Signing up for A to Z

I believe in magic. This sentence was written to jog my memory of a great blog topic. Unfortunately it has reminded me of zilch.

A schedule is good for me. Following it is the problem. Today is the sign-up for Blogging A to Z in April. I did the challenge last April and had a blast. I have tentatively worked on my blog posts so I can spend time every day visiting other blogs. There are always too many to check out.

This year, I will be a minion of Alex Cavanaugh. He is one of the hosts of the challenge. Last year I helped Susan Gourley.

Essentially, I read blog posts and report if there is a problem. The biggest problem are people who are eager to do the challenge but fail to make posts. Sort of like when you buy tickets for an event or say you will go to some party and when it happens, you wish you hadn't. You got other things to do or it would be great to just watch television.

There are spam blogs which the A to Z make quick work of deleting. Crazy sales blogs which make no sense to English speakers or porn. One blog last year opened into something weird. I can't remember exactly what it did. However, two days later it opened with a normal blog post.

Looking at different blogs, I learned what I don't want to do with my blog. I also found some great blogs. I am listing a few of the great blogs I visit below. Some I came across in the challenge, some I discovered when I read someone's comment on another blog and decided to check them out.

One thing that I do is comment on blogs. If it is a blog which gets a million hits a week, I comment if I have something to say. Otherwise, I always try to say something. I think we are all curious who comes a calling.

Writing comments has helped my responses be more conversational. It is true, the more you create, the more creative you become. The same is true for expressing yourself. The A to Z challenge is all about making friends. Surprisingly, all of the big wigs will visit you and comment on your blog. Many times before you make it to their blog.

Eight great blogs - not in order of how I like them. I visit many more than this on a regular basis. So I can make this Eight great blog list many times again. This is just the tip of the iceberg. However this will keep you busy unless you dive right in reading bloggers who sign up for A to Z. If you are interested in signing up, this is a link for A to Z challenge.

1.  Bouncing Barb in Florida    Barb is a memoirist who has quite an interesting life. Her blog is friendly and you feel like you have known her your whole life.

2. Arlee Bird   Wrote by Rote by Arlee Bird is full of personal stories about Arlee's life as a professional in the entertainment world and his family who were professional jugglers. Arlee has another much larger blog called Tossing it out. Arlee is the founder and host of the A to Z challenge.

3. Writing in the Crosshairs is a writer's blog that gives great tips on writing and blogging. Roland Yeoman makes reference to so many ideas and quotes, his blog is incredible.  Roland Yeoman writes historical fiction in a sci-fi format. I have purchased several of his books but only read "Her Bones are in the Badlands". He states he is not well known but his writing is brilliant. If you like Kurt Vonnegut, you will really like Yeoman.

4. Rhyme Time by Pat Hatt was the first blogger I met through A to Z. Pat writes books for adults and children. He posts a humorous poem everyday. I don't know how he does it but he does. Supposedly the blog is written by two cats, Orlin and Cassie. I enjoy his blog in that my dad could speak in rhymes. It just has a joy to it.

5. Romance and Mystery writer, Maris Soule gives incredibly useful and straightforward tips for any writer. The last blog post discussed how you format a manuscript to submit to agents or publishers. I did not know that either will automatically reject your manuscript if it is not formatted properly. They have much to choose from. I've read one of Maris' romantic thrillers called "A Murder of Crows" and it was a great read.

6. Pastimes, Passions, Paraphernalia is a terrific blog by Carolyn von Poppel from Australia. Her posts are a mix of memoir and everyday life which is fascinating for this American.

7. Donetta's world  Donetta's blog is a very creative mix of fiction and personal observations. Donetta is a very talented writer who I met when I participated in Trifecta challenges.

8. TMW Hickman's Not Just Another Mother Blogger is filled with personal observations. Hickman is currently a cancer survivor and was bold enough to share the hell which is chemo and radiation. I first met her with Trifecta and a few other bloglist sites.