Tag Archives: Blog

10,000: Why is that the Magic Number? Welcome to My Madness

Posted on March 17, 2012 | 21 comments

I originally wasn’t going to post this, but I changed my mind.  This first part I wrote on February 1st, 2012.  I will continue it below with an update…

Feb 1, 2012

I have officially been blogging for six months.  I don’t want to seem redundant, but I NEVER expected anyone to read me.  Today, my rant ticker is at 5,700.  Pretty amazing if you ask me.

When I reached 1,000 hits, I blogged about it.  I couldn’t believe it.  When I hit five-thousand, it was numbing.  That was just a little over a week ago.  I don’t think I even said anything.  I didn’t want to jinx myself.

Now, for some of you this might not seem like a big deal.  I know there are bloggers out there that get this many hits in a day.  But little old me?

A friend of mine had her blog recently hit 10,000.  I shook my head (I was at 3,000 at the time)  I figured it would be years before I could even think about that number.  Then I had an epiphany.  My numbers were increasing… quickly.  Why?  Dunno.

I just write.  It’s what I do.  Apparently though, you guys like it.  Hits increase, and followers increase.  Blog awards?  You’ve got to be kidding me.

Hi! She waves.  It’s still just me.

I looked at my “background view” and perused the monthly stats from startup July 17th 2011 through today.  I giggled at the astounding average of “seven hits a day” that first month.  The second month had a whopping average of five hits a day.  (Yeah, it actually went down.  Pitiful.)

Then something happened.  I can’t tell you what.  You tell me.

Hi! It’s me… the same person **she smiles and waves enthusiastically**.

Smack me upside the head to make me believe it… I glanced at the numbers.  Even stared for a few minutes.  They forecasted I would hit 10,000 hits by early May.  Before I even hit my one year Blogiversary.

Nope.  Can’t be right.  Not possible.

I looked at it again a few days later, and the stats changed.  Now they forecasted hitting 10,000 by the end of April  (April 29th, to be exact)  My numbers were going up.  My daily hits were up 25-50 percent.  Really?

***she giggles*** Still just me.

Gosh, I wish I could give you the magic potion I drank.  I wish I knew what it was!  I’d drink more (as long as it tasted like green Gatorade)

Again, some may look at this and just laugh at me.  Yes, I am still small time in the eyes of many… But this spunky opinionated lady is pretty dern excited to have so many people stopping by every day.  Thanks so much for following!

—–Well, the reason I decided not to post that, was it sounded too goofy. (and I didn’t want to jinx myself) But this is why I changed my mind…—-

Part two… Written today

Stop reading now.  Look on the upper right of the screen.  “Join the Insanity:  ?????? Minds ranted to date.”

Do you see what I see?  Holy Cow with a capital MOOOOOOO!

And what’s today?  How many days ahead of schedule?

Omigosh.  This is incredibly cool!

I really don’t know why 10,000 was so stinking important, but in my deranged mind it is.  For some reason it makes me feel like I am doing something right.  I don’t know.  It’s crazy, but I like it!

I want to personally thank every one of you.  Thanks so much for stopping by every few days, and thanks for hanging out and adding your two cents to the conversations.

If I was out there, ranting with no one responding, I probably wouldn’t do this at all.  You guys are what makes this special.  I love the friendships I have made, and look forward to new ones.

If you told me last July that I would be here right now, I would have rolled my eyes.

Thanks Guys!  Really.  Thanks so much!

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Liebster Blog Award! The Love Just Keeps on Flowing!

Posted on February 17, 2012 | 15 comments

Uber thanks to the incredibly talented Jenny Keller Ford for gracing me with the Liebster Blog award.

She said the nicest thing to me when she awarded this:

In order to thank you for all you do, I’m awarding you the Liebster Blog Award.     I couldn’t have come this far without your help.  I owe you so much.

This made me feel super special… especially since this is the wonderful lady who convinced me to start a blog in the first place.

Being incredibly anal as I am.  I looked up “Liebster” to see if I could find out who this guy was so I could decipher the true meaning of this award.  Well… I couldn’t find anything.  Not even who the original “Liebster” was.  (At least give me an “A” for effort)

What did come up over and over again was a bunch of German words.  Hey, you know what?  My Dad was German (He was dern proud of that too.)  See Dad!  I won a German award!  I did amount to something!

So, anyway… I did a little more digging and found out that “Liebster” is a word from my Daddy’s fatherland and it translates loosely to “favorite” or something endearing for a loved one, like “dearest”.

Cool, huh?  Hugs back, Jenny!

This award is set aside for up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers.

(Gack… I just got in under the wire when she awarded this to me, or I would have had to decline.  I actually had 199 followers this day… she must have been psychic.  I’m happy to say I’m well past being eligible after sitting on this for a week.)

Hello all new followers!

Hello all old followers.

Ummmm… Hello young followers?

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Awe, heck… why single anyone out…

Hi everybody!

So, back to the award… Here are the rules:

1.Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog. **CHECK**

2.Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you. **CHECK**

3.Copy and paste the blog award on your blog. ***YOU’RE READING IT, AREN’T Cha?***

4.Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve. **Coming up!**

5.Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.  ***Ummmm…. eventually…. If they don’t find out here, first***

In the tradition Of the lovely Ms. Jenny Keller Ford, I am going to award this to blogs that I learn from.  Here are five people with under 200 followers that I think deserve WAY more.

Gloria Richard

Brinda Berry

Natalie Hartford

Roger Colby

Robin Weeks (She has 204 followers, but I sat on this for a while.  Are the Blog police gonna come get me? Oh, well.  I’m such a rebel)

Everyone take a hop over to these blogs.  They are really great, and definitely worth a “follow”.

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A blog Award I’ve never even heard of! Honorable Mentions and Winners!

Posted on February 11, 2012 | 22 comments

Here’s a new one.  I guess this blog award hasn’t reached into the writer’s realm much, because I’ve never heard of it.  This is the “Awesome Blog Content” award.  How cool is that?  I was given this by Mid Life Ranting.  What I found interesting, was that of the six blogs chosen, I was the only one that focused on writing, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  Jump on over to Mil Life Ranting’s blog to see the other great blogs that were chosen.  It is a really diverse group.  Thanks so much for including me!

Well, like so many of these awards, they want to pick your brain and give out personal info.  This one wants you to do it alphabetically.

In other words, I have to describe myself using every letter of the alphabet.

Ugh.  Here we go.

Artistic, Astute

Brunette

Creative

Dogmatic

Energetic

Flippant

Generous

Happy

Impatient

Jaunty

Kind

Loving

Motherly

Nonchalant

Opinionated

Pleasantly perfectly pathetic

Quintessent

Rustic

Sassy

Tremulous

Ubiquitous.  Just ask my kids

Vivacious

Willful

X… Does Generation X count?

Yutz… I don’t know.  You got me on that one.

Zealous

 

Now… I just need to write that all out in a paragraph… Just kidding!

What I do need to do is bestow this honor on six more unfortunate ummm… lucky bloggers.  I’ve done this a lot lately, and I don’t want to pick the same people all the time.  So what I am going to do is look through the new people who’ve joined my blog since the last time I visited every one of my followers for the Versatile Blogger award.  I will read through them all and pick the ones with the best content.

Wait!  Ugh.  I just looked at my stats.  That’s a lot of blogs to look through.  ERghhh.  How do I get myself into these things?  (Because you take this stuff too seriously, idiot)

Okay… Reading, Reading, Reading.

This is why it’s taken me DAYS to respond to this award.

Reading , Reading, Commenting, Reading.

Oh!  There’s a good one.  Commenting.

Reading, Reading, Commenting.

Hmmm.  I like that one, too.

Reading… Oh!  This one’s always great.  Commenting.

Reading, Reading.   Oooooooo.   Like the pictures.   Reading.   Commenting.

Okay!  I’ve got it—  The list of the best of the best as far as “Awesome Blog Content” (From people who have joined my blog in the last month)

As last time, I made a list of everyone I liked, and then drilled it down to the winning six.

http://joanleacott.wordpress.com/

http://journeyofjordannaeast.wordpress.com/

http://commutinggirl.wordpress.com/

http://thislittlelight516.wordpress.com/

http://adrianaryan.com/  Author Interviews

http://ramblingsfromtheleft.wordpress.com/

http://kerrimaniscalco.com/

http://carrierubin.com/

http://tiyanamariewhite.com/

http://quillwielder.com/

http://emmameade.com/

http://bethtrissel.wordpress.com/

Congratulations, guys.

Everyone hop… ummm… click over and give these people a look.

Great blogs and interesting content.

Spread the joy!

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7 x 7 Link Blog Award

Posted on February 5, 2012 | 23 comments

It’s been a very award winning season for me.  No more pouting when I see these lovely tags on other’s blogs.  Now I have quite a collection of my own!

I was granted the 7×7 award by the lovely and talented Ms. jmmcdowell.  Check out her blog.  Archaeologist by day, novel diva by night.  Thanks so much for the nod!

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The Rules — 7 x 7 Link Award

  1. Thank the person who gave you the award.  (Check)
  2. Write a post about it.  (Ummm. Doing that now.  Check)
  3. Answer 7 questions about yourself.  (Erghh.  See below)
  4. Link to 7 of your own posts: Most Surprisingly Successful, Most Underrated, Most Popular, Most Beautiful, Most Helpful, Most Controversial and Most Pride-Worthy
  5. Pass the award along to 7 bloggers who you think deserve it

10 Questions:

Favorite color: As girly as it is, I’ve recently become extremely fond of pink.  In a house with 4 men, it’s the only way to claim something as mine.

Favorite animal:  I have a big floppy poodle sleeping on my foot.  She’s cool, but it would probably be a tie with my wonderful koi.  (You can see a few of my koi swimming behind Eric in yesterday’s video.  The rest are in heated ponds outside) Chloe’s going to be tested for Canine Good Citizen some time this week when the AKC confirms.  If there was a test for fish, I’d give it to my koi.

Favorite number:  If I told you that… I’d have to kill you.

Favorite non-alcoholic drink:  Gatorade  Has to be green, and cut 50% with water

Facebook or Twitter?  I’m not terribly fond of either, but I am addicted to my email.

My passion:  Writing and teaching.  I love creating new worlds, or maybe just escaping this one.

Getting or giving presents?  I love watching the expression on someone’s face when they open a special present.  Christmas videos are classic just for this.

Favorite pattern:  Swirly swishes.  If you don’t know what this is, look for some dividers in my blog.

Favorite day of the week: Thursday.  Only one day left before I can sleep.

Favorite flower: I’m rather fond of daylilies… The big exotic (expensive) ones… not the yellow ones you see everywhere.  I’m pretty fond of the water lillies in my pond, too.

Okay… that wasn’t all that hard.  This will be though.

7 Posts in the following categories:

Most Surprisingly Successful:  Sucking out your creativity…Cancer

Most Underrated:  Book Review of Throne

Most Popular:  I had to look this up, Funny, my most popular all-time post is the Kreativ Blogger award and Honorable mentions.  That one is still drawing people in.  Maybe because I listed so many great blogs to check out, people keep coming back.  Not sure.

Most Beautiful:  Art of Conflict.  I don’t know, I just love the way that one looks with all the images.

Most Helpful:  Any of the Gold Mine Manuscript Series.  Everyone seems to get a lot out of those

Most Controversial:  Tee Hee.  It’s sitting in my queue.  It’s called “The dreaded F-Bomb”  Some day, I will publish it.  I Promise.

Most Pride-Worthy:  Pride is a bad thing.  I don’t feel prideful about anything.  However, I was happy that I could make a friend feel better in “Don’t take it out on your Beta Reader”

This was actually a really cool exercise.  I never went back before to see what my popular posts were.  I found it funny to see that many of my first posts only had 1-2 views TOTAL.  I may have to re-post some of the better ones.  It was neat, though, to see my numbers going up over time.

Okay.  There seems to be no criteria at all for this award, so since I have been hanging around my stats anyway, I am going to award this to the top commenters on my blog, and a few new cyber-friends who recently joined in the fun.  This is my “Thank you” for making my blog a warm and cozy place to hang out.

Jenny Keller Ford

Gloria Richard

Kristina Stanley

Hutch

Natalie Hartford

Brinda Berry

Diana Murdock

Kirsten

Okay, so that’s eight… not seven. 
I’m a writer not a mathematician gosh dern it!

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“Can you hit a perfect pitch?” Writer’s Contest

Posted on January 15, 2012 | 16 comments

Yay!  I love contests, especially when they mean MAJOR EXPOSURE.  Here’s a great one, sponsored by Brenda Drake.

Here’s the scoop (Copied from Brenda Drake’s website.)

Here’s how the contest is going down …

On January 15th post a two sentence pitch (no more than 35 words) along with the first 150 words (if it falls in the middle of a sentence, go to the end of that sentence) of your finished Young Adult or Middle Grade manuscript to your blogs. From January 15th-16th hop around each others’ blogs and critique or praise them. Revise your entries, if you want, and post them by 8:00am (EST) January 17th to the official entry post. DO NOT POST THEM TO THIS POST. If you want, you may skip the blogfest/critique portion of this contest and just enter the contest. I will have the official post up, along with details on how to format your entries, on January 15th so that you can start posting when you’re ready. To participate, sign up on the linky below. (Go to Brenda’s site to jump on the linky)

You want to know the prizes? The prize (or prizes) is a request to read more from agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette. I’m crossing my fingers for all of you. Have I told you how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE this agent? Okay, well, I can’t say it enough! I totally ❤ her!

What are you waiting for? Sign up now!

Here is my entry.  Please help me decide on Pitch #1 (My original pitch) or #2 (One I came up with tonight)

Please feel free to comment and/or make suggestions.

Title: HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
Genre: YA Science Fantasy
Word Count: 110,000

Pitch #1:

A common boy unknowingly imprinted with the dangerous powers of the Goddess, must find a way to change his fate and the fate of the galaxy, before a jealous prince manipulated by Darkness murders him.

Pitch#2

A young boy, cursed with a power he cannot control, must save the Goddess before she is smothered by Darkness.  It would be easy, if he could only remember who he really is.

First 150 words:

“I’m not going to sit here locked in a closet all day.” Magellan pulled away from his mother, leaving his whimpering brothers and sisters clinging to her skirts.

“Magellan, come back here.”

“No. I wanna hear Dad’s speech.” He pressed his cheek against a large crack in the door and closed one eye.  Sconces lit the long stone hallway that lead to the auditorium. “I wish I could see something.”

“Get back mine scum!” A guard threw something against the door, slamming the wood against his face.

“Ouch,” Magellan rubbed his cheek. “Jerk.”

Footsteps clomped away, and his mother exhaled. “Magellan, your father said…”

“I know what he said.” Magellan furled his eyebrows.  “Right before they locked us in here.”  He flicked a bug from the damp stone wall beside him. “I’m not a baby anymore. I want to help.”

He ran his fingers across the locking plate, and jumped as flames flashed across the metal, spinning and swirling around it. 

Thanks for looking!

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Kreativ Blogger Winners – And a bunch of honorable mentions

Posted on January 7, 2012 | 38 comments

Wow…. Next time I promise to look at 126 blogs someone SMACK ME.

This was fun, though.

Can I say one thing?  Guys, please… if you are just blogging for the fun of it, disregard this comment.  However, if you are building a brand, you should really think about what your blog looks like, as well as the content.

Some of these blogs may be wonderful, but if it looks boring, there is less of a chance for someone to read it.

For the 30 or so of you with the same theme… the exact same row of books in your header… immediate disqualification.  BORING.  Would you want an agent to go to your blog and have it look just like the other ten blogs they looked at that day?  Think about it. That’s not the only theme I saw over and over, but it was the most abused used.

The first time I saw my theme replicated (The Koi theme) I cringed.  The next time I saw it, I dumped it… even though I loved it.  I didn’t want to go through that annoyance again, so I built my own theme.  Be creative.  Don’t be like everyone else.

So, with that in mind… Here is my list of “honorable mentions”

This is everyone who I at least stopped on and looked around for a little bit.  It could have been for any reason.  The color, the name of the blog, the originality.  There was something about the VISUAL of the first glance that made me stop.  You managed to grab my interest.  One of you even tempted me into downloading your novel.

If you are not on this list, consider taking a look at your blog… not necessarily the content, but the overall “look”.  (Note:  I may not have placed you on the honorable mention list if you recently won this award.)

http://articlesofabsurdity.com/

http://justsimplyinlove.wordpress.com/

http://angelaquarles.com/  —- I’ve seen this background too many times… but the turtle drew me in.

http://nilaewhite.wordpress.com/

http://kristinnador.wordpress.com/

http://automonous.wordpress.com/

http://louisebehiel.com/

http://catherinemjohnson.wordpress.com/

http://couldhavebeenhollywood.com/blog/

http://jabberw00kie.wordpress.com/

http://myotherbookisatolstoy.wordpress.com/

http://nascentnovelist.wordpress.com/

http://mjmonaghan.wordpress.com/

http://alchemyofscrawl.wordpress.com/

http://andyswordsandpictures.wordpress.com/

http://suehealy.org/

http://rebeccaberto.wordpress.com/

http://theatheleseries.wordpress.com/

http://chickswithticks.wordpress.com/

http://authorlmgil.wordpress.com/

http://derekberry.wordpress.com/ –WORD SALAD.  Love the title

http://thedailywoman.wordpress.com/

http://kristykjames.wordpress.com/

http://jimrosswriting.wordpress.com/–would win if I hadn’t seen this backdrop so many times (It’s pretty, though which is why so many people use it.

http://raelynbarclay.wordpress.com/ – same as above.  This was my first blog backdrop.  LOVED IT…until I came across 12 more people using it.

http://augustmclaughlin.wordpress.com/

http://littlemisseverything.wordpress.com/

http://alexlaybourne.com/

http://mynovelmyblog.wordpress.com/

http://dianamurdock.wordpress.com/ – I downloaded her novel tonight

http://mistressofthedarkpath.wordpress.com/

http://showard76.wordpress.com/

http://gloriarichard.wordpress.com/

http://jennykellerford.wordpress.com/

http://lizakane.me/

http://cbwentworth.wordpress.com/

Luckily for me, I won this award three times this week, so I get to choose 18 winners.

Here they are.  The most creative out of my 126 current followers (In no particular order).

http://nataliehartford.com

http://serenadracis.wordpress.com/

http://whitneycarter.wordpress.com/

http://sanguinestream.wordpress.com

http://thewildpomegranate.com/

http://susanscribes.wordpress.com/

http://foodiebloger.wordpress.com/

http://postadaychallenge2011.com/

http://morganjauncey.com/

http://anyakelleye.wordpress.com/

http://kanatyler.com/

http://thesendeksaga.wordpress.com/

http://shelleyszajner.wordpress.com/

http://ironwoodwind.wordpress.com/

http://snagglewordz.com/

http://myrandommuse.wordpress.com/

http://lsmurphy.com/

http://www.paigekellerman.com/

Of the list above the best by far for brand-building is http://sanguinestream.wordpress.com

The art really gives you a feel for who the author is.  You know, at a glance, whether you will love or HATE his work.  Nicely done.

Okay, Lucky 18!  Now it’s your turn.  Please pass this award on to 6 lucky bloggers, and let them know.  Also, post on your blogs a list of 10 useless but fun facts about you.

Congratulations!

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Kreativ Blogger Winners. Who to choose? Who to Choose?

Posted on January 6, 2012 | 9 comments

I’ve been thinking about Kreativ Blogger winners. This has been hard, because I just nominated a bunch of people for Versatile blogger. I don’t want to be redundant and just nominate the same people. Sooooo…. This is what she’s gonna do:

I have 123 followers right now. If you want to be in the running, and you follow my blog BOOM! You’re in the running. No problem. Don’t worry, you’re not disqualified if I nominated you for Versatile Blogger.

Since this is called a “Kreativ Blog” award, I am going to look at everyone’s blog. It will just be a quick glance. It will take me about 30 seconds for me to decide whether or not it is “creative”. The marketing manager in me is drooling over the opportunity.

I’ll start hopping tonight, make a list of which are creative, and then start narrowing it down to the six most creative.

Good luck!

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Kreativ Blogger Award – TWICE in one Night!

Posted on January 5, 2012 | 22 comments

Wow, did I get a nice surprise when I got home from wrestling practice tonight.

(No, I am not wrestling… two of my sons are)

My normal Thursday night post is going to have to wait because both the Lovely and Talented Jenny Keller Ford and the Smart and Savvy Sandra Madeira both graced me with the Kreativ Blogger award today.

They both totally rock.  Please go take a look at their blogs and give them a follow.

Thank you so much for thinking of me, Sandra and Jenny!

The Kreativ blogger award rules are:

1. Share 10 things about yourself that readers might find interesting.

2. Pass the award onto 6 other bloggers (be sure to leave a comment on each of the blogs to let them know).

Hmmm… I just did a “ten thing a little over a month ago, so I guess I need ten more tidbits of useless info.

1.  Okay, we can get personal.  I have three kids.  All Boys ages 5-11.  Two in wrestling.  One in Dog Training.  (No, he’s not a dog he’s quite handsome, thank you very much!)

2.  My princess poodle is in training for her Canine Good Citizen exam which takes place in about six weeks.  FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION

3.  I have a wonderful husband who cooks for me.  Thank goodness.  I don’t like burned food.

4.  Yes, I work full-time, and raise a family, and write novels, and teach others everything I know, from computer programming to grammar.  Sleep is optional.

5.  I collect fish.  Yeah, it’s a little hard space wise.  I have two ponds full in the backyard with heaters so they don’t freeze their little tails off.

6.  My roof is leaking.  Don’t know why I told you that.

7.  I can’t spell for the life of me.  Spell check is my best friend.  Now, if it could just teach me the difference between bought and brought.  🙂

8.  I love fonts.  Can’t get enough of them.  (You know this is your read my blog regularly)

9.  Dark chocolate covered raisins and bananas are gifts from God, as are Japanese Peanuts

10.  I gush when I get awards!  Big smiles!  Waves!

Ten Blogs to re-gift this award to.  This is always a tough one.  I over thing things… I’m anal like that.  So this is going to have to wait for another night, because my husband is calling me, and I don’t want him to be mad at me… he might stop cooking, and no one wants me to burn the house down.

Thanks!  Gush Gush 🙂

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Wow. It’s kind of weird

Posted on October 20, 2011 | 12 comments

 

I am numb.  I really am.

This week is the three-month anniversary of my blog.

My first post was July 17th.

When I started this blog, I had no idea what I was going to do with it.  I just did it because everyone says it’s a good idea.  I couldn’t imagine that anyone would ever be interested in what I had to say.

Not having any clue what I was doing, I just used it as a journal of everything I’ve learned along the way.  Honestly, I was really using it to force me to type out my thoughts, because I remember things better that way.  It made me really think about topics, and digest them better.  Little did I know that my little lessons for myself were catching on.

When I started getting a few followers, I changed the look of my blog to give it a more professional feel.  I started really taking it seriously.

BAM!  Holy cow.

Wednesday night, I watched my little three-month-old blog reach 1,000 hits. What?  I couldn’t believe it.  If you told me this would happen three months ago, I would have laughed in your face.

I also have all these followers that I don’t even know (Although I am starting to get to know a few of you).   Wow.   This is really cool.

Thanks all of you for tuning in.  I truly hope you are getting something out of my ranting.  Hopefully we will all reach the finish line to publication together.

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