Ask Arlee: Are You Ready for the A to Z Challenge?

The Big Question  

    Yes, someone actually asked me if I was ready for the A to Z Challenge which begins next Monday April 1st.   In fact, more than one person has asked me that.  What a silly question!  I'm one of the bloggers running this thing.   I should be ready shouldn't I?

       Well, I'm not.  Not really.  Kind of ready, but not as ready as I'd like to be.  Not as ready as I was in the two previous years.

       Tons of computer problems have been plaguing me and various life issues have been diverting my time away from A to Z.  Good news is that it looks like my computer issues have been fixed (for now at least).  I did the disk reformat and reinstalled my hard drive and the machine is working almost like new.  I probably will need to replace a fan that is getting noisy, but otherwise I've never seen this baby working so fast.

        And contrary to about half of those who advised me, I reinstalled Chrome and having no problems whatsoever.  Everything is working faster than ever.  Let's hope it stays that way for a while.

        So bottom line is that I have very few posts prepared and will be shooting these off as I go.   Before my problems started inundating me I had signed all four of my blogs as I did last year.   I'm going to try to keep up, but if I have to drop a few then so be it.

How Do I Follow a Blog on a Platform Different than the one I'm on?

       This is another question that was addressed to me.   My A to Z Ambassador Judy Raiser from Raising the Curtain took on this question and is providing the answer at the A to Z Blog.  Be sure to stop over to find out the answer.

A Reminder Will Be Coming Your Way

        Just in case anyone has forgotten that the A to Z Challenge starts next Monday, the A to Z Team of co-hosts will be sending out some reminder emails with a few suggestions to help you along your way.  I hope you are all more ready than I am to put up your first posts A through F during that first week.

        After the Challenge starts, many of you who are prepared with pre-written posts will be on auto-pilot as you cruise on through the list visiting all sorts of bloggers.  Good luck to you and congratulations on being so well organized.

       The main thing is have fun with it all and I hope you find this year's Challenge to be very rewarding.  I'll be back on Friday when I will announce my A to Z theme for Tossing It Out.

        Are you ready to go?


     

Related articles

• The A to Z Challenge is Coming and the Big Reveal
• Have You Joined the #AtoZchallenge Yet?
• From 'Argo' to 'Zodiac' and everything in Between #atozchallenge

I've Got a Team! Arlee's #atozchallenge Ambassadors

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        Recently a call for help was sounded on the A to Z Challenge Blog and many great bloggers stepped forward to answer that call.   We requested volunteers to act as administrative assistants to the A to Z Team co-hosts to help us broaden our outreach to the Challenge participants.

        I now have a very eclectic team assembled to help me.   Please pay a visit to each of these bloggers so you can introduce yourself and while you're visiting you might want to click their follow buttons or subscribe to their new posts.  

        Each co-host will have their own auxiliary help team with corresponding badges to identify who they are.  Announcements should be appearing on each co-host blog announcing their teams and displaying the badge that will identify each respective co-host team.  The help teams will be listed and linked on a special page at the A to Z Blog.  

Meet Arlee Bird's A to Z Challenge Ambassadors for 2013:

Judy at raisingthecurtain.net 

Tim Brannan at   The Other Side  and his secondary blog that he co-runs Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword .

Jaimie Ramsey at Living in the Light .

Yvonne Lewis at Yvonne's Poetry Corner   

Alana Garrigues at Writercize .

         In the weeks to come and throughout April these A to Z Ambassadors will visiting blogs throughout the list in order to introduce themselves to you and provide encouragement.    They will also be helping us to make sure all the links on the list are good and the bloggers who have signed up are indeed participating in the Challenge.    Those blogs that do not remain active with A to Z posts during April will be removed from the list.

         Please let us know if you are having any problems posting during April or if you fall behind for any reason and plan to catch up.    Through the efforts of the A to Z Team co-hosts and their subordinate assistance teams we hope to keep the list free from any irregularities that waste time for those of you who are trying to visit as many blogs as possible.

         My thanks to my Challenge Ambassadors and to all of those helping my co-hosts!

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          Have you been telling others about the A to Z Challenge?   Have you done any special A to Z posts on your own blog?      How many blogs do you predict will sign up for 2013?

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• Why YOU should consider doing the #atozchallenge, but why I'm not . . .
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A to Z Sign Up Time Starts Today!

     
    Happy Birthday to me!

           It's become A to Z tradition to open the Linky List on my birthday and today is that day.

           Some of you may have already noticed that the other side of the world got a jump on us with the Linky list.   Yes, even as I prepare this post the Linky List is already filling up.  Not a problem though.  There's room for everybody and every place on the A to Z list is a good one.  So never fear if you sign on at #200 or #2000.   You'll still get visited, especially if you are visiting others.

         For those who are scratching their heads about this A to Z Challenge I recommend that you go visit the official A to Z Blog for full details.  If you still don't get it, there is a CONTACT US tab that will take you to a page where you can ask any questions you may have.  Or ask me in the comment section below.

         You'll be able to sign up any time between now and April.  The Linky List will be available on this post until Friday and then after that you'll find it by clicking the List tab at the top of this page as well as similar tabs on the A to Z Blog and the blogs of all of the other co-hosts.  In other words, the list will be all over the place so you shouldn't have any problem finding it.

          Even though you have two months to sign up, we encourage you to sign up now or as soon as you can.  Why so soon?   Well, because once bloggers start signing onto the list, the pre-Challenge party  begins.  Get yourself out there so others can find you.  Two months of mingling and meeting and greeting will allow you to get to know the other participants.   This will be favorable in helping you determine your April strategy.

          Between now and April you can start following other blogs and getting to know those bloggers.   They will likewise start following your blog.  So even though the blogging part of the Challenge begins in April, the really big part of the Challenge--visiting other blogs--starts now.  Are you ready to make new friends?  Your link on the list means you're ready to invite visitors to your blog.

           Let's go!

      This year, per many of your requests, we're introducing Blog Categories for Participants. This is entirely Optional, other than for blogs with Adult Content, which will be taken off the list unless marked (AC). 

      If you'd like to pick a category, please choose One from the list of 22 categories listed below, and add the code after your name/ blog name while signing up on the linky list. e.g. Damyanti Biswas - Amlokiblogs (WR)

     Only the codes from the following list will be admissible, in the format they are presented below, in capital letters enclosed in parentheses:  e.g. (WR)   You may sign up with just your blog name, and include one of the following codes.   But please note that once you have decided on a code, you won't have the option to change it.   Multiple entries of the same blog, and ad sites will be deleted.
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1. WRITING :                          (WR)

2. BOOKS:                              (BO)

3. FILM :                                  (FM)

4. PHOTOGRAPHY:               (PH)

5. GARDENING:                     (GR)

6. CRAFT:                               (CR)

7. ART:                                    (AR)

8. MUSIC:                               (MU)

9. CULINARY:                         (CU)

10. LIFESTYLE:                      (LI )  

11. FASHION:                          (FA)

12. PERSONAL:                      (PR)

13. SOCIAL MEDIA:                (SO)

14. GAMING:                           (GA)

15. EDUCATION :                    (ED)

16. POLITICS:                          (PO)

17. HISTORY:                           (HI)

18. SCIENCE:                          (SC)

19. HUMOR:                             (HU)

20. TRAVEL:                             (TR)

21. MISCELLANEOUS:            (MI)

22. ADULT CONTENT:             (AC)

       When you sign up to the Linky List, be sure that you have the correct URL address that leads directly to the main page of your blog and not to a specific post.   You want visitors to find your April posts right?  If you haven't decided yet whether or not to do the April Challenge it's okay to wait until you're ready to sign up.   But if you know you're going to do it then sign up as soon as you can.   The Alphabet Challenge may start in April, but the visiting and networking party has already started.

Here is the list:

Sign up if you're ready.  We are ready for you!

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Please read and follow the sign-up instructions outlined above so you sign onto the list correctly!   Please do not just sign up without reading and then come back to ask us to correct your errors!
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Related articles

• A to Z Challenge Sign-ups start today! #atozchallenge
• A to Z Team 2013
• Are You Ready for the 2013 a to Z Challenge?

Today's Scheduled Post Has Been Preempted by Some Special Announcements

A to Z Challenge News!

         Be sure to visit the Blogging from A to Z Challenge Blog for announcements relevant to the April event.   The new A to Z Challenge badge for 2013 is being debuted!   What the heck--here it is!

          Still, be sure to go to the A to Z Blog site for additional information.

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Carol Kilgore Has Another Book Coming Soon!

        Most of you have probably visited Under the Tiki Hut--the blog that is.   It's the blog spot of my long time blog friend Carol Kilgore.  After the success of her previous book, IN NAME ONLY, Carol has come up with another spellbinder.

Here's a preview:

A missing belt—her uncle’s prized possession. The lure of buried treasure. And a sexy former SEAL who makes U.S. Coast Guard Commander Taylor Campbell crazy. What more could any woman want. Right?

Taylor is on a quest to unearth her uncle’s buried treasure—a journey so far out of the realm of her real life she can barely fathom it. There’s one other minor glitch. Taylor's certain the buried treasure was all in Uncle Randy's dementia-riddled mind. Now he’s dead.

All the same, Taylor is in Rock Harbor, Texas, to settle her uncle's estate, including following his directions to the treasure—even if doing so means trespassing. When someone tries to kill her, Taylor's quest becomes personal. She tosses Randy's official cause of death—Drowning Due to Accident—out the window and starts looking at his Rock Harbor acquaintances. Could Randy's treasure be real?

Jake Solomon is in Rock Harbor under false pretenses. He loathes the charade, but if he doesn't follow the plan, his dad will make Jake's SEAL training feel like a day on the monkey bars in kindergarten.

The plan is to protect Taylor Campbell from the fate that befell her uncle and the other members of a tight circle of Coast Guardsmen called the Compass Points who served together on Point boats in Vietnam.

Due to the danger involved, Jake’s dad has ordered him not to become involved with Taylor. Disobeying his father was Jake’s first mistake.

Taylor is attracted to Jake as well, but she refuses to wait for Jake to locate the killer when she knows her plan will force her uncle’s murderer into action.

But the killer's actions are just what Jake is afraid of.

About the Author:

Carol Kilgore has always had stories and characters in her head, but she didn’t know she should write them down until about a dozen years ago. Once she started, she couldn’t stop.

Her first published short story won the Derringer Award for Best Short-Short Mystery. She continued to write short fiction for a few years and also enjoyed a small success as a freelancer before giving it all up for her true love—novels.

Carol writes a blend of mystery, suspense, and romance she calls Crime Fiction with a Kiss. Always at least one crime; always a love story. Solomon’s Compass is her second published novel.

As the wife of a Coast Guard officer, Carol has lived in locations across the U.S. She and her husband now live in a San Antonio suburb and share their home and patio with two active herding dogs that keep them free from all danger, real or imagined.

You can find Carol here:

website . blog . facebook . twitter . goodreads . amazon


        I should be back on Wednesday with my post about why we like what we like and my review of Marvel's The Avengers.