Interview with a blogger series/#5

If you would like to be interviewed for this series please email me at harrisannette99@gmail.com

Hello folks! This is another fabulous interview with Neel Pinickering. He has been very patient with my questiong during this process. I want everyone to know this series is meant to empower my fellow bloggers. Neel has volunteered and is my first male blogger. For this I am thankful and delighted to present to you a very kind man Neel Panickering:

How long have you been blogging?

First of all  Annette,  I wish to express my gratitude to you for having having chosen me as your Blogger for Special Attention.

I have always been a passionate  writer and have been writing poems, essays, articles etc. My work as a regular full time journalist has seen me writing articles, interviewing personalities but then all that was a decade ago and then all those writings were for a specific purpose and that too came with a limited shelf life.

It has only been recently, say in the last couple of years that i have taken to blogging in a big way and I must say I have been deeply satisfied with the outcome, at least on a personal level.

Why did you start a blog?

I took to blogging after a series of personal tragedies that brought me face to face with my own mortality. I look to blog as a means to purify my soul; to expunge it of all evil; and as a vehicle to understand better and thereby become empathetic towards the workings of my inner mind and soul; and through that the world and its inhabitants at large.

In that way, you can say for me blogging is a catharsis.Do you have a favorite post you have written? If so, please provide link to that post.

It would be very difficult for me to single out one single post as my personal favourite as each one of them is not just dear but also very much a part of my learning experience and integral to my growth trajectory as a writer.

However, if i were to pick one then it would be this

Through this this post I wanted to convey the sheer helplessness and the myriad dilemmas besides the intense sexual craving of a regular woman trapped in a luckless marriage who is forced to seek love and thereby her identity outside of the fortified walls of her non-existent marriage.

I see you write using prompts from challenges. Which post is your favorite out of all your challenge posts? 

A blog in response to an online challenge is dear to me. 

Here is the link

Yeah, of late i have been using a lot of writing prompts from various challenges especially Haiku Prompt Challenge | ronovanwrites and 100 Themes Challenge Writing Prompts | Scribbling on the … etc.  Usually I am a self starter and that is how I wrote the first draft of my debut fiction novel Love, Lust and Longing which hopefully should be released by the end of this year.

But then I am a sucker for challenges and can’t resist the itch when i see a writing prompt challenge staring out from the computer screens.  The adrenaline run I get then is something i just can’t put into words.  Another reason and this is more pragmatic is that a challenge prompt works out ideally for me as it enforces a sense of direction and discipline to my constricted time lines, something again that I find truly realistic and highly liberating.

What inspires you to blog?

The idea that there are others like me who may also have a thought or thing or emotion or even ideology to share and discuss; and thereby connect with another however constricted and separated we may be by conflicting time zones and geography and its attendant fall outs such as language, race, culture, religion, social and cultural mores etc is what excites me to hit the computer keys and blog to my heart’s content.Do you have goals for your posts on your blog for the future? Or, you are justing taking it one day at a time using prompt challenges?

AS of now i am just taking iot a day at a time but yes, as someone who is intensely passionate about his craft I would like to experiment with different genres of writing. I would at some point love to devote my energies to publishing a couple if not more of books each devoted  exclusively to short stories, poems and flash fiction besides the novelo that is almost done and slated for release, hopefully by end of 2016.

What types of blogs you follow?

I must admit here that i started out with following a lot of blogs across different categories but of late I have found great inspiration in a few such as

        ronovanwrites | Writing to Discover My Self In the World, 

        But I Smile Anyway… | Musings and memories, words

8. https://wandererhaiku.wordpress.com, https://wandererhaiku.wordpress.com

    The Write Practice

   Edwina’s Episodes | A humorous look at the life of an

    Hugh’s Views & News | A Man with Dyslexia writing about

    Read to Write Stories | Writing Exercises Inspired by ...

   Do you have any hobbies you are going to post about?

   As i am a verbal trainer and meet a lot of exciting young students i would like to write about their lives both in and outside of the classrooms. I mean i am curious about the way the guys and gals in their early and mid twenties increasingly connected world; to know more in depth and up, close and personal about loves and losses, highs and lows and about their dreams and aspirations, not just for themselves but also for the   world which they inhabit.  Maybe, I would love to do a series of  say maybe 25 or so posts that would cover these aspects and then a few more.

   What social media do you use most frequently?

   Here, I must admit that I earlier not so long ago I had developed a love hate relationship with social media as i thought it to be a huge dampener on my time; but of late I have realised its true potential and am learning on a day to day to basis ways and means to harness its latent potential and thereby help connect with a lot more diverse range of people across multiple platforms.

   Have you always written?

   Yes, as said earlier too, I have always had a thing for the written and am still very much in love with the printed word. The joy i derive from seeing my byline and my writings in published form is absolutely out of this world and inexplicable for me to explain in just words, however ironical that seem coming from a student of the English alphabet.

          Do you have a favorite author or book?

          My all time favourite has definitely got to be To KIll A Mocking Bird By                          Harper Lee.

           

I have other books too which I like a lot and are highly inspirational. Here they are across genres:

1.THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE BY STEPHEN COVEY

2. OUTLIERS BY MALCOLM GLADWELL

3. STRAIGHT FROM THE GUT BY JACK WELCH

4. FREAKONOMICS BY STEVEN LEVIT & STEPHEN DUBNER

5. THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS BY ARUNDHATI ROY

6. THE LORD OF THE RINGS BY JRR TOLKEIN

7. TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD BY HARPER LEE

8. THE TRIAL BY FRANZ KAFKA

9 . CRIME ANS PUNISHMENT BY FYDOR DOSTOYEVSKY

10. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE BY GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

11. THE TIN DRUM BY GUNTER GRASS

12. LOLITA BY VLADIMIR NABOKOV

13. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE BY J D SALINGER

14. BELOVEF BY TONI MORRISON

15. NAUSEA BY JEAN PAUL SARTRE

16. THINGS FALL APART BY CHINUA ACHEBE

17. LIFE: A USERS’ MANUAL BY GEORGES PEREC

18. ULYSSES BY JAMES JOYCE

19. THE WAR OF THE WORLDS BY HG WELLS

20. IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME BY MARCEL PROUST

 

               

In what region are you located? Generally is OK. People like to know these things to relate to their posts better and things.

I live in Delhi, the capital of India. It is very beautiful blend of modernity as well as ancient customs and traditions and boasts of innumerable historical landmarks jostling side by side with jaw dropping edifices that showcase the very best of modern architecture.

Favorite quotes or quote? .

I learnt a lot about compassion and forgiveness reading through Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mocking Bird

Here are a few of my personal favourites:

“First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (3.85-87)

“This time we aren’t fighting the Yankees, we’re fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they’re still our friends and this is still our home.” (9.27)

Movie, actress, or actor you like? If none put N/A

 Charlie Sheen. I am a huge fan of CHarlie Sheen and till date I get relax by watching reruns of past episodes of Two And A Half Men.

The man is just perfect, or nearly so. I like his particular wry sense of infectious humour and witty repartees.

Song, band, or type of genre in music do you like? 

I am an out and out blues guy. I just love to unwind by listeneing to some terrific blu numbers. Here are a few of my absolute favourites;

This is the one song that made me ‘get’ the blues. I just understood it completely after hearing this.

It lists some absolutely   stirring songs I’ve ever heard.

Howlin’ Wolf by Smokestack Lightening-The Wolf, Man. A definitive riff.

Freddie King Going down-To me he is the missing link between Blues and hard electric blues rock based players like Eric Clapton and Peter Green.

That wraps it up. Thank you Neel it has been a pleasure getting to know you. Go check Neel out Neel’s blog here and show him some blog love.

Where in the world!

I saw this post on my friend Ritu’s blog that I wanted to take part in. Its a post telling where you are from and where you have been. See the original posts here I decided it sounded like fun.

I was born in Fortuna California, USA in the summer of 1969. Fortuna is a city in the county of Humboldt in California. I consider my hometown as Eureka California though. 

OUR BUILDINGS ARE VICTORIAN STYLE:

THERE IS A HISTORIC PLACE TO WALK BEGINNING FROM ABOVE AND THROUGH BELOW WHICH IS OLD TOWN EUREKA. THIS IS JUST ONE VIEW OF THE WONDERFUL WALK.

EUREKA IS LOCATED ON HUMBOLDT BAY AND THAT LEADS TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. THE OCEAN BEING JUST A BRIDGE RIDE AWAY. OLD TOWN AND THE BAY ARE WALKING DISTANCE FROM MY HOME.

PACIFIC OCEAN TO THE LEFT AND HUMBOLDT BAY ON RIGHT WITH EUREKA ON LAD UPPER LEFT

JUST A SMALL BRIDGE RIDE ON BUS, CAR, OR WALK TO PACIFIC OCEAN BEACHES

LOW TIDE HUMBOLDT BAY SAMOA BRIDGE LEADING TO PACFIC OCEAN BEACHES

That is my hometown area and I also live very near The Giant Redwoods…..A post for another time. Thanks Ritu for the wonderful idea!

5 music awards that are not the Grammy’s

The 5 best music awards for independent artists – http://wp.me/p3TBvZ-lw

I am following this blogger that puts together informative posts that are filled with stuff you want to know. Please, go check out the blog itself and this post.

Go ahead and show some good ol’ blogosphere love to a fellow blogger and visit the blog!

Tips/tools for new bloggers/3/11/2016

Hello, and welcome to the mighty world of blogging! I decided to put together a post for new bloggers that have reached out for help from me or just may need some help and can’t ask. Please all folks reading this if you have tips/tools you can add please do so in comments. Thanks and off we go to the past of my blogging experiences and tips or tools I was turned on too……..

Let’s start with some links to help improve the look of your blog if you need it and you are using WordPress. Here is a link to learn WordPress better. I suggest you, at least, visit it one time even if you are ok with the way your blog looks or think you have enough knowledge to move forward in blogging.

https://learn.wordpress.com/

Here is an instant way to get help if you get stuck on WordPress. I used it and I found it helpful and the staff very kind. This is where you can type in search things like add widgets or choose another theme, for example. This is the starting place to step by step instructions. My suggestion is if you don’t have any widgets on your blog yet that you add some basic ones. In the widget step by step instructions, there will be an area you can click on each widget and it tells you what it is. Let me know if I can help. I am no expert but I can get you to somewhere for the answer. 🙂

https://en.support.wordpress.com/

This is a site you may know about but I didn’t and found out it is important when leaving comments on people’s posts and also see that picture of me? That is my Gavatar. It is a globally recognized avatar. It follows you wherever you go and connects you to your posts and such. Here is your link:

https://en.gravatar.com/

Now on to other helpful stuff I found out about. Do you want to increase your following? If you do the many ways your can do it are endless. Some of them is to have a post drop once a day at least. But, don’t make my mistake and post to many either. This overwhelm’s a followers reader or email. The key is to keep your followers interested but don’t go overboard. Use your schedule option when publishing your post to have a post drop on days you want off. To increase or put the word out, about your blog, you should have an about me page and a follow me via email widget available to visitors. If any of those things stump you use links above to get it done. I also recommend you do some challenges. There are many out there that sometimes they are called events. I will include a link to the most amazing one I hear. A to Z challenge starts April 1st! You can see posts on blogs that say things like I take part in “blank” challenge and here is the link. Well, if you like what you see them doing and want to know more click on that link! The challenges put your blog out there and you can find similar people with similar interests too. (make sure you learn how to post a link and use your tags/categories correctly before you start a challenge)! Go visit blogs that say “linky party” “meet and greet” “party” or “bash” these are specific days and times you go to the event and follow the rules. It is like going to someone’s house party and meeting everyone there. And each person there has the chance to visit your blog because you leave a link in comments. Neat way to gain followers and learn new blogs for your reader! Here are some links to help you with networking and other blogging topics. I only am recommending these because either it is a challenge I am doing or a place I went to know more about blogging and following.

Here are links to some of the challenges I do:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

https://livinglearningandlettinggo.wordpress.com/category/prompts/

Helpful sites full of info on blogging I suggest you follow these: The dailypost one has a place called events on it and postaday or prompts. This is Challenges and a way to get a daily inspiration to write on each day. And Janice does her blog very nicely. She is helpful and most everything she has written or posted on her blog has helped me. Just look around and read some of it. You will not regret following this one. So many helpful hints.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/

http://mostlyblogging.com/

I am going to wrap this up with a link to Ronovan Hester’s blog. I am behind in the challenge I do that he hosts but it has helped me improve my writing skills and he is a published writer that hosts a poetry and flash fiction challenge. I will include a link to his blog and two links he has written up on fiction writing and dialogues for instance. Tips are a must read for fictional writing. There is one site I will link you up with that is a free spelling and grammar check that you can download and use with WordPress and I believe Microsoft word. You can also copy and past to this site any posts/projects or even books you may be working on. I suck at editing. This helps a lot. Publishers do not even look at pieces that have not done even simple editing. Just FYI

https://grammarly.com

https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/

https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2016/01/26/dialogue-tags-beats-punctuation/

https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2015/12/04/how-to-write-flash-fiction/

Lastly, but not least I shared a few posts from Lori Carlson that I would like you to read if you have not done so. If you are going to write fiction or poetry she does a wonderful job at both. Links to all her blogs are on my links/blogroll on my site and if you have a specific question about writing she is a good source of info. I did not ask her if I could put her name out there but she is so kind and helpful anyway so I doubt she would mind. I do ask you to go to one of her sites if you have questions because she is so busy she may not notice she has a question in here. AGAIN TO LINK TO LORI VISIT MY ACTUAL BLOG SITE AND SEE THREE BLOG LINKS ON THE LEFT THAT SAY MY BESTIES BLOG…..

 

 

I have been nominated for my 3rd Liebster award/3/1/2016

I have been nominated for my third Liebster blogging award my friend at writingsofasinglegirl Thank you so much for the nomination.

The award is an online recognition from one blogger to another. If you are nominated, as a new blogger, this would be a great way to not only network with other bloggers but build up your blog roll and help others become more familiar with your blog. The award is passed around and the idea is to answer random questions given to you by the person who nominated you. Once completed,  you have to nominate more people to pass on the award!

I’ll be honest I was a bit nervous when I got it but after looking through it, it’s actually really fun! I was given some questions to answer. And here are my questions:

1. Would you rather; have fingers for legs or legs for fingers (please give a reason) I think I would have to say legs for fingers. The reason is because fingers for legs would not go well trying to hold up my weight for walking my fingers would not work.
2. Do you have any tattoos? talk about one (or if you are planning to get one) I have 8 tattoo’s and all but 2 my youngest son did on me. My favorite one he has done is on my leg it is my sister’s name written in his different style of writing.
3. What is your favourite post you have written? Please link it. I did this one from a cell phone app and I just felt so emotional when I wrote it. https://wordpress.com/post/nananettie1969.com/2174
4. What is the last book you read? James Patterson Max
5. When was the last time you cried? Today
6. Would you be willing to eat a bowl of crickets for $40,000? Yes
7. If you could transport to anywhere in the world for ONE DAY, where would you choose? Europe
8. What three items would you bring to a desert island (one can be a person/pet if you wish) Something to light a fire? My sister and mom.
9. What’s your favourite holiday (Paddy’s day, Christmas, Halloween etc) and why? Thanksgiving because I love to eat. LOL
10. If you could have any superpower for a whole year what would you choose? Superhuman strength.

I am going to not choose any bloggers. Instead if someone would like to take part in this they can grab this post and answer the same questions and nominate bloggers of their own. I have been finding that many are not doing these challenges and I don’t want to bother people. So, it is up to you folks. Would my followers like this award. Grab it and go!