A to Z Challenge: Debriefing

It was an exhausting month in the blogoshpere. The A to Z Challenge was just that, a challenge. But I have to admit, I loved it. 

The best part was visiting other blogs. I was stunned at the variety and quality of many of the blogs I visited. I saw themes that ranged from Gerbils to Physics to Castles of England to Characters from My Book. And all of them so interesting. Well done all you A to Zers. 

I guess there were nearly 2,000 participants, and I only managed to visit at most 175 different blogs. But of the ones I looked at, the following made my list of favorites.

Best of A to Z 2012:

Hanging on to Wonder, Jaye Robin Brown. Her theme centered around her recent years living in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Each of her posts was beautifully written and seemed to transport me to a calmer and more peaceful way of living. 

Mainely Write, Donna Smith. Each of her posts featured: 1-a self-created word art in the shape of something starting with that day's letter, 2-the word art was created using a FONT that started with the letter, 3-an original poem in a form of poetry that started with the letter! It was amazing!

Rainforest Writing, D.G. Hudsen. Her theme was a shout-out to Paris. She featured historical places, art, and prominent people. It was fascinating and lovely to read.

I wish I could have visited more! Thanks A to Z hosts!


DON'T MISS! On Monday, May 14, I will launch a contest on my blog. Anyone can enter. The prize: Amazon $$. The challenge: Haiku!


Come back and check it out! (This contest will be similar to the March Limerick Contest.)

It Is With Great Honor...

That I accept this lovely blog award:

Awarded to me by my new blogging and writing friend, Erin Shakespear! (With a name like that, we know she's gotta be an awesome writer!) Thank you Erin.

And now, as with all awards, I must mention seven things about myself that are meant to entertain. However, the truth is, I've written the most interesting things in my life already.

Click on "The Story of Me" tab above, and scroll down past the boring bio to find the list of crazy things I've done. And some are pretty crazy!

Now, to pass on the award. The new recipients of the Kreative Blogger Award are:

Peggy Eddleman
Erin Summerill
Scribble by Moonlight
The Sands of Writing
Open Writer, Closet Nerd
{Unwritten}
The Writing Nut

Blogfiesta!

Today is my birthday! To celebrate, I'm giving away a gift to YOU!

A $25 gift certificate to Amazon or Barnes and Noble--your choice--delivered straight to your inbox.

As per the usual blog contest stuff, here's the scoop:

One entry if you follow me.
One more if you post this contest on your blog.
One more if you tweet about this contest.
One more if you follow me on twitter. @juliedaines

Up to four entries per person. Just post in the comments how many entries you have scored along with the links to them for verification.
(Link for blog entries. If you follow me on twitter or @ me, Twitter will notify me.)

Sunday, February 5, 2012, 10 PM Mountain Time is the cut-off for entry.

Huzzah!

Wait! There's more! As a special surprise to me--which is quite amazing considering this all happened randomly--I received two--count 'em TWO--blog awards. My birthday keeps getting better and better!

Here they are, in the order I received them:


I received this from a cool writer I recently met (virtually) named Nikki Jefford. She's a great lady and has had lots of amazing experiences. Thanks Nikki!


In keeping with the general rules of blog awards, here how this blog award goes down:

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 15 sister bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award. (Fifteen isn’t mandatory, but it’s a nice gesture. Try and pick at least five.)
2.  In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.
3.  In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you with a link back to their blog.
4.  In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
5.  In the same post, include this set of rules.
6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

The lucky recipients of The Versatile Blogger Award are:

• The Utah Children's Writers. I hope its not cheating because I'm a member of this blog. But this blog has lots of great advice for writers of picture books, middle grade, and young adult writers. 
• Brooke at Silver Lining. Brooke is not a writer, but her posts are beautifully written and fun to read.
• Taffy at Taffy's Writing. She's always got something fun on her blog.
• Sarah M. Eden. I don't know if Sarah is collecting blog awards because she's already a big-time author, but I had to give her one anyway. Her I Need Friends Friday interviews are some of the most hilarious stuff out there in the blogoshpere. And her books are awesome too.
• Jonene at The Wonderful Obsessions. She not only writes great stories, but she has cool step by step instructions of watercolor painting.

And to answer step 4: share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.

Well, since this is already too long, please click on the tab above entitled The Story of Me. Scroll past the boring bio and skip straight to Things I've done. There's lots of random stuff there! Trust me.

Award #Two:

I received this from the awesome Shell Flower at Tangent Shell. She's got a fun blog where she talks about writing, reading, and all kinds of interesting stuff! Thanks Shell!

Once again, the rules:

The rules are simple: Name 5 blogs with under 200 followers that are totally awesome and deserve the award. Link to those five blogs, as well as the blogger who awarded the award, and let your picks know they are the winners. Share the love and help an undiscovered blog find the readership it deserves. Yet another reason the blogging community rocks!

Here are my 5 blog choices.

• Tiffany over at Scribble by Moonlight. She is a wonderful author who has put writing on hiatus to work a day job, but she still reviews lots of great YA fiction.
• Yamile at The Che Boricuas. An amazing writer from Argentina who writes the most beautiful stories in English! 
• Jamie Theler is a super writer and she helps organize one of the best local writer's conferences, LDStorymakers.
• T.J. at They Won't Get Us. He writes and posts these crazy and scary short stories about zombies and other horrors. The babysitter one freaked me out.
• Valynne. Another very talented writer who also posts slices of the hilarity of parenthood. 

Whew! That was a lot of work. Thanks to everyone for the awards!