Blogger Interview # 39 :Stephanie Ayers

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your blog?

My name is The Drama Mama. I have a main blog I call The Scoop on Poop, most people would call a parenting blog (and they would be right!). On The Scoop, I share pictures of my world, talk about life, and all the poop life slings my way (hence the name of my blog). I'm a writer, aspiring to become a published author, so I keep all my writings on a little blog I call My Write Side. I mostly write fiction, but I have a few non-fiction and memoirs posted there as well. I currently have one book written, in the editing stage, and 2 books that are works-in-progress. I also do blog design and card/invitation design on the side at Genie Girl Graphics. When I am not blogging, writing, or designing, I enjoy hanging out with my kids, cooking, singing, dancing, and especially, watching movies.

2. Are you a full time blogger? How did you get into blogging and why?


 I blog when I want to. It's less stressful that way. I used to stress about having a blog post up every day (except the weekends), and I still do, but if I can't I don't let myself get upset over it. I decided to start blogging for many reasons, but the main one was to have a way to look back and laugh at life because having special needs myself, and children with special needs, life gets a bit daunting at times.

3. If someone was interested in blogging, what would be a few things you would suggest? 


My suggestions to new bloggers are:

• if you want to increase your readership, promote your blog using every means available. Join blog hops, tweet, facebook, social blog networks like SITS or BloggyMoms. Bloghop yourself and leave as many comments (good, thought out comments that relate to the post) as you can on blogs you really enjoyed reading.
• Don's stress it. Don't write a post just to have something to put up. Your followers and readers will know the difference. There's enough randomness out there to be able to find something to post about, if you really think you should.
• Participate in a meme or too. For example, I met Jidhu through a photography challenge meme. I merely use a point & shoot camera rather than a professional one, but it's still fun, and they don't mind. There are literally thousands of memes out there to participate in, so take some time and check them out and do the ones that suit your blog. 
• Treat other bloggers with the same courtesy you would want them to treat you with.

4. How do you build a community around a blog and social media?

Community building can be hard. I still haven't quite mastered it. I tend to flow in the same circles, but they are good circles that meet my needs. I just took advantage of the opportunity to try something new.

5. What are your three favorite blogs to read? What makes those blogs special? 


I love to read SO many blogs, for SO many reasons, so this is really hard for me. 

• The Miller Mix is a blog written by one of my first followers.We realized that we had a lot in common..the spread in age between our kids, parenting a child with ADHD, and so much more. Kelly is a very talented writer as well.
• Gringation's Blog is another favorite of mine. It is written by an ex-pat working and living in Cancun, Mexico. The adventures she shares as an American living abroad, the way of life and how different it is, and the fact that she is a local girl from my area, all contribute to why she is one of my favorite reads. 
• The Red Dress Club is a more social blog, created to help women writers come out of their shell and start writing. They offer prompts for different styles of writing, support, writing partners, constructive criticism, and so much more. The three ladies that host the blog are all talented writers in their own right with fabulous blogs of their own.

6. Which one plugin would you suggest all bloggers to have? 


On my blogger blog, I have intense debate. This is a comment form that allows me to monitor my comments more closely, and also to comment back right from my email as well as on my blog. It is the best plugin I have used. There are other comment plugins as well, and some people prefer those over intense debate. My suggestion is to find the one you like, and apply it to your blog. My second favorite is Google Friend Connect.