Friday, February 18, 2011

We Called in Reinforcements!

First, thanks to Geof at The Man-Cave for his review of CassaStar (I'm visiting his site next Monday for a fun interview.)
And a big hug to Mary at Giggles and Guns for her five-star review and wonderful words that made my day! Mary, you're awesome, and your quest to read CassaStar would make for a riveting story

Now, the big announcement - the challenge had continued to grow, so we decided to call in reinforcements!

I’d like to welcome Candace Ganger at Misadventures in Candyland, Karen Gowen at Coming down the Mountain, Jeffrey Beesler at World of the Scribe, Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs.

The brainchild of Lee at Tossing It Out, the A to Z Challenge began last year with a hundred participants, including me.

This year Lee is thinking BIG. Really BIG! Three hundred participants. I’m thinking five hundred! In addition to the four bloggers above, Talli Roland, Jen Daiker at Unedited, and myself are proud to co-sponsor this event.

What is the A to Z Challenge?

It’s blogging a letter of the alphabet every day the month of April (with Sundays off for good behavior.) It begins April First with the letter A and ends April 30 with the letter Z.

And it’s more than just a challenge! It’s a way to get in the habit of blogging on a schedule. It’s a chance to gain followers. Last April, I was a new blogger and went from thirty to eighty followers in one month. But more importantly, those of us who participated became like family. We grew and stretched together. And we had a blast in the process!

So please join Lee, Talli, Jen at Unedited, Candace Ganger at Misadventures in Candyland, Karen Gowen at Coming down the Mountain, Jeffrey Beesler at World of the Scribe, Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs. and me as we set off on a quest for three hundred participants in the A to Z Challenge!

71 comments:

Misha Gerrick said...

Oh my word it's sooo close!

:-D

The Words Crafter said...

You may be right; it just may hit 500!!!

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Hi Alex amazed to see so many entries for the A to Z. It's going to be fun.
Lovely to be back.

Yvonne.

Liz P said...

500 for sure now! It's gonna be great!

Jamie Gibbs said...

This is gonna be awesome, and many time more epic than last year. I can't wait!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm betting on 500!!

S.A. Larsenッ said...

WOW!! Thinking really big. I'm already in. Looking forward to it.

Summer Ross said...

I'm already in- and this is going to sweep the blogosphere!

DEZMOND said...

how do you plan on visiting all of those 500 possible participants daily? :)

The challenge is slowly becoming like some kind of bloggy sect with Arlee as its patriarch he he :P

And isn't Mary just wonderful?

Jules said...

Between Lee and yourself you guys do not do anything small :) I'm in, trying to figure out the alphabet and looking forward to it :)
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

Emily White said...

I'm in! It looks like you just might make your goal!

The Old Silly said...

Wowza - quite the band of A to Z'ers yous guys're assembling. I got enough on my plate so will not be in the race, but will certainly be following and enjoyin' it from a safe distance, lol.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Dezz, that's why we called in reinforcements! There's not way we could visit all of those bloggers with just four of us.

And this will be huge!

Arlee Bird said...

I like your optimism and I don't think that 500 is at all unrealistic. Great job, Alex!

Lee
Tossing It Out and the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2011

Ella said...

This year will be epic, my bet 333 or 555. I think I will send out some personal emails to a few potential
bloggers. I know a few, that would enjoy this challenge~

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

Something tells me I'm in over my head on this one!

Charles Gramlich said...

Sounds like it's starting to snowball.

Angela said...

You gave me a heart attack there for a moment until I realized there were two lists.

I searched the second list for my name, but it was on the first list.

This is huge! Congratulations on getting so many people on board.

Regina said...

This sounds totally great. If I can get some things in order soon, I may have to participate. Right now things are too chaotic and I don't want to sign up for a challenge I may not be able to fulfill. Best wishes to all the participants so far.

Old Kitty said...

You are all beautifully crazy and gorgeously insane!!!! :-)

Enjoy your A-Z-ing!!!!!!!!! Take care
x

Jai Joshi said...

I think it could well hit 500. You've got quite a crowd already.

Jai

Ciara said...

Wow, this has grown since I signed up. Woot!

Melissa Gill said...

Sounds like fun, but April is a bad month for me. I've got to do some yaknow, writing. But I'm sure you'll get 500.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Lee, we will hit it!

Ella, that would be great - thanks.

Mary, you can handle it.

Karen, you will so enjoy it!

Angela, save the heart attack for April 1 when you see how many bloggers sign up!

Kitty, we wouldn't have it any other way.

Jai and Ciara, there's a lot!

Andrew said...

I'm still on the fence about this one....
But a big thumbs up to those who do go through with it!

Melissa said...

Holy crap! There are so many entrants!!

I'd do this but I can't. March is when all my papers and such are due in school. I just don't have the time. I hardly have the time to do three posts a week!

N. R. Williams said...

It will be challenging.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

You talked me into it, Alex. Gulp.
xoRobyn

Jeff Beesler said...

Wonder if we should try for 1,000 next year?

Pat Tillett said...

I will not be participating, but I will be reading!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Andrew, just go for it!

Melissa, it's April.

Robyn, no fear!

Jeffrey, you'll scare the crap out of Lee with that kind of talk. But yeah, I'm with you!

Hart Johnson said...

This is NUTS! How will we all get all over!? I'm having trouble with the Crusade already! I think I should give up my day job and just blog all the time...

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Hart, welcome to my world! But that's why we called in extra help. And all we can ask is that everyone do the best they can.

Donea Lee said...

This event will really be amazing! Can't wait ~ :)

Copyboy said...

Love Man Cave. I'll give ya a read on Monday.

Ellie Garratt said...

A big thank you to all the hosts; I'm sure you'll do an amazing job!

M Pax said...

I'm signed up. Hope your revisions are going well.

Colene Murphy said...

Wow! I think there could definitely be 500 by then!! HUGE! Congrats on the awesome reviews too!

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Yay to the reinforcements!
I reckon we could take over the world soon ;)

Candyland said...

Wow the list keeps growing! Glad to be a part of it!

Jemi Fraser said...

You're getting closer to the 300! Exciting stuff :)

Cheeseboy said...

243 so far?! Alright, I'll admit I'm thinking about it.

Unknown said...

You can do it! I think I'm on the list.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Thanks, Copyboy!

Cheeseboy, do it!!

Yes, we will hit 500!

Lydia Kang said...

244? Holy moley. That may be the biggest blogfest I've ever seen!

Alison Pearce Stevens said...

WOW! Definitely reinforcement-worthy. Well done!

Talli Roland said...

Go 500 go! That would be amazing!

And a big YAY on your great reviews!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Lydia, I believe you're right!

Thanks, Talli!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I'm excited to be #192. Five hundred would be incredible.

DiscConnected said...

Alex-

300 is pretty cool, too, but good luck getting to 500!

I done my part, and I'll throw another plug on my blog tomorrow

Although most of my followers are probably already participants if I can get you one or two more, every little bit helps.

Larry

Patricia Stoltey said...

This is so cool! I'm doing a Weekend Scramble post, so I'll give everyone the new count and the link. Can't hurt!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Susan, it could happen!

Larry, that would be great. I plan to plug your blogfest this week as well.

Patricia, awesome!

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

Looking forward to seeing the final total. Wow!

Monti
http://tinyurl.com/28gffmj

Helen Ginger said...

This is not a challenge. It's a takeover of the Internet world. I know a takeover when I read about it, Captain Ninja Alex.

Rick said...

Helen's right- this is an internet takeover!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Monti, it will be huge!

Helen, don't let anyone know...

The Happy Whisk said...

Have a great time with your A to Z challenge. Thanks for stopping by earlier. Happy Writing, Alex. And of course, Happy Eating.

Lisa said...

Wow wow wow. And the excitement I think will be uncontainable!;) I'll gear up to read my favorites!

Denise Covey said...

Well Captain Ninja that's quite a band that's gathering for the A-Z! Can't wait for it to kick off! Good idea to call in reinforcements!

Great that the reviews for CassaStar are still coming! Be good to see the revisions on the sequel over and done with!

Denise:)

J. D. Brown said...

Alright, I joined the A to Z challenge. We'll see how well I do. :)

Is there a way I can post this on my blog or would you rather I link back to your post?

WritingNut said...

It sounds awesome! And you're halfway there! :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Ocean Girl, it's contagious!

Thanks, Denise. Just so much pressure now. What if the sequel sucks?

JD, you can grab the linky or link back to here, whichever is easier.

I know, Writing Nut!!

Raquel Byrnes said...

So excited to hear more about your sequel. Hope you're remembering to enjoy the ride. =)

Can't wait for the A-Z blogging challenge...Whew! Thats a lot of people!

Anonymous said...

I can see 300 by the end of the month, then that one huge push for 500!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Thanks Raquel - I'll talk about it sooner or later, I promise.

Stephen, we can do it!

Michelle Gregory said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mamtc said...

sounds like a gr8 idea

Milo James Fowler said...

With Write1Sub1 already, I'm sure this challenge will send me straight to the Funny Farm. I just hope they've got a nice jacket in my size...

Alex F. Fayle said...

After a month-long break in March from blogging, this April challenge will be exactly what I need to get started again. I'm so enthused, I already have my list of topics. ;)

Matt Conlon said...

I am intrigued. I'd like to participate, though I am a little unclear. I'd like to (and will later if necessary... I'm rather busy at the moment, unfortinately) do some more digging for clarification, but if there's a place someone could direct me to in order to more quickly find this information, I'd greatly appreciate it!

You say: It’s blogging a letter of the alphabet every day the month of April (with Sundays off for good behavior.) It begins April First with the letter A and ends April 30 with the letter Z.

What's that mean? I log in and put up a post with a giant A on it? (I'm doubting that)... Is it a post that just starts with the letter A, or about something that begins with A... or about the use of the letter a?

Sorry for asking this question, as I'm sure the information is readily accessible somewhere and I probably just glanced over it... I am thick like that sometimes.

Thanks in advance!

Ju Dimello said...

I am really bad at blogging..but just signed up! Feeling v nervous :) and excited at the same time...