Check out Alison Holland's blog: Not Your Church Cookbook

Name of your blog: Not Your Church Cookbook

Link to your blog: http://www.alisonandersonholland.com/home/Not_Your_Church_Cookbook/Not_Your_Church_Cookbook.html

What your blog is about: It's a journal of food and faith by a vegetarian with somewhat Unitarian Universalist views living in a rural Minnesota town with few vegetarians and perhaps even fewer Unitarians.

Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Alison Anderson Holland

Years you were in the program (year you graduated from Hamline): 2006-2009 ('09)

When you started blogging: May 2011

Why you blog: I started blogging to get myself writing again.  Since the completion of my MALS degree, I haven't found/made the time to write much.  This was my solution.

Who your intended audience is: Those interested in reading about vegetarian cooking, a faith journey, and its relation to raising kids and relating to family and friends in a rural Minnesota town.  While I often talk about my family, I don't aim to be a "mommy blogger."  When I mention my kids, I relate it back to food and/or faith. 

Blogs you like to read: I read a lot of blogs.  That's one reason I was prompted to do this.  The Chaos Chronicles, On Being, Spousonomics, and Dinner: A Love Story are a few of my favorites.

Advice to or question for bloggers: Don't be shy about sharing your work with friends.  They'll no doubt encourage you.  I am a true introverted Minnesotan, but once I got up the courage to begin posting links on my Facebook page, I was amazed by the positive response my friends expressed.

PS: I also began writing a blog for work (December 2010) on the latest news, events, and issues in (rural) regional healthcare: http://staffblog.healthcare-allianceorg/

Thank you for this opportunity to share my new blog(s)!

Check out alumni blog: KunstKitchen

Name of your blog: KunstKitchen

Link to your blog: http://kunstkitchen.wordpress.com/

What your blog is about: Sharing cooking, dining and eating Slow food, as opposed to fast food. Recipes and humorous antidotes for a post modern really fast world.

Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Catherine Katt

Years you were in the program (and year you graduated from Hamline): 2000-2006 ('06)

When you started blogging: June 2010

Why you blog: Blogging to make the connection between food as the source and art as the spiritual source.  Inspired by my niece who is a culinary writer. She likes what I write.

Who your intended audience is: Anyone interested in the Slow Food movement and real food.

What blogs you like to read: My friends' blogs.

Advice to or question for bloggers: "Just do it."

Check out David Oppegaard's blog: Deep Thoughts With Blogagaard

Name of your blog: Deep Thoughts With Blogagaard

Link to your blog: www.blogagaard.blogspot.com

What your blog is about: The voice I blog in is a slightly insane version of myself that often refers to itself as “Blogagaard” or “We here at Blogagaard.”  Sometimes I review books or movies, sometimes I talk about writing, but mostly I just post on the world around Blogagaard and the skewed way Blogagaard perceives it, with the occasional posting or plug of my own writing along the way.

Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): David Oppegaard

Years you were in the program (and year you graduated from Hamline): 2004-2006 ('06 grad)

When you started blogging: August 2005

Why you blog: I started a different blog when I was traveling in Europe to keep my friends updated. By the time I came back, I was already addicted to instant gratification of seeing your words on the web instantly.

Who your intended audience is: My intended audience, at the beginning, was pretty much just my friends. Now that I’m a published author, I try to aim my posts at a more general audience and discuss the craft of writing more than I used to. Hopefully my blog amuses as many people as possible.

What blogs you like to read: I used to read a lot of blogs, but then many of my friends stopped blogging, and I drifted away from blog reading in general. In some ways I see blogging as a big fad that reached its height in the ought’s, but there are obviously many hardcore bloggers still going strong and new blogs popping up every day.

Advice to or question for bloggers: I suppose my only advice is that blogging is a marathon, not a race, so if you’re just starting a blog, don’t pour your whole soul/life story into it in the first couple of months, because you’ll burn yourself out pretty fast and suddenly you won’t feel like blogging anymore.

P.S. from GLaaS: Be sure to check out David's blog because he's also experimenting with publishing some of his best blogging moments over the years.  All hail drunken blogging, indeed.  If you're new to blogging, there's a lot of material to laugh about here.  In a good way.

Check out Beth Greshwalk's blog: Coffee with a Koala: My Realities of Relocating from Minneapolis to Melbourne

Name of your blog: Coffee with a Koala: My Realities of Relocating from Minneapolis to Melbourne

Link to your blog: http://www.bethinoz.wordpress.com/

What your blog is about: In narrative essay form, this blog explores the journey of a 30-something American woman who packed up three suitcases, two cats, and a fist full of hope and ventured to Melbourne, Australia, to live. I was driven by the one thing women’s magazines and girlfriends have warned us about for years: a long distance relationship. My Aussie boyfriend (a travel writer) and I met at an Indonesian writer’s festival, fell in love over email and phone calls, and spent seventeen months of correspondence, visits and travel before I moved to Australia to see this adventure through. The purpose of this blog isn’t to (a) tell overly sentimental stories or (b) focus on love relationships. It’s about exploring the flip-sides to the fantasy of moving abroad.

Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Beth Greshwalk

Years you were at Hamline: 2001-2008 (M.F.A.)

When you started blogging: June 22, 2010 (still new; several entries and growing)

Why you blog: It allows me to write in the way I enjoy most (memoir) and be published, in a sense. This cathartic outlet also gives me confidence and keeps me writing on a regular basis. Great practice!

Who your intended audience is: It's possible that women may relate most, but I think it may work for anyone who tends to take chances and "follow their heart," over their head. Travelers or anyone else who is currently or has lived abroad may also be interested.

What blogs you like to read: I'm still pretty new to the blogging scene - would love some suggestions.

Advice to or question for bloggers: Just do it. It's a great platform for writers who want to get their voices out there. I think you'll be surprised by its hidden benefits. I'm still a newbie, and am sure to have questions for other bloggers soon!

Anything else you'd like to add: I was actually in the MFA program from 2001-2008, so a smattering of people may remember me, though I was only in one evening class per semester. Also, I did spend 2005-2006 living in Athens, Greece, where I completed my final MFA capstone project, a memoir about immersion in a foreign country (I did a long distance, independent study/correspondence with Barrie Jean Borich). And THAT was actually inspired by a MALS/MFA arts course in 2001, where we'd spent 11 days in Athens! So I can honestly thank the GLS program for changing my life in this way - inspiring me to live abroad and to write about it! :) Sorry for the gushing, but I seriously do owe this to GLS! :)

Spotlight on Michele Campbell '07

Michele Campbell - MFA Creative Nonfiction - 2004-2007

I blog at http://voixdemichele.blogspot.com.

I wrote a screenplay and turned it into a movie with Todd Wardrope (MFA 2010).  It can be seen on the YouTube, and there's a link right here with all the credits.  It was created for the Women Stand Up and Shoot comedy short film competition through IFP Minnesota.  We didn't win, but it's a fantastic movie anyway, and we're still entering it into contests.

Also, I am writing a one woman show for the Fringe Festival.

Title: Pardon My French.
Venue: The Playwrights' Center (2301 Franklin Ave. E)
Performance times:
Thursday, August 5 - 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 7 - 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 8 - 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, August 11 - 8:30 p.m.
Friday, August 13 - 7:00 p.m.

For more information about the Minnesota Fringe Festival, please click http://fringefestival.org/.

There you go!

- Michele

Check out Kathleen Cassen Mickelson's blog: One Minnesota Writer

Name of your blog: One Minnesota Writer
Link to your blog: http://oneminnesotawriter.blogspot.com/
What your blog is about: I talk about writing, submitting, sharing, and the kindnesses that writers and other artists can offer each other. This is not a site for complaints about various editors or writing groups or the multitude of things that can make people upset. But, if you have a story about a kindness that helped you in your creative career, by all means, chime in. What blogs are really about, deep down, is community.
Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Kathleen Cassen Mickelson
Year you graduated from Hamline: MFA, creative nonfiction, 1998
When you started blogging: March 2010 (yup, brand new)
Why you blog: I started blogging as a result of my work as a reader, then an editor, at Every Day Poets, an online daily poetry journal. We went through a period where we got some really rude comments from readers who clearly did not write poetry themselves, and I began to ponder why people feel they can be so much ruder online than in person. I'd like to be a kinder presence on the blogosphere.
Who your intended audience is: Anyone interested in writing, making art, or the creative process. I post links to my blog weekly via Facebook, LinkedIn, mnartists.org, ning, and other places on the Internet as I discover them.
What blogs you like to read:  Some of my favorites are Brevity's Creative Nonfiction Blog, Poetic Asides with Robert Lee Brewer, Life on the Periphery, and New Pages Blog.
Advice to or question for bloggers: No advice - I'm too new. But please visit my blog and leave some comments. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks! 

Do you blog?

Do you have a blog?  Do you want more people to read your blog?  Do you want intelligent and interesting people to read your blog and comment on it?  Are you looking for blogs to read?   

GLaaS is here for you.  Not only do we want to post a link to your blog on our blogroll, but we also want to give you a chance to tell other alumni all about your blog.  If you'd like us to post a profile of your blog, please email us with the following information, and watch for a blog post about you coming soon!

Name of your blog: My Awesome Blog
Link to your blog: myawesomeblog@blogspot.bloop  
What your blog is about: A paragraph or two or a list or something telling what your blog talks about.  Be as creative as you want.
Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Chris Shmoe
Years you were in the program (and year you graduated from Hamline): 1996-2000 ('00 grad)
When you started blogging: month year
Why you blog: If you want to talk about what made you start writing your blog, please feel free.
Who your intended audience is: If you have one, please let us know who it is and how you target it.
What blogs you like to read:
Advice to or question for bloggers: If you have a piece of advice to share or a question to ask other GLS alumni bloggers, please do.