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Voices 2018

April 20, 2018 emmapalova Leave a comment

Let your voice be heard

“It struck me that as writers, we have a unique opportunity – a responsibility, even- to voice our own truth and to help others do the same.”

Writer’s Digest editor-in-chief Tyler Moss

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Lowell, MI -I got an e-mail today from the BlogHer 18 Creators Summit seeking nominations for Voices of the Year. The deadline to nominate an inspiring woman influencer is May 31. The tradition of celebrating women’s voices has been around for 11 years in the ever-changing world of blogging.

Just a few minutes ago, I happily removed the metal stakes designating the driveway for snowplowing and stored away the snow shovel. Only our famous blade for the Jeep reminds me of a winter gone by. It’s too heavy for me to lift it.

I picked up my Fleet Street Missy spring coat yesterday at J.C. Penney in Greenville. I hope I won’t need it until late fall.

I ran into a fisherman at my favorite hideaway at the tip of the horseshoe-shaped lake three miles away.

“I am just poking for bass and pike before I get my boat out,” he said.

“Yes, it’s a very nice lake that gets really busy on weekends,” I said.

“Sure, that’s why I come out on weekday mornings,” the fisherman said.

Me too; I always come out to the lake in the morning seeking inspiration in its calm waters. Today, I also discovered my Lenten Rose poking its purple head out of the thawing ground.

Earlier in the week, I had an interesting interview with a writer for the Grand Rapids Magazine about me and my new book Shifting Sands Short Stories. My husband Ludek wished me good luck, as I assured him that I am equally comfortable on both sides of the interview.

I absolutely loved the question that Lauren had asked me during the interview at Jamnbean Coffee Co. in Ada.

“How do you want your readers to feel after they are done reading the book?” she asked.

I had to get to the right answer with a lot of prelude. Finally, I responded.

“Transformed and maybe bewildered,” I said, “because that’s how I feel when I am done writing them.”

The article will come out in the print version of the Grand Rapids Magazine in July.

The interview was also an opportunity to list my forthcoming author’s events. I realized I wasn’t a great planner, by not being able to look that far ahead.

But, after reading “Roar,” a profile of emerging and groundbreaking authors in the Writer’s Digest, I realized something very important. And I quote:

“It struck me that as writers, we have a unique opportunity – a responsibility, even- to voice our own truth and to help others do the same.”

Editor-in-Chief Tyler Moss

Don’t Fret your own voice. It will shape your destiny.

As an author, blogger, screenwriter, journalist, short story writer and a novelist, I really have a unique opportunity to “Seize the day” or “Carpe Diem.”

Book me for your events in the physical world or on the web today. Don’t wait another 100 years.

Following are the topics that I will be addressing in the upcoming months:

Creating an author’s platform & following

How to create your author’s platform using WordPress blog/website plus social media.

Writing your life story/memoir

Memoir writing does require an outline or a timeline with important milestones pertaining to your story. It should be chronological, but you can open each chapter with the most interesting episode/scene.

For example: When daughters write about mothers, their complex relationship does not necessarily end with the parent’s death.

When writing about a business that has been handed down from generation to generation, start with the generation that has made the most profound impact or the generation that has pulled the business through a major crisis or to new heights.

When capturing a segment of your life, focus on how has a certain experience changed you and why.

Researching your roots, ancestry. Why does it matter and to whom?

Getting audio/visual

Book trailers, video productions and podcasts are a must in an increasingly visual society. Always script everything you’re going to say. Create an audio version of your book.

Publicity

How to write an effective press release to get media interviews and publicity.

Have an email list of useful contacts. Inform your contacts on regular basis about your progress in a newsletter.

From idea to final

How to take the initial inspiration on a journey to the final product; whether it be a book, a screenplay, a movie or a video production.

You find yourself one lovely afternoon struck by a fast-fleeting thought that will soon disappear along with others into the imagination swamp.

How do you make it stay or how do you rescue your idea from the swamp?

Test and explore your inspiration.

What genre to pick, and what format to use?

Depending on your topic and how you treat it, it will land you with a certain format within a genre.

This may be a novel, novella, a short story, a play or a screenplay.

Don’t just go by what’s big now, because it could be little tomorrow.

By that, I specifically mean the current phenomenon of historical fiction.

Women’s fiction

Women’s fiction involves a transformation of the hero with a bit of romance, but not as the major plot.

Non-fiction writing

Pick something you know well, but give it a new angle. Pick the right market/audience from Writer’s Market.

Know how and when to pitch the right editors.

Become an expert in a certain area.

Don’t be afraid to stand out with a unique opinion a new perspective.

author events, blogging, book signing, content writing, Daily Post prompt, fiction, inspiration, memoir, prompts, Shifting Sands Short Stories, short stories, Uncategorized, WordPress, WordPress anniversary, writing

Five years on WordPress

January 15, 2018 emmapalova 3 Comments

What I have learned while blogging on the WordPress platform

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI – It’s hard to believe that yesterday marked five years since my registration on WordPress. My first post “About” followed on Jan. 15, 2013.

Some people asked me at my author’s book signings of Shifting Sands Short Stories, why do you need a blog, if you have a Facebook page. There are at least a million reasons to blog; for me the most important one was to support my fiction career.

anniversary-2x — Five years on WordPress.

I had a successful journalistic print career for two decades, and I wanted to build on that following with a virtual audience. When I embarked on penning our immigration saga from communist Czechoslovakia titled “Greenwich Meridian: Where East meets West” agent Barbara Lowenstein of Lowestein Associates Inc. suggested I need a blog/website.

I didn’t have a Facebook page, so I startedmy blog on WordPress with 0 followers that grew to two brave pioneers, Lowell artist Kathleen Mooney and Vergennes Broadband owner Ryan Peel. My Twitter account was insignificant.

Over the years, I built the blog out just like you would build a fortress, stone by stone, wall by wall; that is post by post, page by page.

I’ve compiled the following Q&A based on what people asked me in person and on the Internet. These include my insights gained over the last five years, including the publishing of my new book in the summer of 2017 on kdp publishing platform.

Q & A:

Q:How often do you post?

A: Twice a week, usually on Tuesdays and Fridays before the weekend.

Q: What do you write about on a weekly basis that grows your following?

A: You have to be able to offer a value to your readers based on the subject matter of your blog. Be relevant.

For example: if you have a food blog (and I do), give out recipes.

Q: What inspires you?

A: Everyday life and writing. As an author and a writer, I write every day. Even if it’s not writing behind the computer screen, I write in my wide ruled spiral notebook. I jot down notes of everyday observations. I always keep these handy for future reference.

Q: What kind of insights have you gained during your blogging & author careers?

A: This is where I have to distinguish between blogging and being an author of fiction.

Even though one feeds into the other, that is blogging feeds into my fiction writing and vice versa, there is a difference.

Blogging: Numbers matter, that’s why you have to work the social media relentlessly. Connect your social media platforms to your blog. Post on a regular basis. Build a faithful following.

Fiction writing: Write every day solid blocks of coherent text. Seek feedback, reviews and build a network of contacts. Make public appearances so people know about you.

In both cases, nurture the contacts in your network with a monthly newsletter. Enahnce writing with videos and book trailers.

In the sea of daily published new books in different formats, you cannot expect the reader to find you. You have to find the right reader to match what you have written.

Q: Where and when does it all come together?

A: It all comes together once you’re published on publishing and readers’ platforms.

Publishing platforms:

Kdp publishing on Amazon. Update your author centrale page.

Readers’ platforms

Goodreads authors

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16875736.Emma_Palova

Summary: In both blogging and as an author encourage engagement with reviews, questions and feedback.

As such, I will be actively answering your questions until my departure for writer’s retreat in Florida on Feb. 8 on all platforms. Use slug: Emma answers.

Tips: You Study the forums and help materials on WordPress.

You not only study the materials, but you implement everything that you have learned. Don’t forget to visit other blogs.on the Dai ly Post round-up. They are a constant source of inspiration.

To get discovered and for further insights: Participate in the Daily Post prompts

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/

Happy blogging and writing.

Thank you WordPress for providing this free platform to all writers, authors and dreamers around the globe.

blogging, inspiration, local authors, Uncategorized, writing

Building a fan base

December 12, 2017 emmapalova 1 Comment

Building a fan base long before the book or screenplay are done is paramount.

How do you build a fan base?

Fan by fan. The best place to start are social media. Start a page on Facebook, that you can later connect to your WordPress blog. Also do twitter.

Blogging for a writer is essential. It was the first recommendation I got from an agent.

“Start blogging,” agent Barbara Lowenstein said. “You should be writing reviews like crazy.”

I started blogging in January of 2013 to build my fan base. I chose WordPress for its impeccable reputation. I started with two follows from friends. Typically, I post twice a week.

What to post?

Give fans a value in your writings; whether it’s inspiration, information, entertainment, insights or a reprieve.

The best posts are relevant to what you are working on. Write about how you came up with the idea for your book, screenplay or business. How does it impact other people?

Why do you feel your work is important, and not just to you?

I can answer this one based on my new collection of short stories “Shifting Sands.”

The reason I put the collection of stories that span more than two decades, was preservation. I knew they would just get lost with time. I wrote some of them on my Smith Corona word processor with only a small screen that showed at the max three to four lines. I bought it for $450 in 1990 at a Kmart store in Big Rapids.

Later, I continued to build my fan base with my journalism career. But, I always had the book in mind first. It was the goal of my life.

Now, that the book is out, I continue to build my fan base with book signings and public appearances. I give it away at raffles.

I accommodate my fans by reaching out to them with also a private book signing, when they already bought one book for themselves and now they want it for a relative as a gift.

I made brochures about me and my book that I hand out wherever I can. I send out newsletters to my mailing list. If you don’t have one, create one. Use MailChimp. It’s free up to 2,000 emails.

Don’t just rely on the Internet to market your work. Be personal and be in the public eye. People love meeting up live with authors.

“How many people can say, they had an author at their museum,” said vice-president Tina Siciliano Cadwallader.

Plus, I love meeting up with fellow authors like Glad Fletcher during Christmas through Lowell. At the age of 80, she took a class so she could pen her memoir “My Garden of Stones.”

Glad is 85 now, and does all her own book marketing including public speaking.

My other favorite local author is the Oakwood Cemetery sexton Don DeJong. I bought his book, he bought mine. He writes stories about the people buried at the cemetery using old newspaper records.

Does being an author carry a responsibility?

You bet it does. People have expectations from you. You have to live up to them.

Whether people read your book or not is a factor you cannot control. The main thing is if they have it in their library. I read an interesting post from “Brain Pickings” on Facebook about the importance of having books at home, even if you’re not going to read all of them. It doesn’t mean you are ignorant or that you’re wastefully spending your money.

Why would you want a book that you’re not going to read?

It’s the energy behind the book that counts. You never know when you’re going to pick it up and just browse through it or use a Snippet for inspiration. I have tons of books that I use for inspiration including poetry and haiku. I also look for book cover ideas, formatting and quotations.

I compare my library to my garden and the books to my flowers. I don’t cut or pick all my flowers, but I enjoy all of them in their natural environment. They inspire and comfort me by their presence.

How do you stay motivated?

Solid motivation is a must to finish your work, whatever it may be. For me motivation is accomplishment. I need to have that feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day. The fans are also motivation when they ask you about your next book.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

All around me in daily happenings, in old magazines and newspapers. I also find inspiration in arts and old pictures.

When I had my book signing at the Lowell Arts Gallery, I was inspired by other artists’ energy and expression.

How do you filter through ideas?

Sometimes, I have too many ideas and I don’t know how to connect them. Then, I have to discard some or jot them down in my diary. I prioritize. Now, that I am working on my second book of short stories, I made an index of them. I can shuffle the stories around, as inspiration comes. You can do the same with book chapters or scenes.

What matters the most?

The most important is every day writing. It doesn’t matter what you write, as long as you write. Later, it will make sense. Establish your own writing routine. Listen to your fans and followers. They are your valuable readers.

Now this all could just be a theory if not put to work.

For more info on “Brain Pickings” go to: https://www.brainpickings.org

Watch for my series “Year in Review.”

blogging, books, Daily Post prompt, excerpts, inspiration, love, poetry, prompts, short stories, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

Shakespeare by proxy

November 4, 2017 emmapalova 2 Comments

Shakespeare on a chocolate wrapper

I have Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” by Proxy on the wrapper of my salted almond butter dark chocolate.

The other day, I ate the entire chocolate bar in the morning for breakfast to get some energy. Now, that is exactly 480 calories. But, it did the trick of putting me back on my feet. Prior to eating the chocolate bar, I felt like a snake making his way through the tall grass by my pond.

Breaking into writing space

However, I didn’t realize until today what was going on. I was entering the subconscious working space of my new book “Riddleyville Secrets.” It took all that energy to break the outside barriers of consciousness.

And following are William Shakespeare’s lines from “Romeo and Juliet”:

Juliet:

A thousand times good-night!

Romeo:

A thousand times the worse, to want thy light.

Love goes toward love, as schoolboys from their books;

But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.

Juliet:

Hist! Romeo, hist! O! for a falconer’s voice,

To lure this tassel-gentle back again.

Bondage is hoarse, and may not speak aloud,

Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies,

And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine,

With repetition of my Romeo’s name.

Romeo:

It is my soul that calls upon my name:

How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night,

Like softest music to attending ears!

blogging, book signing, books, Daily Post prompt, fiction, local author, prompts, Shifting Sands Short Stories, short stories, travel, Uncategorized

Silencing the inner critic in me

September 1, 2017 emmapalova Leave a comment

Ousting the inner critic in me

I too love this word Critical writing prompt because it describes me so well that I could cry over everything.

But, maybe I am just nostalgic over the bygone summer that went by hard and fast. Blitzkrieg, they call it in military terms.

I could list 50 million things that I did not manage to do this week, but instead I will list things that I have accomplished.

I delivered 5 copies of my new book Shifting Sands Short Stories to Schuller’s Books at the Meridian Mall in Lansing with my daughter Doc Emma and my buddy Ella on Monday.

Schuler Books is an independent local store in Midwest Michigan that accepts books from independent authors on consignment. They also give advise on how to publish a book.

The book will be available after Labor Day in both the local author and the fiction sections of the bookstore. It is now available at Schuler’s Books in Grand Rapids and at the KDL libraries.

We enjoyed the atmosphere of a real bookstore at the Chapbook Cafe that was alive with chatter. Doc Emma bought the “Trolls” book hot seller for Ella’s trip back to France.

It was our last road trip for a long time, as it rained happiness on us all the way to Lansing and back. Before heading out, we had breakfast at our favorite joint, the Backwater Cafe by the Lowell dam.

We got that done just in the nick of time before their next day flight to Paris.

Now, it’s all back to normal at our New Era ranch. The fall is upon us with its abundance and glory. The crop of fall birthdays is amazing. It seems like everyone whom I am related to was born in September.

Yay. What a way to start the majestic autumn.

Stay tuned for Summer Flashbacks: Pirates of the Great Lakes aka Circling Lake Michigan.

My next book signing of Shifting Sands Short Stories is set for Sept. 16 & 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Fallasburg one-room schoolhouse museum during the annual Fallasburg village bazaar and Fall Fest for Arts.

Be sure to stop by and visit with us in the autumn glory of Fallasburg.

For more info on Fallasburg pioneer village go to Fallasburg Today at http://fallasburgtoday.org or http://www.fallasburg.org

For more info on Schuler Books & Music go to: http://www.schulerbooks.com

blogging, immigration, inspiration, Inspiring Women, travel, Uncategorized, writing

An Australian discovery

March 2, 2017 emmapalova 2 Comments

Enlightened by discovery

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Lowell, MI- In light of the March 1, “Big Birthdays” post, I find this, “When I am 64,” by Debra Kolkka of Brisbane, Australia post very enlightening.

And I discovered that the story behind the “Bagni di Lucca and Beyond” blog is even more inspiring. Two friends, Debra and Liz, who live in Brisbane, Australia, started blogging about their houses in Italy to inform tourists.

Much like for the rest of us, Deb’s and Liz’s blog has grown into a passion building upon their colorful careers in fashion and retail.

Watch for a story on blog discoveries around the world. Visit with Debra and Liz in Brisbane for cosmopolitan inspiration.

64 once seemed so old, but not now…

via When I’m 64 — Bagni di Lucca and Beyond

arts, blog design, blogging, business, consulting, content writing, Greenwich Meridian memoir, memoir, publishing, relationships, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

Emma’s Publishing Odyssey 1989-2017

February 17, 2017 emmapalova 1 Comment

Emma’s status update

Hello friends,

Have you been through the publishing odyssey between agents, traditional publishing houses and self-publishing?
I have been on this route for the last 28 years, and I have learned a lot about the publishing, the filming and the arts industries, as well as about myself. I traveled this path as a print media journalist who swapped ink for the digital WordPress platform in 2013 with the first post published on Jan. 15.

I am an author, journalist, writer, screenwriter, designer, photographer and an entrepreneur of Emma Blogs, LLC, based in Lowell, MIchigan. That is professionally. I am also a human being: a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, and a grandmother. Some people call me, Mrs. Emma.

And I am somebody’s aunt, a Godmother and a”babe.”

Missing my mother.Ella & Emma, Venice 2015

How many different hats can a writer wear? Many. But the real question is, “Which is the right hat, and where do we hang it? Where do we put what?

My new friends like T.G., Barb and Wendy, think I am a geek. Ask my old artistic friends like Tom and Pam Woodruff of Leland, or Eva Laurencikova of Kromeriz, Czech Republic, “Who am I?”

I started my own flagship blog EW Emma’s Writing on http://emmapalova.com after advise from agents to build up the Emma Palova name brand in pursuit of publishing Greenwich Meridian (c) 2017, a memoir about the Konecny family immigration saga, @emmapalova @ludekpala now spanning three generations.

The mission of Emma Blogs, LLC

Over the four years of my publishing journey on WordPress, I have diversified into providing an advertising platform for others on the Emma Blogs portfolio, creating blogs for other people, publishing and most recently re-branding old structures into new designs. In Russia, they called it “Perestroika.”

Opportunities await if we keep our minds open to them

The screenshot of your Place at Home opportunity.

Re-branding and re-structuring into new designs

I have assisted in the digital re-do of the Fallasburg Historical Society (FHS) organization founded by a group of women in 1965, who used to get together somewhere on the grounds of the Fallasburg Park, into a digital conglomerate, known around the world.

The FHS slogan now is, “The next 50 years of Fallasburg.”

When asked about the direction of the Fallasburg historical organization, president Ken Tamke said the goal is to spread the word about the Fallasburg village on the Internet, and then people may actually find the hamlet in the northeast Kent County.

http://fallasburgtoday.org

The FHS also has a new website http://www.fallasburg.org . So visit and chat with us before you head out there. You never know what you’re going to find.

The FHS is part of the innovative project “The Past Online” on http://www.thepastonline.org.

Current projects

Currently, I am working with the arts community of the greater Lowell area to create a new palette.

Thai wind 1 by Kacey Cornwell, Art Prize entry

Prague horloge on the Old Town Hall by “I love Czech Republic” group

You can call or e-mail Emma for a re-branding consultation as we fly fast toward 2020. Don’t wait around. You can do your research, but make a move now, or we will all miss the train. One person cannot rebuild an empire overnight.

My publishing ventures on Edition Emma

Join me on my explorations of the publishing industry on both platforms; print and digital. Like most of my friends, authors and artists, I’ve learned the hard way; endless rejections, phone calls from sales people from different Publishing Houses that are now going digital.
Being constantly broke, I had to get more resourceful than just waiting around for a publishing prince to arrive on a white horse at my doorstep. He or she never did.

I also looked for the magical publishing white horse in the actual zoo as a kind sign that I might find an avenue one day.

That’s why I rolled out the blogging/writing portfolio, Emma Blogs, LLC in the summer of 2014.
Part of the portfolio is my own Publishing House Edition Emma (c) 2017 copyright. All rights reserved.
If you want to get published, submit your work to Edition Emma. Looking forward to seeing your work.
Love always,
Emma

arts, blogging, healing, inspiration, poetry, prompts, therapy, therapy recovery, traditions, Uncategorized, writing

Out of the Woods

February 2, 2017 emmapalova 1 Comment

A poet’s way

This poem is in response to the Daily Post prompt @clean
Clean

“Out of the Woods”

By Tubie Gilmore

I see a pleasant path, and I begin to ramble

On either side are thorns and rocks

The ground is full of brambles…..

Fallen trees to trip me, the woods are very dark…

But around the corner, and down the path,

I think I can see a park.

I think I’ll walk on the path today, the woods are too scary…

The path is my way,

It has a few hills as I walk toward the park,

But the sun is shining, I am not in the dark……

To get out of the woods

Is simple to do…

Just stay on the path,

And we’ll all walk with you!

Note: The poem was inspired by a therapeutic session with theme “Are we out of the woods” in the “ABC Rooms” held on Feb. 1, 2017.

blogging, Greenwich Meridian memoir, immigration, love, memoir, relationships, travel, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

Four Years on WordPress

January 17, 2017 emmapalova 5 Comments

Trip from Czech homeland marks 4^th anniversary of blogging

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI- On board Air France flight 1383 from Paris to Detroit, I was watching our route leaving the shores of Europe on Jan. 15, 2017, as I realized it was the fourth anniversary of my writing on WordPress.

ew-anniversary-2x-4-years — 500 posts Four-year anniversary

It was all so fitting, because I started blogging on WordPress in 2013 to promote my memoir “Greenwich Meridian” Copyright 2017 Emma Palova. I named the book Greenwich Meridian to depict our family immigration saga between the East and the Western hemispheres over the last five decades. The memoir tracks the Konecny family migration between former Czechoslovakia and the USA from 1969 through present.

Reaching higher with WordPress after four years.

The journey of blogging parallels my writing path through life almost identically. I don’t remember a period in my life not writing.

At first, it was writing letters to my mother Ella when she immigrated to the USA for the second time in 1980 to join my father Vaclav Konecny. Later, when I arrived in the USA in 1989, I embarked on a professional writing career as a journalist and correspondent for regional and Czech media, based in Michigan, New York and in Prague.

I followed Earnest Hemmingway’s correspondent footsteps.

Writing much like my husband Ludek have been my lifelong companions in good and in bad times, as expressed in our wedding wows in 1978 in Stipa, former Czechoslovakia at the Church of Saint Mary.

Writing has helped me survive major life crisis, like in 2008 when Ludek and I had to part due to the economic crisis in the first decade of the millennium. At that time, Ludek worked in Prarie du Chien, Wisconsin, while I stayed in Michigan to save our house. In the winter of 2008-2009, I wrote the screenplay “Riddleyville Clowns” Copyright © 2009- 2019 inspired by a hometown clown parade in Lowell that celebrated 175 years of the town’s establishment.

Writing has been the fuel of my life. Writing for me is like a fountain or elixir of life, when everything else around me is arid, dry and angry.

Instead of turning to violence and despair, I turn inside, meditate and feel into the overall emotions of the surrounding world. Then, I transform these powerful outside forces into a stream or an avalanche blanketing all with a soft cover of love, like a mother covering her child.

Transforming violence into love. A sculpture at LaCoste in Provence.

Today, as I write this 500^th post on the WordPress publishing platform, I am thankful for the 1,066 followers and the future ones to come.

I also would like to thank all, who never stopped believing in me.

At the end of last year, just before I have reached the 1,000 followers mark, I realized that I have completed a second degree thanks to the WordPress (WP) Blogging University, the support happiness WP engineering team, my family and my beloved readers.

“Congratulations, honey. You have another degree,” said my husband Ludek. “It was just like back when you were in school in Brno. I had to be constantly quiet.”

I wanted to quit just as many times as I did while working on my bachelor’s degree at the Technical University of Brno from 1982 to 1986 in former Czechoslovakia. My path on WordPress was constantly jeopardized by the lack of finances and understanding of the principles of freelance blogging.

I plan on finishing my second degree on the WordPress publishing platform with a blogging directory and an app for the thesis.

Thank you. You make me who I am.

Love always,

Emma

blogging, content writing, inspiration, Uncategorized, writing

1001 Days of Blogging

December 15, 2016 emmapalova 1 Comment

Annie plans to blog for 1001 days

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Lowell, MI- It is Day 395 of the 30 Day Content Challenge that officially ended last year in December.

But, Annie Conboy of Hebden Bridge, United Kingdom is still burning the midnight oil as she cranks out post #395, “Dreaming of a Peaceful World.”

Conboy is a medium and the founder of “Down 2 Earth Medium.” Her major focus is to channel for energy beings, such as angels, archangels and fairies.

She reached her one year anniversary of daily blogging on Nov. 15 with post #365, “First Year Done and Dusted.”

“I need to clear my head, so I can sleep,” she said in a recent Skype interview about her writing schedule.

“It’s felt a bit strange today. I’ve done something I’m really proud of. My writing has been happening for a full year. I have written every day than just the monthly articles I started in June 2015.”

Annie Conboy

Before starting the challenge in November of 2015, rookie writer and blogger Conboy wrote a few pieces for Valley Life.

“Then out of cyberspace I got an invite from my lovely friend Jan to join her in a 30 day blogging challenge. And I said yes. Now I’m a year on and amazed that I had all those words inside me. I have to say I don’t feel like I’m done yet either,” Conboy wrote in the anniversary post, “First Year Done and Dusted.”

Conboy has realized the challenge came at the right time for her.

“I was invited, it felt good, I was supporting a friend,” Conboy said. “I knew there would be discipline because it was every day, and I wrote every single day.”

And when she couldn’t physically write on the computer, Conboy wrote a post on a piece of paper.

“It helped me make a commitment to me,” she said.

Like for many writers, the first challenge was to find the right time to write. Conboy chose to write as the last thing at night.

“The clicks came quickly,” she said, “as I continued through the month I was sleeping better because I was clearing up the clutter in my head. I was clearing the day of everything that had happened.”

During the last week of the challenge, Conboy felt she had acquired a distinct voice in writing that was very specific.

“If I was to continue to write, I needed a commitment, a goal,” she said. “I decided I was going to blog for 1001 days.”

“Why in the world,” I asked, “Would anyone want to take part in the challenge beyond the designated 30 days?”

I participated in the original 30 Day Content challenge along with some 600 other bloggers from around the world, including Australia. Sometimes, Bradley Will, the founder of LearntoBlog, posted the daily guidelines and the themes 24 hours early “for the Ozzies.”

But, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I wrote posts in the morning, just like my regular writing. Every morning a new theme for the day awaited in the inbox. That part was exciting.

And the time was of the essence for the challenge due to the intensity and the synergy of the group. I felt like back at the university cramming for the final exams. Also the timing was unbeatable, since the challenge ran in a framework when all the catastrophes in this world seemed to happen, and during the Thanksgiving holiday in the USA.

To be continued………………..