In April, 2010, when Writers In The Storm was launched, we never contemplated making 50 posts, much less 100. We started this "blogging thing" as part of our yearly critique group goals.

We didn't know we'd have so much fun.
We didn't know we'd have so much to say.
We didn't know we'd LOVE IT!

To our guest bloggers, our regular contributors, our friends and subscribers: THANK YOU for making this blog such a labor of love.

A few weeks ago in Critique Group, we came up with the following four questions for each founding member to answer.

1. What do you write?
2. What are your hobbies?
3. What are your biggest/most important writing lessons in the past year?
4. What advice do you have for other bloggers?

We've answered below (in alphabetic order). Now you'll know what we're up to when we're not here hanging out with you...

Laura Drake

1. I write hard-hitting women's fiction, with a romance or two thrown in. One chapter into my fourth novel - unpublished - YET.

2. A bit eclectic. Writing, motorcycling, fly fishing, camping, bicycle riding,reading (recent Kindle Konvert) and knitting. On one memorable three day weekend, I got them all in!

3. Patience. Margie Lawson. Okay, so I'm still working on the patience thing.

4. Content is King. You're writing for your reader - not for yourself. Choose an interesting subject, write fresh, and let your voice shine through!

Jenny Hansen

1. I write everything (that's my biggest problem)! Short stories, women's fiction, a weekly blog, and I'm currently at work on a memoir about my off-the-charts high risk pregnancy. I'm also starting to query for freelance articles.

2. Writing, reading, knitting, baking, SCUBA diving and collecting wine. Plus, I love hanging with hubby, my gals and the amazing Baby Girl.

3. In the last year, I've learned to put writing toward the front of my priority list - it's really the only way it gets done (usually late at night). Most importantly, I've learned that I'm more comfortable writing short...blogs and articles are easy for me, novels are HARD.

4. My advice to other bloggers is to network. Get on Twitter, read other's people's blogs, re-tweet liberally. If Twitter isn't your bag, do it on LinkedIn or Facebook, but get out there. I'm also a huge fan of bulleted lists and good graphics. 🙂

Sharla Rae

1. Published author of Historical Romance, I'm plotting a futuristic and have a non-fiction for writers on the backburner.

2. Hobbies: Collecting dolls from all over the world, travel, Cooking, photography, reading and enjoying family.

3. Important writing lessons:

• I’ve learned and done things this past year I never thought to involve myself in: blogging, Twitter and Facebook.
• I’ve learned new editing tricks this year that make my writing life a whole lot easier.
• The writing world is changing by the nanosecond. It’s either keep up or disappear into obscurity.   

4. Advice for bloggers:

• Chit chat is fun and entertaining but when people want serious info, Sergeant Friday’s method works best. “Just the facts, ma’am.” Itemize so the reader can skim facts without wading through deep paragraphs.
• Blog titles are important. If a title doesn’t incite interest, the blog doesn’t get read. On the other hand, if the title doesn’t live up to its words, the reader will never return to your blog site.
• Don’t imitate other blogs. There are only so many topics that interest writers, but they can always be dealt with in innovative and creative ways that showcase knowledge and writing style.

Fae Rowen

1.  I write futuristic romance, science fiction, and medieval fantasy.  Anything that isn't in my time zone for this life.

2.  Making greeting cards, travel, gardening, reading and cooking.  Walking and exercising take a lot of my time, but I don't consider it a hobby, more of a necessity to be able to sit and write.  And I spend an hour a day meditating, but that's definitely not a hobby.

3.  Margie Lawson's deep EDIT system.

4.  If it ain't fun, don't do it.  If you feel you must do it, figure out a way to make it fun.

We don't know what we'd do without D.A. Watt, our other founding member, or our two most prolific Contributing Bloggers:

• Lyn Horner - author or indie Historical Romance, "Darlin' Druid" and a cat memoir.
• Charlotte Carter - who has written more amazing fiction than we can summarize here.

These ladies always seem to have a fantastic blog ready when the rest of us are running dry. We are so thankful for them.

Do you  have any fun hobbies that you do when you're not hanging out with us? Also, we'd love to hear some blogging "lessons learned" from some of you...

See you next week!
Writers In The Storm Bloggers