Blogger Interview # 33: Jenni E. DeLaTorre

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your blog?
I find it difficult to describe myself because I don’t fall into typical categories. I am like my heritage; a little bit of everything all rolled up into one. I am a stay at home mom and wife and home school both of my children. I find it fitting here to quote my 15 year old daughter; “Funny, smart, opinionated and a little annoying.” I have 2 blogs; one is my poetry and an occasional article about music. Raps and Poems and Books, Oh My The other is my opinionated ramblings on topics that invade my very soul and stimulate me mentally and emotionally. Me, Myself and I InJensMind

2. Are you a full time blogger? How did you get into blogging and why?
I am not sure if I am a fulltime blogger. I write when I can; I aim for one post on each blog a day but, my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I have discovered that I don’t do well keeping up with myself. I am a full time parent/educator so that is my primary responsibility, everything else takes a backseat. I started blogging last year when I began writing poetry again. Come to find out what I thought was a dead art was resurrected when my friends began requesting more poetry from me. I had no place to post them for everyone to enjoy; so raps and poems and books oh my, was born. Not long afterwards, I felt the need to make another blog because I wanted to be able to write about other things that didn’t fall into a poetry or musical category.

3.If someone was interested in blogging, what would be a few things you would suggest?
 The first thing you need to know while building your blogging world is nothing great happens over night. Patience is just as important as your design and content. Secondly, spell check and editing, in my opinion, are under-rated. If you want to be taken seriously by your writing peers, you must make your posts understandable. If it’s too hard to read, people will give up and move on. Last but, certainly not least; expect to be your own biggest fan for some time while building up your followers. Don’t give up; great writing always speaks for itself and funny pictures are a plus.

4.How do you build a community around a blog and social media?
The same way you build a circle of trust amongst your friends; skillfully and unselfishly. Well, I mean I assume that’s how one does it. I am still fairly new to blogging and I am just now getting a greater following.

5.What are your three favorite blogs to read?
http://artistikselena.blogspot.com/
http://vegaslindalou.blogspot.com/
http://jezebel.com/

6.What makes those blogs special?
 -Artisikselena has a realness that comes together with stunning photos. She is actually a significant reason that I began adding photos to my posts. Every time I read her blog I try that much harder to step up my blogs to her level of creativity and intelligence.
 -Vegaslindalou has a great sense of humor, than again what is a standup comic without their humor. She is an author and exactly what I aspire to be when I finally decide to grow up. Intelligence, humor and beauty all rolled into one; what more can you ask for.
 -Jezebel is a well known blog, I find the posts to be worthwhile reading. Covering a vast variety of topics from celebs to opinions, I look forward to reading it nightly.

7.Which one plugin would you suggest all bloggers to have?
Plugin’s aren’t for the blogger they are for the benefit of the reader. The plugin I suggest is one to translate the entire blog with one click. You would be surprised how many people from other countries are reading or attempting to read your blog.