Friday, October 14, 2011

Pay It Forward!

Matthew at the QQQE and I are proud to present the Pay it Forward blogfest!

I have thank everyone who commented on the book trailer for CassaFire! I am just blown awayby what my publisher created.

Now to the blogfest! The purpose is to introduce others to three bloggers you find awesome. Then attack the Linky List and explore! Find some cool new friends. Take the whole weekend to discover some great bloggers.

Narrowing it down to three was next to impossible. With close to a thousand followers now (yeah, that blows my mind!) I know so many cool people. So, I decided to give you a variety today.

The Writer-Author
Jeffrey Beesler at World of the Scribe has been a blogger buddy of mine for well over a year. He’s now one of my critique partners as well! Jeffrey is a careful planner when it comes to his blog and will map out theme weeks a month in advance. He pours so much into his posts and everyone would benefit from his advice and proddings. If you don’t already follow Jeffrey, jump on over and visit this most excellent Ninja!

The Photographer-Artist
Leovi is an amazing photographer! All images are abstract and close up, and it’s just amazing. Leovi is a true master. And despite the huge number of people who follow Leovi, I can always expect a comment here from this most excellent photographer. If you want to be amazed, visit Leovi today!

The Book Reviewer/Speculative Fiction Expert
Edi lives in Germany and runs Edi’s Book Lighthouse. I met him last year when seeking speculative fiction reviewers and we’ve been good friends ever since. He’s been a big encourager and supporter as well. His weekend posts hold so much information about books and movies it will make your head swim. He really should have a thousand followers. You want to know what’s going on in the speculative world? Visit Edi today!

Special Mention (Because I can!)
Eve is a new follower of mine. She seemed close to giving up the whole blogging scene when she latched on to the Pay it Forward blogfest. She needs to know what an awesome bunch of people are out there in the blogging world! Visit Eve today and tell her – I’m with you!

The list of participants is below, but before I go, I must share this image with you…

The folks over at FreakingNews, a Photoshop news site, held a contest for Star Wars mashups. This was my favorite:


Now, go discover some cool blogs!

120 comments:

Lisa said...

Yes Alex, it must be tough for you, so I am off to check them out. I am already enjoying Leovi and he is not just a great artist but a great blogger too.

Miranda Hardy said...

I think we all had a tough time narrowing it down. I love all my followers.

Love that picture, too. Priceless.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Thanks for giving me some new blogs to check out, Alex! Have a great weekend! :)

Old Kitty said...

Happy bloghopping!! Yay!! Take care
x

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Oceangirl, that he is!

Miranda, the one for Pirates was also funny.

Elizabeth and Kitty, have a great weekend!

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Good luck with the blogfest Alex, I tried to put links on my blog but found it nigh impossible.


Thanks for your kind comment on my Lonliness post. much appreciated.

Yvonne.

Matthew MacNish said...

That sure is an awesome mash-up photo! Thanks so much for running this blog fest with me, Alex.

Laila Knight said...

Good morning, Alex. Loved the mash up photo. Well, it looks like I'm already following two of your followers. I added the third. And glad you mentioned Eve. Have a great weekend! :)

Ciara said...

Love this blogfest. I've stopped by your three and off to find more. :) Have a great day.

Civil War Horror (Sean McLachlan) said...

Hi Alex, I was tempted to pick you as one of my three but you have no shortage of readers already! I'll go to these three you picked and give them some love.

Leovi said...

What a great surprise Alex, thank you very much for such beautiful words and for choosing between your three proposals. I'm really blush to go with these two extraordinary bloggers. Hope you Have a wonderful weekend!

Natalie Aguirre said...

Thanks for organizing this Alex. It's going to be fun meeting everyone.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Yvonee, sorry the links didn't work!

Matthew, no problem! Today is going to be a blast.

Civil War, that's fine - I am good to go I think!

Leovi, you're welcome. You were the first to come to mind.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Chewbacca is my favorite!! Love that.

Thanks for hosting this blogfest. It's really great to meet others who love writing and storytelling.

Enjoy your weekend.

Gail said...

Looks like it's off to a great start.

Stopped by to welcome Eve.

Jeremy [Retro] said...

chewie wonka... brilliant! i must check out the site. oh my gosh or omg... i missed a super-duper blogfest, where is my head...

happy friday!

Jeremy [iZombie]
iZombie Lover

Jemi Fraser said...

Narrowing it down to 3 was one of the hardest things I've done!! I don't know all of the folks you've mentioned, so off I go! :)

Suze said...

That mash-up poster made me chuckle. Thanks!

Laura Eno said...

Chewbacca! I never knew...
Great picks to visit and I'm off to call on Eve right now.

J.L. Campbell said...

Wonderful idea! Congrats to Matt and yourself for coming up with it. Gonna get moving on the follows in a bit. Have a great weekend.

J.L. Campbell said...

Not sure I'm following. Can't find your list now. Blogger might be at it again. I'll pop back in a while.

Creepy Query Girl said...

Thanks for the links and this awesome blogfest! Mashup is awesome! lol

T. Powell Coltrin said...

I'm going over to visit your three...four. Have a great weekend.

Angela Ackerman said...

Great idea, and a wonderful way to celebrate other bloggers! Off to check some more out--thanks so much to you and Matt for rolling this out!

Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Gail, thanks - she'll appreciate it.

Jeremy, still time to join!

JL, it's the ever-vanishiing list...

Thanks guys and have fun this weekend exploring.

M.J. Fifield said...

That Ewok picture is just...disturbing. It kind of creeps me out. Wait. Strike that. It really creeps me out.

Happy Blogfest Friday!

Emily White said...

I LOVE that picture.

Thanks for the suggestions!

C D Meetens said...

I love that picture of "Star Wars in Wonderland" - Chewbacca looks so cool!

Thanks for the blogfest :).

Unknown said...

That is a pretty fantastic Star Wars mash up. Great choices on blogs to follow.

Charles Gramlich said...

Great pic for sure. I'm barely hanging on today but I will try to visit some new blog sites this weekend.

Arlee Bird said...

This is downright crazy! We'll need a couple of weeks to get through all of these. But heck yeah, it's pretty great too. Thanks to you and Matthew for putting this together.


Lee
Tossing It Out

Susan Oloier said...

It was definitely hard to narrow the selection to three. Thanks for co-hosting the blogfest. I'm off to check out your selections. BTW...love the mash up photo! Will have to show it to hubby later. He's a huge Star Wars fan.

Bossy Betty said...

Alex! What a wonderful idea for a blogfest! I love it! Thanks for visiting me even when I have been here in this little box of my own world right now. I will be glad when I can get back to regular visits with everyone!

Bossy Betty said...

Alex! What a wonderful idea for a blogfest! I love it! Thanks for visiting me even when I have been here in this little box of my own world right now. I will be glad when I can get back to regular visits with everyone!

Cate Masters said...

Thanks so much for organizing this! I'm also marking my calendar for Insecure Writers Support Group day (always a challenge, remembering)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Great picks . I'll try to visit as many as I can! This blogfest turned out massive! Love it!

~Sia McKye~ said...

As usual, you have a great list of participants, Alex. If I had to narrow it down to three I don't know if I could. Kudos to you that were able to.

Sia McKye's Thoughts...OVER COFFEE

Jessica Bell said...

Trust you to sneak a 4th in there! :o) Will check them out!

Sangu Mandanna said...

I detect some shameless blog-host rule-breaking with that honourable mention :-) but I'll turn a blind eye because they all sound like awesome blogs and I'm off to check them out!

Lydia Kang said...

In the words of the fake Snooki on SNL:

"Hey, I said touch it, don't mash it!"

That Chewy is so frightening.

Thanks for doing this blogfest!

Patti said...

Thanks for hosting this, looking forward to checking out all of the new blogs.

Julie said...

This is an awesome blogfest! (You seem to have mad skillzzz at coming up with them!) Will definitely be participating. Can't wait to meet more awesome writers!

Nicole Zoltack said...

It was so hard to pick 3. Awesome blogfest. I can't wait to meet some new bloggers!

Stephanie Lorée said...

Just did my post, Alex. Another smashing blogfest!

Claudia Zurc said...

Hi Alex,
Thank you for joining my blog. I paid it forward: I just became follower 977 ;)
Blogfest is fun!
Cheers!

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Hooray for friends! Thanks for sharing your friend list, Alex! My, that bloghop is superlicious long! :O

Happy Friday!


♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this blogfest. I've discovered many new blogs and especially look forward to checking our Leovi's photo blog!

Mark said...

Hitting up the cool blog! Thanks for the reminder:)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

MJ, sorry about the creepiness.

Lee, that's why we held it on a Friday - everyone can take the weekend to explore.

Susan, show him the site! There were some funny ones.

Betty, I'd come see you no matter what.

Cate, glad you're on board!

George, it exceeded our expectations.

Sangu, forgive me...

Lydia, thanks for the laugh.

Julie, I think it's what I do best...

Claudia, thank you!

Elizabeth, isn't it wild?

Donna K. Weaver said...

Yes, thanks for hosting this with Matt, Alex.

Claire Hennessy said...

Thanks for organising this, Alex, great idea. Trying to get round a few blogs today - loved your choices :)

Pat Tillett said...

I'll check out those links. I do know Leovi already. An amazing artist.

Sorry, I screwed this all up and combined this blog hop with another one. I'm just running out of time lately.

LTM said...

omg! That Star Wars pix is too awesome! Thanks for the recs, and hang in there, Eve! You'll find your group~ :o)

Laura S. said...

Hi, Alex! This is such a great idea for a blogfest. I'm really enjoying finding all these new writers and bloggers.

In response to your comment on my post today, I love the Shannara series! I'm so with you about the Warlock Lord. He's a fantastic villain. I haven't read those books in awhile so I think it's time to give 'em a re-read.

Hope you have a great weekend! I'm sure it'll be much better than Chewbacca's, poor thing. ;)

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Thanks for hosting this AMAZING blogfest, Alex! And thanks for introducing me to 4 new blogs! :-)

LynNerdKelley said...

Hot dog! Thanks for hosting this fantastic blog hop, Alex! Amazing how many people are participating! Have a great day.

Ishta Mercurio said...

Great Blog-Hop! And great links - all new to me! Wahoo!

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

Thanks for the great blog hop!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

LOL! Chewbacca never looked better.
I'll go say hello to Eve.

xoxo said...

Your choices sound pretty interesting!
That Photoshopped cover is hilarious.
Xoxo

Unknown said...

Thanks for setting this up, Alex. I'm up and running :)

Christine Rains said...

Great links. That picture sort of startled me. I scrolled down and gasped! I'm having a lot of fun with this blogfest and meeting lots of new people. Awesome stuff.

M Pax said...

Got Edi and Eve now. Thanks for the pointers to two blogs I hadn't run across yet.

Malcolm R. Campbell said...

Wow, sure is a long list of blogs here. Hmm, guess I better start with those at the top and work my way down. See you in a few years.

Malcolm

Unknown said...

Great post today. I already follow Jeffrey and will check out the others. Great company for him to be in.

GYPSYWOMAN said...

greetings sir! well, i could have sworn i'd left comments on at least two previous posts but don't find them now - however blogger and FB both have been misbehaving for me of late so who knows - in any event, just dropping by to wish you a fab friday and a great weekend - seems my time these days is being confiscated by little ones and rope swings and trips for ice cream! ;) see you soon!

Kelly Polark said...

Oh, are you having a Blogfest today? :)
The Blogfest button is all over my dashboard. Way to go, you two!

ediFanoB said...

Alex,
you are absolutely incredible! Thank you so much for your kind words. I feel flattered.
Yesterday (Thursday) I was so tired after work that I went to bed instead of checking my mails and the comment section of my blog.

I'm sure you will welcome your 1000th follower within 2011.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I will visit the 2011 Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany. Therefore I have to hurry up to finish my weekend post because I know I will be too tired after the fair to write a post.

Alex, you ROCK, ROCK, ROCK, ROCK, ROCK, ROCK, ROCK, ROCK, ROCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Pat, that's all right! It happens.

Laura, his books got me hooked on reading and eventually writing.

Malcolm, it's going to take a while...

Draven, Jeffrey has mentioned you many times, but I couldn't find your blog until today.

Hey Gypsywoman! I'll be visiting you soon, promise.

Kelly, that is great!

Edi, thanks! Thousand followers is coming. Hope you get a ton of new followers today my friend.

Nancy Thompson said...

Hey again Alex! First, I can't express enough thanks to you and Matthew for hosting this wonderful bloghop. I woke up this morning with 16 new followers and they just keep on coming. WOW! How cool is that?!

Second, you and Matthew have created a giant monster. How am I ever gonna find the time to visit everyone? I'm gonna try my best and I'm definitely gonna visit your recommendations. Thanks again for everything. You do ROCK!!!

Golden Eagle said...

I follow all of the blogs you mentioned. :)

Thank you for hosting this blogfest! It's such a great idea.

Laila Knight said...

I love this. And I'll bet anything by Monday morning you'll have reached your 1000 followers. I'm so excited for you. I think I managed to follow everyone I could figure out how, but I haven't commented much. There's not that many hours in the day. This was a great idea you guys came up with. :)

PK HREZO said...

Hey some new ones here! Thanks for the link and for the fantastic blogfest. It always makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to pay it forward. :)

Unspoken said...

Whew, I've got my blogs to checkout this weekend list full!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Nancy, thanks! Glad you are having a good time with it and making new friends.

Laila, I'm still trying to visit everyone - it's going to take all weekend! Would be cool to hit a thousand before October 19. That's a special day for me.

Heidi W said...

Thanks for co-hosting the blog fest! I met quite a few interesting bloggers, and I really appreciate the opportunity.

And look at you--zeroing in on 1000 followers. That is fabulous--you definitely deserve it. You are a wonderful blogger.

Pat Hatt said...

Missed the movie one, that would have been fun, but joined this one and have met bloggers by the ton!

Tonja said...

I've seen Leovi's site - very cool. I love the movie poster - so funny - I wonder if I can buy one. My daughter's still mad at me for hanging a Disney princess poster on her wall - this one would earn her forgiveness for sure.

Donea Lee said...

Oh, no!!!! A Mad-hatter wookie??? :) Too funny. And you've got one or two blogs listed that I need to go visit/discover. Thanks for the tips! (And for hosting this awesome blogfest!)

Danette said...

Thanks for hosting this! IT's a fantastic idea and always good to pay it forward!!

Rusty Carl said...

Man, I went all day thinking I commented on this post. Can't believe I didn't. Generally, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, my alarm goes off, I lean over, pick it up (it's my phone), and when I shut it off I open up your blog, read what you have to say, then start my day.

No wonder I had so many problems today - I didn't complete my routine by commenting. Anyway, this is pretty fun. Chewy makes a good, er, whatever he is there. That website is awesome, I think I might try my hand at some of the competitions they have there.

And I'm off to see how many folks I can visit before I got to bed.

Laura Pauling said...

Okay, so I didn't know of your blogs either! Great list. Thanks!

Melissa Sugar said...

Alex, I know that you have far too many blogs participating in your blogfest to visit all of us. As a new blogger, I just wanted to express my sincere gratitude to you for offering so many ways for us to get to know fellow bloggers. You Rock!.

I noticed that you promoted Eve's blog and I think that is awesome. I listed her as one of my 3 as well. She is having a really tough time & I know that she appreciates your kindness & support.

Thank you
Melissa

Tara Tyler said...

thanks for the links and thanks for the contest =)

and thanks for always making time to visit everyone!
i dont know how you do it!

Bailey Hammond said...

I guess I know what I'm going to do this weekend when I'm not washing clothes, baking cookies, or writing papers. Yay!

Tara Tyler said...

ps, i meant blogfest
and
pss, star wars in wonderland funny =D

A Daft Scots Lass said...

Love that image!

Congrats on the HUGE success of the Blogfest. I've found some really brilliant peole to follow already.

Unknown said...

A late start for the fest for me. These are some great blogs and I already love Jeffrey and Leovi so I know I'll love Edi and Eve.

S. L. Hennessy said...

Great blog fest and great links! Thanks for hosting!!

35jupe said...

Thanks for hosting the blogfest, it's great fun!

Leovi said...

Congratulations Alex, I think the Pay it Forward blogfest! has been a success.

Lindi said...

Alex--Wow--what an awesome blog!! I'm from Ciara's blog--thanks for stopping by my blog. This blog rocks.

Anonymous said...

Thankyou so much for your mention alex, I am truly flattred :) it's so good to know there are so many like minded people out there, people who are so willing to help out.....So thankyou again xxx

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Heidi, thanks! Just a dude trying to help his friends.

Pat, glad you did!

Tonja, that is really funny.

Rusty, MY blog starts your day? Dude, I need to start giving you some early-morning eye-openers then! And you should try one of their competitions.

Melissa, my goal this weekend is to visit all of you, so I will get to yours soon! And Eve just needed a little boost of belief again.

Tara, Ninjas never sleep...

Melissa, really surprised you didn't already follow Edi's site.

Leovi, it's been a huge success!

Lindi, thank you!

Eve, you are welcome - bet you got quite a surprise. Last I looked there were about thirty comments for you.

Katherines Corner said...

looks like i have lots of new blogs to visit.The photo shop one looks like fun. I wish I knew how to use photoshop. Hugs and sincere wishes for a lovely weekend xo

Unknown said...

Checking out your links and stopping to say hi =)

Author Joshua Hoyt said...

Still going through all the blogs I hope to get through them by tomorrow. Have a family thing going on this weekend. Great idea thanks for hosting this.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Katherine, just takes practice.

Josh, it was all Matthew's idea! And yeah, it will take me all weekend to visit everyone.

Igneel21 said...

chewy in wonderland is the best idea ever

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I thought I had a hard time picking three from my lineup. Thanks for running this funfest.

Wanton Redhead Writing said...

Dadnabit! I should've been paying closer attention. :(

LisaAnn said...

Wow, thank you so much for stopping by my blog, and yours is amazing! I can't wait to read more, and I can't wait to visit your suggestions!!

Michael Di Gesu said...

Terrific list of bloggers Alex... This was such a wonderful idea.

Have a great weekend.

Rek Sesh said...

Missed this as I did your book trailer. Seems like the Ninja Army is having a lot of fun hopping around. I do like what they have done to the image.

Empty Nest Insider said...

Sorry I couldn't particpate, but I look forward to catching up with this wonderful list of bloggers!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Tony, it's pretty funny.

Wanton, maybe we'll do it again next year.

Hey LisaAnn! Thanks, I appreciate that.

Hey Reka, thanks!

Talli Roland said...

What a great idea for a blogfest! Big thanks to you and Matt! :)

Christina Lee said...

YAY Alex and Matt! And love me some Chewy!!!

Carol Kilgore said...

I'm making a list of all the blogs people are listing for after I finish my current project.

It's Sunday, so hope your weekend has been great!

Author A.O. Peart said...

Great idea! I love your blogfests!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Thanks, ladies! And Carol, good idea, otherwise this would be all you were doing this weekend.

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

I love Leovi's abstract photos. They are wonderful. Thanks for the intro to his work.

Monti
NotesAlongTheWay

Liza said...

I have been so behind on my blogging that I missed this. What a great idea! Alex, just another way you show how helpful you are to other. Now, I have a lot of blogs to check out!

CA Heaven said...

Missed that one. I've been up in the mountains and out of Internet connection for a few days. But I'll be back on next blogfest >:)

Cold As Heaven

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Liza, sorry you missed it!

Cold, you travel so much, I don't know how you keep up with anything.

Kristen Wixted said...

Was very tempted to wait and be your 1000th follower but I would probably forget and mess it up anyway. Be 1002 or something...
;)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Kristen, I appreciate the follow!

Unknown said...

Your blogfest is awesome! Thanks for following my blog, i have done the same :)

Michael G-G said...

Alex, I wanted to be your 1000th follower, but I'll have to make do with 1002. Thanks to you and Matt for putting on such an awesome blogfest!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Michael, thanks though - I appreciate it!