QotM and May It Pass

May is here and with the first Wednesday of the month, we have the Question of the Month Blog Hop run by Michael D'Agostino. You can find him at A Life Examined. This month's question:

“If a friend came to you looking for advice on starting a blog, what three pieces of advice would you give them?”

This is rather good timing for this question after a month when so many bloggers have just completed The A to Z Blogging Challenge. Mostly today, I just wanted to not turn my computer on after such a hectic month, but I'll give this a go.

1. Don't start until you know what you want to blog about. If you're just keeping a journal of helping your child with their homework, you might not find many people interested in reading that. But if you don't care if you grow an audience of readers, it doesn't matter what you write.

2. Read a lot of blogs before you start yours to get ideas and help you decide which platform you like best.

3. Know going in that blogging does take time. Are you sure you want to commit to it?

May is very busy for me. I have my local writer's meeting this Saturday. The entire second weekend in the month will be spent in Boston at my daughter's graduation. The third weekend is the annual writer's conference that I help run. And then it's Memorial Day. And in between times I have so much lawn work to do, the pool to open and some other household fix-ups. Oh, and I have to do some writing too. I'm not in a hurry to get through any of those things but I will be busy.

And a last piece of blogging advice, join an active supportive group like the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Don't forget, this week is our monthly first Wednesday posting. There is a lot of good stuff coming your way during the upcoming months for IWSG. If you're not a member, why not?

What advice do you have for a wanna-be blogger? Do you have plans for May? 

Question of the Month

I'm back from my vacation/son's wedding just in time for this month's Question  of the Month, invented by Michael G. D'Agostino, owner of the blog, A Life Examined. You can sign up for this once monthly blog hop here. The question this month is tough one.

“If your parent or child committed a major crime, would you turn them in?”

Now there's a tough one. For of all, I would try really, really hard to get my loved one to turn himself or herself in. One of the things that make this decision so difficult is expense of legal defense, the horrible things that happen in prisons, and my personal doubts about the justice in our justice system. Given all those things, I would like to say I would turn them in if they wouldn't do it themselves, but if the situation actually arose? This would be really difficult if it was one of my children. The need to protect and defend one's children runs deep.

If you think you would like to join in this interesting blog hop, stop over and visit Michael and sign up. 

Also don't forget that this Wednesday if the IWSG monthly blog hop. Share your insecurities with us or perhaps share how you overcame an insecurity.

An interesting blog I've been enjoying lately is Strong Women in History. The latest installment is about Elisabeth Bing who helped spread the idea of natural childbirth as recommended by Dr. Lamaze to the entire world. Her back story is inspiring.

The wedding was terrific! As mother of the groom, I managed to blink back all my joyful tears as I had promised my son I wouldn't cry. The family had fun together on the beach with only one possibly cracked rib and sprained finger from making diving football catches into the waves. Boys! They never stop playing. I promise a picture on Wednesday.

I'm still catching up on emails. There's lots going on and I feel like I've been off the planet for four days. Our resort had a very poor internet connection and it refused to load Gmail. Frustrating but there was barely time for it anyway.

Can you answer Michael's question? If you have children, did you go with the natural method of childbirth? (Had 4 C-sections myself.) Is it really August already?

Question of the Month

Today I'm joining the Question of the Month. This blog hop idea started with Michael G. D'Agostino, a blogging friend from Australia. He runs a very entertaining blog, A Life Examined. The blog is entertaining because Michael shares his interesting adventures with humor and insight. My life seems so bland compared to what he gets up to. For the hop, Michael posts a question and you share your answers and explain them a bit. You can join the hop by signing onto the list here. This month's question:

"What are three things you would do tomorrow if fear wasn't stopping you?"

This is a difficult question for me. Money keeps me from doing things more than fear. At this point in my life, nearly all my fears involve worrying about my loved ones.

1. I would skydive. I'm not terrified of heights but they make me very uncomfortable. But the views and peace of falling through a clear sky sounds like something wonderful.

2. I would really like to do some cave diving though I'm not a great swimmer. I would likely be terrified to be in the deep dark, but how cool would it be to see things that few people ever have.

3. I would put myself 'out there' more as a writer. I don't pursue enough opportunities that might improve my marketing. It's a kind of fear, perhaps lack of confidence.

"Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace." Amelia Earhart

Thanks to all the well-wishes last weekend. My daughter did arrive safely though it took two hours from landing until she and her friends made it through customs. Not unexpected as they were flying in from the Middle East during the holiday weekend. Lots of family fun, food, games and a little bit of wine made the weekend speed by. Hope you all had a safe holiday.

Plans for the month are to finish the first draft of that WIP I've been working on a way too slow pace. I need to get it done because August is filled with lots of other things. More on that later this month. For this week on the home front, I would be happy if it would just not rain more than once.

Do you have some fears you wish you could overcome? Do you know Michael at A Life Examined? Did you do anything fun or exciting this past weekend? Do you have plans or goals for July?