our blog https://t.co/0cXfylQrtm for announcements of future Twitter Chats! #AZChat #AtoZChallenge

— AtoZChallenge (@AprilA2Z) April 10, 2018

Anyone wishing to answer later, you now have all the tweets at your fingertips.

Income Tax ( #AtoZChallenge )

  Imagination is a limitless resource, but it should be used wisely.   But the most important thing is to use it...

      Income tax might be on the minds of at least some of those in the United States.  Our taxes are due in a few days.  Fortunately I got mine done last month so now I can focus on the April Challenge.  If you are still scrambling to finish taxes as well as keep up with your A to Z posts then I'm sorry to hear that.  You've really got a big challenge on your hands.

        Other than the taxes being soon due, my mentioning of income tax is also a reminder about blogging ideas.  I've often read bloggers saying that they are running out of ideas for their regular blogging let alone coming up with an idea that is bloggably sustainable for an entire month.  If you want to be a blogger then you're going to be a writer and as a writer you've got to have ideas and imagination.

          So let's say next year you decide to write about "income tax."  What can you write about?  History of the tax. pro and cons of taxation, how-to hints about tax preparation, or where tax dollars go are some suggestions.   You could write fictional stories related to income tax--a lot of intriguing ideas for that!

         Don't get hung up on trying to come up with ideas.  Look around you.  There are stories within every field of your vision and the limitless expanse of your imagination.  Don't think you're going to throw in the towel for this year's Challenge for any lack of ideas about what to write next.  That's the point of the A to Z Challenge--to tax your mind.  No ideas is no excuse.

          Now start writing your next posts whether they be for tomorrow, next week, or next year.  It's tax season.  Time to tax your brain!



If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click:   https://goo.gl/forms/lBg7Iip9gH6WC3xj2
If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eZsa6jmaOaF51YwDsEO1f8MAtU66f4WTYaDqcO6ba3Y/edit?usp=sharing

Click here for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nd9634nZWf1FmHFZ6ofKxBiIwGPWqkct9T9H5ugDQBA/edit?usp=sharing

   Have you ever felt like you were out of ideas?   Where do you go to find new ideas to write about?  When your creativity wanes how do you recharge it?

11pm UTC

H is for our very own Jeremy Hawkins! #AtoZChallenge

As most of the A to Z veterans among you already know, Jeremy Hawkins is the dedicated genius behind the graphics of the Challenge - badges, banners, t-shirts, you name it! Jeremy has been with us right from the start, putting work, energy, and enthusiasm into making A to Z a colorful and fun experience for everyone.

This year, Jeremy is not participating in the daily posting of A to Z, but he still made time to create our graphics. So today, for the letter H, we would like to encourage everyone to go to Jeremy's blog, and say hi! Let's make his day as fun as he made the challenge for us :)

You can also visit his Amazon author page here, and see his designs here. Because he is that versatile a guy!
You can read more about him from previous years here and here.

Have a great day, Jeremy! :)


If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click:
 https://goo.gl/forms/GPdbv4dvaZeJbGMw1

If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click:
 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c1U6qFCCOgOlEYzNaQblBS00hNK5pCnb4F221fVNz-8/edit?usp=sharing

Click here for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!

G is for Genre #AtoZchallenge

G IS FOR "GENRE"

J Lenni Dorner offered WEP (Write…Edit…Publish) “G” day. The WEP team currently consists of four writers – Denise Covey, Yolanda Renée, Olga Godim and Nilanjana Bose  - who all write in different genres. Every second month the team dreams up a challenge where participants can post in any genre. For today’s collaboration, we chose "GENRE" to write 100-word flashes. For inspiration we used an image of an amazing road sign. Thanks Celia Reaves for permission to use the image.

Here we go...

Olga Godim - Fantasy.

Somewhere in Magic

She glanced in the rearview mirror, expecting the Ford chasing them to appear any second.

“Turn at the sign and stop,” he said calmly, as if the goons in the Ford hadn’t tried to kill him minutes ago.

The sign read “WELCOME TO WEE SHOMER.”

She turned and stopped ten meters in.

He leaped out of the car and put both hands on the sign. The letters on the bottom blurred and re-arranged themselves. The sign now read “WELCOME TO SOMEWHERE.” The road turn disappeared. Only grass grew beneath the sign.

The Ford whizzed past without slowing.

“They didn’t see us.” He grinned. “They are going... somewhere.” 

Olga Godim is a Canadian speculative fiction writer. When she doesn't write fiction, she works as a journalist, designs book covers, and collects toy monkeys. There are over 300 monkeys in her collection.

Nilanjana Bose - Poetry

Homeless in Somewhere

This was home. How strange! the doorknob - I think

as I turn it, still bears your fingerprints,

the steel’s just the same, the roses as pink,

and your yoga mat hasn’t moved an inch;

the curtain’s billowing just as before

your prized ceramics, not one has broken -

whole row’s standing; the rug rucked on the floor

where your foot had pushed it; your  book open

face down on the sofa, dog eared pages

squashed by cushions. Always this careless view

of the physical – those are just cages

for the words. This was home. Now - just a roof.

  

Just a pile of lifeless concrete and wood -

an empty cage, because you’re gone for good.

Nilanjana is a bi-lingual writer, blogger and market researcher. She specialises particularly in poetry, panic and tinkering with bucket lists. Find her online at Madly-in-Verse.

 Yolanda Renée - Horror.

A Concert in Somewhere

She’s wondering, “How did I get turned around? Where are my friends?”

She was with a crowd, and yet I saw her boredom, her desire for genuine excitement.

I had to grant her wish.

The exiting concert horde pushed her closer.

She’s spotted me again and knows I want her. She understands the game we’re playing.

The fear in her eyes, so delicious. And now tears as she realizes her phone has been pinched.

Does she think I’ve stolen it?

Panic, sheer panic. She’s running, down the alley. Right into my waiting arms.

***

CONCERT KILLER STRIKES AGAIN

***

Yolanda Renée, the author of the Detective Quaid Mysteries, writes in multiple genres and loves flash fiction.  Learn more at www.yolandarenee.com or at Defending the Pen.

Denise Covey - Romance.

Death for Someone, Somewhere

The hazy moon hovered in the inky sky, watching the shenanigans below. Two lovers ran hand in hand, weaving through trees and undergrowth in the perfect silence of night. Finally, they reached the soft grasses near the sign.

Someone pulled over, opened the trunk, and slung a body and shovel over his shoulder.

The lovers shadowed him as he staggered to the stack of decomposing trees.

Dig. Dig. Dig.

‘What game’re you playing, Mister?’

Someone dropped the shovel and ran. Right into their waiting arms.

He was no match for two hungry vampires who fed on murderers.

‘Ladies first.’

‘Don’t mind if I do.’

Denise Covey is an Australian writer of novels, flash fiction and short stories with romantic elements. She reads a lot, travels a lot and writes travel articles in her spare time. Her role as an educator allows her to indulge her love of the classics.

  

If you'd like to check out WEP's next challenge, we're already accepting submissions. Go to the website, read all about it, and sign up! Write in any GENRE. We'd love to have you!

If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click: 
https://goo.gl/PTLQXu
LINK TO DAILY LETTER FORM

This form will close in 48 hours.

The A to Z team recommends TimeAndDate or WorldTimeBuddy for your time zone calculation needs.
We post at Midnight GMT.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the standard by which all time zones are based. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time zone used for UTC. That's why we use it.


If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click: 
https://goo.gl/gUhYwn
LINK TO DAILY LETTER SPREADSHEET  
(If you intend to make a copy of the spreadsheet, we suggest waiting until the form closes.)


https://goo.gl/9f9mfR
Click for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!

F is for Friday! #AtoZChallenge

TGIF!

Friday is probably my favorite day of the week. Working a Monday-Friday job, Friday marks the end of my work week. For the last ten years, I have celebrated almost every Friday with coworkers. It's a great way to wind down and prepare for an action packed weekend.

This particular Friday is extra special because we are SO close to the end of the first week of the A to Z Challenge! Just one more day and we can all breathe a great big sigh of relief and take a day off. Of course, many of us will likely use that day to catch up on our favorite blogs and find new ones, but at least the pressure of posting is relieved.

The end of the first week is in sight. Hang in there!

What is your favorite way to end your work week?

~Jayden R. Vincente 

jrvincente.wordpress.com (adult content)

If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click:
https://goo.gl/forms/hZqznoRlxYZucnMq1

If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jVM_cm9s-fXkDglxqjECqaLN7zL6_9KN18ynSGCAKOQ/edit?usp=sharing    

If you are having trouble scrolling in Google Drive, check out this forum for suggestions: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/docs/tjdKy4hl6W8

Click here for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nd9634nZWf1FmHFZ6ofKxBiIwGPWqkct9T9H5ugDQBA/edit?usp=sharing

I see the light at the end of the tunnel, so I'm going hard. - Cam Newton

E Is For Everybody And Everything #atozchallenge

There's a lot to remember to do during the A to Z Challenge:

• Write all your blog posts. 
• Schedule all of them for the correct day.
• Respond to everyone's comments.
• Visit other blogs and leave them comments.

It's that last thing that trips up a lot of people. How do you find blogs to visit? 

Here's what I do:

• Visit the blogs of everybody who was kind enough to visit my blog and leave a comment. This should be the first thing you do: acknowledge the comment they left, then go visit their blog and leave a comment there.
• Visit the blogs of everybody who left a comment on my visitors' blogs. As I'm reading and commenting on someone's blog, I look at the other people who left comments there. Some of them are bound to be people who left me a comment, but many others won't be. I give them a visit and leave a comment there.

I can keep iterating through this over and over, or I can refer to the daily lists, the theme reveal list, or the original sign-up list. 

Two things you'll want to remember: you won't be able to visit everybody, and not everything will be interesting to you. There are close to a thousand people who participate in A to Z each year, each with their own interests. If you visit 10% of them over the next month, you're doing really well, and don't feel guilty if the theme isn't all that interesting to you. The goal is to make blog buddies! Remember, you share one interest: you're bloggers. 

If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click:

https://goo.gl/forms/RmTGYV8Mde9f1VxM2

If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M8WZYFyhp__ea0iGI2FlpQeL6gob-PJSh6PBZpKyVYg/edit?usp=sharing


Click here for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nd9634nZWf1FmHFZ6ofKxBiIwGPWqkct9T9H5ugDQBA/edit?usp=sharing

Make new friends and learn new things!

D is for Debut #AtoZchallenge

Among my contibutions to online communities, I volunteer over at Operation Awesome. (A team of writers posting information pertaining to the various stages of book publication.) I run the Debut Author Spotlight.



I've posted an A to Z about this before. If you are a debut author or know about a book coming out soon by a first time author, please let me know.

What's your favorite book by a debut author? When did your blog debut?


If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click: 
 https://goo.gl/SmRL7r
LINK TO DAILY LETTER FORM 

This form will close in 48 hours.

The A to Z team recommends TimeAndDate or WorldTimeBuddy for your time zone calculation needs.
We post at Midnight GMT.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the standard by which all time zones are based. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time zone used for UTC. That's why we use it.


If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click: 
 https://goo.gl/XYy5kY
LINK TO DAILY LETTER SPREADSHEET  
(If you intend to make a copy of the spreadsheet, we suggest waiting until the form closes.)


https://goo.gl/9f9mfR
Click for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!


"The difference is winning and losing is most often not quitting." - Walt Disney