Category: Blogfest/Bloghops

Cheersfest 2013 – Arlee Bird

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle29 Comments

Cheerfest Button 2013

“Ladies and gentlemen, the 2013 recipient of CheersFest is none other than Arlee “Lee” Bird.” Hosted again by Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King, Stephen Tremp and The Ninja Captain himself.

I virtually meet Lee during the first bloghop I ever participated in, 2012 A-Z Challenge, I did my first guest post on his blog and he is one of the first to leave a comment on most of my blog post.    I jump at the chance to celebrate Arlee.

Why did Lee come up with the A-Z Challenge?

Lee has an unusual fear of the alphabet, it started in childhood and he doesn’t like to talk about it, but he has been in intense aversion therapy ever since. The A-Z challenge is part of his therapy.

If someone dreams about being a juggler, what does it mean?

It’s means someone like to have all his balls in the air at the same time. That doesn’t sound right.

Is a post by Mr. Bird worth two in the bush?

More in my opinion, a bush, two stones and bushel of leaves.

Who could play Lee in a documentary? (Living or dead.)

Brian Dennehy could totally play Mr. Bird.

“From A to Z, I am Arlee Bird, but you can call me Lee.”

In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts:
·         Bird
·         Juggler
·         Challenge
·         Brown Jacket
·         Tossing

“Tossing, like this,” Lee said and demonstrated to his pet. He had a challenge ahead of him, but he told everyone he was a juggler, and a bird juggler at that.
Arlee knew he couldn’t juggle birds, but if he could train them to fly in a circular pattern while he pretended to juggle, his plan would work.
The day of the demonstrated, he tossed the birds up and they flew in a circle, over his head.
Then, they defecated on his brown jacket and flew away.  That was the day Lee realized, you couldn’t keep a bird from flying away. 

For Bonus Points:
·         In +/- 40 words, can you come up with a caption for Lee’s Facebook picture?

11.18 Lee Bird“See, I’m juggling so fast, it looks like the pins are standing still.”

Take your turn with the challenge and check out the other Arlee Cheerfest 2.0 posts.

Related post:  Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest

Insecure Writer’s Support Group – Not Enough Time

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle25 Comments

InsecureWritersSupportGroup

I hate to miss a IWSG post, but lately, I feel like I don’t have enough time to do all the thing I need and want to do.

So, here is my short post for today, how do you handle life when there are just not enough hours in the day?A 36 hour day is looking really good to me at the moment.

Where do your writing duties (writing, editing, promoting, tweeting, face booking, Pining,) fall within your priorities list?I will get to writing as soon as I finish, kids, husband, laundry, commuting, working, etc. . . 

Does it change depending on the time of year?  Welcome Christmas time. Did you come early this year?

Make sure to check out the other member’s to see what they are insecure about this month.  There is a contest going on today at the IWSG website. It’s all about spreading the word and as soon as I find some time, I will enter. 

Thanks to the awesome co-hosts for the December 4 posting of the IWSG Julie Flanders, Heather Gardner, Kim Van Sickler and Elsie is Writing!

My Weekly Update – NaNoWriMo +One Day

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle8 Comments

NaNoWriMo

2013-Winner-Vertical-Banner

I won with 50,000 words on November 24th, 2013, but what I am most proud of, I finish the first draft of my novel in 30 days +1.  70,140 words in 31 days and the story shifted a bit from my outline, but it’s pretty cool and I am looking forward to letting it rest for a few months and getting back to it sometime next year.

If you want to read about my NaNo writing journey, check out my journal under the Sydney Writes tab or by clicking the winner badge to the left.

A special thank you to the Texas Rough Writers for their support and encouragement. This was the first WriMo where I was able to meet other writers face to face.

Another special shout out to the 2013 NaNoWriMo Support Group on Facebook. Great group of writers and there was always someone around to sprint with.

Now it’s time to get back to an old project.

Goals for December 

  • Implement beta readers suggestions into Another New Life.
  • Decide what project to work on during Editpalooza. I am leaning towards Inked (Camp Nano 2012) or I’m Coming Home (JuNoWriMo 2012).
  • Create an outline for second book to my NaNoWriMo 2013 novel while the characters are still fresh in my mind.

December 2013 Blog Schedule – Sydney Aaliyah.com

Wednesday, December 4, 2013 – Insecure Writer’s Support Group
Thursday to Sunday, December 5-8, 2013 – Dream Destination Bloghop
Friday, December 6, 2013 – Guest Post from Tara Tyler
Monday, December 9, 2013 – CheerFest 2.0 – Our Honree – Mr. Arlee Bird
Wednesday, December 18, 2013 – Beautiful Rose Guest Post
Monday, December 23, 2013 – 50 States of Prayer
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 – Goals (Review 2013’s and Set for 2014)
 

December 2013 Blog Schedule – The Peasant Revolt

Wednesday, December 11, 2013 – What is New Adult Post
Monday, December 16, 2013 – On Solid Ground Review
 

Important Note

Pitch Wars hosted by Brenda Drake – submissions are due on Monday, December 2, 2013. I won’t be participating, but it’s a great opportunity to get your pitch read by some great agents and editors.  Good luck!

PitchWars-14-23

Anyone every participated in Editpalooza? What bloghops are you participating in  this month? Are you submitting for Pitch Wars?

Insecure Writer’s Support Group – Energy!!!!!!!

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle36 Comments

InsecureWritersSupportGroup

It is the first IWSG under the new site. Congrats to the new Insecure Writer’s Support Group website. Our host for this month, CD Coffelt, Tina Downey,Isis Rushdan, and Michelle Wallace! Thanks to you all.

There is this quote I heard from the rapper Ludacris that said, “passion is energy.”

I’ve also heard that when you’re searching for your passion, “You should do the thing that gives you energy.”

Most of the time I feel this way about writing, but somedays, not so much. Take today for example:  The plan was to get off of work early and make it to the library by six in order to have three uninterrupted hours of writing. I managed to get off on time, but first I had to drop a package off at the UPS Store. I went to three UPS Stores before I found one open and the traffic to get to that one was a beating. By this time I was starving. Instead of a nice energizing meal, I grab and chicken sandwich and fries from Wendy’s and eat it in the car while trying to avoid hitting anyone.  By the time I made it to the library, I was exhausted, frustrated, and full. I wanted to lay my head down and take a nap. 

Instead, I flip through my scene list and found the first kiss scene, one of my favorite scenes to write in a book and proceed to plow through it.  When I looked up two hours later I got 1700 words in and it came out pretty good for a first draft.

The library is kicking me out with this annoying song they play, but I wanted to ask: What do you do to energize yourself when your exhausted, but still need to write? Do some scenes energize you more then others? 

A big thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh, J.L. Campbell, Susan Gorley, Joylene Nowell Butler, Michelle Wallace, L. Diane Wolfe, and Lynda R. Young for their work on the IWSG website. I is a sanctuary for writers. Thank you!

My Weekly Update – It’s Back

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle7 Comments

All I want for NaNo Bloghop

nanobloghop

J.A Bennett and her friends created this anthology with all proceeds going to NaNoWriMo. The Spirit of Christmas is now available for purchase. Make sure you get your copy here!

To celebrate, me and my co-authors Jessica Salyer, David Powers King, Kelley Lynn, andCassie Mae are doing a bloghop.

My NaNo wish? All I want for NaNo is a few “in the zone” writing sessions and a completed first draft. That’s not to much to ask.

NYC Midnight – 2013 Flash Fiction Challenge

This has been a really cool contest. I placed fifth in my group in the first round. I was given the prompts of wrote a humorous story, located in a rain forest and had to mention a water balloons. Kind of random, right, but I wrote a strange, but amusing story about a robot and his crazy master. I will post it once I receive the feedback. They combine the scores for round #1 and #2 and round #2’s prompts – Horror, Tattoo Parlour and a pair of high heels.  My mind is already racing.

#NaNoWriMo 2013

In case you haven’t heard (haha), NaNoWriMo has official begun. This is year number two for me and I had a great first three days. I also had the opportunity to do a write in. Something I missed from my previous WriMo. It’s fun to hang out with other writers, and share this crazy experience. Here is one of my #NaNoWriMo Daily Journal from last week.

Date: November 2, 2013
Word Count:  1737
Observations:  I missed out on a write in at a local Irish pub, it’s to early in nano for life to get in the way.  Still, I was able to meet the Nano daily goal. A little less then my personal goal, but I also finished my outline and had to write my short story for the Flash Fiction Challenge Round #2. All in all, a productive day of writing. Working on the outline, the story went in a slightly different direction then I had intended. The absolute best reason why outlines are the way to go. The story didn’t quite work the other way, but now it’s more interesting and I created more tension. The scene I wrote today included the moment when the guy sees the girl for the first time. I’ve never written first person guys POV. It’s  a challenge. What does a guy say to himself when he sees a beautiful women for the first time? Is it all about sex. Would a guy describe how her smile warms his heart? I have no idea. Might need to do some male research. I also talked about how her perfect ass made him want to grab it. Maybe a mix of both will work. It helps that my guy has mommy and daddy issues. Allows me some leeway in the emotional department. 
 

Sports Updates

Congrats to the Boston Red Sox – 2013 World Series Champions.

NHL season started a couple of week. Go Stars!!!

NBA season started this week. Go Mavs!!!

I have denounced my citizenship to Cowboy Nation, but my sweet Peyton is having an amazing years, so I am officially a Broncos fan. I lived there for two years, so I’m allowed.

What do you want from NaNo? Do you ever join these type of contests? Have you ever won? What is your current word count? Have you ever given up on your favorite team?