Zero to Hero Day 29

Ok so I have to admit I have not been the best Zero to Hero participant over the last few weeks, but I did already do today’s challenge before it was announced.  So I think that more than makes up for it!

Announcing my new regular feature The Quotespiration Challenge!  Every week I will be posting a quote for you to base a story on.  Check it out here: https://anecdotelove.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/quotespiration-challenge-week-1-january-27th-2014/ .

What are my fellow Zero to Hero’ers doing for your regular feature?

Harvey

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Quotespiration Challenge – Week 1 – January 27th 2014

I’m starting a blog challenge!  See info below and if you have suggestions on quotes or how to make this more awesome please leave thoughts in the comments.

Quotespiration:

“What I think is this:

you should give up looking for lost cats and start

searching for your shadow.” –

from Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

 

 

The Garage – A Mystery Part 3

In Part 1 we learned that the Blake’s don’t park in their garage and we heard Peter’s bear theory.  Yesterday in Part 2 Tom expounded his ghost theory which was quickly rebutted by Sara.  And now the conclusion.

The Garage – A Mystery Part 3

“I think they keep a stuffed shark in a tank of formaldehyde in there a la Damien Hirst.” Sara said.

“A what, a la whom?” Joel stared at Sara blankly.

The Garage – A Mystery Part 2

In Part 1 we learned that the Blake’s don’t park in their garage and Peter expounded his bear theory.  And now we continue with Tom . . .

The Garage – A Mystery Part 2

“I think it’s a ghost” Tom said.

“Why?” said Peter quickly.

“Well I was here back then too you know Peter.  We being the first family’s to move in here.  Then came Barbara and Ellen, quite the scandal back then. They were the first and last Lesbian bear hunters on the block.” 

“I spent a lot of time with them, nice gals they were.  Very well educated, liked cigars, their hobby was genealogical research.” Tom accepted a new drink from Sara and then continued.

The Garage – A Mystery Part 1

This story is inspired by my former writing prof Mark Jabbour and his astute observations on neighbors.  We begin at the beginning.

The Garage- A Mystery Part 1

They were on round two of Sara’s lemon drop martinis, that everyone secretly hated, when Robert asked “So what’s the neighborhood like?”

“Well” said Sara turning her blue eyes to him, “This is most of us on the cul-de-sac.  Tom and Laura live next door to us on the right.  Peter lives next door to them at the top of the circle.  I would tell you all the gossip on his new model girlfriend, but he’s here.” Sara winked at Peter.

“Sara you’re forgetting the Blake’s” said Peter.

I Need Your Opinion!

I Need Your Opinion on My Attempts to Pretty up My Blog

The Challenge . . .

Today’s Zero to Hero Challenge:Activate a Social Network really got me thinking about making my blog more appealing to new readers.  Being a writer, and a writer of long form stories, I have continually struggled with how to make my blog posts visually appealing.  I feel visuals are  important as viewers decide in a glance if they will commit their time to a blog post.    I also feel that lack of visual interest coupled with lengthy paragraphs has stunted my blog growth.

Meeting the Challenge . . .

Zero to Hero has been helping me with addressing this challenge. I have decided to add a music video link to each story that relates to the title.   My titles from now on are going to be witty plays on the chosen video.  I  have been keeping the paragraphs and my stories shorter so they look less overwhelming and time-consuming at first glance. I am also working on including more links in my posts and playing with formatting to break up lengthy text.

My Newest Idea . . .

Today I came up with the idea of adding a pull quote for each story.  I went through all my stories and added an image with a quote from each at the very top of the post. Idea one is that this pretty quote will be the first thing my viewers see in their reader, so hopefully it will draw them into the story.  Idea two is that I can add the images to my Anecdote Love Pinterest board in an attempt to build readership thru Pinterest  (a la today’s Zero to Hero assignment!).   Here’s an example and you can check the rest out in Fictional Musings.

I Need Your Opinion!

I would totally love to hear what my readers and fellow Zero to Hero bloggers think about this pull quote idea.  Also if you have any suggestions on how to make short stories more visually appealing I would love to hear them!

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Harvey

Not An Italian Leather Sofa

This flash piece was written for, wait for it, both the Daily Prompt:Blogger of Repute and Zero to Hero.  Please note there is a spattering of cusswords so if that’s not your thing this post is not for you.  Enjoy!

Not An Italian Leather Sofa

Reputation defined by Merriam Webster: the common opinion that people have about someone or something: the way in which people think of someone or something.

The smell of Kona coffee brewing at 6am was intoxicating. Joel was standing in the kitchen swaying back and forth to the scent in nothing but his red boxer briefs.  In his mind he was standing on the beach in Maui with Sara watching the sunset, the sound of waves lapping and palms swaying in the breeze.

I want my cake and I want to eat it too: Musings on my Theme

Zero to Hero Day 5 – I want my cake and I want to eat it too: Musings on my Theme

The theme challenge today for Zero to Hero took me back to being thoroughly stumped.  When I started my blog last year I literally spent days changing my theme over and over again trying to find one that would be just right.  My main issue was that I wanted a whole lot of customization without spending the money to upgrade.  Then, and now,  I am unsure how long this blogging thing will last.  So I am not willing to pay for stuff yet.  However I don’t want my blog to look like anyone else’s blog either!