Well, today’s April Platform Challenge is to create a Twitter account. I’m already there, @paulkellis. Come on and follow me!

The next step in constructing on online presence is a complete Facebook profile, according to the April Platform Challenge. Said site makes the claim that Facebook is the second most visited site, behind Google. Bearing that in mind, it makes sense that a writer would want a presence on arguably the world’s largest social networking site.

This month, Robert Lee Brewer has issued the April Platform Challenge for writers. The current thinking is; one of the most important tools for a writer in today’s media environment is a strong platform. Think of it as branding for social media. Now, I would’ve thought that actually finishing the novel would be important too, but whatdaIknow?

Anywho, today’s exercise is to set goals. Okay, I can see that. Goals are good things, they help to consistently point you in the desired direction. That presupposes the goals are consistent and coherent. That be asking a bit much from me, but lets give it a go. Short term goals are those that I believe I can accomplish before the end of the year; long term goals are more bucket list-quese.

Robert Lee Brewer's April Platform Challenge for writers has kicked off. I’m a little late to the fray and I’m actually having a hard time with the first challenge:  define yourself. I’m not sure why it’s so difficult. Perhaps I don’t want to feel constricted or confined by definition.  It’s more likely that I’m not a here-and-now kinda guy; I’d rather talk about what I’d like to do.

No dice, the instructions for this challenge are clear. I’m not to worry about where I’d like to be or anything in the future. I’m to take a look at who I am, what I’ve done and what I’m currently doing. Surprisingly enough, once I got started, I realized that I’m not nearly as lame as my children make me out to be.

Joyeux Noël, Bonne Christmeusse, Fröhliche Weihnachten, God Jul, Feliz Navidad, Maligayamg Pasko, Merry Christmas! It has been a fun filled couple of weeks at the Ellis household. Click the card for a full blown visit from the Ninja Elves! After many years of planning to send Christmas cards, this year we managed.

I’ve been fighting a sinus infection off and on for several weeks. As a result, I haven’t done a lot of posting. Time to remedy that. I’ve got several irons in the fire and a fairly busy holiday season planned. Aside from the holiday cheer on the left, I’ve also participated in a group reading of A Christmas Carol with The Podcast Community on Facebook.

My part starts about 10:29 in and you can tell from the outset that I’m the neophyte. The audio is low and a little muddy. I’m still working out the kinks with my audio setup. Still, I had a lot of fun so hopefully the enthusiasm will shine through if nothing else does. You can listen to it below or download it from here. For whatever reason, I fail at embedding the player. I'll do some more research and try again later.