How We Met Blog Hop

Today is the How We Met Blog Hop hosted by Melinda Dozier.  It's also her wedding anniversary so be sure to stop by and wish her a Happy Anniversary!

The rules are as follows:

1.      Sign up on the linky below.

2.      Share the story of how you met your significant other, be it your husband, boyfriend or partner, in 100 words or less.

3.      Post a picture that was taken around the time you met.

4.      Link back to my blog somewhere in your post. (http://melindadozier.blogspot.com) or add the blog button at the top.

5.      Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too! Spread the word!

Visit at least three other links on the day of the hop and leave comments.

I had just gotten out of a relationship that was going nowhere and was ready to be single for a while.  I decided to spend my Saturday afternoon at the lake with the local kayaking group.   There, we were introduced and started talking.   I can’t remember what the conversation was about but I felt an instant connection. 

For the next few weeks we ran into each other a few times with mutual friends.  Then, he started calling every Saturday to go kayaking.  We moved in together a few months later and today, almost five years later, we are still together.

I'm cheating a little with the picture but I couldn't resist.  Soon after we got together, we went on a 5 day paddle down the Suwannee River.  This was taken on the trip.  Beautiful, isn't it? 
We didn't have any pictures taken together because we were pretty much alone on the river, unless you count the foxes that invaded us one night!

Stuck in the Middle

Are you ready for Challenge #39, Stuck in the Middle? This challenge is a little different, and may be slightly more challenging to write, because it does not focus on the Lovers. Or the romance itself. As we all know, relationships do not happen in a vacuum; others are affected either directly (children, in-laws) or indirectly (social groups, co-workers) by the success or failure of the relationship. We still want to see the romance aspect, but it will flow from a slightly different perspective.

This prompt is about the others in the romance couple’s lives DURING the break-up. Inlaws, best friends, co-workers siblings, the kids and other immediate family. Anyone who has connected with the couple and is expected to choose sides when the relationship ends. What we want to see (in 400 words or less) is how “the others” feel or is changed by the ending relationship, and what they see as the strengths/weaknesses of the couple. We want to live the romance through a second party. (This is not a love triangle.)

Jaeden couldn’t wait for Sandra to come home from college for the summer, mainly so that he could hang out with her boyfriend, Dylan.  Sandra had been dating Dylan since they were Juniors in high school, and Jaeden thought of him as a brother.

When Sandra drove up, he ran out to meet her.  She hesitated to go in and tell her family the news.  She grabbed her overnight bag and slowly walking to the door with her head down until Jaeden met her.   Even though she and Dylan broke up a couple weeks ago, she hadn’t wanted to deal with telling her family  while she was trying to study for exams. 

“Hey sis!  Welcome home”, he smiled as he grabbed her bag.

“Hey Jay”, she answered in a mumble.

“We planned a cookout tomorrow to welcome you and Dylan back.  Mom talked to Dylan’s mom already to invite him”, Jaeden informed her.

Had Dylan not told his parents either?  Surely if he had, Dylan’s mom would’ve told her that they broke up when she called to invite him. 

“What did Mrs. Saunders say when Mom invited him?” Sandra asked curiously.

“What do you mean?”, Jaeden asked. 

She looked at Jaeden trying to figure out break the news gently.  He was so excited about the cookout.

“Jay, Dylan and I broke up a couple weeks ago”, she blurted.  “He must not have told his mom either or she would have said something about him coming to the cookout”.  There was no subtle way to do this, for either of them.

“What?”, Jaeden’s face fell.  “But what about us hanging out?  You know how boring it is around here.  Dylan makes things a little more bearable, at least for the summer.”

Sandra felt bad for Jaeden.  She knew how much he looked forward to having Dylan around.

“I’m sorry Jay.  Maybe he will still come over to hang out with you.  You two have been friends for a long time.  I’m sure he won’t leave you hangin’”, Sandra said, hoping it was true.  “Besides, now you and I can hang out more too.  It’ll be fun”, she tried to convince him while convincing herself.

Jaeden was speechless.  His whole summer had just crashed before him, but he felt bad for Sandra too.

“Sure”, he said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.  “Fun”

Word count 393/FCA

Day 15 - Serve

Today is the last day of Jeff Goins' Great Writers series.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this series.  What about you?

If anyone is still interested in downloading Jeff's book, it will be available through today FREE on Amazon.  If you don't have a kindle, you could download the Kindle for PC program and read it on your computer if you are still interested.  You can get it here

Today's topic is Serving Your Reader.

Jeff reminds us that a great writer is selfless. He doesn’t look to his own needs, but finds a way to serve others.

A great writer is a servant. If you’re going to take your writing to the next level — to be truly great — you’re going to have to learn to serve other people.

The big question

One of the biggest questions writers ask is, “What do I write about?”

Every writer needs to write first for herself; that’s where your writing begins. But it’s not where it ends.

As Stephen King says,

Write the first draft with the door closed and the second draft with the door open.

But how do you tackle that second draft? How do you do the work that other people will see?

Serve your audience

Here are three ways to serve your audience with writing:
Solve problems. Not just any problems. But the ones that people don’t know they have. If you have to ask, “What can I do for you?” you’re asking the wrong question. You need to know what your audience needs before they do — whether it means creating a new sub-genre, addressing issues in a way nobody else has, or simply telling your story.
Answer questions. If you don’t know where to begin, look at the questions you want answered. Be observant. This applies to writing fiction and nonfiction alike. Put yourself in the seat of the reader, and guide them where they don’t know they need to go.
Help people. Do favors without being asked. Be generous (think over-the-top here). Do something remarkable, something truly outstanding that will get noticed. And do it for someone else.

Jeff's challenge - find a way to serve your audience

Do a giveaway of a product or service. Find authors or organizations wanting to partner with people like you, and ask them for donations. Do this to build trust with your readers, and make sure whatever you give away clearly adds value to their lives.
Conduct a survey. Find out what readers (or perfect strangers) want, what they struggle with, and create something for them. This can be a blog series or an eBook or a whatever. Just make sure there’s a need for it before you make it.
Write something important and give it away. Publish an eBook to Amazon and distribute it through the KDP Select Program. Or offer it in exchange for people subscribing to your blog.
Answer all correspondence. Respond to every single email, phone call, tweet, etc. until you can’t possibly keep up. Be accessible

Why we do this

Because art, at its core, is about generosity. Not profits — passion. We serve our way into an audience’s affections, because this is the only way influence is earned: gradually, over time, little by little.

We don’t give because we get, but if we do this enough we’ll find that what goes around comes around. Which isn’t the point, but a nice byproduct.

Don’t begin with a “get” mentality; put the giving first. Because if you’re going to leave a legacy, your work will need to be more about others than yourself.

This, by the way, is where most people quit. They stop finding ways to address the needs of others, especially when it gets hard. They fail at realizing their potential: to push back despair and bring hope with words the world needs to hear.

They fail to be writers.

I'm so sad that this series is over but I have learned so much in these past few weeks.  The most important thing I have learned is that I have a lot of work to do, but at least now I feel like I have a direction to work in. 
Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up.  What did you think of the series?

Free book - Amazing Opportunity

Jeff Goins is giving away his ebook FREE today!  To get your copy, click here

This book correlates to his Great Writers series that I have been highlighting here which goes into the 15 Habits of Great Writers.  Tomorrow is the final day of the series but now you can have a copy to refer back to after the series is over.

I bought a copy of his book at the beginning of the series and have read it already, but I plan to refer back to it in the future.  This book contains valuable information, hints, and references that can be used at any time.

So, what are you waiting for?  Download your copy today.  It's free!

Fabulous Blog Ribbon

Andrea Teagan at The Enchanted Writer  presented me with this award earlier this week.  Thanks Andrea!

In order to accept you must:

1. Post the rules on your blog.

2. Name five of your most fabulous moments, either in real life or in the blogosphere.

3. Name five things you love.

4. Name five things you hate.

5. Pass the ribbon on to five other bloggers. (Leave them a comment to notify them of their win.)

Okay. Here we go!

5 Most Fabulous Moments

1.  My first car
2.  Going to St. Basils Cathedral in Moscow and other great travel experiences
3.  Owning my own home
4.  Seeing Poison after waiting for over 20 years
5.  A Superior rating on my 12th grade solo

5 Things I Love

1.  Sleeping in without the dog waking me up
2.  Uninterrupted time to read and write
3.  Mountains of North Carolina - Can you tell my vacation starts in less than 2 weeks?
4.  Animals - particularly whales, dolphins and dogs (weird combination, I know)
5.  Nature

5 Things I Hate

1. Ignorance
2. Being cold
3.  Mornings, alarm clocks
4.  Politics this time of year
5.  Traffic and crowds

Now to pass this award on...

1. Suzanne Furness at The Word is...
2.  Scribbles From Jenn
3. Mina Lobo at Some Dark Romantic
4.  Crystal at The Heart of a Writer
5.  Gossip_Grl at Whatever

Day 14 - Brand

It's Day 14 of Jeff Goins' Great Writers series.  I can't believe there is only one more day.  This challenge has been so helpful to me.  What about you?  If you have been following, I would recommend signing up for Jeff's mailing list or Join his community on Facebook.  Jeff offers ongoing advice and resources for writers.

Today is all about finding a Brand for yourself, a way to Market Yourself

Jeff says that the truth is you already have a brand; you just need to decide to do something with it.

Why everyone has a brand

He explains that a brand is exactly what it sounds like. It’s an impression you leave on the customer or reader’s mind, a mental imprint. And we all have them.

You’ve likely heard about the importance of first impressions; our culture is full of them. This is a form of branding — the belief that people get an idea in their minds of our personalities based on an experience.

A brand is the simplest, most memorable part of yourself you can give.

The challenge

Brand yourself. There are three elements of every brand that you need to pay attention to

Name. This is what you call yourself (e.g. Copyblogger or Anne Lamott). It may be your given name or a pseudonym or something else, but you need to be consistent. Make sure your website, business cards, and social media properties all say the same thing.

Image. This can be a logo or a headshot. It’s whatever you want to use to make people recognize you and your work. If it’s a photo of you, make sure people would recognize you in real life if they’re seeing it on the Internet. Also, make sure it’s on your blog, Twitter profile, etc. Don’t use different images; make them all the same.

Voice. This is how you sound. It’s your style and personal flair as a communicator. If you aren’t confident in your unique writing voice, go through these 10 steps to find it.

I have a lot to do in this area.  When I started my blog 6 months ago I had no idea what I was doing.  The name Random Interruptions was  a name that I thought sounded fun and sounded like my writing. 
As I have gone along, my writing has become a lot less random.  I am happy about that fact, but I thing I need to do some work on branding.  I have started to feel more comfortable in certain areas and I need to concentrate on being more consisent and a little less random.

What about you?

PhotoPrompt Monday

Photo submitted by Susan at thecontemplativecat

The boxes were unpacked and Amanda decided it was time to do some exploring.  Jordan had been quiet during the move and she knew he had a lot on his mind.  Some fresh air would be good for them both.

As they walked down the street of their new town, Jordan stopped on the bridge looking in the water. 

"What are those?", he asked, watching the fish splash below.  Jordan was fascinated by their bright orange, black and white colors.

"Those are Koi", she answered solemnly.  Koi were the symbol of love and prosperity.  After the divorce, she was left with a child and not enough money to care for him.  How were they going to make it?

"Can we go see them?", Jordan asked.

"Sure, honey", she said, trying to shake off her hopeless feeling.

As they walked down to the water, they saw a man about Andrea's age carrying a small child in one arm and a picnic basket in the other.

"Hi!", the man smiled as they got closer.  Andrea looked into his deep blue eyes and felt as if she could see the entire world.

"Hi", she answered shyly.

"I'm Sam and this is my daughter, Eva", he said bouncing his daughter in his arm.  "You must be new around here."

"Yes, I'm Andrea and this is my son Jordan", she said, looking down to avoid those eyes.  "We just moved here from the city.

"Well, Jordan", Sam leaned down.  "Would you like to feed the Koi?"

Jordan nodded his head slowly as Sam reached in his basket, pulling out a bag of bread.

"This is their favorite", Sam said as he held out the bag.  "Eva and I come here every afternoon to feed them.  It has been the only thing to keep her mind off of her mother moving away last year."

Andrea watched Sam interact so natually with Jordan, thinking to herself that maybe Koi do bring love and prosperity.