Tree of Life: Branching Out Video

I'm on the road and still on a semi-blogging hiatus (which is why I disabled comments), but I wanted to share with you this video that I dedicated to the amazing people who collaborated in the Tree of Life: Branching Out Writing Challenge. 

For more information about this epic writing challenge, click the Tree of Life badge on my right side bar or visit author Samantha Redstreake Geary at her blog HERE. 

A-Z 2013 Reflections

Apologies for posting this late. 

I will be traveling all day as my vacation finally comes to an end. ): I'm sad to have to leave the States, but mostly dreading the trip back home. It starts at 4am, then a 12 hour drive back to Orlando, getting on a plane for 8 hours, waiting for a connection for 3 hours, getting on another plane for 1 hour, then driving another 4 hours to get home. Three cheers for traveling on the cheap. The only thing missing is the camel ride and a stiff drink. (; 

The Good

Visiting New Blogs: This really goes without saying. I read many interesting/pee-in-your-pants-funny/inspiring and all out fantastic posts. Wish I could name them all.

Ninja Minion: I enjoyed helping out as one of Alex J. Cavanaugh's  Ninja Minion. Being assigned to a small portion of the list allowed me to give back to the massive bloghop and still meet bloggers along the way.

Daily Posting: As opposed to last year, I came into this years challenge better prepared with short pre-written posts through the letter S. That took a lot of pressure off my shoulders for the first two and a half weeks of the challenge. After that, I was a complete stressed out mess trying to get posts written and published on time. (;

Most Popular Post: This year my theme was to write about the odd, obscure, fascinating, and bizarre things people study in this world by highlighting different 'ologies. With the exception of the A post, R for Rumpology was one of my most popular posts. And I have to admit, I got a kick out of writing it but the comments were by far what made it that much more hilarious!

Comments: Last year I averaged 9 comments per post. This year I averaged almost 40 comments per post. You all spoiled me and were on of the best parts of this challenge. I'm grateful for every single commenter and I did my best to visit and comment back.

Followers: I gained 30+ followers and followed back almost everyone. The only bloggers I didn't follow back were bloggers I had trouble finding their blog links in their profile.

Re-connecting with Bloggers: I didn't get the chance to visit as many blogs as I wanted this year. However, I did forge new connections with several bloggers already in my GFC list. THIS WAS AWESOME. Getting a chance to re-meet and learn more about these bloggers/writers was great and it added a new dimension to the challenge experience for me this year.

The List: I'm happy the list is available so I can continue to visit blogs for the next couple of months. 

The Not So Good

Time: The whole point of this challenge is to visit blogs, meet new people, and support each other during this crazy and difficult blogging challenge. Unfortunately, I had less time to visit blogs this year and that was damn frustrating. I know I missed out on many awesome blog.

Comments: I didn't have the time to reply individually to comments like I normally do. Again, this was a time issue on my part.

Blog Labels: I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of labeling blogs. However, I can see how in a bloghop with so many participants, category labels (codes) can be useful and a time-saver for many bloggers. Unfortunately, I saw some confusion with the codes, specifically concerning the Adult Content label. Though most labels were self-explanatory, the AC label could have benefited from a brief and clear definition set by the organizers before the challenge (maybe there was one set, but I missed it and it seemed I was not the only one). People have varying opinions as to what they consider to be Adult Content or Mature Content. It really bothered me, on many levels, to see so much anger unfold with regard to the AC label and who should or should not have had it attached to their blog. I hope a suitable solution can be found for everyone for next year.

Going on Vacation: Crazy I should put this under The Not So Good category but, here it is. For personal and financial reasons, I planned a family vacation at the end of April. Trying to keep up with a blogging challenge while catching two international flights and working on my beach tan is not easy. *read impossible* I have over 100 emails to sort through when I get back home. YIKES!

Overall

Overall, I had a good experience this year despite a few frustrating moments along the way and will most likely do it again next year. What can I say, I'm masochistic. :P 

A huge thank you to Arlee Bird, the hosts, and organizers for stepping up to the plate and making this another successful A-Z Challenge:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

Blog Love

I've been a bad blogger lately and I apologize. I've got lots of excuses, but I'll spare you. (: A few weeks ago Sabrina at Sabrina's Writing Reflections  passed the Liebster award my way and Al Diaz at Father Dragon Writes passed along the very Inspirational blogger award. Sorry for not acknowledging these two earlier, but I thank you both very much for thinking of me. 
If you don't know Sabrina or Al, please check out their blogs, both are wonderful folks with great sites. (:

This award is given to newer bloggers with less than 200 members. At the time Sabrina passed this my way I had 197 followers and just made the cut. Here are the rules:

1) Tell 11 things about yourself.

2) Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.

3) Post 11 questions for those who will be nominated by you.

4) Nominate 11 (I've chosen 4) bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

5) Get in contact with those 11 bloggers to inform them that you nominated them.


Ok, lets get started, 11 Things About Me:

1) I have 2 kids a 6 year old and a 4 year old.  

2) I'm a slow reader and that makes me really insecure, especially knowing some of you read 2 - 3+ novels in a week.


3) I've ridden Western and English saddle and though I enjoy Western, I think I prefer English saddle. The English saddle is lighter and I feel more connected to the animal, though I haven't been on a horse in years. 

4) I love the comics section in news papers.

5) Going into bookstores makes me sad because all the books here are in French.

6) I'd like to set up a beehive in my backyard and have it produce a small batch of honey per year, but I'm the only one in my family that thinks that's a good idea.

7) I love spicy food.

8) When I make leek pie, I take the leftover crust and use cookie cutters to make cut outs as decoration on the pie for the kids.

9) I enjoy doing crafts with my kids.

10) I lost a few kilos since being sick this month. Unfortunately, none of that weight came off my problem areas. I now have skinny fingers and smaller boobs. Mother nature hates me.

11) I'm doing A-Z this year and have started prewriting my posts! (: 

****

The following are Sabrina's questions for me: 

1. What is your current project about in one sentence?
     A New Adult novel.

2. How long have you been working on it?
    Over three years.

3. What time of day do you prefer to write?
    Night.

4. What is one non-writing hobby?
     Insects.

5. What is your fave munchy when you are writing?
     That changes all the time and depends on what's in the house. But usually chocolate of some sort or sugar cookies.    

6. What is your favorite quote?

   I like too many to narrow it down to only one. 

7. Tablet or paper book?
   I don't own a tablet, so I can't say.

8. How many rejections have you received?
 I've never submitted.

9. Where do you write?
In the living room.

10. Do you have rituals you must do before beginning to write?
 No, unless getting the  kids to bed is considered a ritual. (:

11. What is one of your most favorite books?
I can't say, I like so many. 

****

I nominate the following (feel free to just accept this award if you've already received it.) (: 

Melissa Maygrove

Sara at SP Bowers

Randi Lee at The Emotional Process of Writing a Novel

Michael at ML Swift

****

My questions for you guys are:

1) How long have you been writing?

2) What is your favorite genre?

3) What is your ideal writing place?

4) Have you (would you) ever co-authored a writing project? 

5) Would you self-publish or get representation for your next project?

6) What is your least favorite genre?

7) Do you listen to music while you write?

8) What is your favorite movie?

9) What is your preferred non-writing activity?

10) Do your friends and family know you write or have you kept it a secret?

11) Describe your favorite place to visit. 

For the Inspirational blogger award, I had to say seven things about myself, but seeing how I just wrote down 11 for the Liebster, I though I'd just write down 7 things that are dancing in my head right now:

1) Writing is art.

2) Writing is escape.

3) Writing is therapeutic.

4) Writing is empowering.

5) Writing is a journey.

6) Writing is love.

7) Writing is language, language is communication, communication is a basic human need.

****

I'm passing on this award to the following bloggers, again sorry if  you've already received this. Feel free to simply accept from someone who thinks you're the bees knees (: 

Hilary at Positive Letters . . . Inspirational Stories

The Eagle's Aerial Perspective

Alex Cavanaugh Cover Reveal and She Said What Winners

I am excited and honored to be part of Alex Cavanaugh's cover reveal today for his book CassaStorm! This book marks the last in the already successful Cassa trilogy that has Alex ranked as Amazon Sci-Fi Best Selling author!  

CassaStorm by Alex J. Cavanaugh

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

Cover Reveal
Release date: September 17, 2013

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, his only struggles are occasional rogue pirate raids and endless government bureaucracies. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, shaking Bassan to the core and threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could be on its way back. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

Science Fiction - Space Opera/Adventure

Print ISBN 9781939844002

E-book ISBN 9781939844019

Congratulations Alex on this fantastic cover! 

CassaStar, CassaFire and CassaStorm look amazing all lined up together! 

***

AND THE WINNERS ARE . . . 

Before we get to the winners, Michelle and I want to thank you all for making this bloghop such a success. I was skeptical at first, unsure if people would want to participate, but it was Michelle's enthusiasm and encouragement that convinced me. And having 30+ people sign up for our blogfest is twice as many than we expected. Plus, you all really out did yourselves. Every single entry made us laugh, chortlesnort, giggle or chuckle in some form or fashion. And when you're sick with the flu, laughter is great medicine.  I hope you realize how creative and funny you lot are. The same comic strip with the optional bonus words yielded a wide variety of different scenarios. You had the girls tripping over rope, over feet, or just plain trippin (ahem Alex . . . (;  ). The girls were sightseeing, rushing to the mall, to the dance or running away with dragon loot! You blew us away by your creativeness and snark, so you can imagine how hard it was to choose winners. We'd like to share with you some of our favorite quotes from the fest (in no particular order):

"Who does he think he is Buzz Lightyear?"

"... hoist me up before the champagne and LSD start running out my nose."

"Did somebody say THONG?"

"... a talking dragon-dog."

"we've got stylish beach-babe hairstyles."

"don't get your panties twisted in a bunch."

"I give you Dragon GPS for Virgin Snack here."

"Vazz izt diz, Giantz Condomz!?!

"Get your ass cheek in here!"

"We look like we should be on survivor,”

"At least the blood will match my outfit!"

"There's a party at my cave tonight."

"I can't run in these heels." Clop! Clop! Clop!

"Next time remind me to stay away from hot air balloons, mischievous monsters and clumsy superheros."

"...Tetons. So distracting..."

"Hey did you just kill Brad Pitt?"

"V's buying, I took his wallet."

"I think I gave a frog a heart attack."

"Are these breasts or pockets?"

"After all we've been through, you went out and found another critique partner? Why don't I just tie this rope around my neck?!"

"We tangoed cheek-to-cheek with death and won!"

"...honour me with a kiss? And not on the cheek either. I mean, I just popped a tic-tac."

"Don't look, I'm wearing granny panties!"

"Captain V blows!"

"Oh honey...that grey thong doesn't look good on you."

"...if only I had paid more attention in airspeed momentum class instead of thinking about my tango lessons."

"...skirt's gonna flap down showing the world a set of cheeks it never expected to see..."

"and what's with the banana-yellow cape, dud? Like, vomit."

"I don't know why I travel with you. You're a train wreck waiting to happen!"

"Habz no fearz, Viagra Man'z heeeeerz!"

Speaking of knickers, I can see yours from here! Were they always grey, or do they need to be washed? 

"Hurry Elise, we need to get back behind our keyboards where it's safe."

"Virgin Boy to the rescue!!!"

"Dude, did you have to do that in the balloon? "

"This is so embarrassing. It’s almost as embarrassing as the time you–"

"Does my head look big with this seaweed on it?"

"Dudette, I know, get up in this balloon so we can getaway with her treasure!"

****

AND NOW . . .  Drum Roll . . . 

Honorable Mentions: 

Alex Cavanaugh Ninja Captain

 Cheryl Duffin at Texas Playwright Chick 

Julie from Emptynestinsider 

LG Keltner at Writing Off The Edge, 

 Melissa at 5-minute Piece Of My Mind 

Tara Tyler at Tara Tyler Talks

Winner for Most Creative entry:

Tammy Theriault at Writing one Petal at a Time

Tammy, you win a banner or badge sponsored by the wonderful Tara Tyler at Tara Tyler Talks! 

4 Grand Prize Winners: 

Nick Wilford at Scattergun Scribblings

PK HREZO at Fearless Fiction

Nick and PK get to chose one from the following list of books and we'll be happy to send it to you (email us for the details):

1. On Writing - Steven King

2. Bird by Bird - Ann Lamott

3. The Right To Write - Julie Cameron

&

Al Diaz at Father Dragon Writes

Mark Means at Left and Write

Al and Mark get to chose one from the list below and we'll be happy to send it to you (email us for the details):

1. The Elements of Style, 4th edition - William Strunk Jr and E.B. White

2. Save the Cat - Blake Snyder

3. 10$ Amazon Gift Card

Congratulations to the winners and a huge thank you to everyone who participated and SPECIAL HUGS to my Co-Host Sister M! 

Have a wonderful weekend 
(: 

You are Awesome

Wishing everyone a rockin' Friday and great weekend! 
Also, a big thank you to everyone who has been able to sign up for our giveaway blogfest and to those helping to spread the word! 
:D

 

Okay, I was thinking about doing a little 1:06, then some 2:08, and why not some 4:50. 
Then maybe a few hours of 6:32 wouldn't hurt and a 7:31 drop to round out the weekend. 
Afterwards, I think I'll chill with a few of my friends at 8:04. 
So, what are you doing this weekend?  

 (;

Addictively Sweet Blog Love

Mina Lobo at Some Dark Romantic was sweet enough to pass on some blog love my way with the Super Sweet Blogging Award. Thanks Mina! The rules are simple, answer the questions and pass on the award. 
Ok, so lets roll...

Cookies or Cake?
Depends on the cookie or cake. At the moment I really like these salted caramel cookies that go great dipped in tea, but right now it's Galette des Rois time over here in France and I love the apple kind (even though I NEVER get the slice with the frickin token, grrrrr), so I guess to answer simple, I'll go with cupcakes! :p

Chocolate or Vanilla?
Vanilla with chocolate drizzled on top...

What is your favorite sweet treat?
You know, I'm actually not that big of a sweet treat kind of person. 
I'm more of a steak and sausage type. Ok, so that did sound weird but you get what I mean! But to play along I'd have to say....Ferrero Rocher.

When do you crave sweet things most?
Late at night. 

If you had a sweet nickname what would it be?
HA! I actually did have a sweet nickname as a kid. I used to be called Cookie by a few who shall remain nameless. (;

And Melissa Maygrove over on her site also tagged me with the Addictive Blog Award. Thank you bunches Melissa!

The rules of the award are:

1. Thank the person awarding you. check
2. Share a little about why you blog and how the journey started. check

Well, this is easy. I started this blog about a year ago thanks to a good friend of mine who is also a writer and blogger. She mentioned Rachael Harrie Platform Building Campaign and before I could over think what I was getting into, I jumped in and started this blog a few days before the campaign having no idea what I was doing. And I'm so grateful she pushed me out of my writers closet because the writing community is amazing and I can't imagine continuing this journey without you guys. (= 

3. Paste the blog award on your page. check

4. Nominate 10 other bloggers you feel deserve the award. 
check, sorta.... 

Ok, so the not so great thing about vacation is coming back and having to catch up! I wanted to put myself under some pressure well Madame has been served! So in the interest of time, I'm going to nominate folks for the Sweet award if your first name starts with a letter from A - L. If your first name starts with M-Z, considered yourself tagged with the Addictive award and don't try to weasel out of this, I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. (: 

HAPPY FRIDAY FOLKS!!!!

ALEXFEST

Alex Cavanaugh is not just a successful writer, he's also a blogger who devotes an amazing amount of time helping other writers promote their work and overcome many insecurities about their writing. He is a true positive force in the writing community and it's with great pleasure that I participate in the 

 “Cheers, Cavanaugh BlogFest.”

AKA: Alexfest 

Hosted by these awesome folks: Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy,David Powers King and Stephen Tremp.

*****

In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like?

Like this: 

Mini Alex Ninja Captain and guitar made of plywood.

· In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary? (Living or dead)

Nathan Fillion. Played novelist Richard Castle on tv and Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the movie, Serenity.

In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of?

He doesn't remind me of anyone because there is only ONE Ninja Captain.

In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts: Cavanaugh, Ninja,  IWSG, Cosbolt, Guitar

The Last Space Ninja

Captain Shamy’s spaceship was under attack. She only had minutes before Madman Koopmans reached the bridge. She ordered First Lieutenant Tremp to activate the ship’s droid, David Powers.

“I hope this works, Captain.”

“Me too," she said.

“The silver droid lifted his head as it came online. His computerize voice filled the room, “I’m David your ship’s droid. What are my orders, Captain?”

“Send a message to Alex Cavanaugh the Ninja Captain. Tell him my ship has fallen under attack. Every Cosbolt pilot has been infected with the Infectious Wiggles and Singing Giggles. They’re hula dancing uncontrollably and singing off key. I’ve never seen anything so hideous. In a matter of minutes, the MadMan will reach the bridge with his IWSG frequency gun. I’m afraid my mission to bring back the CassaStar Guitar has failed. This is our most desperate hour, help us Ninja Captain, you’re our only hope.”

For Bonus Points: In +/- 40 words, leave a comment for Mrs. Cavanaugh - thanking her for sharing Alex

Mrs. Cavanaugh, behind every successful Ninja Captain is his kick-butt wife. Thank you for sharing him with the blogging world.  

(:

Thank You For The Gift Card

Recently, fellow blogger and writer Sabrina at Sabrina's Writing Reflections hit her 100 follower milestone. To celebrate, she had a giveaway and randomly awarded one lucky person with a $10 Amazon Gift card. Can you guess who that lucky person might have been? *silly girl waves arms in air* It was ME! 

So I want to thank Sabrina again for the gift card and show you guys what I purchased. I decided to treat my kids and ordered the The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler. We received it in the mail a few days ago and every night I read a few pages to them before bed. So far, we really enjoy it. My daughter is hooked and my son....well, he listens for about a page or two and then he gets frigidity, which is understandable because he's only 3 and the book doesn't have any pictures. It's a big girl book. (; 

 Anyway, I thank you Sabrina and so do my kids.  

Now go and check out Sabrina's blog and wish her a Happy Birthday. She's turning 30 over the weekend and has a skydiving story to share with you!  (: 

Lightning Flashed: Flash Fiction Blogfest

I just entered Cherie Reich's 2nd annual flash fiction blogfest. This is a great way to meet other bloggers/writers and see other writing styles. But you don't have much time so check out her blog post Here and give it a go. Below are the blogfest rules from Cherie's post:

Here are the rules:

1. Entries must begin with the two words: Lightning flashed.

2. Entries must be 300 words or less and be in prose. I'm not versed enough in poetry verse to judge it properly.

3. Entries must be posted on your blog between May 21 - 23.

4. You must sign up in the linky below to have your entry be counted.

On May 25, I will announce the six finalists and open voting through May 28th.

On May 29th, my third year blogversary, I will announce the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners as well as a random winner selected from the participants list. All ties will be broken by Random.org.

------
And here is my entry weighing in at 285 words:

------

Lightning flashed in her eyes as she unsheathed her crystal flyssa. It was time to start killing monsters.

She stood completely relaxed with a loose grip around the hilt of her elegant sword. She let the razor sharp tip flirt with the ale soaked tavern floor as she sized up her opponents. It was a cocky stance, but after 200 years of battling ghouls and their bastard hybrids, an on guard stance would be a waste of energy. Besides, she wanted to have a little fun tonight, it’s not like anyone was waiting for her at home.

Her first move—flawless. Dropping on one knee and spinning 180 degrees, the flyssa cut through the air on a horizontal plane slicing across the soft underbelly of a charging ghoul. Shrieks filled the air as entrails tumbled to the floor. Two attackers immediately charged from either side. She sidestepped the first hitting the ghoul with the back of the hilt and with a reverse cut, sliced the other’s head clean off. Thump. Then, another ghoul came at her on the left. No time for fancy footwork, a quick shuffle step and an over the head vertical cut to the top of its crown was enough. The ghoul staggered to a halt, its mouth gaped open in a muted scream as the top of its head opened like a book.

She scanned the room for more attackers but the tavern had cleared out with one exception, a woman sitting cross-legged on the bar in a dress made for sex. Relaxing her stance she wiped her sword clean on the rags of her victim, sheathed the weapon, and zeroed in her gaze back on the woman at the bar.   

----

So this entry is a little on the "what the eff?" side, sorry. But what can I say...it's been one of those weeks. 

Looking forward to reading all your entries though!!!! (:

----

A-Z Challenge 2012: Reflections and High 5s

First, I want to thank all the hosts for making this A-Z Challenge possible!

Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out,

Alex J. Cavanaugh,
Damyanti Biswas at Amlokiblogs,
DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude,
Elizabeth Mueller,
Jenny Pearson at Pearson Report,
Jeremy Hawkins at Retro-Zombie,
Karen Gowen at Coming Down the Mountain,
Konstanz Silverbow at No Thought 2 Small
Matthew McNish at The QQQE,
Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse,
Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs,
Tina Downey at Life is Good,

I'm traveling all day today: planes, trains and automobiles, and not necessarily in that order. But I'll be visiting blogs as soon as I get back. Now, bring on the 6 hour jet lag!  


25 Random Reflections: A personal analysis and stuff I learned about myself as a newbie blogger

1. Meeting new bloggers/writers was by far the best part of this experience.
2. After seeing so many fantastic blog designs, I hate mine even more.   
3. I only got spammed twice. 
4. The challenge sparked two wip ideas. One through a FF piece for my N post and the other by goofing around with commentors in my J post.
5. Two of my FF pieces gave birth to Billy & Roach. Surprisingly, I got a lot of positive feedback from those sketches and it got me thinking that maybe Billy & Roach could have their own page or blog. What do you think? Problem is I'd need illustrations to accompany B & R, but it is with much regret that I was born with the artistic capability of a drunken monkey. 
6. I lost 2 pounds during the challenge. Went to the States to visit family for a week and gained them back. :/ Curse you philly cheese steak with loaded fries!
7. Sometimes it only took one positive comment to brighten my entire day. Truly.
8. I started with 46 followers, ended with 79. I fell short of the 100 mark, but considering I spent a whole month talking about insects, 33 new followers in about one month is actually great for me imo. 
9. Mid-way through the challenge I started a Sunday food post that got me 2 more followers after a two day drought. Coincidence? Maybe.
10. Until about halfway through the challenge, I was averaging 8 new blogs a day (not counting the regular blogs I visit daily). I thought I was doing pretty well until I calculated percent total and realized at that rate, I would have only visited ~13% of the A-Z list by the end of the challenge. This made me sad.  So, I bumped it up to at least 10 new posts (some nights I got in a few more). I wanted to reach the 20% mark, but only achieved 15% total visited by the end of the challenge. I wish I could have done more but coming into the challenge unprepared left me with little time to visit. This shall be rectified for next year, I'm going to start writing my posts tomorrow. :D
11. I'd buy an "I survived the A-Z Challenge" t-shirt if there was one. (; 
12. Hitting the publish button stresses me out. Every. Single. Time.
13. I can preview my post 100 times but will only find the typos after I hit publish. *shakes fist at monitor*
14. Writing post everyday, on the fly, was exhausting. But, I learned I can still function a whole month with an average of 6 hours of sleep/night. 
15. My self-imposed deadline of finishing my wip by the end of May took a swift kick in the teeth. I'm now hoping to get it finished sometime in July.  
16. One of the first things I do after reading a post on a new site is look for the “about” link because I want to know, who is this person? When no information about the author is provided, I'm actually a little disappointed and less likely to follow spontaneously.
17. I loved the A-Z buttons, the surprise me one in particular.
18. I can’t write a short post about something I’m passionate about. My average post word count was 422.
19. On average, I got 9 comments per post (not including my replies).  Comments in my comment box = I get to keep my blogging card for one more day. (;
20. I appreciate bloggers that take the time to reply to comments, whether directly in the comment box, via e-mail or by stopping by my blog and commenting. But I understand for some, especially bloggers who receive over 100 comments in a single post, replying can be difficult and time consuming.
21. Near the end of the challenge I tried increasing comments on my posts by leaving questions or prompts at the end. This proved difficult for I greatly lacked inspiration. Somehow, I didn't think people would respond well to:  "So, anyone ever contracted an insect born disease? Ever had a insect infestation in your house? Ever eaten wood?" Actually, I did use the last one. lol.
22. I tend to gravitate towards people/blogs that generate humorous and positive vibes. I also enjoy good sarcasm but that can be tricky over the internet...
23. As a commenter I’m always trying to find something positive to say, but there were a few blogs that I just didn't know how to comment (commenters block?). Plus, I’m not the kind of commenter that can leave a generic message like “nice post, thanks for the info...” even if it’s sincere. Yet, I saw a lot of those kinds of comments.
24. I hopefully followed back everyone who followed me during the challenge. If I missed anyone let me know, it was not intentional just a screw up on my part.  
25. After posting 7 FF pieces and parts of my wip, I can’t call myself a closet writer anymore (a good thing), but I do feel naked without my lamp shade on. Lamp shades are quite comfortable and warm.  

To all who stuck with me during the challenge, 
and to everyone who followed, thank you. 
You made this challenge worth it.  


High 5s to all of you!