Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Ninja News, Wednesday Movie Quote, and the A to Z Sign-up List is OPEN!!!

I discussed nosh with two hungry pups at The Life of a Novice Writer yesterday. If you missed it, check it out. Those pups like to talk to any author with nosh!


Ninja News!

Thanks to Stephen, Mark, Elise, and CM for hosting the Re-Introduce Myself Blogfest on Monday. So sorry, I still wasn’t able to get around to all of the participants AND all of my blogger buddies the past two days. Epic Ninja fail…

Jamie at Mithril Wisdom and Allison at Geek Banter are hosting the Level Up! Blogfest. “On February 20th, talk about a game you play or used to play; tell us how it works and share your love of the game with the rest of us. It can be any kind of game you like, from World of Warcraft to Hopscotch, from Monopoly to Blackjack and everything else in between. Tell us what you love about that game.”

Kimberly at Art of Infiltration shared twenty-two books she enjoyed reading last year (or wanted to read this year) with her seventh grade class. She said the kids were excited about three books – Possession by Elana Johnson, 18 Things by Jamie Ayers, and CassaStar. Whoa!!! Kimberly, that made my week.

With all of the books being published, I wanted to highlight another published artist. Ella at Ella’s Edge is a poet, photographer, and master craftswoman. If she can envision it, she can make it. Ella has had many of her beautiful pieces featured in magazines, and this past December she had several in Somerset Studio Gallery and Somerset Life. Ella, you are talented beyond words!

Liz Fichera’s latest book, Hooked, is available today. Congratulations, Liz!

Wednesday Movie Quote

Today’s favorite movie quote theme is “Light Fantasy.”

My favorite: (Double today!)

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya, You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

“Have fun storming the castle!”

Both from The Princess Bride.

What is yours?

A to Z Challenge Sign-ups Open!!

Sign-ups open today – but read first before entering your name!!

The A to Z Challenge is posting every day in April except Sundays (we get those off for good behavior.) And since there are 26 days, that matches the 26 letters of the alphabet. On April 1, blog about something that begins with the letter “A.” April 2 is “B,” April 3 is “C,” and so on. You can use a theme for the month or go random – just as long as it matches the letter of the alphabet for the day. We recommend short posts, turn off Word Verification, and visit five blogs (or more) a day beginning with the one after yours on the list.

This year there are categories for those looking for like-minded blogs. Select ONE category code and enter it after your blog’s title/name. The code applies to your blog, not your theme for the Challenge and is purely optional. However, if your blog has adult content, you MUST mark it (AC) or it will be removed from the list. Codes are as follows:

1. WRITING : (WR)
2. BOOKS: (BO)
3. FILM : (FM)
4. PHOTOGRAPHY: (PH)
5. GARDENING: (GR)
6. CRAFT: (CR)
7. ART: (AR)
8. MUSIC: (MU)
9. CULINARY: (CU)
10. LIFESTYLE: (LI )
11. FASHION: (FA)
12. PERSONAL: (PR)
13. SOCIAL MEDIA: (SO)
14. GAMING: (GA)
15. EDUCATION : (ED)
16. POLITICS: (PO)
17. HISTORY: (HI)
18. SCIENCE: (SC)
19. HUMOR: (HU)
20. TRAVEL: (TR)
21. MISCELLANEOUS: (MI)
22. ADULT CONTENT: (AC)

Be sure to grab the badge and display it in your sidebar so we know you are participating and link to the A to Z Blog.

You’re A to Z Hosts are founder Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out, Damyanti Biswas at Amlokiblogs, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Tina Downey at Life is Good, DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude 2.0, Jeremy Hawkins at Retro-Zombie, Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse, Matthew MacNish at The QQQE, Konstanz Silverbow at No Thought 2 Small, Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs, Livia Peterson at Leave it to Livia, L. Diane Wolfe at Spunk on a Stick, and Nicole at The Madlab Post.

This is the fourth Challenge. The very first one changed my blog forever! Are you ready to join us in the greatest blogging event ever?


Enjoy Monday’s blogfest? Joining the game blogfest? Follow the talented Ella? What is your favorite light fantasy movie quote? Joining us this April for the A to Z Challenge? If you have ANY question, please ask. I am a co-host and here to help. And do you have a theme…?

Don’t forget to visit The Life of a Novice Writer!


164 comments:

Suze said...

Test.

Suze said...

Ha! After two years of following your blog, I was finally the first commenter.

You're often mine. :)

And my PB lines were going to be:

'You think it'll work?'
'It'll take a miracle.'

The Happy Whisk said...

Holy cupcakes, Ninja Man. That's a lot of AtoZheads. Whew.

Have fun :-)

klahanie said...

Yep, Suze, you beat me here :) And gone 3:30 A.M in lil' ol' England. I should get some kind of award for staying awake and leaving this comment. Hot tamales, perhaps?

Thank you for doing a shorter posting! You are very aware of my take on all these blogfests and my satirical outlook on them.

Good to see all these links on here. And yes, enjoy the alphabet challenge. And surprise, surprise, I wont be joining! :)

Goodnight, time zones, eh!

Gary

The Happy Whisk said...

PS: I can't think of a favorite movie quote.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Suze, you did it! And awesome first quote.

Al Diaz said...

Father Dragon fulfilled his word. And today's movie quote will be "So let it be written, so it shall be done." (From a classic :D)

The Armchair Squid said...

Thanks as ever for co-hosting A-Z. I'm looking forward to it.

One of my favorites from PB:

"If we only had a wheelbarrow, that would be something!"

Livia Peterson said...

I can't wait for the A to Z challenge - I know it's gonna be fun! Still thinking about the twenty six topics I want to discuss.

Thank you for introducing me to the Challenge. If it weren't for you, I probably would've skipped it nor co-hosting it with some awesome people.

And I loved the re-introduce blogfest. It was fun re-meeting and meeting a few new folks. Man, I never realized how HUGE this commununity is - that goes to show, it's hard to keep up with everyone. I don't know how you do it!

And wahoo, I came here early! Yay! I'm usually late :( You're awesome Ninja Captain Alex!

Mel Kinnel (@TizMellyMel) said...

I can't wait to read everyone's posts during April for the challenge.

L.G. Keltner said...

A-Z is going to be fun! And you chose great movie quotes! The Princess Bride is a great movie!

Donna K. Weaver said...

I wish it was already April.

My fantasy quote is really from an epic fantasy film.

"Don't tell the Elf."

Unknown said...

Signed up for A to Z and I can't believe how far down the list I am already. :) I can't wait!

Read your interview with the pups and it was hilarious. :)

I'm hoping my computer will be fixed shortly, but I don't know.

Light fantasy... Got to go with Krull. "I am Ergo the magnificent. Short in stature, tall in power, narrow of purpose and wide of vision. And I do not travel with peasants and beggars. Goodbye!"

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Your blogfests are the best, Alex. Having said that, I shouldn't because I'm working on my current WIP, and I've got this groovy flow going. I mean, really. When was the last time you saw the word GROOVY?

The Angry Lurker said...

I was thinking that your first quote is mine from of the better movies of the period.

Rhonda Albom said...

Thanks for hosting again. I missed last year as we were traveling around the world. I am hoping I have a funny travel story for each letter. I couldn't decide between humor or travel for the category, so I didn't take any. Was that correct?

Rhonda at Laugh Quotes
Family Travel-Humor-Randomness

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

wow, that list is filling up FAST!

Michael Di Gesu said...

ALEX! I can not BELIEVE I am 133!!!!! GEEZ, I was hoping to be in first fifty. WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway... Congrats on being chosen by the kids.. SWEET!

The reintroduce blogfest was AMAZING... I am still visiting everyone. I am hoping to get through the WHOLE list. I feel SOOOOOOO good to be back in the fold again!


A special thanks to you for keeping an eye out for me this past year... I really appreciated it and still do!

Mark Means said...

I had a great time with the "Let Me Re-Introduce Myself" bloghop and am really looking forward to the A to Z challenge...it should be a lot of fun :)

As for a movie quote...two of my faves from "Willow" (which I used to spout all the time during D&D games..

From Billy Barty's character: "I must consult the bones." and "Forget the bird, follow the river!"

Ella said...

Wow, Alex I am stunned! Thank you for mentioning me~

How fab you are on the kids list!
YOU are sweet n' spicy(I read the Hot Tamale interview ;D)

Oh, do I dare do another A-Z challenge? What category would I select?! lol

Thanks you for being YOU!

Loca4crafts said...

You chose two of my favorite quotes ever! Looking forward to the A to Z challenge.

Jennie Bailey said...

The Princess Bride is in my top five! "Hold it. Hold it. What is this? Are you trying to trick me? And where's the sports?...Is this a KISSING book?" :) So many great lines in that movie.

TS Hendrik said...

So I finished writing my posts for the a-z yesterday, decided for once to jump on the linkup early. Early being relative. With as many people as are already linked up it could be colossally huge this year.

Nick Wilford said...

Having trouble signing up. :( First I was told I might not want to go there because it exhibited risky behaviour. Erm, OK. Then I entered my details and on trying to return to the blog it reloaded the form. Backspaced to the post and my name wasn't there, so I tried entering it again and it said my link was already entered. Let me know if it's showing up for you... I'll try again later, but I was hoping to be quite high up on the list! >:(

Unknown said...

Thanks for the shout out, Alex! I can't wait to start the A-Z - consider me signed up! Now to think of a topic...

One of my favourites it also from PB - "You keep using this word. I do not think it means what you think it means".

Also, every line from Robert De Niro in Stardust is awesome.

Andrew Leon said...

How the heck are there 150 people already signed up? It's not even Wednesday yet!

And, man, I can't think of anything that I would say is "light fantasy." I'm not even sure I'd put Princess Bride in that category. I'm just going to have to make a list of quotes to pull from.

Arlee Bird said...

It's been Wednesday for awhile in other parts of the world and look at this list already!

Now if only those signing up will take greater care to do it correctly.

Lee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Alex - thanks to you and your fellow organisers for the A - Z Challenge .. I love it and will sign up anon - thought I'd wait and get slightly lower down the list - but 150 already .. great news.

Ella has such talent and I love seeing her work in Somerset Life - via the blog ... wish it was reality!

Cheers Hilary

Empty Nest Insider said...

Cute interview with Shelly's pups! A to Z is off to a great start, and I'm thrilled you'll be hosting again! Looking forward to my third challenge! Julie

Anonymous said...

I'm an A-Z virgin but I just signed up for my first one! Looking forward to the challenge.

Patsy said...

I find it hard to keep up with lots of blog hops, so I'll just hop round and read some posts without officially joining in.

Kyra Lennon said...

Eek! The A-Z list got long quickly! And this is only the beginning. I'm still debating whether to sign up as April is going to be busy for me anyway but I have some time to figure it out! :D

Anonymous said...

I bookmarked the blogfest. I already have plans for that day, but I might squeeze it in.

I signed up for A to Z.

Unknown said...

I can't believe how fast the A-Z list has grown so quickly! Can't wait until April!

The Re-introduce Myself Blogfest worked well, it was great visiting the participating bloggers! I unfortunately did not get around to everyone either, we should have made a longer time frame for the fest!

Jeremy [Retro] said...

i am a day behind and a dollar short, that list is growing fast... crazy fast. maybe we can auction off a space on the list to move closer to the top... when i look at the list i always start at the bottom..anyway.

it's going to be a glorious day..

favorite quote: princess bride...

The Grandson: A book?

Grandpa: That's right. When I was your age, television was called books. And this is a special book. It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick, and I used to read it to your father. And today I'm gonna read it to you.

The Grandson: Has it got any sports in it?

Grandpa: Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...

The Grandson: Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake.

Grandpa: Oh, well, thank you very much, very nice of you. Your vote of confidence is overwhelming.

:)

Annalisa Crawford said...

Love the idea of categories for the A-Z this year. I was thinking of entering with my lesser known fitness blog, but was worried people would be expecting writing. I assume fitness would come under the 'lifestyle' category?

Did you see the news about the guy who wore a t-shirt with that Princess Bride quote and was asked to change his shirt because it was making passengers uncomfortable? I think 'be prepared to die' must have made some sensitive people worry!

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Good idea to categorize the blogs.

Favorite quote is hard. I guess maybe "We'll always have Paris" or "Tomorrow *is* another day!" :)

Brinda said...

I am now officially stressed out. I haven't picked my theme and I have no way of picking a category for my blog. My posts are all over the place--social media, books, life... Okay. I took a deep breath. I'm fine. Don't worry. :)

Elise Fallson said...

The blogfest was great and I really enjoyed meeting/re-meeting people, but I still haven't gotten around to everyone yet either. ):

A - Z! WOOT! SQUEE! I'm waiting until the last minute to sign up like I did last year, because... I'm a rebel. Hey, I see you laughing... :D

Hard to pick a fav. quote, the one you posted is a great one. But thinking off the top of my head... I like:

"I feel like the floor of a taxi cab."

Kimberly Gabriel said...

Sharing your book with my kids is a very cool thing for me as well. I'm thrilled to be able to do it. ;)

All signed up for A-Z Challenge!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Gary, mine will be MUCH shorter during the Challenge.

Al, good for you, and good quote.

Squid, there's one over the albino.

Livia, so glad you are on the team!!

Donna, good one. And we met two years ago during the Challenge I believe.

Melissa, hope your computer is fixed soon.

Joylene, in the movie Evil Dead II.

Rhonda, that's fine. Categories are optional.

Michael, there will be thousands by the time we finish. And glad you are back with us, because you were greatly missed.

Mark, it's been so long since I watched that film...

Ella, you're welcome, and no category if you don't want one.

Jennie, awesome!

TS, you are really planning ahead.

Nick, I'll help if you can't get in.

Jamie, you're welcome.

Andrew, because it was already Wednesday on the other side of the world.

Hilary, hope you join soon.

Kyra, you can do it.

Carolyn, it was epic.

Jeremy, you're good with that memory.

Annalisa, now that is silly. And whatever category works for you.

Tonja said...

Surprising not so many people used the category codes. My posts will be historical (I think...maybe...I might change my mind) but my blog isn't, so I didn't choose one.

Heather M. Gardner said...

Holy crap. Barely seven am and I'm number 178! Gonna be a good year. Thanks, Alex.

Leigh Caron said...

Either you got up waaay before me to post, or I got up late. I almost missed your blog.

Rusty Carl said...

All singed up and read to go. I picked art as my code, I hope I don't regret it.

Cindy said...

Well, I signed up and I think I have something easy I can do. Yay..
I see about 25% of the people are following directions.
And I love the new banner.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

Thanks so much for hosting! I have one blog signed up and ready to go, I might sign up one of my others. I did two blogs last year and it was great!

Tim
The Other Side

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Brinda, it will be all right. No category if you don't want one either.

Elise, thanks for hosting, and good quote! Don't wait too late to sign up.

Kimberly, thanks again.

Tonja, good plan.

Leigh, it posted last night, so really early.

Rusty, you are a glutton for punishment.

Cindy, isn't that always the way it is with directions?

Tim, you are a brave man.

Unknown said...

Well dang. You stole my movie line. LOVE LOVE LOVE that movie! Never grows old!

I signed up for my official A-Z challenge. Already have a calendar page printed out w/ ideas for a few letters. Really looking forward to meeting some like-minded bloggers.

Happy Hump Day!

Laura Eno said...

I can't believe I managed to be #15 on the A to Z list! What are we shooting for this year? 2000? 3000?

Laura Eno said...

And has anybody thought of designing an A to Z T-shirt?

kjmckendry said...

I love Princess Bride!

Rick Daley said...

I'll see your "Prepare to die!" and raise you "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!"

LD Masterson said...

Followed you over to The Life of a Novice Writer. Really fun post.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

Whoa - the first day of sign-ups and you're into the 200s. I was about to jump in but remembered something in April that may preempt me. You'll probably have 1000 by the time I decide.

All good stuff, as always, Alex. Will check out the other blog hops. Happy Wednesday.

xoRobyn

Luanne G. Smith said...

Princess Bride has to be the most quotable movie ever. After that I quote Pirates of the Caribbean quite a lot. Doesn't even take a lot of rum to make me do it either.

Anonymous said...

Getting a jump on meeting new blog members this year. A - Z is a great place to make new Internet friends and discover positively intriguing content!

randi lee said...

Holy stinking cow that's a lot of A to Zers signed up! April is budget season for me so I shant be participating, but I do love reading the entries people come up with. I followed JW Alden's last year and it was a riot. Can't wait to see what ppl come up with this year!!

Matthew MacNish said...

Man this list is growing fast.

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

Hi, nice to see you, in a maner of speaking. Love your quotes--two of my favs. as well. I love everything William Goldman ever wrote,in fact.
jean

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for the shout-out, Alex! <3

AuthorAlden said...

Uh oh, sign ups are open! Guess that means it's put up or shut up time. I've been tottering back and forth over whether or not I'd tackle the challenge again this year. Time to commit, one way or the other.

Unknown said...

All signed up again and, guess what? I forgot to put the code (BO) after my blog name (tsk) *hangs head in shame* BO? That's "body odor" isn't it?

Kittie Howard said...

Don't think I can do the Challenge this year. Gotta finish "Bayou Princess." But really like those categories.

Nicki Elson said...

"No more rhymes now, I mean it"
"Anybody want a peanut?"

Anonymous said...

A lot of cool blogfests coming. Did you hear about the guy who got kicked off a plane because they thought his Inigo Montoya shirt was a terrorist threat? LOL "Sleep well my friend. Dream of large women."
- Maurice

farawayeyes said...

INCONCEIVABLE - I guess we like some of the same movies.

Anonymous said...

Just signed up for the Level Up Blogfest!

And A to Z is going to rock. I have a theme as always. Really helps make the posts easier to write!

jaybird said...

Nervous and excited for my first time doing A-Z.

It's so hard to pick my fav Princess Bride quote, because I quote that movie so much! Probably a tie between, "Oh, look who knows so much" (which I use on my kids) and one I unfortunately use when speaking to The Husband about how I'm feeling- "I've been mostly dead all day." LOL

Sherry Ellis said...

I think we can forgive you for not visiting everyone on the last blog hop! There were a lot of participants. I see we have a lot of people already signed up for the A-Z challenge! I'm doing it on the gardening blog again.

Juliana Haygert said...

Aw, the Princess Bride! Such a great book/movie!

Wow, the A to Z seems to be on fire! Go you guys! Have fun!

Cherie Reich said...

Love the movie quotes from The Princess Bride!

Man, so many people have signed up for the A-Z Challenge already. It's going to be awesome. :)

Cate Masters said...

Wow your blogging schedule's full! Amazing.
My daughter was addicted to The Princess Bride when she was younger. I should be able to recite the whole movie, lol

Tyrean Martinson said...

Yes for Monday, Yes for games, Congrats for Ella! "As You Wish", plus yes for A to Z, and what if my A to Z theme isn't exactly my normal blog fare? Is that ok? I made a last minute change to my theme - decided to go with fencing/swordplay terminology and wrote a few posts this morning.

Melissa said...

I don't know how you find time for it all, Alex!

Great idea with the categories for AtoZ. I wish you would do that for IWSG.

Miranda Hardy said...

Princess Bride was excellent. Great quotes!

Sign ups are going well.

Jennie Bennett said...

"Hey Fezzik! Are there rocks ahead?"

"If there are we'll all be dead!"

My favorite movie, EVER!

Good luck to those doing A-Z!

Thank you so much for your kind words on David's blog too :)

Gwen Gardner said...

I signed up for the A-Z! Scared and excited :) Thanks Alex!

Ali Cross said...

Yes I'm doing the Level Up blogfest!

I love those quotes; let me see if I can come up with one . . .

Hmm. All my thoughts always come from Fifth Element, but they aren't very "quotable". Yes, I'm lame. If I think of something later I'll pop back, lol.

Sarah McCabe said...

Two years ago I barely scraped through. Last year I failed miserably. But third time's the charm right? I can't believe I'm crazy enough to sign up for this again. Especially with another baby on the way this spring.

mooderino said...

I signed up for the AZ thinking it would ask me for my category code (not realising I just had to add it after my name) so ended up not having one. Doh! Hopefully my blog name will tell people what it's about.

mood
Moody Writing (WR)

Scribbles From Jenn said...

LOVED Monday's blogfest! Still hopping around and meeting people. I'm all in from A to Z :)

Rebecca Green Gasper said...

Wow...this is an amazingly long list- I'm impressed. :) and so excited to be part of this whole thing.

I'm not great at movie quotes. I'm the one that says "remember that one movie about umm...with um...and goes sort of like umm.." You get the point. :)

Have a great day:)

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

I'm not going to sign up right this very second for A to Z because I don't have a theme yet and I want to pick out one of the subjects (and I can't do that without a theme). I will come back to sign up though. I've just got all this stuff in my head now trying to process what I should write about for 26 entries. I'm so scatterbrained.

mshatch said...

Aw, I love the Princess Bride! And I am heading over to sign up for Jaime's blogfest. Sounds like fun! Thanks :)

ilima said...

I LOVE The Princess Bride. And I'm all signed up for A to Z, except I was naughty and signed up BEFORE I read your whole post because I was that dang excited. How can I add a (WR) next to my name now? #242

Karen M. Peterson said...

My favorite quote from The Princess Bride is: "I am not a witch! I'm your wife!"

Deana said...

WOW! I can't believe it's already tome for the A to Z challenge again! It was so much fun last year:)

Rachna Chhabria said...

The A to Z challenge is getting bigger and bigger every year. The list is also filling up super fast.

Nancy Thompson said...

I signed up for the A to Z but forgot to put (WR) after my name. Any way to fix that without deleting that entry position (#154)? I think it's gonna be a MONSTER list again this year!

shelly said...

Sir Poops and Hair Ball will announce the A to Z on their Tuesday Nosh post. I'll be visiting blogs but not participating. Too much on my plate this year.

Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly

Carrie-Anne said...

It's great that this year the A-Z blogs will be grouped according to theme. A lot of people voiced that suggestion last year, to make it easier to choose which ones to read.

Mark said...

I'm debating whether I have what it takes to do the AZ challenge. But on the flip-side, I do really like those Princess Bride quotes:)

Catherine Stine said...

Thanks for introducing us to Ella over at Ella's Edge. Cool art. OMG, is it really A to Z time?! I'm still recovering from a couple of blizzards and starting a new part-time teaching lit semester...
Catherine Stine’s Idea City


Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Okay, I chose (MI) for miscellaneous as I have attention deficit and it's really difficult for me to stay on topic on anything for very long. You probably know that.

OH AND I'M 300! Arlee Bird just tweeted who will be 300? That's ME!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Whoa! Try to play catch up.

Terri, smart idea.

Laura, that's a cool idea.

Liz, you're welcome.

JW, do it, do it, do it...

Susan, funny!

Nicki, good ones.

Maurice, that is just crazy.

Tyrean, sounds good to me.

JA, you are welcome!

Ali, that made me chuckle.

Moody, I think you'll be all right.

Michael, sign up now - the code is for your blog, not your theme.

Ilima, sorry, too late!

Nancy, sorry!

Shelly, thanks.

Mark, you have it!

Julie Flanders said...

I can't believe how many people are already signed up for the challenge, how awesome.

Congratulations on the students' love for your book, not a surprise at all but what a thrill that must have been. :)

Unknown said...

Thanks for hosting this. I look forward to it every year.

Johanna Garth said...

I do follow Ella and I think I found her through your blog. Thank you for making that connection because she's one of my favorite bloggers!

Nicole said...

Wow, already a great turn-out for A-Z. Thanks for hosting! And you really can't beat Inigo's quote. It's classic. :)

Tina said...

Hey Awesome Ninja Captain! What an exciting day! My theme is "Adventures in America" to follow up last year's theme which was "Postcards from Sweden" where I taught a Swedish word each day, and included a childhood memory from my first nine years. This year I'm writing short pieces about what it was like to be an immigrant at age 9, in a new land, and the cultural differences that kids notice. I'm really excited. Since it was so open ended with so many things I could write about, it was easy to assign a story to a letter. Can't wait to start writing them!

Tina @ Life is Good
Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge
@TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge

VikLit said...

Wow what a fab turn out already for A-Z!

Hart Johnson said...

I really need to learn to follow all the directions before I jump... ah well. My blog is a different animal on any given day, so it is probably best not to specify... erm... even through I think I was one of the people who suggested categories *shifty*

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Michael, you are number three hundred!

Julie, it made me very happy.

Johanna, that's great to hear.

Tina, you are going to have so much fun with that theme.

Way to go, Hart.

Anonymous said...

Yay for 7th graders!! Can't believe you already have over 300 followers signed up! Oh wait, it's you. Yes, Yes I can;-)

Carrie Butler said...

All signed up this year! :)

Laura said...

Hmmm - a theme... I think I may have to try one out for my third A-Z!

Love Ella's work!
Lx

Isis Rushdan said...

How cool the kids were interested in your book! You have to get those readers while they're young,lol.

Jay Paoloni said...

So many things going on in here!
I'm glad you keep yourself busy with fun and wits!
Congrats on having kids read your book!

Jeremy Bates said...

Alex, I am in wayyy down at 329. I am looking forward to this year...now for a theme.

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Don't feel bad, Jeremy. I'm further down than you. In fact, my keyboard is suffering from the bends!

One of my favorite quotes is: "There are only 2 people I trust: one of them is me, and the other's not you."

Christine Rains said...

Wow. The A to Z list is growing fast! It's going to be an epic year. The Re-Introduce Myself blogfest was fantastic. Met so many new folks. :)

Nickie said...

Just signed up for the A-Z blogfest. I'm excited! I'll have to start brainstorming (yes, I'm that kind of person).

I love the Princess Bride! It's so quotable, and so much fun. I joked with my sister that when I got married, I'd tried to find someone to perform the ceremony a la Princess Bride.

M Pax said...

Not only did I already sign up for AtoZ, but I loaded up A-J during my lull. MS is back, so lull is over.

Ella is mega talented. The Reintro bloghop was a blast.

Anonymous said...

Hi I signed up for the A yo Z at 2am this morning London time as I couldn't sleep.
Is Ella from Somerset in the UK? as I was brought up not far from Somerset.

Enjoyed your film quote.
Yvonne.

Southpaw said...

Princess Bride has got to be one of the most quotable flicks.

Belle said...

I did join the A to Z challenge two years ago and loved doing it. But my blog friends tell me you get a lot more followers with these challenges and I can't keep up with my followers now!

Light Fantasy? "Inconceivable!" from Princess Bride.

Leovi said...

Impressive ... the first day and I'm 348 from A to Z.

Patricia Stoltey said...

I'm still working on a theme for A to Z (now that I'm officially signed up, thanks to you, Alex).

Shannon Lawrence said...

Oh my gosh, 343 already!!!!

Shannon at The Warrior Muse

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

That is a shockingly long list. WOW!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Jamie, scary, huh?

Laura, it helps!

Roland, good quote!

Nickie, that would be a fun and short wedding.

Yvonne, Ella is in USA's Virginia, and not too far from me.

Belle, I know the feeling!!!

Leovi, scary isn't it?

Patricia, glad I could help.

Tara Tyler said...

cant believe how big it already is!
and
i do not think that means what you think it means...
and
i re met lots of people tho i didnt participate... who doesnt know me? ha ha ha!

Jemi Fraser said...

Yikes! That's a lot of people signed up already!!! I STILL haven't decided what to do. I loved the challenge last year, but I ended up with zero writing time for the month. Not sure I can afford it this time - we'll see!

Helena said...

When kids in a class are reading your book (and enjoying it!), then you have really, truly made it as a writer. Congratultions, Alex.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

This is my third time in A to Z. It's going to be epic with those numbers on the first day of signups.
I picked a quote from The Princess Pride too.

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for hosting this blogfest/hop! We signed up today at #337. This looks like it's going to be HUGE! Congratulations!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Jemi, do it!!!

Helena, thank you.

Juliet, welcome!

Unknown said...

I think my favorite movie quote is:

"I want my two dollars!" --Better Off Dead

And the scene is brilliant!

Allison said...

I am so ready to join you in the greatest blogging event ever!! My posts are already planned out already. That's right, they're so already planned out that I said already twice. Does the fact that my blog fits four or five of those categories mean I'm lacking focus, or am I just well rounded? I'm gonna go with the latter :P

Allison (Geek Banter)

Allison said...

Oh, and thanks for mentioning the Level Up! Blogfest! So glad you're participating :)

Chuck said...

Alex I was so anxious to sign up before I lost one more spot that I DID NOT read the intro and went straight to the linky. It was on Damyanti's site and I was taken aback by the early registering...I thought I had missed an entire day and freaked out! But I am in at #68 which is a much better feeling than the #369 I was last year.

I really need to begin posting for it now.

Leigh Covington said...

I'm excited about A-Z this year. I'm trying to decide if I can fit it in before I sign up. Hopefully I can. Lots of fun last year. :)

Ink in the Book said...

This will be my first challenge. I'm working on a theme, but don't know what yet. I'm excited and looking forward to the challenge!

mymy said...

my second time to join! looking forward to the challenge! :)

Lisa Regan said...

Hah hah hah saw Better Off Dead "I want my 2 dollars" in the comments. I thought I was the only person on the planet who still remembered that! I would never survive the A to Z but good luck to everyone participating!

Anonymous said...

Cool... the A to Z challenge is always fun to read... :)

Michelle Wallace said...

With regards to blogfests:
~I managed to visit every single one of the 143 participants who signed up for Monday's Please Re-introduce Yourself fest! I wanted to be "in your shoes" just for a day or two... I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU DO IT?! It was a C-R-A-Z-Y, mind-numbing but great experience...
~The Gaming Blogfest sounds like so much fun... maybe I'll sign up... but I also have my blogfest on the same day...
~I've already signed up for the A to Z and the list is loooong already
The interview over at Shelly's place was good fun!

Laura Clipson said...

I'm all signed up for the challenge, can't wait until April!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Julia, that's a classic film.

Allison, go with the latter. And you are welcome!

Chuck, you did good this year!

Leigh, just sign up now. You'll figure it out later.

Lisa, no - great movie!

Michelle, now you know what it's like! And I know, two blogfests in one day.

Dana said...

I love that Inigo Montoya quote!

Looking forward to the A to Z!

Leovi said...

Wednesday Movie Quote: My favorite quote is: "Rosebud"

Unknown said...

Way to go, Ella!!! I'm seriously contemplating A-Z this year. I'm feeling bogged down with stuff already, but could use the challenge. Maybe I'll push ideas around this weekend. Speaking of, have a GREAT one. :)

Bish Denham said...

I'm in for the A to Z Challenge and I have a theme!

I LOVE the Princess Bride. That scene with Count Rugen torturing Wesley... too much. "So, let's just start with what we have. What did this do to you? Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity so be honest. How do you feel?"

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Almost 400 people now.

DL Hammons said...

Somebody put yeast in our Linky List. Look at it grow!! :)

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Wowsers! Impressive. I'm passing. I'm on a screw up streak. A pretty impressive one, I might add. :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Candilynn, join us!! It's fun.

Bish, glad you're ready for the Challenge and that's a great quote.

DL, and we are over four hundred!!!

Anonymous said...

Goodness more than 400 sign-ups already. This annual Blogfest is still going strong. Not sure if I can commit, but I loved the challenge the year I did participate.

Tamara said...

I LOVE Ella's blog. She's so cool! Just signed up for the A-Z challenge! Looking forward to it. :)

Mina Burrows said...

Hi Alex! I think I've narrowed my topic down to classic lit characters but I'm not sure. I haven't read a classic in awhile. *sigh* Let me think about it some more.

Budd said...

the coding is a good idea now that you are set to have over 500 people joining the fun.

Angela Brown said...

A to Z looks to be a grand shindig.

Glad you had a good time dishing he nosh with Sir PAL and HB. I do love those pups and their mum is fantastic :-)

Cynthia said...

On Tuesday night, I thought I would take a sneak peak at the sign-up page before I signed up on Wednesday and I saw that the sign ups had already begun! I'm pretty excited that I got in earlier this year.

Unknown said...

I did it! I actually signed up for A to Z! Can't wait. :)

Thanks Alex!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Madeleine, if you can join us again, that would be great.

Tamara, great!!

Mina, that sounds good.

Bud, I think we'll go over 2000 this year.

Angela, Shelly is great!

Cynthia, good stuff.

Rachel, welcome!!

Shell Flower said...

Yep, enjoyed the Monday fest, and yes, joined the Level UP fest, too. I <3 the Princess Bride "mawwied" LOL. And I'm doing A-Z for the first time this year. Thanks for keeping me so up to date, Alex! Also, I'm going to check out Hooked!

Robin said...

The Princess Bride ranks on Top 10 List of favorite movies of All-Time. I am behind in my blog reading. Had I seen this earlier I might have had been "in the soup" on my Thursday post. I already had the Bond footage chosen, but I might have scrapped it and gone with a scene from The Princess Bride just because... Why? I freakin' love that movie. That scene at the end when he gets his revenge. Man, it is the best. Love it love it love it.
"I want my father back."

Jai Joshi said...

Can't believe it's already time for the AtoZ challenge again! Looks like another impressive line up of bloggers too.

Jai

Anonymous said...

You know I love Princess Bride since the exchange between Rugen and Inigo topped my Top Five this week.

Unspoken said...

Whoa! It's a long way to get to the bottom of this post, Alex. An amazing amount of participants in the hop. I'm all about the zombie love!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Shell, you won't regret joining the Challenge.

Robin, you can always choose it for next week!!

Jai, time flies.

Joshua, great minds!

She Writes - I know!!!!

Catch My Words said...

I signed up somewhere on that list. Why am I doing this again? I don't know.

http://joycelansky.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Great to be a part of the Challenge this year! Looking forward to seeing what creativity unfolds!


- Erick
A Brief Sinfonia