Featured Newbie Blogger @CynthiaMeents
I apologize for the lateness in posting this interview, but with the conference on good nutrition this weekend, I am worn out!! (Odd correlation there, huh?)
It is the time of the week when we post our interview with our “featured newbie blogger.” Attention bloggers, we have an English Teacher in the house who hates bad grammar. Ooh trust me, I've read this intro more than twice to check if there were errors!
Read further to get to know more about Cynthia Meents at Commonplace Crazy!
Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family.
I come from a big, noisy, loving family. We all live in Central California and get together often. My husband and I have four grown children and 5 grandchildren. My husband, kids and grandchildren are the center of my world, and I love to talk about them all. They figure prominently in my blog.
Do you have more than one blog? If so, tell me about them!
Commonplace Crazy is my only blog. I write about my family, my job as a junior high teacher, my feeble attempts to learn photography, and whatever else crosses my mind. It is my intent to always keep the mood light and entertaining. There’s enough trouble in the world without my adding more of it to the Internet.
How long have you been blogging?
I started blogging in October of last year. I’ve just hit the six month mark.
Why did you start blogging? Is this also why you continue blogging?
It’s hard to say why I started. My daughter started blogging in July. I enjoyed reading her posts, and I really enjoyed leaving comments. After watching her for awhile, I decided it was something I could do and would also enjoy. I guess I blog for the love of writing and for the community that a blogger builds. I’ve enjoyed getting to know so many new people because of the blog. I also find satisfaction in writing something that someone else enjoys.
Who does your blog appeal to? Is this who you thought would be your target audience?
At first I thought I’d appeal to grandmotherly types like myself. As it turns out, I appeal to a wide variety of women and men of all ages. The majority of my readers are moms in their early thirties. I really never expected that, but I completely enjoy “hanging out” with them.
What direction do you see your blog going in the future?
I want to continue the Ask the English Teacher posts and the Beginning Photography posts just because people find them helpful. I’m not sure how to categorize all of my favorite posts so that I can be sure to include more posts in that vein. I’m working on figuring that out.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far with your blog?
Because I teach full time, I have trouble posting in any kind of regular schedule. I’m hoping that once school is out for the summer, I can get more organized in my posting schedule. My biggest goal is to increase my readership, and I feel that I need to have more organization and regularity in my posting for that to happen.
What do you love about blogging?
I love the connection with my readers.
What do you NOT love about blogging?
I don’t love writer’s block!
What types of product reviews and giveaways do you feature?
I haven’t done any reviews or giveaways yet. That’s something else I would like to pursue as my readership grows. I would like to do book reviews; it just seems natural coming from an English teacher. I’d kind of like to review products that make a grandma’s life easier when visiting with or caring for grandchildren.
Besides your blog, how else can people find you? Which method is your favorite/least favorite?
I want to make my Facebook page more active now that it’s finally starting to get some followers. I really like Facebook. It seems that Twitter has gotten me new readers and Facebook is a good way to keep in touch with the readers once I’ve got them. They’re both important, I think.
Share your top 3 favorite posts from your blog.
Wow! I didn’t realize how hard it would be to narrow it down to three. So I’m going to cheat.
- The two-post story of my wedding and honeymoon.
- One of my grammar lessons.
- This story about my pregnant daughter-in-law the secret track star.
Share your top 3 favorite blogs to read and why.
- My daughter at Near Normalcy because she’s brilliant and funny and my daughter.
- Kris at Pretty All True because she makes me laugh and her daughters remind me of my daughter.
- Ado at The Moma Log because Ado is a displaced California girl, and it's sad when Cali girls can't live in California.
Do you have any bloggers that you consider to be mentors?
When I first started, I considered my daughter to be my mentor, but now I don’t really have one. I wouldn’t mind having one though.
Do you have a weekly, daily, or monthly Blog Hop or Meme that people should join in? Tell me about it and share an info link.
Nope. No hop, no meme.
How do you find time to blog?
I work full time, but my kids are grown, so I blog in the evening when I’m too tired to do anything else.
What else would you like us to know?
I’ve been known to adopt stray pets and children. Lately I’ve added stray bloggers to my list of adoptees. If you want me to adopt you, just ask.
What is your best advice for a Newbie Blogger?
I have started to follow several blogs and had to stop because the spelling and grammar were so horrible. I don’t just mean the occasional typo; I mean errors so distracting I couldn’t continue reading. It’s not just because I’m an English teacher; I’ve heard the same complaint from others. If you’re going to write for public consumption, and you want to be taken seriously, you simply must take the time to learn some basic grammar rules and run spell check before you hit publish. Otherwise you lose credibility.
If you are a newbie or feel like one, come link up with us on the Newbie Blog Hop every Tuesday at 9:00PM CST. You may find blogs similar to your niche and get inputs from. Also, you may be featured next!
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Wonderful post and and its so nice to see some blogs listed that I do not know. I will check them all out now and thanks for offering this type of post as I think it is fun to met new people
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