Z is for Zai Gezunt - Be Well

So I'm not a big user of Yiddish, although my husband's family is from New York - The Bronx and Yonkers...so I have heard it a lot.  Zai Gezunt means, Good bye and Be Well.  And I wish that to all of you.

Since this is the last day of the A-Z Blogging Challenge I wanted to say that I have had such a wonderful time getting to know each of you, learning about your passions, and hoping with you for your hard work to pay off.

I look forward to the updates as I am following you all, and the May 3rd Mega-Post...over at Arlee Bird's Tossing It Out.  I know that a few of you are on upcoming Blogfests and I can't wait to read all of your entries. I'll be looking for ya!  Until next time...Ah...You know.

Y is for Yelling Into the Ether

When I was a young girl, I was out driving with my mom during a rainstorm. We were trying to get back home from the grocery store in our VW bus. Living on an island, the storms sometimes turned furious in a matter of minutes. Of course...we broke down and when we got out to walk to a nearby store, I could see my mother's lips moving, in a grimace from yelling, but all could hear was the pounding of the rain on my hood and the roofs around us.

Blogging reminds me of this sometimes. Yelling into a tumult, trying to get your voice heard...It can sometimes be quite frustrating. As a writer, I'm supposed to have a platform. I'm not published yet, and I write fiction...what could I possibly have to offer to the raging blizzard of words out there?

There are a lot of very good websites for getting a grasp on the inner workings of promotion. Aside from what your publisher will do; set up radio interviews, etc. There is a great site called Marketing Tips for Authors. For those poets out there, WordTech has an excellent tip sheet for getting your poems seen.  Marketing professional Amber Naslund over at Altitude Branding has a free PDF download on how to use social media for product elevation. You or I may not be ready to launch anything yet...but it never hurts to get prepared...It's my form of posititve thinking. 

What about you? Do you sometimes feel like you're yelling into a hurricane? How do you connect with other people on the internet? If you have a product or a book coming out...how do you get yourself seen? I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Until next time...Go Write!

Photograph by db*Photography, Uploaded on March 15, 2008.

X is for Xyster

I struggled to find an X word that would fit my current state of mind and happened upon Xyster.  This is a surgical instrument used for scraping bones...so its kinda like revisions, right?

As I continue to fine tune and polish my manuscript I look forward to reading all of the great entries from you fellow A-Z Blogging Challenge entrants.  Its nice to have a pleasant trip outside my worries to read about what is going on in other parts of the world.

I also wanted to thank you all for the great encouragement and advice on yesterday's comments...I shall take the critique circle's rants with a grain of salt...or maybe a salt block.  Since its my name on the pages, I'll go with my gut and stick with what I feel is the best representation of my heroine.  Thanks for helping me re-locate my back bone!  You guys rock!

Well, my completely arbitrary and self-imposed deadline looms ahead and I am off to do some more 'scraping'.  Until tomorrow, I hope you all have a wonderful day...Now Go Write!

Photograph by Asja, Uploaded on November 11, 2008.