Summer Special Starts!

Apologies for the late start to this 'Summer Special'.
Who knew it would take me over an hour to write this post!?

Welcome to the first ever 'Summer Special' taking place across various blogs run by Abigail Ann (aka neeuqfonafamai).

So, what is 'Summer Special'?
Basically, its a change to our regular schedule where you can hang out during your summer holidays. Or, if they're already over, then you can use the opportunity to imagine them back again and begin planning for next year. Every day in August, I'll be leaving you some ideas of  things that are good to do in hot weather. They'll also be giveaways, blog features, author interview(s), recipes for you to try, and a chance for you to join in during our 'summer sharers'. That's in addition to all my usual book reviews and memes. And, at the end of each post, will be an 'over to you'- something to spark discussion in the comments, or to post about on your own blog (if you want to).
Let me now tell you some more about the types of posts you may come across during this month:

• The Week Ahead. At the start of each week in August, I'll be putting up a post saying what's happening that week. This will be an updated post and will include the 'It's Monday: What Are You Reading?' meme. 
• Suggested Activity. These are posts talking about activities that myself or my blog readers like to do. They contain ideas of things that could be good to do in warm weather. 
• Places to Visit. These are brief posts telling you about various places that could be good to go and visit. These are specific places that you might want to see if you live nearby, or to go to on holiday in the future.
• Blog Feature. Telling you all about some of the blogs that our readers run. 
• Giveaway. Your chance to grab a prize. Thanks to the generousity of our readers most of these are international! Plus, I'll be adding a surprise giveaway if the followers of 'The Story Factory Reading Zone' hit 100 followers during this event!
• Author Interview. Your chance to find out more about an author that may be new to you. 
• Blogger Interview. Your chance to learn more about a fellow blogger.
• Summer Sharer. Essentially a series of one-off memes, these posts are your opportunity to join in by sharing your photos, summer exploits, or writing. Let us know what you're up to this summer on your own blog, or via the comments.
• Recipe Resort. I'll be sharing some recipes that I've found to be good for the summer.

Enough of the posts, where do I find them?
They'll be spread across my blogs. But don't worry, they won't be hard to find as each day I'll leave a note for you of where you can find the next post. Plus, there's a list below of what will be happening when and where, which I'll leave (and update as necessary) on the new 'Summer Special' page of each of my blogs.
Just to make sure you don't miss anything, here's a list of the blogs participating:

• The Story Factory Reading Zone 
• Music Helps The World Go Round
• Living in A Time Warp
• Crafy Creations
• Blog For The Thought
• The Story Factory Writing Zone

The Schedule
These are the posts that I've already got planned for the 'Summer Special' event. Also, look out for all my usual posts, as well as the possible additional giveaway or interview.

WEEK ONE- Welcome To The Summer!
Day One-     Launch Post (all blogs)
                    The Week Ahead (all blogs)
                    Suggested Activity 1 (Music Helps The World Go Round)
Day Two-    Suggested Activity 2 (Living in A Time Warp)
Day Three-  Suggested Activity 3 (Craft Creations)
                    Recipe Resort: Peach Sorbet (Blog For The Thought)
Day Four-    Places To Visit 1 (Blog For The Thought)
                    Suggested Activity 4 (Blog For The Thought)
Day Five-     Suggested Activity 5 (The Story Factory Writing Zone)
Day Six-       Suggested Activity 6 (Craft Creations)
                    Summer Sharer: Wanderer's Tales (Living in A Time Warp)
Day Seven-  Blog Feature: My Book-Crazy Life (The Story Factory Reading Zone)

WEEK TWO- Giveaways Galore!
Day Eight-   The Week Ahead (all blogs)
                    Suggested Activity 7 (The Story Factory Reading Zone)
                    Summer Sharer: Recipe Resort (Cradt Creation)
Day Nine-    Suggested Activity 8 (Music Helps The World Go Round)
Day Ten-      Places To Visit 2 (Living in A Time Warp)
Day Eleven-  Suggested Activity 9 (Blog For The Thought)
Day Twelve- Suggested Activity 10 (The Story Factory Writing Zone)
                     Giveaway 1: Bloody Jack (The Story Factory Reading Zone)
                     Blog Feature: Ann's Reading Corner (The Story Factory Reading Zone)
Day Thirteen-Suggested Activity 11 (The Story Factory Reading Zone)
                     Giveaway 2: Assorted Signed Bookmarks (The Story Factory Writing Zone)
Day Fourteen-Giveaway 3: The Hairdresser of Harare (The Story Factory Reading Zone)

WEEK THREE- Sharing the Summer
Day Fifteen-  The Week Ahead (all blogs)
                     Suggested Activity 12 (Music Helps The World Go Round)
Day Sixteen- Places To Visit 3 (Living in A Time Warp)
Day Seventeen- Suggested Activity 13 (Crafty Creations)
                     Summer Sharer: Crafty Capers (Crafty Creations)
Day Eighteen-Suggested Activity 14 (Blog For The Thought)
                      Recipe Resort: Beetroot Cake (Living In A Time Warp)
Day Nineteen-Suggested Activity 15 (The Story Factory Reading Zone)
Day Twenty-  Suggested Activity 16 (Living In A Time Warp)
                      Summer Sharer: Holiday Snaps (The Story Factory Writing Zone)
Day Twenty-One- Giveaway 6: Magnetic Bookmarks (Crafty Creations)

WEEK FOUR- Writing and Reading the World
Day Twenty-Two-   The Week Ahead (all blogs)
                               Places To Visit 4 (Living In A Time Warp)
Day Twenty-Three- Suggested Activity 17 (Crafty Creations)
Day Twenty-Four-   Suggested Activity 18 (The Story Factory Reading Zone)
                               Summer Sharer: A World of Writing (The Story Factory Writing Zone)
Day Twenty-Five-   Author Interview: Karen Tyrrell (The Story Factory Writing Zone)
Day Twenty-Six-     Places To Visit 5 (Living in A Time Warp)
                               Recipe Resort: Bread-maker's Bread (Music Helps The World Go Round)
Day Twenty-Seven- Suggested Activity 19 (Music Helps The World Go Round)
Day Twenty-Eight-  Blogger Interview: Hilde (The Story Factory Reading Zone)

WEEK FIVE- Reaching the End
Day Twenty-Nine-  The Week Ahead (all blogs)
                               Giveaway 7: Murder in the Dark (The Story Factory Reading Zone)
Day Thirty-              Places To Visit 6 (Living in A Time Warp)
Day Thirty-One-      Wrapping Up The Summer (all blogs)

I hope you'll be able to join us for some summer fun this month!

If you want to be certain not to miss anything, please consider following one (or all) of the blogs

Over to you: What are your plans for August?

Countdown To Summer Special

LESS THAN A WEEK TO GO until our 'Summer Special' event!

Spead across 6 blogs that I run throughout August, 'Summer Special' will be full of suggestions on how to make your summer just that little bit more fun.

Look out for:

• suggested activities
• book, arts & crafts and other giveaways
• featured blogs
• blogger interviews
• author interviews
• book reviews

and more.......

It's not too late to get involved as well! Simply fill in the form below before next Monday to get your activity suggestions or blog featured, be interviewed, or donate a giveaway item.

The One-Minute Writer: Electronic/ Paper

Hosted by The One-Minute Writer

This is a topic that I have given quite a bit of thought to recently. I absolutely love paper books- the feel of them, the smell of them and the fact that they are easy to send onto other people. The only thing that's ever attracted me the idea of an electronic book is the portability. That's not enough for me, I'm afraid! Now, if they had a feature to switch from audio book (complete with human voices) to text and back whilst saving my place in the book- then I might be interested!

The One-Minute Writer: Loss

This post took me one minute only and is staight out of my head onto the page, therefore please excuse any typos.

I stood peering out of my swollen eyes at the bird which lay in my open hand. It simply stayed where it was, and I knew it would never move again. I nudged its head, which swayed under my touch and then fell back into my palm.

How Do you Make Your Summer Special?

I'm hoping to run a series of posts on things to do this summer. But, in order to make this a success I need your help? I want to know if you have any activities, places you enjoy, or things that you do in the summer months. I would especially like to know about where you like to write in sunny weather. Maybe you go to the beach, or sit by the side of a swimming pool. Maybe your kids are at home and you read to them as you write. Whatever it is, I'd love to hear from you.

Writer's Block- How Do You Deal With It?

You may have noticed that, despite all good intentions, I've written very little here since starting this blog. Part of the reason for this is that I've been suffering from a case of writer's block. In the past when I've had writer's block I've sat down and written something using a starter or idea from a book. This has then good my ideas flowing again. Unfortunatly, this time, it doesn't really seem to have worked. You will be glad to know that I have come up with the solution to my problem however- talk to someone who is passionate about writing. It's very hard to not be inspired to write when you sit down with someone who a) enjoys writing and b) wants to encourage you to write as well. So, be assured, I will be doing more writing in the future. You may not see the fruits here straight away (as I will be writing offline as well as on), but hopefully you'll spot some of my writing here and there. I'll be setting up a page on this blog soon where you'll be able to see what writing I've been doing other than on my own personal blogs.

Do you ever suffer from writer's block? What strategies do you use to overcome it?

Meet Me On Monday #12

 Hosted by Never Growing Old






1.  What is your favorite yogurt flavor?

My favourite fruit flavoured yoghurt is cherry, but I also love toffee flavour. Not sure which I prefer.

2.  Ankle or knee socks? and on the same theme, white socks or coloured??
Ankle. I like socks with the days of the week on them ;)

3.  How is the weather right now?
Sunny with cloudy patches.

4.  Are you a fast typer?
Yes. I can't remember how many words a minute, but I did a typing test a while ago and they told me that I was faster than needed to be a typing secretary.

5.  Red or White Wine?
Red, with meals only

I post this meme on a different blog every time. See my profile to trace previous posts.