My A-to-Z Expedition Into the Wild West - Reflections

I had such a rip-roarin' good time this year on the A-to-Z!  It was my second year participating, but it was a year for firsts, as well.  First time I had the privilege of being a co-host.  First time I worked with a theme.  First time I did this as an established blog, as last year I had never posted publicly or tried to get attention to my writing at The Warrior Muse.

You, too can grab this badge and stick it on your blog. Thanks, Jeremy!
There were also many people I got to meet for the first time, many who I gained a friendship with.  There were blogs I found for the first time, read for the first time.  Fabulous firsts!

Boy, did I have fun!  I loved poring through information about the Wild West.  I spent hours reading and researching before I sat down to write my posts.  Sometimes I got so lost in what I was reading that I'd come around at 1 AM and realize I still needed to put all that information into an at least vaguely readable post.  Then would come the image search, with some being easier than others.  That was cool, too, with sometimes some fairly gross pictures, considering I was looking at post-hanging and post-shoot-em-up photos.  Some of you out there are probably quite relieved I skipped posting those photos, while others have already stopped reading to go hunt down some of those photos.  Happy searching!

What did I learn this year?  I learned that I'm still a little kid when it comes to researching history.  I learned I still enjoy research and the Wild West immensely.  I learned that I was right to think that I should have pre-written my posts and had every. single. one scheduled to post.  That was my intention, but I completely underestimated how sucked in I'd get and how long each post would take me to write.  Next year?  Haha, yeah, we'll see...

Despite my girlhood flirtation with the Wild West, I learned a ton I hadn't previously been aware of during this Challenge. Wyatt Earp a pimp...whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?  There were things that didn't make it into posts, because something else came along, such as the fact that Samuel Clemens was out west as a prospector before he became Mark Twain.  I bet when he washed his face in the stream he found gold dust in his 'stache.
  

I had so much fun, in fact, that I'm considering doing some posts on historical topics, just for fun.  For now, I'm resting.  This girl is tired!  I'm already considering themes for next year, though...

If you'd like to post a Reflections post and have everyone come on by and see what you had to say, sign up below.

Are you already thinking ahead to next year's A-to-Z?  Got any ideas?  What would you do differently?  The same?

May you find your Muse.

*Censored stamp courtesy of Mohamed Ibrahim, clker.com
**Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens picture from Appleton's Journal July 4, 1874; See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Helpful Links: NiNoCon, Formatting Help, Free Reader & Author's Houses

Before I get to today's links, I need to announce that Monday's post on New Models in Publishing will be moved to Wednesday, in place of [Mostly] Wordless Wednesday, due to the opening of official sign-ups for the A-to-Z Challenge. I misplaced my days, but didn't want to make you wait another week for the informative notes from the Write Brain.

Onto the helpful hints:

I swear by THIS for formatting during that crunch before submission. I searched it out this week to format a short story for submission, and realized I hadn't passed it along before. It's a fantastic resource.

And, because I was doing a lot of editing this week, I did some looking around and heard about Natural Reader. It's a free program that allows you to listen to your words instead of just reading them over and over. I have, of course, read my novel out loud in editing, but my voice was hoarse and my throat sore for the next day or so. Plus, having sat in a Read & Critique at conference, I know that it sounds different in someone else's voice. I haven't actually tried this yet, but plan to within the week. It came highly recommended, though.

It seems there are a lot of online conferences I keep missing, but I lucked across this one ahead of time: NiNoCon begins Saturday, February 4. Click on the link for more information.

This link is just meant to be frosting. There was an article on Flavorwire about "15 Authors' Beautiful Estates". I was rather partial to Stephen King's house (I'd love to see it decorated for Halloween), Mark Twain's house and Kurt Vonnegut's house.

Finally, some weekly reminders:

Don't forget the A-to-Z Challenge. Even if you don't want to participate in the blogging challenge portion, there is currently a video challenge for your video-making pleasure. We are also looking for anyone interested in guest posting in the lead-up to the challenge.

The NLAPW (Pen Women) Flash Fiction Contest is ongoing. The theme is Are You Devious At Heart?; it is a micro-flash, 100 word maximum contest with a cash prize.

Pikes Peak Writers is accepting submissions (unpaid) for an anthology, to benefit their scholarship program. The theme is Moving Mountains.

And, of course, the Pikes Peak Writers Conference is open for sign-ups, and has scholarships available for those who need help with the fee. The sooner you sign up, the more likely you are to get a pitch session and/or a Read & Critique session.

That's it for today, folks! I hope you'll be back to sign up for the A-to-Z on Monday. Next Thursday, I hope to include a Project 52 update with my links. Also, don't forget that the continuation of my notes for New Models in Publishing, a Write Brain workshop presented by Pikes Peak Writers will be moved to Wednesday of next week, in lieu of [Mostly] Wordless Wednesday.

Which author's estate was your favorite? Any helpful links, information on readers or online conferences to pass along?

May you find your Muse.