#RomanticFridayWriters - Linky Sign Up - Challenge No 37- 'Yes, no, oh alright then!'

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APPRECIATING OUR BLOGGER BUDDIES

Hello -:)

We (meaning both your hosts Denise and Donna) want to thank everyone who participated in challenge #36 Appreciating the Zealotry.  You are all superstars! Perhaps it wasn't much of a challenge to just link to a favorite post from April, but selecting a favorite is never easy, as you have all noted by now.

We're pretty sure we have visited and commented on everyone who linked, but if we've missed your post, please let us know.  The purpose of this challenge was to spotlight posts we may have missed, or to introduce some new bloggers to RFW.  The hosts are all about meeting new authors, networking, and generally having a good time.

We have enjoyed all the postings; We learned something new, or were thoroughly entertained, or just enjoyed meeting new bloggers at every stop we made along the way.  Wow, so much to appreciate out there in the blogverse. Thank you to the newbies to RFW. We hope you will post again!

We want to thank the A-Z hosts who linked with RFW, and a special thanks to Arlee Bird, who conceived the April A-Z challenge that has taken over the bloggy world for the last 3 years. Thank you Arlee for posting three times for this challenge! WE wish A-Z the best of luck in future endeavors.  Please visit Arlee to say hi if you haven't already done so. RFWers, please take a moment to wave a fond adieu to all things A-Z, as we move forward with our own agendas,namely writing flash fiction and poetry to prompts. Next prompt June 1 - Yes, No, Oh, alright then!

Check out the Challenge Page for more info on the next prompts.

Check out our Guest Posts Page which has undergone rigorous change.

Appreciating the Zealotry - Sign up for the challenge of re-posting your favourite April post

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Further questions? Leave a comment and we'll get back to you!

APPRECIATING THE ZEALOTRY - Challenge No 36 - Friday May 18

What a rush the last few weeks have been!  A-Z Challenge, Madeleine Maddock’s Plotting Blogfest, and the awesome RFW picture prompt that hearalded our regular posting schedule in May.  Are you all exhausted?  Needing a break?  Well, I beat ya to it, having been on blogger break through April, lol.  But I’m giving you the opportunity to link to a post, without working at it.  This is my version of A-Z: Appreciating the Zealotry that was April.

I’m catching up now; but yikes, did I miss some awesome posts from all of my friends here at RFW?  I hung out off-line: answering e-mails, drafting posts for RFW and my own blogspot; even accomplished some writing and mundane day life tasks.  I think I need a break from my break.

What about you?  What did you do through April?  Did you participate in A-Z, or keep to your normal blogging schedule?  Take a much needed break from the writing world?

Do tell; Denise and I truly want to know.  Denise was adventurous enough to post A-Z on two – yes TWO – blogs.  Every day, except Sunday of course.  I think she skipped Sunday . .

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes feel I produce my best writing for a blogfest; and A-Z is like an everyday blogfest.  The other time I create an awesome post is when everyone is otherwise occupied and doesn’t see it.  You ever feel that way?

Well, here’s your chance to show off your best, most favorite blog post of A-Z Challenge.  LOL; I already hear several types of groans amongst the “way cool” sighs.

FIRST GROAN:  What, I only get to pick one?  I’m cheating and picking two. 

SECOND GROAN:  I didn’t participate in A-Z!

THIRD GROAN:  My posts (A-Z or normal posting schedule) did not include a romance element, and were much longer than 400-600 words.

Not to worry.  We know A-Z encouraged shorter posts for the benefit of the massive participation list, and most bloggers keep their usual posts within 1000 words.  And we here at RFW do not have the over 1600 sign up list to browse through.  The focus of this prompt is to show off a post you wrote during April that you particularly loved.  Regardless of content (excepting the relatively clean, “closed door” environment of RFW).

Oh, I forgot to address cheating, didn’t I?  Cheating is built into this prompt.  Cuz, what is love without a cheating heart?  Go ahead, add your TWO favorites to the linky.  Remember, these are links to the original April post; easy peasy, no new writing required.

FOURTH GROAN:  No fair, I didn’t post during April; I took a blogger break.

What a coincidence; Me too!  I did some writing on my WIP(s) during April.  Some of this writing was editing, and some was research.  Now, I’m not a “plotter” by nature, but I consider “research” on cultural/concept/character development a part of plotting.  Some concepts/descriptions you just can’t “pants” through.  Agree?

So if you didn’t post during April, you have our permission to post something you wrote, revised, edited, or researched DURING APRIL. 

FIFTH GROAN:  Bloggers who posted got to cheat with two posts; how do I cheat with my original/revision/research?

Well, you would be limited to one post, obviously; unless you posted on two separate days so you have two links.  However;

-          you could post the draft, and the revision

-          you could post the research, then the excerpt that used the research

-          you can post writing/revision excerpts on two separate projects

-          you can tell us where you have been published in April

-          you can tell us who you queried or submitted partial/fulls to

-          you can combine any of these to make a post

SIXTH GROAN:  I did nothing writing related at all during April.

Yeah, that happens sometimes; and should be celebrated as a good thing to be taking care of the rest of your life.  We hope you did something you enjoyed, but even if you were recovering from a medical/emotional episode, we encourage you to tell us all about it. C'mon you must have done something in April, right!? If you made stuffed toys or jewelery, you'll have to post a picture as proof.

There you have it; the many ways you can add a link (or two) that Appreciates the Zealotry that was April.  Please sign up when the linky goes up so we can read all about it . .

Linky up next Thursday 17th.

Spread the word via your blog if you're excited about the idea. We'd appreciate it if you at least posted the button in your sidebar!

Don't forget to read the Wednesday Wrap Up below.

Wednesday Wrap Up - Picture Prompt - A Night on the Town - Challenge No 35.

Hello everyone!

Both Donna and myself were excited to see 10 members writing for our first challenge of the month, this just after most of us participating in the A-Z Challenge. So congratulations! I hope this means you missed posting during April. I know I missed coming up/writing to prompts.

Several of you wrote under duress. Linda's father is dying, Kiru is launching her latest book, Francine wrote hers over lunch after seeing a post on FB which reminded her of the date, Ms Queenly went right to the wire, but got it out there, Andy tried prose which sat uncomfortably with him, Roland was swirling in a sea of blood (of the courier type), Nancy was about to move house, Anna was worried about her tax returns - yet you all posted!!!!!! That shows what a spunky lot we are at RFW. Thanks for giving all of us your excellent stories to read. Adura contacted me and said she was forced to step back as she has things happening in her life she needs to deal with.

As we announced, there is no longer going to be a Featured Writer each challenge. We know you like to have your say, so there will usually be a Poll where you can vote for your favourite story/poem. Unless there's a clear winner though, there can't be a People's Choice. And this has happened - 3 writers got 2 votes - Linda, Nancy and Denise and Donna got one vote. 7 votes out of 10 is a good proportion, but I think there's no outright winner this challenge. Congrats to all who received votes! I loved all your stories for different reasons, but my vote went to Linda for the pure joy and craziness of it, even though romance was lacking. Sort of would be out of place there...

I know the Response to Image was brilliant, (sorry Maddy) - I found the picture in a magazine. Loved it. Saw all sorts of possibilities. Not surprisingly there was a theme happening - a night out on the town, and a few transvestites revealed, or about to be...Thank you everyone for sticking pretty well to the guidelines...

Now you'll miss Donna's thorough critiques today. Unfortunately Donna's father died. She got the phone call as she was about to put fingers to keyboard on each of your stories. Our thoughts and prayers are with Donna at this time, and Linda, whose father is dying...

Mine is a quick wrap up today. I'm looking more at what you wrote than how you wrote it...

In the order of posting...

Anna - Anna used the Romeo + Juliet audition suggestion for the prompt and didn't she do it well? Her lovely character Daisy was well-fleshed out and we all felt dejected when she lost the audition. Anna went ahead and wrote a sequel, which contained an element of romance missing in the first piece. Judging by comments, you all got right into Daisy's story and hope to see more of her in the future.

Nancy - I adored the story of Isadora and Detective Stetson. For those of you who looked in all the wrong places to find the original, Nancy posted it for me during the A-Z Challenge on RFW. Here is the link. I love the slow and steady build up of this romance. (BTW there were some great little flashes posted here during the A-Z Challenge - not all by me, lol. Guest writers wrote great stories!)

Linda - Lady No Hips - the title was a bit of a giveaway. I adored this crazy story, glued to the screen right to the last line which was a cracker! Who does endings like Linda?! I, for one, loved that sleazy Colton was in for a terrible surprise when he discovered that Lady No Hips was No Lady.

Andy - Spent a lot of time putting your prose down, didn't you Andy? But we all loved it even though it made you uncomfortable. I always think poetry is the hardest to write, but Andy thought prose wasn't doing it for him. We all disagreed, Andy, and your unique voice and style still shone in this story of looking back to a high school love. Beautifully told.

Donna - Well, Donna is the first to admit she's no great romantic and she completely forgot the romantic element in her story, but Jodi (Jonathan), sex-change girl/boy, Monotone and Lipstick made great reading. Now I'm wondering who Ru Paul is? Well, I can sort of guess. A rollicking tale. As Francine said - this prompt led to hitting the trannie button!

Francine - Yeah, that trannie button again! The Lollipops, Ginger and Danny's ogling ways, was a trannie fest. It was like being there in the pub eavesdropping on the conversation. Francine's dialogue was spot on and natural. Who can believe she wrote it off the cuff? "Bloomin' genius" as I said.

Kiru - An intriguing tense tale of bathroom gossip between three girls on a hen's night, all about Bimbo's fiance, Deji's, naughty ways, wedding looming. What to do? It seems Bimbo knew all along, and perhaps Funke has ulterior motives for breaking the bad news. Will this wedding of the year go ahead? Do tell, Kiru. Maybe another prompt will bring up these characters again. Hmm. One comes to mind...

Roland - Set in the haunted jazz club, Meilori's (well known to Roland's followers/readers of his books), we have Alice channelling the dead Victor's voice. Are Trish and Becca to blame for Victor's death. Look out girls! Dark and compelling.

Ms Queenly - Taviante probably had the most lustful, romantic tale. Sabian - "reservoir of infinite cool" is hoping to have some hanky panky with Darling, that flirty girl, on a romantic cruise. Sabian's thoughts turn to love - "tonight he was going to kiss her...(when) the cool distant moon shone over the ocean of liquid fire..." Delicious descriptions. Now Taviante was a very late linker, so she only has two comments. If you haven't read her story, please do. Perhaps you couldn't leave a comment. I had heaps of trouble and ended up using twitter after four attempts. Word Press doesn't like blogger and is making it hard to comment on WP blogs.



Now don't forget our next prompt. It's easy-peasy. APPRECIATING THE ZEALOTRY. Just be thinking about which post/s you wrote during April that you would like to repost for a larger audience. Return Friday for the full details. I've already posted about it on my L'Aussie blog during my Reflections on the A-Z post, currently showing. Once you have the details, please show your enthusiasm by posting about it or at the least, adding the badge to your sidebar!

Challenge No 35 - Response to Image - A Night on the Town or other interpretations...

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Welcome back to RomanticFridayWriters! What's new?

Hi all!

Welcome to one new member Emma and several new followers during this past month!

It's great to be back. I feel pretty high after the A - Z Challenge. I loved learning more about the bloggers I interviewed and loved sharing their pictures and stories on my blog for my theme, BLOGGERS WERE CHILDREN TOO! I used as many RFW members as the letters would allow, but at some time on this blog I'd like to learn more about each of you. And I also enjoyed posting flash fiction here at RFW for most of the month. Thanks to Rek and Raelene for helping me out there!

I hope you'll tell us about how you went if you participated in the A-Z Challenge.

Now I'm ready to get back to writing our unique RFW prompts. I hope you are too. But first, a few things to note:

Donna Hole takes on full co-host responsibilities from now on. Please take a few moments to read her Donna Page. You'll see she's going to be a great asset to our group and has been already.

During the last month, Donna and I have rejigged a few things. You know the saying: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'? Well none of the concepts at RFW were 'broke', some just needed a bit of refreshing. The following are the main changes:

• Donna Hole takes on the full role of co-host, assisting me with every aspect of RFW. You are welcome to email Donna and/or myself if you have any suggestions, issues etc.
• We are actively seeking Guest Posts on the craft of writing/publishing. Check out the Guest Post Page. Do let us know if you'd like to post for us. Contributing members will be given preference.
• Submission Guidelines have changed slightly. Check out the Submissions Page.
• Featured Writer and Runner Up won't be judged each challenge. We know you like to have your say, so a poll will be available each challenge for the People's Choice Award. Note the new badge in sidebar.
• Our challenges will challenge you to greater heights - we envision several upcoming prompts where all entries will be either poetry or prose. These are the challenges where we will judge for FW and RU.

After you've browsed around those pages, take a few more minutes to check out the rest of the blog - you'll notice some updates, additions and changes. All the Pages have been updated. Take a few minutes to click on and get to know your fellow members.  You might be surprised by who lurks here...

FIRST CHALLENGE BEGINS RIGHT AWAY!

I hope you've had your thinking caps on for our first challenge, the Response to Image that's been hovering there in the left sidebar for some time now. There are further guidelines to this challenge so do pay a visit to the Challenges Page before writing a story or poem/choosing your extract.

A very important difference: the word limit is up to 600 words just for this kick off event! We'll be back to 400 for future challenges.

Talking of future challenges, Donna is organising a special treat for our second prompt this month, called Appreciating the Zealotry. Basically Donna is offering you a break. On Friday May 18, instead of crafting a story/poem, Donna is asking you to post your favorite blog post written during the A-Z Challenge or anytime during April if you didn't participate in the challenge. Post onto your blog and link in the usual way at the RFW linky list. We'll post the full deets later...

But for now, let's away into our first challenge! The linky will go up on Thursday, EST as usual...