I graduated from Kent State University on May 11, 2002, eight years ago today. As a gift, my husband (who back then was my fiance) gave me a silver heart-shaped locket with “Alanna & Mark” and the date engraved on the back. That day is imprinted into my brain like the letters and numbers etched in the silver.

The photo is a picture of me with my Aunt Joni on graduation day. She’s struggled with Alzheimer’s for the past few years, and they don’t know how much longer she’ll live. I wanted to post this photo as my tribute to her. It’s because of her I went to Israel at the end of 2000, it’s because of her I took Hebrew for my foreign language instead of the usual French or Spanish, and it’s because of her, in large part, that I am who I am today. She encouraged me to write and to believe in my dreams.

I didn’t intend for this to happen, but on May 11, 2009, I created another important anniversary: I’ve kept a writing log for exactly one year. The writing log has been an enormous game-changer for me, as far as my writing life is concerned. Most of you have read this, but if you’re new to my blog, I wrote about my writing log in my essay for one of my favorite blogs, the Procrastinating Writers Blog , called Logs, Frogs, and Blogs.

The partial inspiration for this post came from another favorite blogger of mine, John Ettorre’s blog Working with Words. I can only link to it through the archives; it’s the post dated 11/23/09 called Secret Anniversaries of the Heart.

This prompts me to ask you, fellow readers and writers, three questions. Please feel free to leave your comments on any or all of the questions, along with other thoughts.

1. What are your personal anniversaries?

2. If you are a writer, what devices do you use to keep yourself writing?

3. Who in your life has helped you to believe in yourself (as a writer or otherwise)?

It’s unusual for Paula Berinstein, the producer and host of The Writing Show, to answer the questions instead of ask them. Aggie Villaneuva of Visual Arts Junction interviews Paula B.about her writing endeavors, how The Writing Show began, and the new features of the podcast, such as The Writing Show Slush Pile Workshop and the Forum, in a post titled The Woman & The Writing Show: Paula Berinstein. I’m a huge fan of both Paula and Aggie, and I enjoyed reading this interview between two of the best in the business.

I wrote a guest post for the Procrastinating Writers Blog, a follow-up piece to my essay, Logs, Frogs, and Blogs. It’s called The Finer Points of Frog Eating. As always, I’d love to read your thoughts, and I thank you for reading.

I interviewed Michael Wilson, author of Writing Flash Fiction: How to Write, Revise, and Publish Stories Less Than 1000 Words Long, on The Writing Show. Click here to listen. Michael is the creator of the JumpStart Jar, and publishes two blogs:

1. Grist for the Muse: The creative writing resource that gets you writing and keeps you writing.

2. The 15-Minute Writer: Helping you achieve your writing dreams in just 15 minutes a day.

You know you want one of these! I do!

For a list of my other interviews for The Writing Show, click here.

Thanks for listening!

Writers will gather on March 27th for the 19th Annual Western Reserve Spring Writers Conference at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, OH. From 8:30 in the morning until 1:30 in the afternoon, participants attend their choice of three hour-long classes. Among the variety of topics this spring are “Writing for Children: Words and Illustrations” (Annette Sheldon), “Creating Credible Characters” (Debbie Alferio), and “The Scoop on Agents” (Holly Jacobs). Each hour contains four subjects to choose from, and everyone is encouraged to hop classrooms within the hour if there’s more than one they’d like to catch. The conference ends with a networking reception, refreshments, book sale, and author signing.

Unique to this conference is “Forming a Writers’ Group”, a special session facilitated by Diane Campbell Taylor. Her work has been published in The Plain Dealer and Grit magazine. The goal is to help writers get together to form their first writing group. “This is a wonderful, shot-in-the-arm way to learn more about the craft and business of writing and to make friends with other writers. Many writers groups – and success stories! – have been born as a direct result of these conferences,” says Conference Coordinator Deanna R. Adams. Deanna has just released her new book, Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Roots. (Deanna has also written a fabulous memoir called Confessions of a Not-So-Good Catholic Girl. I interviewed her about it on The Writing Show.)

The cost of the conference is $65, and for an additional fee of $10, writers can register for prearranged editing sessions with award-winning editor Nancy E. Piazza, a published writer with 21 years of editing experience. She works with novels, short stories, nonfiction books, articles, essays, memoirs, blogs, and letters for aspiring and published writers through her business, Writeperson Ltd.

For more information, including the bios of all the conference presenters, and to register, please click here. Enrollment is still open. Hope to see some of you there!

I wrote a post called Let Your Light So Shine back in December, and mentioned I was working on an essay for The Procrastinating Writers Blog essay contest. I’m thrilled to announce my essay won second place! You can read it here if you’d like. I’ll also be writing a guest post for The Procrastinating Writers Blog which should be posted around the end of March. Stay tuned and thanks, as always, for reading!

In 2008, I joined a writers group for a few months. We did some writing exercises, one of which was to write 12 steps for writers, inspired by The 12 Step Program for Alcoholics Anonymous. Here’s what I wrote.

12 Steps to a Writing Life

Hello. My name is Alanna. I am a writer. This is my version of Writers Anonymous: 12 Steps to a Writing Life (I write them in the present tense because they are never finished, they are things I must do over and over again).

1. I admit I am powerless without writing- that my life is empty without it.

2. I believe the muse can pour the words into my brain, down my arm, through my fingers, into the pen, onto the page.

3. I make the decision, sometimes hourly, to write no matter what else is going on in my life. No excuses.

4. I make a searching and fearless inventory of myself and the world around me, and write it down, as I see it.

5. I admit on paper the exact nature of my flaws through my characters and stories.

6. I am entirely ready to let the characters speak for themselves, and not force the characters into a mold or stereotype.

7. I humbly apologize to the characters when I do try to control them.

8. I make a list of all the characters in my story, and I am willing to listen to all of their backstories, even if it’s time consuming, and even if the information doesn’t go into the finished story.

9. I allow the characters and the story to evolve and change whenever possible, except when to do so would block the progression of the story.

10. I continue to take inventory of myself and the world around me, and write it all down, as I see it, and if I dance around the truth, I rewrite it.

11. I seek, though daily writing practice, books, classes, and my writing community, to improve my craft and discipline, to the best of my ability, and to draw inspiration and knowledge from these various sources to achieve my writing goals.

12. As a result of these steps, I have experienced a creative awakening, and I try to carry this message to other writers and would-be writers, and to practice these principles in my writing life.

Here are the winners of a free copy of Laura Christianson’s e-book, Blogophobia Conquered:

1. Kass, who blogs at The “K” Is No Longer Silent and ReDoingTheUndone

2. Letitia Suk: http://www.letitiasuk.com/

3. Lori Lowe: www.LifeGems4Marriage.com

4. Elisabeth, who blogs at Sixth In Line

5. Kristine Meldrum Denholm: http://www.kristinemeldrumdenholm.com/ and http://www.kristinemeldrumdenholm.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to the winners! Laura has e-mailed you your free copy. If you don’t receive it soon, it may have gone into your spam box. If that happens, please e-mail Laura at laura@bloggingbistro.com . I’m looking forward to reading your reviews!

You can read Review: Blogophobia Conquered if you’re interested in reading about this fantastic e-book for bloggers and wannabe bloggers. It’s a gem!

On Tuesday, I posted a review of my new favorite e-book, Blogophobia Conquered: Overcome the 7 Most Common Fears and Create an Amazing Blog, by Laura Christianson, who blogs at Blogging Bistro. Laura will send a free copy of her e-book (normally $19.99) to the first five people who post a comment on Tuesday’s post, Review: Blogophobia Conquered, and who also agree to write a review of the book on their blog. So, if you’re interested, please leave me a comment on Tuesday’s blog entry! I’ll need your e-mail to send to Laura so she can send you your free copy.

P.S. There may be more than five comments by the time you read this, but some of them are mine, so please leave a comment if you’d like a copy to review. If there are less than five at the time of your comment, you’ll receive a free copy from Laura!

After I wrote Book and Blog Highlights last month, I had the good fortune to connect with Laura Christianson, who offered to send me a copy of her latest e-book, Blogophobia Conquered: Overcome the 7 Most Common Fears & Create an Amazing Blog, if I wanted to write a review.

Not only did I enjoy this e-book, I learned a ton, and it’s now my go-to guide. I’ll read all 88 pages two, three, four, maybe five times. The advice is practical, concise, and not at all intimidating.

There are seven chapters, named for the fears that occur when writers ponder the great question: To blog or not to blog?

1. Technophobia
2. Decidophobia
3. Scriptophobia
4. Formatophobia (my favorite chapter, more on that in a bit)
5. Socialphobia
6. Borophobia
7. Addictophobia

I love Laura’s writing style and her use of similes, metaphors, and analogies to make her point. For example, on page 5: “Fear is a powerful force. When you allow it to creep in, fear squelches you, paralyzes you, and keeps you stranded on Someday Isle in the middle of the writing ocean.”

I also appreciated the idea of The Ready-Made Pie Crust Method, as someone who burns food often. Don’t fear that you aren’t technically inclined enough to write a blog. A blog-hosting service is like a ready-made pie crust. The shell, the structure, is already prepared, and all you have to do is pour in the filling you created.

Another great analogy, on page 13, discusses how a blog is the hub of your online social network. The spokes are sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and these spokes are attached to the hub. As I read this, I visualized a wheel.

While the focus is on how to write a blog, there’s guidance that can be applied to all forms of writing. For example, the last paragraph on page 31, about voice, is some of the best advice I’ve ever read on this subject.

Chapter 4, “Formatophobia,” my favorite chapter, contains step-by-step instructions on how to make your blog stand out and look pretty for bloggers who fear they can’t design a blog (like me). I cheered when I read this section (literally).

Sprinkled throughout are text boxes to reinforce points. My favorite text box is “5 Types of Blog Commenters” on page 53. There are tips on how to deal with less-than-desirable commenters. The encouragement file on page 56 is such a great idea, too!

As I read, I kept going back to my blog to check and make sure it lined up with what’s written in the book, and made notes for changes. I plan to utilize her suggestions on my own blog to the fullest. If you’re thinking about blogging or you’re a new blogger, this book is a must-read. Spring the $19.99 and avoid the pitfalls; it’s more than worth it. Before I started writing my blog, I read and studied blogs I liked, and I learned some of the information that’s contained in this e-book on my own. However, that process took me eight months. You can save lots of time reading and applying the information to your blog. I’m grateful to have read this book at the beginning of my blogging endeavor to save me time in the future.

Thanks to Laura Christianson for the opportunity to review her fabulous e-book!