Thanks to Twitter, Michelle Rafter, our blogathon cheerleader, says haiku has made a comeback. After all the hard work we've been doing for the WordCount Blogathon this month, she says it's time for a break. So today is Haiku Day!
If you haven't written one in a while, don't remember writing them from your elementary school days, or aren't even sure what they are, here's the quick refresher Michelle provided:
Haiku is a three-line poem encapsulating one thought in approximately 17 syllables broken down as follows: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. Her example:
First sip of coffee
Recharges my batteries
Now the words will come.
For more inspiration, visit The Haiku Foundation and read through the poems in its archives. If you're any good at this, you could win a $25 prize from DenverPost.com, which publishes the poems regularly.
Meanwhile, here's my take on the poetic form:
Water everywhere
Flooding my ugly backyard
Hoping grass turns green
Can I prompt you into trying your hand at the haiku game? If so, post yours below.
Showing posts with label WordCount. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WordCount. Show all posts
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Meet Kathy Murray, tomorrow's guest blogger
The WordCount Blogathon Guest Blogger Day is tomorrow. And for this year's event, we decided to add a Q/A interview the day before. It'll allow us to fully introduce you to our guest blogger, and give you a sneak preview of what's ahead.
Tomorrow, here at BIKE WITH JACKIE, you'll be hearing from the inspiring Kathy Murray. She blogs over at OUTANDEMPLOYED, where her focus is to help ex-offenders re-enter the workforce. We thought, because we both reach out to women and people in transition, we would be able to swap posts and provide another viewpoint for you to think about on your road to recovery--no matter what the recovery is. Remember, I've said before, truly, we are all in some form of recovery at some point in our lives.
But first, here are few things you might want to know about Kathy before she shares her thoughts with you tomorrow:
_Can you tell my readers a bit about your background and how it relates to the thoughts expressed and discussed here at BIKE WITH JACKIE?
Hmm….how much time do you have? No really, like a lot of writers, I guess I’ve had a pretty varied background... I grew up a shy, rather sheltered kid in a small town in the Midwest, but I’ve been fortunate to live all over the U.S. and overseas in London and Beijing, which has been life-changing. I’ve done stints as CPA, a magazine and newspaper reporter, an editor, journalism instructor, Chinese language assistant, a volunteer probation officer and most recently as a crazy sports mom (I’m in recovery now, hopefully).
Right now, I do mostly business writing for work, and spend my free time working on my blog OUTANDEMPLOYED, which grew out of a course I teach ex-offenders at the local jail in Fairfax, VA. Like the students I teach, I consider myself a work in progress. I think that’s one of the reasons BIKE WITH JACKIE resonates with me. So little of my life has turned out the way I expected. And yet, I’m excited about where I am and really grateful for all the experiences, good and bad. Along the way, I’ve become better at accepting that my BEST SELF isn’t about being perfect and relying on my INNER SRENGTH, but listening to my KILLER INSTINCT and trusting my EXPRESSIVE VOICE are daily challenges. Good thing you say this is a lifelong process.
_We discussed this on the phone briefly where you told me that you became involved in the volunteer work that you do with ex-offenders (as as well as offenders inside the jailhouse) because you were looking for a way to get outside of your comfort zone. Can you address any fears you might have had going into this work and how you addressed them?
Yes, I’d recently moved back to the U.S. after nearly 9 years overseas, where I got used to being around people who didn’t think like I did. It really made me stretch. I mean, in China, just doing the basics like buying food at the grocery store was an adventure.
Then suddenly I found myself back in a lovely but fairly homogenous suburb. I don’t want to give the impression that I decided to work with offenders out of boredom, it’s just that I needed to find a way to challenge myself again. I’m not a big organizer, so helping out the PTA wasn’t doing it.
I guess my initial fear – or maybe my husband’s was, couldn’t you find a safer way to get out of your comfort zone? I had worked with offenders as a volunteer probation officer in the past, but that was really before I had kids. Going back into a jail again spooked me at first, with the guards and all those clanging doors. But once I went into the classroom and started getting to know my students, that changed. My bigger concern became, how can I best help them? From that point on it’s really been a matter of asking the right questions and really listening. Even after working with offenders in the past, I still had some misconceptions about who would be in jail, which needed to be corrected. I’ve met people there who could have been my college roommates. They have advanced degrees, seemingly perfect lives, but still made a mistake.
_You mentioned that the other volunteers you work with have generally come from the system themselves, meaning, they've had a son or daughter who's served time in jail who then moved beyond their troubled and youthful days. This work became these mothers' calling. How did you arrive here?
That’s always a challenging question and one I’m not sure I’ve found the answer to yet. Or maybe I don’t want to know it. An editor I worked with early in my career on a fraud story, once said to me, “C’mon, you think like a criminal, you can figure this out.” I’m sure it was a throwaway line designed to inspire me, but I’ve always been haunted by it. No one in my immediate family has ever been arrested or in prison, thankfully, but I am descended from a long line of Black Irish stock, so I’m sure if you go back far enough with all that drinking and angst….I guess the bottom line – and this has become even more true as I’ve gotten to know more offenders – is that I can relate to people who cross the line and make huge mistakes. And I really like to hope they can find their way back. That we all can, I guess.
_We also discussed on the phone that you look for a common ground with those you might be working with inside the jailhouse, something aside from the fact that they are serving a sentence together. What is it that you've discovered? What are the other commonalities, and what can the general population learn from them?
Again, as I said in my answer to your previous question, we all screw up at one point or another in our lives. Offenders have made huge, sometimes irreparable, life-destroying mistakes that have landed them behind bars. But they’re human and like all of us struggle with frailties and weaknesses – and maybe more than most of us, with addictions, mental and emotional illnesses and really horrible upbringings. And yet, people are people, and in every session I get someone who turns out to be the leader, somebody who’s the peacemaker, the complainer, the talker, and those few who will only tell their stories privately, but when they do reveal incredible talents and strengths. If I didn’t meet most of them in jail, I wouldn’t know they’d ever broken the law.
_Can you tell my readers a bit about your blog and what your readers take away from your posts?
Sure. Right now OUTANDEMPLOYED is a couple of things, since I’m really still developing the blog. For ex-offenders who read it, I’m hoping first of all, that I’m giving them good information. I also hope they take away a sense that they’re not alone and that they can start their lives over if they’re committed to it. For other readers, I’m hoping that they maybe gain more of a sense that there’s no such thing as typical ex-offender and that most people who have committed a crime regret it deeply. Like anyone who’s made a mistake, they want to know how to make it right, serve out their punishment and move on.
_Since we're focusing on INSPIRATION this month here at BIKE WITH JACKIE, you'll be blogging about that topic for me as my guest blogger tomorrow. Can you give us a little sneak preview about what you'll have to say to my readers?
I’m going to concentrate on the EXPRESSIVE VOICE part of your equation. On what inspires my voice and my writing, and, by extension, how I live my best life. Ironically, it’s actually other people’s voices – the more different from mine the better. Whether I'm trying to understand people in a different culture like China, or in very different circumstances such as my students serving sentences – hearing someone else, or listening well pulls me out of my own head into – for lack of a better way of explaining it – the feeling, or heart place. Seeing the world from another person's point of view forces me to find that common connection. That always results in being not only more expressive, but more authentic and human. As writers working alone, I think we all run the risk sometimes of falling in love with the words and ideas in our heads and then getting stuck when what comes out doesn’t seem to work. I think this can also affect how we live our lives in general. It can be so easy to get caught up in our own stuff, when the antidote, the inspiration we're looking for, is outside of us with everyone else.
Thank you, Kathy. I look forward to sharing your thoughts tomorrow and hope that my readers will gain something new from your insights. See you then.
By the way, you'll find my Q/A today with Kathy Murray at OUTANDEMPLOYED. Check it out. If you have any questions for Kathy, be sure to come back tomorrow when she'll be checking in to answer them.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Talk about inspiring--100 bloggers!
C'mon, you have to be inspired when 100 bloggers--and more--raise their hands to participate in the third annual WordCount Blogathon. I know I am.
Joining us all this year are new bloggers and old ones, writers who focus on parenting or health, those who talk politics, and many others who write about issues that probably affect your lives. You'll meet them today at BIKE WITH JACKIE. For the next month, I hope you'll come back and read what we all have to say. Bookmark the blogs you really like, explore the ones you've never heard of, and post comments on the posts that really make you think.
For your convenience, I've listed all participants' names below and added links that will take you directly to their blog sites--one of them is mine. You're already here, and here are the rest:
Rebecca I. Allen - 356 No More, A journey from couch to fit
Anjuli - bhulbhulaiyan, a complicated entanglement of zigzag pathways
Joan Lambert Bailey - PopcornHomestead, Gardening, place and my life in Tokyo
Karen Bannan - Natural as Possible Mom, Because natural isn't always possible — or easy
t.a. barnhart - Left Coast Foodie, Damn, that's good: a foodie blog by someone who knows what he's doing
June Bell - Enough is enough! Advice and support
Athena l. Borozon - The Desert Rat Dialogues
Jane Boursaw - Film Gecko, Cool movie news and reviews
Alisa Bowman - Project Happily Ever After, Marriage advice from a recovering divorce daydreamer
Carson Brackney - Carson Brackney, Consultant, Copywriter, Content Provider, Factotum
Sheena Brockington – Greenhouse Advertising, Cultivating ideas for small businesses
Danielle Buffardi - Horrible Sanity, Going into the mind of a mother and freelancer
Beverly Burmeier - Going on Adventures, Travel stories from near and far
Danielle Carter – Live and Love Life VA, Helping you do more of what you love, and less of what you don't!
Fiona Chan - Candy Prison, A typical teenager
Bernard Chung - Green Tea World, It's more than just a cup of green tea here
Caroline Clemmons - A Writer's Life, Writing tips, interviews and miscellaneous ramblings
Shelley Clunie - ShelCluzo’s Blog, Healthy, wealthy and wise at 62
Christianne Cook – A Day in My Mind, The world through my eyes
Sue Dickman – Life Divided, Food, garden, books . . . and India
Jackie Dishner – BIKE WITH JACKIE, Using my special brand of BIKE to teach you how to turn obstacles into opportunities
Tracy Doerr – Tracy Doerr, A chronicle of ideas and things that inspire me
Ron S. Doyle – Blog Salad, All the blog that's fit to eat.
Dana DuGan – Chick with a View, It's good to live on the edge. The view is better.
Dan Eldridge – Labor Party, A Young Pioneers Media blog for Creative and Alternative Entrepreneurs
Heather Faesy – Blame it on the Full Moon, My kids, writing and reading
R. Jill Fink – My Opera, Musings about writing, food, weight loss and other hilarious things
Jennifer Fink – Blogging Bout Boys, All about boys -- raising them, educating them, learning with them
Damaris Fish – Damaris Fish on Genealogy, Researching my family history and helping others with theirs
Dylan Fogle – Discordianzen, The map is not the territory
Katie Foote – Littlefoote’s Lab, A chronicle of what the unemployed girl in NoPo is up to.
AndreaGenevieve – Andrea Genevieve, Where social medium, technology and higher education meet
Alexandra Grabbe – Chezsven's Blog, Life as a green innkeeper on Outer Cape Cod
Elyse Grau – My Garden to Table, Growing what you eat, eating what you grow
Wendy Korn Heppt – Budget Style on a Shoestring, Budget savvy fashion, beauty and related news and ideas
Katie Hinderer – Write Beyond the Cubicle, A freelance writer’s thoughts on the industry
Amanda Hirsch – Tastee Pudding, In the search for creative life, the proof is in the Pudding
Lisa Jaffe Hubbell – Eat, Read and Be Harried, Making it through life one book at a time
Nancy Mann Jackson – Growing Food and Kids, Gardening, harvesting, cooking and preserving with kids in tow
Robert Janelle – Without an Apostrophe,
Elizabeth King Humphrey – The Write Elizabeth, Writing. Creativity. Play. Life.
Walter L. Johnson II – Georgia News Beat, An inside look at what’s happening in the state of Georgia
B.J. Keeton – Professor Beej, Pop culture commentary with an academic slant
Amy Kocur – AmyLizK, Maryland/ DC Metro area arts and analysis
Courtney Koschel – Finding My Muse: A New Writer’s Journey
Sara Lancaster – No.2PenBlog, Resource for my clients and others interested in marketing communications
Bill Lascher – Lascher at Large, A contemplative, pondered and unrushed thought banquet
Mary Dixon Lebeau – In the Boom Boom Room, Remember staying out until the street lights came on?
Pooja Lohana – Brown-eyed Mystic, On writing and more!
Sarah E. Ludwig – Parenting by Trial and Error, The learning curve in raising kids
Jenny Lynes – Welcome to the Good Life, A student environmentalist exploring responsible, cheap, and fun living
Harry Marks – Curious Rat, Chewing at the tech industry's wires...nom nom nom...
Joanne Mason – English Idioms, What they mean, how we use them, where they came from
Kim McNeill – Kim’s Play Place, An active parent trying to make sure my kids are educated
Teresa Mears – MiamiOntheCheap, Discounts, deals and free events in Miami
Rose Medlock – RFM, Rose Flores Medlock
Heather Minton – Stumbling into Grace, The adventure of following God and figuring it out in Portland http://stumblingintograce-hlm.blogspot.com/
Kathy Murray – Out and Employed, News, career advice and job resources for ex-offenders
Alexis Neely – Life, Business and the Pursuit of Truth, A blog about the intersection
Charles Newbery – Pine Tree Paradise, The life of a work-at-home writer and father of three
Eric Novinson – Costing a Green Future, A green business blog
Tracy O'Connor – I Hate My Message Board, Humor, crankiness, a museum of snack foods and the odd motivational piece
Andrea Parker – Autism Fundraising Guide, For parents of children with autism
Lilac Penafiel – What Have You Learned Today, Life lessons learned everyday...
Tara Phillips – Two Hands and a Road Map
Jennie Phipps – WalletPop, AOL's personal finance blog
Ed Pilolla – Ed Pilolla, What the f*** is love?
Sue Poremba – I Breathe, Therefore I Write
Kate Reilly – Polka Dot Suitcase, Family fun through creative living
Meredith Resnick – The Writer’s [Inner] Journey, Bestselling authors, professional creatives and emerging voices in quirky dialogue about how they write and why it works
Vanessa Richardson – Way Out West Texas, City girl from California moves to Way Out West Texas, what will happen?
Rebecca Robinson – Rebecca Robinson, Updates on freelance projects, reflections on journalism innovation in Portland and beyond, and brainstorms from the wee hours
Carey Rossi – Thank You Everything, Appreciate the little things
Natasha Rogue – The Writing Blues, Little tips on how I find motivation to get past the difficulties of writing life and the road to publication
Andrea M. Rotondo – Luxury Cruise Bible, Your source for unbiased luxury cruise reviews
Melissa Sais – Digital Mom, Raising kids in a digital world
Lisa Samalonis – Single Parent Savings
Sami – Stonerpreneur, Stoner antics as they relate to my business and personal growth
Dina Santorelli – Making Baby Grand, And I thought giving birth to real babies was hard...
Lacey Savage – Tips and WIPS, Talking about writing fiction
Lilian Schaer – Food and Farming Canada, A blog about the farming side of food
Matthew Smith – Smidgen PC, Big news about tiny PCs
Michelle Smith - Law Office of Michelle R. Smith, Because it’s your life, your family and your choice
Stephanie Suesan Smith – Stephanie Suesan Smith PhD, Information Central
Claire Splan – An Alameda Garden, Gardening issues in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond
Margarita Tartakovsky – Self-ish, {Sorta} Sage Advice on Being a Better You
Thinkingtoohard – Thinking too hard, This is where I empty my head
Blake Thompson – Black Thompson daht Net, “I'm just saying..."
Jodi Torpey – Western Gardeners, Your online guide to gardening in the West
Paul Tullis – Grim Tidings- True/Slant, My rants about politics & policy
Brandi-Ann Uyemura – Brandi-Ann Uyemura, Rather be freelancing: tips for the beginning writer
Beth VanHoose – Writing in Sand, My adventures in freelance writing, and other stuff
Rachel Vidoni – East Coast Musings, A humorous look at kids, family and life
Jen Walker – My Morning Chocolate, Writing, experiments, culture and adventure in food
Katie Jett Walls – One per Week, 52 posts on things that matter to me
Sarah Webb – Webb of Science, Connecting science and life
Rebecca Weber – Newstilt SAfrica
Susan Weiner – Investment Writing, For investment and wealth managers who want to communicate more effectively with clients and prospects
Rashida Williams – Really Rashida, Urban lit author blogging about my life and times
Jennifer Willis – Jennifer Willis, Thoughts on religion, sustainability, media and culture
And the woman who started it all...drumroll, please:
Michelle Rafter - WordCount, freelancing in the digital age
And there's a few late starters...
Teresa Bitler - Forty Firsts, Forty new things to try in your/her 4oth year
Christa Avampato - Christa in New York, Curating a Creative Life
Ben Bradley - Ben’s (Not Quite) First Ever Presence on the Interweb, Blog of an aspiring human being
Diane Calhoun – Violet is My Color, Life just happens, deal with it
Joy Choquette - One Year. 156 Fears. Life Changing. One woman tackles her fears
Cocotte - Leaping into Life, Uncommon stories to nurture body, mind & soul
Cindy Elsberry - Doodle9, Paddling down the stream…of consciousness
Heather Frendo - Thrifty Knee Socks
Su-sieee! Mac – This and That. Here and There. Now, Sometimes Then., Rambling about anything and everything that interests me
Kristie Sloan – mkBeautyZone, Skin care and makeup information training and products
Jan Udlock - Imperfect Mom
Beth VanHoose – Writing in Sand, My adventures in freelance writing, and other stuff
Joining us all this year are new bloggers and old ones, writers who focus on parenting or health, those who talk politics, and many others who write about issues that probably affect your lives. You'll meet them today at BIKE WITH JACKIE. For the next month, I hope you'll come back and read what we all have to say. Bookmark the blogs you really like, explore the ones you've never heard of, and post comments on the posts that really make you think.
For your convenience, I've listed all participants' names below and added links that will take you directly to their blog sites--one of them is mine. You're already here, and here are the rest:
Rebecca I. Allen - 356 No More, A journey from couch to fit
Anjuli - bhulbhulaiyan, a complicated entanglement of zigzag pathways
Joan Lambert Bailey - PopcornHomestead, Gardening, place and my life in Tokyo
Karen Bannan - Natural as Possible Mom, Because natural isn't always possible — or easy
t.a. barnhart - Left Coast Foodie, Damn, that's good: a foodie blog by someone who knows what he's doing
June Bell - Enough is enough! Advice and support
Athena l. Borozon - The Desert Rat Dialogues
Jane Boursaw - Film Gecko, Cool movie news and reviews
Alisa Bowman - Project Happily Ever After, Marriage advice from a recovering divorce daydreamer
Carson Brackney - Carson Brackney, Consultant, Copywriter, Content Provider, Factotum
Sheena Brockington – Greenhouse Advertising, Cultivating ideas for small businesses
Danielle Buffardi - Horrible Sanity, Going into the mind of a mother and freelancer
Beverly Burmeier - Going on Adventures, Travel stories from near and far
Danielle Carter – Live and Love Life VA, Helping you do more of what you love, and less of what you don't!
Fiona Chan - Candy Prison, A typical teenager
Bernard Chung - Green Tea World, It's more than just a cup of green tea here
Caroline Clemmons - A Writer's Life, Writing tips, interviews and miscellaneous ramblings
Shelley Clunie - ShelCluzo’s Blog, Healthy, wealthy and wise at 62
Christianne Cook – A Day in My Mind, The world through my eyes
Sue Dickman – Life Divided, Food, garden, books . . . and India
Jackie Dishner – BIKE WITH JACKIE, Using my special brand of BIKE to teach you how to turn obstacles into opportunities
Tracy Doerr – Tracy Doerr, A chronicle of ideas and things that inspire me
Ron S. Doyle – Blog Salad, All the blog that's fit to eat.
Dana DuGan – Chick with a View, It's good to live on the edge. The view is better.
Dan Eldridge – Labor Party, A Young Pioneers Media blog for Creative and Alternative Entrepreneurs
Heather Faesy – Blame it on the Full Moon, My kids, writing and reading
R. Jill Fink – My Opera, Musings about writing, food, weight loss and other hilarious things
Jennifer Fink – Blogging Bout Boys, All about boys -- raising them, educating them, learning with them
Damaris Fish – Damaris Fish on Genealogy, Researching my family history and helping others with theirs
Dylan Fogle – Discordianzen, The map is not the territory
Katie Foote – Littlefoote’s Lab, A chronicle of what the unemployed girl in NoPo is up to.
AndreaGenevieve – Andrea Genevieve, Where social medium, technology and higher education meet
Alexandra Grabbe – Chezsven's Blog, Life as a green innkeeper on Outer Cape Cod
Elyse Grau – My Garden to Table, Growing what you eat, eating what you grow
Wendy Korn Heppt – Budget Style on a Shoestring, Budget savvy fashion, beauty and related news and ideas
Katie Hinderer – Write Beyond the Cubicle, A freelance writer’s thoughts on the industry
Amanda Hirsch – Tastee Pudding, In the search for creative life, the proof is in the Pudding
Lisa Jaffe Hubbell – Eat, Read and Be Harried, Making it through life one book at a time
Nancy Mann Jackson – Growing Food and Kids, Gardening, harvesting, cooking and preserving with kids in tow
Robert Janelle – Without an Apostrophe,
Elizabeth King Humphrey – The Write Elizabeth, Writing. Creativity. Play. Life.
Walter L. Johnson II – Georgia News Beat, An inside look at what’s happening in the state of Georgia
B.J. Keeton – Professor Beej, Pop culture commentary with an academic slant
Amy Kocur – AmyLizK, Maryland/ DC Metro area arts and analysis
Courtney Koschel – Finding My Muse: A New Writer’s Journey
Sara Lancaster – No.2PenBlog, Resource for my clients and others interested in marketing communications
Bill Lascher – Lascher at Large, A contemplative, pondered and unrushed thought banquet
Mary Dixon Lebeau – In the Boom Boom Room, Remember staying out until the street lights came on?
Pooja Lohana – Brown-eyed Mystic, On writing and more!
Sarah E. Ludwig – Parenting by Trial and Error, The learning curve in raising kids
Jenny Lynes – Welcome to the Good Life, A student environmentalist exploring responsible, cheap, and fun living
Harry Marks – Curious Rat, Chewing at the tech industry's wires...nom nom nom...
Joanne Mason – English Idioms, What they mean, how we use them, where they came from
Kim McNeill – Kim’s Play Place, An active parent trying to make sure my kids are educated
Teresa Mears – MiamiOntheCheap, Discounts, deals and free events in Miami
Rose Medlock – RFM, Rose Flores Medlock
Heather Minton – Stumbling into Grace, The adventure of following God and figuring it out in Portland http://stumblingintograce-hlm.blogspot.com/
Kathy Murray – Out and Employed, News, career advice and job resources for ex-offenders
Alexis Neely – Life, Business and the Pursuit of Truth, A blog about the intersection
Charles Newbery – Pine Tree Paradise, The life of a work-at-home writer and father of three
Eric Novinson – Costing a Green Future, A green business blog
Tracy O'Connor – I Hate My Message Board, Humor, crankiness, a museum of snack foods and the odd motivational piece
Andrea Parker – Autism Fundraising Guide, For parents of children with autism
Lilac Penafiel – What Have You Learned Today, Life lessons learned everyday...
Tara Phillips – Two Hands and a Road Map
Jennie Phipps – WalletPop, AOL's personal finance blog
Ed Pilolla – Ed Pilolla, What the f*** is love?
Sue Poremba – I Breathe, Therefore I Write
Kate Reilly – Polka Dot Suitcase, Family fun through creative living
Meredith Resnick – The Writer’s [Inner] Journey, Bestselling authors, professional creatives and emerging voices in quirky dialogue about how they write and why it works
Vanessa Richardson – Way Out West Texas, City girl from California moves to Way Out West Texas, what will happen?
Rebecca Robinson – Rebecca Robinson, Updates on freelance projects, reflections on journalism innovation in Portland and beyond, and brainstorms from the wee hours
Carey Rossi – Thank You Everything, Appreciate the little things
Natasha Rogue – The Writing Blues, Little tips on how I find motivation to get past the difficulties of writing life and the road to publication
Andrea M. Rotondo – Luxury Cruise Bible, Your source for unbiased luxury cruise reviews
Melissa Sais – Digital Mom, Raising kids in a digital world
Lisa Samalonis – Single Parent Savings
Sami – Stonerpreneur, Stoner antics as they relate to my business and personal growth
Dina Santorelli – Making Baby Grand, And I thought giving birth to real babies was hard...
Lacey Savage – Tips and WIPS, Talking about writing fiction
Lilian Schaer – Food and Farming Canada, A blog about the farming side of food
Matthew Smith – Smidgen PC, Big news about tiny PCs
Michelle Smith - Law Office of Michelle R. Smith, Because it’s your life, your family and your choice
Stephanie Suesan Smith – Stephanie Suesan Smith PhD, Information Central
Claire Splan – An Alameda Garden, Gardening issues in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond
Margarita Tartakovsky – Self-ish, {Sorta} Sage Advice on Being a Better You
Thinkingtoohard – Thinking too hard, This is where I empty my head
Blake Thompson – Black Thompson daht Net, “I'm just saying..."
Jodi Torpey – Western Gardeners, Your online guide to gardening in the West
Paul Tullis – Grim Tidings- True/Slant, My rants about politics & policy
Brandi-Ann Uyemura – Brandi-Ann Uyemura, Rather be freelancing: tips for the beginning writer
Beth VanHoose – Writing in Sand, My adventures in freelance writing, and other stuff
Rachel Vidoni – East Coast Musings, A humorous look at kids, family and life
Jen Walker – My Morning Chocolate, Writing, experiments, culture and adventure in food
Katie Jett Walls – One per Week, 52 posts on things that matter to me
Sarah Webb – Webb of Science, Connecting science and life
Rebecca Weber – Newstilt SAfrica
Susan Weiner – Investment Writing, For investment and wealth managers who want to communicate more effectively with clients and prospects
Rashida Williams – Really Rashida, Urban lit author blogging about my life and times
Jennifer Willis – Jennifer Willis, Thoughts on religion, sustainability, media and culture
And the woman who started it all...drumroll, please:
Michelle Rafter - WordCount, freelancing in the digital age
And there's a few late starters...
Teresa Bitler - Forty Firsts, Forty new things to try in your/her 4oth year
Christa Avampato - Christa in New York, Curating a Creative Life
Ben Bradley - Ben’s (Not Quite) First Ever Presence on the Interweb, Blog of an aspiring human being
Diane Calhoun – Violet is My Color, Life just happens, deal with it
Joy Choquette - One Year. 156 Fears. Life Changing. One woman tackles her fears
Cocotte - Leaping into Life, Uncommon stories to nurture body, mind & soul
Cindy Elsberry - Doodle9, Paddling down the stream…of consciousness
Heather Frendo - Thrifty Knee Socks
Su-sieee! Mac – This and That. Here and There. Now, Sometimes Then., Rambling about anything and everything that interests me
Kristie Sloan – mkBeautyZone, Skin care and makeup information training and products
Jan Udlock - Imperfect Mom
Beth VanHoose – Writing in Sand, My adventures in freelance writing, and other stuff
Friday, April 30, 2010
The May Blogathon is back!
Tomorrow is the big day--the start of the 2010 May Blogathon. Initiated three years ago by Michelle Rafter at WordCount, this is a special event for writers who met on FreelanceSuccess. We wait for this event. In fact, some of us, like me, CAN'T wait for it. So I've initiated a few extra blogathons on my own, as some of you may know.
For those of you who don't, tomorrow begins 31 straight days of blogging. A group of more than 70 freelance writers will take on the challenge this year to blog once a day for the month of May.
Michelle has organized another great event this year; she's offering prizes, blog post ideas, special days for guest blogging--and so much more. She even had one of our fellow blogathon participants, Ron Doyle, design the official blogathon badge (see above). That's a first this year. So I'm inspired just thinking about all that waits ahead for us.
If you're asking: what's the point? The point is to help us all find ways to make the blogging experience work for us, both individually and as a group. Whether that means showing us that we can blog regularly without it killing us, that we can find time to post comments on other blogs, that we can learn new blogging skills (how do create video, for me, some day) or that we can attract more readers, that's what the blogathon does. It opens up room for more creativity. It allows us to find new ways to share a message. It gives us the opportunity to provide information to our readers that is valuable, entertaining and informative. By inviting others to participate with us, we can't help but take on the challenge to grow and learn.
That's what happens during the blogathon.
I hope you'll stick around for the next 31 days. You're going to meet new people, learn new things, and hopefully be entertained.
My theme for the month--INSPIRATION--comes from the ASJA writer's conference I just attended in New York City. I want the inspiration to continue, beginning tomorrow.
See you then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
