I don’t know if it’s a burst of creativity from the arrival of Spring or what, but the blogosphere is on fire this month! I’ve seen all kinds of magic. So, of course, I had to share it with y’all for Techie Tuesday. 🙂
Writing Magic
If you don’t have time to read anything else, take time for this beautifully written post from T.J. Brown, who fulfilled a book contract and fought cancer at the same time. It’s amazing!
The second favorite writing post that I’ve read this month: A Letter from David Mamet to the Writers of “The Unit.”
My favorite line? “ANY TIME TWO CHARACTERS ARE TALKING ABOUT A THIRD, THE SCENE IS A CROCK OF SHIT.” That’s fabulous stuff right there.
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling – I heart this post!
Margaret Atwood’s 10 Rules of Writing by Brain Pickings
Christine Ashworth put this link to Bitter Gertrude and I loved it: Why Your Play Was Rejected (just substitute in whatever you write and really read this post). It made me feel better anyway.
Last but not least, if you adored Judy Blume as a child, the Judy Blume Voices contest is open for seveal more weeks, and they want to hear from YOU.
Inspiring and Thought-provoking Magic
Two FANTASTIC posts on body image ~ one for adults and one for kids:
Kids: Hey Sweezers, Leave Them Kids Alone
Adults: Finally, I Don’t Hate My Body
The Grass is Greener Where You Water It by Lisa Hall-Wilson
New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s Soda Ban REPEALED from the New York Times
Do You Know Your Superpower? by Chris Havrilla (by a job recruiter, no less…she ROCKS!)
Social Media and Software Magic
Is KDP Select the Right Choice for You? by Steena Holmes
5 Ways to Improve Your Blog Today by Dino Dogan at DIY Blogger ~ His post a few weeks back on Blogging for Business, the Beginner’s Guide was pretty great too.
Cool Funny Stuff
What does a snarky child do when his mom instructs him to Clean Like the Queen of England is Visiting? (click that link to find out)
This story, A Date With Death, from our own Kathy Owen made me smile, especially the last line.
And finally…here’s a video that made me smile, and sing along in my head. The Star Wars Cantina (set to the music of Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana”). Need I say more?
Last but not least, are you planning to participate in the A t0 Z Challenge next month? I did it with 1700 other bloggers last April and had a blast!
What nifty posts and tricks have you stumbled across lately? Are you getting ready to launch a new series or try a new challenge such as the A-to-Z? April is my blogiversary month so I’m making plans to celebrate it in style ~ feel free to offer me ideas. Enquiring minds LOVE to know these things here at More Cowbell!
Jenny
Jenny Hansen's Blog 
Brilliant links, Jenny. And I loved the Star Wars Cantina song. This is a real earworm. And yay for you doing A-Z challenge. More Cowbell = Awesome. I could try to do a half-version since everyone participating have had a blast. Any tricks and advice on how to pull it out? 🙂
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Thanks, Reetta! And good for you on doing the challenge. I’m not gonna lie to you…it’s hard. But I felt like it took me to a whole new blogging level last year.
Tricks and advice?
~ Plan ahead, or letters like X will kill you.
~ Think small (there’s nothing wrong with a video or just a few hundred words, if they’re entertaining.)
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That first link was WAY better than I thought it was going to be. Funny and uplifting when talking about cancer. Who knew that was possible! The Pixar link went to the Judy Blume contest, though, and I really want to read it. So, now you’ll have me spending my lunch break searching for it. And I’m not the best Googler ever. 🙂
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Well, dang, Emma…THANK YOU for telling me! I don’t know how that happened but I just fixed it. 🙂 You can just click here to get the 22 rules.
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Hi, Jenny! Thanks for the linky-love, darlin’ …one of the goofiest stories I’ve ever written, but it sure was fun!
Lots of great links here, and the Cantina song was very clever! Loved the “How’s my typing?” ad in the middle, LOL. 😉
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I liked your goofy story. 🙂
And that song slayed me. I’ve never seen more creative lyrics. Well, OK, the autocorrect song was creative…but besides that, this was tops.
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Oh my gosh, I just sent the Star Wars link to everyone I know! People are SO clever!
Thanks for starting the day out right, Jenny!
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You’re welcome! And hopefully they’ll all enjoy that Star Wars song as much as I did. 🙂
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Thanks for the link love. Lots of great links. Loved the link to the writers of the Unit – I love that show (had to watch it on Netflix) but he’s totally right. lol Not sure about the A-Z challenge. Enjoyed yours last year though, can’t wait to see what you come up with this year.
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I’m still on the fence on the April A to Z Challenge but it was really fun and I met tons of great bloggers. 🙂
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LOVE the links you’ve shared today, Jenny! Thank you for sharing these. I’ve been reading each of them during my breaks this morning. Did you know that each is a perfect way to break between meetings? LOL! And everyone in the office–including me who did a little shimmy–really enjoyed the Star Wars Copacabana song. 😀
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Hey, anytime I can help a whole office dance around, my day is MADE. 🙂
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I love Margaret Atwood! And you, and your blog. Looking forward to anniversary partying with you. I suspect we’ll have rad-tastic costumes… 🙂
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Radtastic costumes, undies and cowbells… (Oh my!)
BAHAHAHA!
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There is a lot here to take in and explore! Thanks for setting up this list of links.
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You are very welcome, Phil. May you be the life of some Star Wars party soon, jumping up on a table and singing that song. 🙂
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Coolio! There are some new posts I need to check out. Thanks for the links, Jenny. Off to catch up on all this fabulousness!
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Squeeee! And you have a birthday coming up, so HAPPY DAY, Tameri!!
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wow, great links and so much fun! I now have more tabs open than time. LOLOL! That Star Wars song is hilarious! Jamie Gold has an awesome blog post today about making your blog accessible to people with disabilities. A lot to think about there. http://jamigold.com/blog/
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Ooooh, Pauline! Thanks for that link to Jami…I hadn’t wandered her way yet today. I love the premise of that post. 🙂
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I can tell that the one from David Mamet and the one from Pixar are going to be the most useful to me (and a few people that I know. And now I have that damn song in my head….
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Of course you have that song in your head! “Her name was Leia…”
That David Mamet link is just amazing. I learned more in that one rant than I did from three separate creative writing teachers back in the day. Mamet is Cracklesauce!!
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Reblogged this on Mona Karel Author and commented:
Jenny saved me from having to copy in all these great links
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Thank you SO much, Mona!! I totally appreciate the re-blog love. 🙂
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Jenny, entered A to Z Challenge. I’m trying to find out one thing is this a regular post or do I have to go to Twitter? I can’t contact them.
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You have to sign your blog in to the A to Z Challenge blog hop by April 1 but after that it’s a normal post.
Being on Twitter just helps you get the word out when you post – everyone uses the #AtoZchallenge hashtag. 🙂
(I hope that helps with your question.)
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Thank you so much for including me in this! You make me all swoony.
I don’t think I could handle an A to Z challenge. Not enough stamina. But I am doing fiction every Friday, and I can’t believe how much that’s changed my life. I’m actually pretty good at it. Might even get a book out of this thing (50 Shades has nuthin’ on me…).
And I’m totally looking into the Judy Blume thing. Love her. LOVE her.
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Fab links, as always Jenny! I can’t wait to hear about the blogiversary partay!
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