5000 and counting!

I can’t believe how my lil Lit and Scribbles is getting all grown up and viewed. I know the 5000 mark happened a couple of weeks ago, but dang people, it was going to be the end of the world. I might never have reached 6000. Anything could have happened!

Either way, welcome to the 5000 celebration!

So it got me thinking. What could I do for a 5000 hits party? 5000 things of awesomeness? I don’t have 5000 followers or blog posts—yet. Well, since the trend lately has been animated gifs, I thought why not mix that with 5 of the biggest events make one, because one is hard enough while linking to the 5 biggest events that have happened while I’ve been on the blogosphere.

NUMBER 5

I went to the Backspace Writers Conference and posted all of my notes. There I met a lot of new friends, including the ladies over at Mystic Cooking. It certainly was a lot of fun to go back to NYC again, check out a few sites and eat very well. I learned a lot at the conference too, some of it hard to swallow at first, but it made me do a major rewrite on SHADE that probably helped me win at other things that happened later in the year.

NUMBER 4

I won a full chapter critique from the fabulous Aimee Salter who gave me a lot of helpful advice I implemented into SHADE. If you haven’t heard of Aimee, be sure to check out her blog. She also offers critiquing services, but hers are a bit different than the standard copy editing type. She gives her clients structural feedback, whether it be on character development, plot, world building—whatever your weakness, she’ll find it and offer suggestions on how to fix it. If you think it’s time for publication, whether self-pub or traditional, I’d suggest giving her blog a look first. You want to offer readers the best story possible.

NUMBER 3

I hit 100 followers. I remember when the blog would get 2 or 4 views daily and I wasn’t sure how exactly I was going to get it beyond that. As a special treat I transformed some of my followers into comics form.

Here’s a sample of one now. Gloria, me gusta que ahora estamos ともだち! If you haven’t met Gloria, you really should. Head on over to her blog and get to know her a little better. By the way, Gloria, one of my holiday books was the Halloween Tree. Thanks for the recommendation, it was a lot of fun!

NUMBER 2

SHADE won first place in the League of Utah Writers statewide competition in the YA category. I got the news while in Hawaii—no better place to receive news. I really didn’t expect to win, so it came as a pleasant surprise. And of course, I immediately added the creds to my query letter. Contests are worth the effort, my lovelies. That’s not to say I’ve won every contest I’ve ever entered, but if you can polish something up and get it in there you give yourself the chance of getting some writing cred. There’s also the possibility of feedback, which is always worthwhile no matter what happens.

I’ve got two other contests I’ve entered which I’ll hear back on in February. Hopefully 2013 will bring good news all round.

NUMBER 1

I know, I’ve told you this a dozen or more times already, but I’m still quite thrilled about it. I entered a contest called Pitch Wars and was selected by Marieke Nijkamp as a mentee. I recently got her feedback notes (best Christmas present ever!) and I’m ready to keep on fighting for SHADE to be the best it can be. In fact, this whole weekend is going to be about getting SHADE together. I don’t think I’ll finish everything, but I’m fairly certain massive progress will be made.

Anyway, Marieke and I decided for us it would be splendiferous if we went by #TeamBadWolves. And here’s where the animated GIF comes in. Using a combination of Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, trial and error and some GIF program, may I present to you my very first animated GIF.

It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty satisfied with it, especially considering how much effort it took to make it. Animating can be HARD peeps! Usually HARD is the default setting. You best appreciate those inbetweeners over in Asia that get it done!

Anyways, thanks for bringing me to 5000 views. In fact, we’re near approaching 6000 and it’s all thanks to you guys. I hope 2013 brings us all grand success in our writing. And we’ll see you again for another celebration at 10,000—although that may take awhile. 😉

What have been some of the most memorable blog experiences for you this year? What do you think 2013 will hold for your blog?