Two Additional Benefits from the A to Z Blog Challenge - A Painting A Day

"This Cluttered Universe" - acrylic painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

Today, I am highlighting two of the unexpected benefits of participating in this year's A to Z Blog Challenge, my version - A Painting A Day.

First, I was thrilled to be selected by Alex Cavanaugh for his Special Challenge Participant Feature on the A to Z Blog. Please check it out. I am delighted to have this honor!

Second, each day during the Challenge, as I created one of my animal paintings, I had some paints left over on my palette. Not to let expensive acrylics go to waste, I decided to use the leftovers on a canvas that I sketched out in charcoal several years ago. That canvas has rested against my studio wall, untouched ever since.

"This Cluttered Universe" is 30" x 42" acrylic on gallery wrap canvas. All the paint is what was left from 20 A Painting A Day creations. (Five of my paintings were done in Boone, North Carolina; one painting was created with pastels.) The only additional paint is the blue background which was done with Titanium White acrylic mixed with Pthalo Turquoise and/or Ultramarine Blue.

It was a wonderful surprise to now have another new painting hanging on the studio wall and 24 little animal paintings leaning against everything in sight. (One painting--"Casey Cat"--is hanging on my daughter's wall. "Daffodils and Dragonfly" is a pastel that is in the studio on paper and unable to lean.)

I'm not sure if this painting is finished or not. What do you think? 

Thank you, Alex and everyone who worked hard to make the A to Z Blog Challenge a big success. Cheers and happy painting and writing trails to you!

Reading and Editing

Do all writers have trouble reading a book without having their inner editor pop in? I do. It is disconcerting and takes away from the story for me. But I can't seem to help it.

I've started to wonder if people are less concerned with grammar and proper usage of words these days. Even television commentators tend to use incorrect English. Does anyone else notice this? Does anyone care?

Words repeated in the same sentence or paragraph stand out when I'm reading. I want to click open the thesaurus and find a different word for that author to use. Maybe I'm carrying editing too far. What do you think?

Thank you, Alex Cavanaugh, for starting the Insecure Writer's Support Group. I'm enjoying meeting new writers as I travel around the group.

Bringing People to Your Blog

You've spent a lot of time. You've researched your subject, and you've written a wonderful, informative post on your blog. But no one visits. No one comments. How can that be?

Several years ago, I started writing occasional blog posts, but no one ever saw them. No one came to visit. I had no followers.

That changed when I took the blog book tour class taught by Dani Greer. Her class was intense but productive. It turned my blogging life around. I just went to her Blog Book Tours site and found some of her excellent instruction there ready for review by anyone who visits. I hope you'll take a look.

During that class, I discovered a number of wonderful bloggers like Alex Cavanaugh who surely never sleeps because he comments faithfully on everyone's blogs, writes new blogs virtually every day, sees every movie known to man and reviews most of them, writes books, has blogfests, etc., etc. I would love to be like Alex, but my life appears to be too scattered.

Here are some tips I have learned that can help one become a better blogger:

1. Focus. Pick a topic and become known mostly for that topic. Alex is known for his movie reviews. And, no, scattered is not a good topic!

2. Visit the blogs of others. Follow the blogs you like.

3. Tweet about your blog and the blogs you follow.

4. Post regularly, even if it is only once or twice a week.

5. Write often about those things that will help others. Write sometimes about the things you love. Although I don't believe I have many artists among my followers, I sometimes cannot resist writing about art. Occasionally, I need to write about baseball as well. That's definitely breaking the rule on focus.

6. Join blogfests that interest you. You'll meet new people there and make friends. You'll expand your horizon.

7. Spend an hour a day, if you can, developing your blogging skills. If you can only spare 30 minutes, use that time to your advantage. It will be time well-spent.

8. Take a look at your blog statistics and see which posts attract the most visitors. I have never topped the number of visitors I got the day I posted my thoughts on the sudden ending to the Medium television series.

Good luck with blogging. It's an exciting way for a writer to touch readers.

If you have a chance, please visit the Night Writers blog where I am posting twice a month, 1st and 15th about travel.

Coming Home

We just returned from a magical trip to many beautiful locations in the Midwest, including Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers! We even journeyed up to the tip of the thumb of Michigan that sticks out into Lake Superior. I'll be blogging about these adventures in the coming days.

I'm sorry I didn't have time to line up blog posts during my absence, but time caught up with me and I couldn't do everything. Thank you to those who continued to visit my blog and found nothing new!

Thank you, Alex Cavanaugh, for the Liebster Blog award given me while I was gone. This recognizes bloggers with less than 200 followers. I'll pass this along later to some other bloggers. My goal is to gain more than 200 followers before the end of the year!

Science Fiction and Down on the Earth Mystery

Will There Be Peace Anywhere Copyright MM Sikes

Space has always intrigued me. As a child, I looked at the stars and wondered "what if I could fly there". Although I've never been a reader of science fiction books, I have loved Star Trek and other sci-fi series. But I am a painter who covets the thrill of space and who likes to use the concept of other worlds and planets in my work. I have an outer space painting underway now in my studio. Fractal imagery intrigues me as an inspiration for space paintings.

Alex Cavanaugh is a writer who is drawn to space. Today, he is launching my blog tour for the week for Night Watch at his site.My down on the Earth mystery may seem a little mundane to space lovers. I hope not.

Please visit  Alex Cavanaugh's Blog today. Please leave a comment for my contest.
I hope you will visit the sites where I will be guest blogging as my Blog Book Tour for Night Watch continues. The schedule is below:

Nov. 11 - Patricia Stoltey

Nov. 12 - Nancy Williams

Nov. 15 - AlexCavanaugh

Nov. 16 - Marian Allen

Nov. 17 - Bodie Parkhurst

Nov. 18 - Thoughts in Progress

Nov. 19 - K. K. Brees

World-Building

When I read a book review for Alex Cavanaugh's new book, CassaStar, I realized what a great platform he has not only to launch his first book but to begin a whole new series that he can expand any way he decides. After all, he is world-building, and the entire universe is his playground!

I love the idea of world-building, but that's for the sci-fi and the fantasy folks, not for a romance author who likes to add just a bit of mystery/suspense. Alex is on a virtual book tour, and from the number of comments he is getting it's looks like a sure success.

As a artist, as well as a writer, I love to create paintings that might be considered the settings for a fantasy universe. Now, if I can just figure out how to tie them in with a new book.

That idea intrigues me.

"Universe and Beyond" Copyright MM Sikes

I'm looking forward to reading about the new worlds Alex will create in his imagination. How do some of you who develop fantasy worlds go about creating them?