October 2013 Writing Achievements

 My Skin, Health & Beauty column is the #1 Examiner column in Spa & Beauty nationally as well as the #1 column in skin care nationally. My second skin care column is #2 nationally. My Rodan + Fields column was #3 nationally, but I had to stop writing it due to changes in Rodan + Fields policy. I have pretty much claimed these spots all year, thanks to my readers.

On Yahoo I just hit a million and a half readers yesterday. It may be higher because Yahoo sent out notice the counts were low for September and were being retabulated. Thanks again, readers!

Top 1000 on Yahoo for 2013

I received another small writing accolade today, ranked among the Top 1000 out of over 600,000 Yahoo Network writers. 

I achieved Hot 500 almost every month (and Hot 100 once), but there is no Top 500 annual award. This is my fourth year to achieve the Top 1000 list out of 4 years writing for Yahoo. 

You can find me on Yahoo here: http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/331254/kathryn_darden.html

Multiple Top 5 Rankings on Examiner

As of today my Nashville Skin, Health & Beauty Column on Examiner.com is #3 nationally out of 266 Spa & Beauty Examiners, #1 on the list of Top Skin Care Examiners and #4 out of the local Nashville Examiners from all topics. My Skin Care, Rodan + Fields and Gospel Music Columns are all ranking in the Top 5 chart as well, thanks to my readers. Find me on Examiner at: http://www.examiner.com/user-info-21-67

Top 10% on LinkedIn

On February 11, 2013, I received a notification from LinkedIn that my profile was in the top 10% of the most viewed profiles on LinkedIn for the 2012 calendar year.

Mayor Karl Dean's Walk 100 Mile Challenge finale at Centennial Park - Nashville Skin, Health & Beauty Examiner

Mayor Karl Dean's Walk 100 Mile Challenge finale at Centennial Park

I walked with Mayor Karl Dean at the 100 Mile Walk Finale for 2012. Almost 100 people walked 100 miles or more from the beginning of October through the end of 2012. I logged 164.8 miles and won a t-shirt!

Read more: Mayor Karl Dean's Walk 100 Mile Challenge finale at Centennial Park - Nashville Skin, Health & Beauty Examiner

Silver Leaves issue #4 | White Tree Fund Features Three Poems by Kathryn Darden

Silver Leaves issue #4 | White Tree Fund

I was honored to be included among such illustrious writers and illustrators. I have had poetry, articles and reviews featured in all four editions of "Silver Leaves."

Contents

• Colin Duriez: A Tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien
• Peter Kenny: Dragons of Myth and Legend
• Dragons in Middle-earth: A Timeline
• P.R. Miller: The Quandry of Dragons
• Alison Baird: The Un-Dragoning of Eustace Scrub
• Elijah David: Elmarch of Lindon, the Author’s Story
• Constance G.J. Wagner: Smaug’s Riddle
• Julie Dobbins: Goblins in Our Midst: The Fight Against Human Trafficking
• Kerri-Anne Cundill-Hinds: The Land of Doom
• Anne Marie Gazzolo: The Measure of Love
• Kathryn Darden: A Friend Like Sam To Be
• Christopher Russo: Tuesday
• Constance G.J. Wagner: Dragon is Aloft
• Maureen Mann: Tolkien Reading Day 2011
• Jonathon D. Svendsen: Dragons: The Ultimate Adversary
• Bernadette Barnes: The Eye of the Dragon
• L. Lara Sookoo: Interview with Dr. Dimitra Fimi
• L. Lara Sookoo: Interview with The Tolkien Professor
• Peter S. Beagle: Dragonsong
• Bennett Dobbins: How to Train Your Dragon: A Step-by-Step Instruction Manual. . .
• Richard Bulze: The Black Dragon Cup Finals Are Set!
• Jef Murray: The Unmarked Byway
• Kathryn Darden: Dragon Acrostic
• Alexa Chipman: The Fiery Awakening
• Mark Ostley: The Invention of Middle-earth
• L. Lara Sookoo: The Dragon
• Alexandra-Felicity King: Interview with Arjan Kiel
• Michael Noer: How Much is a Dragon Worth?
• Kathryn Darden: The Snow Sprite
• Scott Holbrook-Foust: Two Trees Twining: Rays of Light in the Northern Night
• Missy M. McClure: Of Winds and Wings
• Constance G.J. Wagner: Sacramentum Midgard: Frodo as Sacrament to Middle-earth
• Anne Marie Gazzolo: Heart of Darkness
• Jef Murray: The Picture Book
• L. Lara Sookoo: Never Laugh at Live Dragons
• Letter to the Editors of the Silver Leaves Journal
• Constance G.J. Wagner: Echoing the Ainur’s Song: Doug Adams’ The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films
• Bennett Dobbins: The Lord of the Rings: An Overview of the Soundtracks
• Steven R. Dajic:Role-Playing and the World of Tolkien
• Alexa Chipman: Beowulf and the Dragon (Review)
• Julie Dobbins: Middle-earth: Visions of a Modern Myth (Review)

 

Artwork

• Kerem Beyit: Steampunk Dragon (front cover)
• Ted Nasmith: The Crystal Dragon (inside front cover & pull-out)
• Collen Doran: Hobbit Feet
• Ted Nasmith: Tolkien Portrait in Pencil
• Ben Phillips: Lila
• Tim Kirk: Dragon
• Leilani Amorey: Bilbo and Smaug
• Cassandra Stevens: Brave Thing
• Valentina Levshina: Glaurung & Nienor
• Jef Murray: Smaug
• Jef Murray: Awaiting the Burglar
• Jef Murray: Turin and Glaurung
• Jef Murray:Corner Dragon
• Jef Murray: Cerulean Dragon
• Jef Murray: Glaurung
• Jef Murray: Treebeard
• Alexandra-Felicity King: Wellinghall Smial photo
• Ted Nasmith: Smaug and the Lonely Mountain
• Ted Nasmith: Smaug Attacks the Town of Dale
• Jef Murray: Blue Dragon
• Chris Mills: Dragon’s Dawn
• Kerem Beyit: First Lesson
• Connor Cochran: Gathering Swords
• Tim Kirk: Gandalf’s Fireworks
• Annette Jones: Black Dragon Drawings
• Steven Thomas: Moria Balrogs
• Steven Thomas: Isengard Uruk-hai
• Steven Thomas: Grond
• Steven Thomas: Angmar Ringwraiths
• Alberto Ramirez: Smaug Invades the Lonely Mountain
• Jef Murray: Dragonflight
• Tim Kirk: The Game
• Donato Giancola: The Great Dragon Smaug
• Else Tennesse: Middle-earth Postage Stamps
• Chris Mills: Turin & the Fall of Nargothrond
• Alberto Ramirez: Treebeard
• Anna Repp: Smaug
• Jef Murray: Lucy and the Spellbook
• Jef Murray: Boy and Book
• Leilani Amorey: Dragons
• Jef Murray: Writing Dragon
• Jef Murray: Reading Dragon
• Tim Kirk: Sea Dragon
• Donato Giancola: Éowyn and the Nazgûl
• Leilani Amorey: Death of Smaug
• Dave DelaGardelle: Smaug

 Find out more at: Silver Leaves issue #4 | White Tree Fund

Hot 100 on Yahoo!

I have reached another milestone in my writing for Yahoo! I been in the to 500 writers almost every month the past couple of years, and I recently reached 1,000,000 page views on Yahoo! Now I am pleased to report that in September, I was named one of the Top 100 writers out of hundreds of thousands of Yahoo! contributors in August. 

I knew August was an exceptionally good month and am happy to have finally broken into Yahoo's HOT 100. Now the pressure is on to do it again!

Find me on Yahoo!

Reaching 1,000,000 Page Views on Yahoo!

I hit 1,000,000 page view earlier this month on Yahoo! Voices (formerly Associated Content). This means my articles have been clicked on over 1,000,000 times with 1,000,000 of the clicks staying open long enough to be counted as a page view -- at least a minute or two to count.

Interview with Kathryn Darden about Doll Collecting

Interview Kathryn Darden: Collecting and Barbie in the News

I recently  found this interview on Tumblr. Kaitlyn Williams interviewed me for a podcast this spring. I had completely forgotten about doing this doll collecting podcast. If you click the link, you can hear the interview.

Excerpt:

Darden began writing for Barbie Bazaar in the 1990s and continues to freelance in her spare time. She has published articles in Miller's Fashion Dolls, Dolls In Print and Virtual Dolls to name a few. She frequently blogs for Examiner.com, in addition to maintaining her own blog.

Read the article and listen to the podcast here: Kaitlyn Williams and Kathryn Darden: Collecting and Barbie in the News - dOLL'N AROUNd: 

USA Today Interviews Kathryn Darden about Twilight Movies & Books

USA Today writer Maria Puente interviewed Kathryn E. Darden for about an hour about a two-part article series she wrote some time ago about the "Twilight" movies.

Here is the USA Today article:

Adults fret that 'Eclipse' lacks good role models for teens -- By Maria Puente, USA TODAY, 7/7/2010

Excerpt 1:

From: 'Virtuous' messages

Kathryn Darden, a Christian freelance writer on arts and entertainment for several online publications who has written about Twilight, says there are some "virtuous" messages in the saga, but "I've never recommended it for (unsupervised) teens — it needs to be read by parents and discussed first."

Excerpt 2:

From: The faithful are divided

Darden says one reason for the division is that witches are specifically condemned in the Bible, while vampires are not even mentioned. Still, "many Christian readers shy away from things that are demonic, and (they think) vampires are demon," she says.

But Darden defends the suitability of at least the first Twilight book for older teens (with parental guidance) because its themes are "faith-based," and the characters talk a lot about their souls.

"Edward refuses to turn Bella (into a vampire) because he's concerned about her salvation, he thinks being a vampire is equivalent to being damned," she says. "He puts her well-being above all else, and that's a strong positive message. Teen culture is too often getting the opposite message from Hollywood."

Part 1 of the series Maria Puente interviewed me about for the USA Today article:

A Christian look at Twilight books & movies - Part 1

More of my Twilight articles:

Twilight controversies: how will the 'Breaking Dawn' movies handle Twilight sex and birth scenes?

Friday, June 18th, 2010

With Twilight: Eclipse hitting theaters on June 30 and the official announcement that The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn will be split up into two...
Keep Reading »

 

Exclusive interview: Hannah Hindi on the Hillywood Show, Twilight, and faith

What is the Hillywood Show and why were they at the Nashville Twilight Convention? As reported in Twilight Convention heats Nashville up with Peter Facinelli and Gil Birmingham...
Keep Reading »

 

Twilight Convention heats Nashville up with Peter Facinelli and Gil Birmingham (with slideshow)

Several inches of snow did not seem to slow down the attendance at the Official Twilight Convention in Nashville today. The Tennessee Ballroom at the...
Keep Reading »

 

Twilight Convention heading to Nashville; Kellan Lutz cancels Nashville Twilight appearance

4 comments

Twilight Convention Comes to Nashville without Kellan Lutz! 

As reported in "Official Twilight Convention comes to Nashville with Peter Facinelli, Kellan Lutz and the wolf pack...
Keep Reading »

 

Official Twilight Convention comes to Nashville with Peter Facinelli, Kellan Lutz and the wolf pack

Summit Entertainment and Creation Entertainment Bring the Official Twilight Convention Tour to Nashville, TN, January 29-31, 2010 

Local fans of Twilight...
Keep Reading »

Robert Pattinson says abstinence part of Twilight's appeal: 'abstinence can be sexy'

3 comments

If you have read my two-part series A Christian look at Twilight books & movies, you have read my thoughts on Twilight, written by a Mormon mom, Stephanie Meyer...
Keep Reading »

New Moon at midnight: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner bring Twilight back

2 comments

Sequel to Twilight Now Playing 

Last year I wrote about going to see Twilight at Midnight and wondered where the throngs of young girls were. This year I found them!
Keep Reading »

'Andersonian' Interview with Kathryn Darden | Christian Activities

Interview with Kathryn Darden

 In September of 2006, Kim Ousley wrote an article about women in the Contemporary Christian Music Industry for the Anderson, IN "Andersonian" and interviewed Christian Activities Publsher, Kathryn Darden as part of her research.

Excerpt:

Kim Ousley (KO): From one who is involved in the Christian music industry, what roles have women played over the years, how have they evolved or changed and what direction do you see it heading? 

Kathryn Darden (KD): Women have always had a big impact on Christian Music, in the beginning as artists like Evie, and now as leaders of corporations. The 80's and early 90's saw a lot of women launching their own companies. Marilyn Lorenz has been running her own company, the Copyright Company since April of 1991. In 1992 I officially launched Christian Activities Magazine (although I began publishing a smaller version in 1988). Lisa Jones launched her own booking agency in the 80's and Laurie Anderson started her own Management Company a few years later.

  Read the full interview at: industryinsider | Interview with Kathryn Darden | Christian Activities

Poem "A Man Like You" Inspired by Lord of the Rings Wins Honors

Kathryn Darden Poem "A Man Like You" Wins Honor


Published in the Summer 2005 edition of In Fellowship, the official Print Journal of the Gathering of the Tolkien Fellowship Community and Issue 1 of Silver Leaves, the journal of The White Tree Fund, the Poem "A Man Like You" also won the Council of Elrond's Poem of the Month award on August 15, 2005.

Read the poem at: Poems Inspired by Lord of the Rings | Christian Activities

Kathryn E Darden - Without Apology

The Darling Kathryn E Darden - Without Apology

Donald Pennington, Yahoo! Contributor Network

Donald Pennington interviewed me in March of 2009 for this Yahoo article.

Date of Interview: 03/08/2009
My dear readers; I've got someone here for you today for you to meet who's always fun to read, whether it's her poetry you've found, or it's a thoughtful comment that you've received.

She expresses her thoughts without cloudiness and her spiritual side without an apology.

DP: Hi Kathryn! Thanks for your participation in this project. If things were to be cut short, and only one message got across to my readers about you, what would you want them to know about you?

KD: I'm sort of an eclectic person... OK, eccentric. I have done many things in my career life from teaching high school to publicity, to publishing, to working retail. I like variety!

DP: Please tell us a little more about the writer that is Kathryn E Darden:

KD: My real name, Kathryn E. Darden, is the name I use on AC. I understand why some people use a pen name, but I stand behind my articles and poetry, for better or worse. I was born in Tennessee, but my father was a military man, so I lived in India 3 years, New Jersey 1 year, and Washington DC for 5 years growing up...

Read the interview at:
The Darling Kathryn E Darden - Without Apology

Tennessean Interview & Article About Kathryn E. Darden

Read more at: Christian Magazine Grew From Calendar

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