Donald Pennington's Interview Format

After reading several articles by Donald Pennington, last week I took the plunge and signed up for his interview process. The format is interesting: straight to the point; easy-to-follow instructions; painless; and thought-provoking. As with all interviews, the only thing Donald asks is a bit of assistance in cutting and pasting in the questions, followed by a review of the process once the interview is completed or published. Check out my links for a short-cut to his interview-generating website as well as the article describing why he chooses to delve into the "hearts and minds" of Associated Content authors. Since I have space for three links, I'll also include one for another one of Donald's interviews.

The questions themselves can be answered briefly, or even skipped altogether if you're not interested. At least, that's what I'm guessing, because I've read several interviews where fewer topics were included in the final product. I'm not sure if you get different questions in different interviews or if Donald has added different questions over the months/years he's been interviewing authors. I went ahead and answered all the questions, figuring that people can skip my answers if they're not interested in the questions. I thought the questions were varied and interesting. For example, one question allowed you to relay a story of a favorite pet. I don't know if I picked my BEST story, but it was something we'd been reminiscing about at home recently. It was the first story that came to mind, after a 50 year lifetime of owning a myriad of well-loved dogs, cats, birds, fish, and even a rabbit!

One thing I really liked in the interview was the opportunity to sound off on one of my recent "pet peeves" concerning Associated Content itself; that is, the lack of opportunity to use various photgraphs in your articles. While I understand their unease in giving authors carte-blanche to publish anything they can cut and paste into an article, their system is a bit restrictive! I belong to another site called Yahoo FLCKR where there's literally TONS of gorgeous photos. Some are released for public use and others can be requested directly from the owner. Lately, I've just stuck to my own stocks of photos and Wikimedia Commons in order to avoid having my photographs stripped off the article. I've had a few of my articles ruined by this process, as the leftover photos don't match up with what I'm covering on that particular page. Sure hope someone from Associated Content actually reads those interviews once in awhile!

I wasn't sure if I would pick up any additional readers or not, but danged if a few didn't shoot right in and comment on my interview right away! One of the readers actually used the link to my favorite article written by me; that is, she complimented me on my article about the Italian town where we used to live in Puglia, Ostuni. That was a very nice and quick feedback from the interview article. Associated Content had just released the interview that same day and already I was receiving positive feedback and new readers!

I wrote to Donald to thank him for the opportunity and also ask him for a photograph to go with this article. After mumbling something about cameras breaking, he suggested I use a windmill or something. Does that make him a modern age Don Quixote, or what? I did make an on-line search, but was unable to uncover anything with Donald Pennington's photo, although I did discover a talented artist with the same last name, but different state of residence! Now he's got me curious, although I share his lack of interest in photographs of myself. I use a 20 year old mug from my old Air Force Days. It's not that I'm butt-ugly or anything, I just don't care for pictures of myself, generally speaking. I did notice that Don originates from Amarillo. Coincidentally, my favorite restaurant from when I was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base was the Amarillo Barbeque. So maybe I will dig one up from there, since it ties me and my good friend Don together.

In closing, I'd like to encourage any of you "Doubting Thomases" to give Donald Pennington's Interview process the good ole college try. It's easy, quick, and fun. You might learn a little bit about yourself, and you'll certainly gain a wider audience of readers. Donald mentioned something about how we should all work together as a team here, and he's sure doing more than his fair share to help the rest of us. Since I've subscribed to his publications, I can guarantee you at least one additional reader, anyhow! Once again, thanks for a fun, entertaining, and productive experience, Donald! If you want to get started with YOUR interview, check out my links or click on: http://nostateomind.tripod.com/welcome/