WANDERLOVE and A to Z Blogging

It seems like YA Highway isn’t doing a Road Trip Wednesday today (or they’re doing one later and I’m impatient). That’s okay, especially since Highwayer Kirsten Hubbard’s new book WANDERLOVE released yesterday. There’s a big giveaway going on at YA Highway in connection with the release, so be sure to check that out. I enjoyed Kirsten’s debut, LIKE MANDARIN, so I have high hopes for WANDERLOVE.

Assuming an RTW hiatus today, let me take this opportunity to announce a change to the blog schedule for April. WHAT? I know I just messed with the blog schedule. Don’t panic–this is just for April. You see, I’ve decided to participate in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. What is this? Participating bloggers must post a blog article every day of the month of April (excluding Sundays, except for the first Sunday since that’s the first), and each blog article has to have a successive letter of the alphabet as its theme. So, April 1st’s article will have an A-related theme, April 2nd’s will be B-related, April 3rd’s C-related, and so on. The articles should be at least 100 words long, but can be anything–poetry, rant, rave, whatever, as long as the letter of the day features prominently.

Sounds like a big time suck? Perhaps. It sounds to me like an interesting challenge. And I’m all for a challenge, especially a creative challenge, which this will certainly be. But why do it? Apart from the challenge, one motivating factor is the unavoidable fact that I need to get used to doing things that promote my work. One day I hope to be a published writer, and my agent and publisher are going to want me to step outside my comfort zone and do blog tours, book signings, and things. I’m not a big fan of shameless self-promotion. But sometimes you gotta do it. So this is a good way to get my blog in front of some new faces (not that I have anything against the regular faces here–thanks for sticking with me!). How many new faces? My entry is number 1037 on the list. Yikes.

So does this mean I’ll not be doing my regular features? Certainly not! I’ll still do RTW, Friday Fives, and maybe even book reviews and other stuff. The only difference is that I will be incorporating the letter of the day into them somehow. I did say it would be a challenge.

Does this mean I’ll be looking at 1000-2000 blogs every day? Please! I have enough trouble keeping up with the blogs I currently follow! I plan to pick 5-10, maybe more if I have time, each day to visit. Ones I find particularly interesting or fun I’ll return to, and maybe even add to my RSS feed. This way, I should be able to check in on my regular blog friends while getting through most, if not all, the A-Z bloggers. And still have a life.

What do you think? Sound like a fun challenge or a daunting task? Interested in participating? Check out the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge site to find out more and to sign up.

And don’t forget the Birthday Giveaway! If you haven’t entered, it doesn’t take long to complete the Rafflecopter entry form, and it costs you nothing. You know it makes sense.