Sunshine Award

So I don't normally post twice in one day, but McKenzie McCann gave me an award, and I was so excited that I had to post this immediately. It's my first blog award!

OK, so here goes:

The rules are to:
-Thank the person who gave it to you. (Thanks, McKenzie!)
-Write a post about it.
-Pass it on.
-Answer the questions below.

1. Favorite Color? Purple! And red. Often in combination (notice "fashion sense" is not listed among my talents).
2. Favorite Animal? I love ducks, but only as a collectible (rubber duckies, etc.). Otherwise, they're vicious little beasts. Other than that, probably pigs or dogs.
3. Favorite Number? 73. It was my number when I played softball as a kid. Everyone always picked 7 and 3, so eventually I just combined them.
4. Favorite (non-alcoholic) drink? Vanilla coke. Ugh, I'm so addicted. I use to go through a 12-pack a week in college (yeah, we're still talking about soda).
5. Facebook or Twitter? Mmm, I think Twitter. I like Facebook, but Twitter was really set up for someone like me. I have these random bursts where I really, really need to tell the world about what I did (I wish I could say these were monumental occasions). Facebook lets you do that, but not as efficiently. They both have their strengths as marketing tools though.
6. My passion? Besides writing (I like how everyone feels the need to add this), I'm passionate about television. I majored in it in college, and for awhile I thought I wanted to be an editor for a TV show or to write television reviews (which I still do sometimes). I watch about 30 shows a week religiously, and I track ratings and network information as well. And the other half of my time is spent telling people I'm not a bum for watching that much TV--I'm doing research for my reviews!
7. Getting or Giving presents? That's a close one. Probably giving. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love getting presents, but there's something so nice about picking out the perfect gift for someone.
8. Favorite pattern? Plaid. I have a plaid comforter on my bed, and it's the comfiest-looking thing in the world. It doesn't help my writing when all I want to do is curl up under it and be cozy.
9. Favorite day of the week? Saturday. I know it's cliche, but I don't care.
10. Favorite flower? I guess wildflowers. Or something else brightly colored. I'm not really a flower person.

And so now I'm going to pass this on:

1. K.S. Lewis
2. Kyra Lennon (I know you were already tagged by McKenzie, but now you get it twice)
3. Emily R. King
4. Cassie Mae

11 Questions

Okay, so you know that 11 Question thing that's been going around? Well, I wasn't actually tagged, but I do have 11 questions for all of you. Only they're not exactly fun, personal questions. More... practical questions, because I'm pretty new to this blogging thing. Okay, I just had 11 questions I wanted answers to, so I lumped them into this blog post. And, fine, there's not really 11 of them. I could only think of eight. But, anyway, here are my questions in no particular order. Sorry if they sound a little like a reading comprehension test from middle school.

1. Do you have a blog schedule and why/why not?
2. Do you use any social media sites (particularly ones other than Twitter) and why?
3. Do you use Google Adsense on your blog, and is it worth it?
4. At what point did you feel comfortable hosting bloghops/giveaways, particularly if the prize is a critique?
5. Do you have other blogs and, if so, how do you divide your attention between them?
6. How much are you willing to post about your WIPs: summaries, excerpts, detailed descriptions, etc.?
7. What are some ways you drive traffic to your blog?
8. Who's your favorite Disney character (okay, that one is a fun, personal question. I lied again. I'm pathological!)?

Just before posting this, I found some answers at a really good blogpost called 25 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Blog, but I'm still interested to hear others' opinions as well. Basically, I'm trying to learn everything there is to know about blogging in one day. Because that's not an impossible task. But anyway, any help/advice/tips you can offer are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Putting Unpublished Work Online--How Much Is Too Much?

So I was thinking about doing the Valentine's Day blogfest, and I had a scene picked out from Rosetta and everything, but I stopped before I hit Publish. I know that when you put your whole unpublished story online, it's considered published, and that can ruin your chances of some agents/editors picking it up. But what about excerpts? General online consensus seemed to be don't do it, but they also seemed to be talking about entire chapters, not a 500-word scene from a 75,000-word book. Does anyone have some good advice on the subject, or know where I might find some? I suppose I could just change the names and some small details and not have to worry, but it's still probably a good thing to know for the future.

Thanks in advance!