And the Kitchen Sink

Yep, this post will have a little bit of everything.

I hadn't planned on joining the Platform-Building Campaign this go round. But, here I am. Joined and having fun meeting so many new bloggers. It's tough to make my way around to all my usual hangouts, and so many new ones. So things are slow going (especially topped off with a cold - a Welcome Back to School gift from my kids).

It's too late to join now, but you can still go to the campaigners lists and hook up with others in your genre.

Which brings me to another topic. A great post on L. Diane Wolfe's informative blog. It's all about blogging advice, comments specifically, and how to get more. My initial thought was, comment on others' blogs and you'll get 'em. She chose 3 great bloggers to interview for their thoughts on the subject. You can click the link to find out what they had to say.

Some blog tips for newbies:

Make sure your photo in the followers list links back to your blog, otherwise it's hard to follow back - unless you leave a comment.

When someone comments on my blog, I respond through email. I know lots of other bloggers who do the same. If you don't set up your profile to have emails bounce to your address, the email I receive shows up as noreplyblogger.com. So if I haven't replied to your comment, it means your email isn't there. (Yes, I'm aware that some folks like it that way - and that's fine. But I was clueless about that when I started, so I was thankful that someone let me know to do it.)

Some of you know I hang out at the Compuserve Books and Writer's Community. (A lot.) And, some of you hang out there with me. [g] Every month we do a writing exercise, and this month is a doozy. In fact, it's not one X, but an entire month of X's. As in a new one every day. I'm fairly sure out fearless leader (soon to be ex leader :(   ) is trying to kill us. Or make us write. One or the other.

We were told to pick a character - or make a new one up. Every day we need to answer a question for that character. It can be answered in scene form, stream of conscious, just as the author--anyway you want, really. So far, mine have turned out as half rough scene-half SOC. Not pretty. But, you know what? I am flippin' writing!

I've decided to supply the questions on my blog posts throughout the month. Here are the first 5 days:

Day 1: Who gave your character the name he or she goes by, and why? If it's a nickname or non-birth name go into additional detail.
Day 2: What is the first thing your character does on a typical morning? 
Day 3: What is the last thing that your character does before going to bed?
Day4: Who was the most important teacher in your character's childhood? It doesn't have to be a school teacher.
Day 5: What is the most important decision your character has had to make as an adult?

Day 5 nearly killed me. Haven't cried like that for a character in a long time. You all cry for your characters, right? I am not completely crazy yet...right?