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Today at MyTropicalEscape we have the third installment of the weekly ‘Ten Questions With’ interview series and I am pleased to have one of the fastest rising stars on the internet, Skellie, of Skelliewag.org, as my guest. If you missed the first two installments in this series you might also find my interviews with Leo Babauta and Cameron Low interesting.

Editors note: this week I am spicing things up a little bit. Last week’s interview with Leo Babauta drew 14 comments and as a way of increasing that number this week, everyone who leaves a comment about the Skellie interview below will be entered to win one of four prizes: a link to your site in next week’s interview, a Culebra Animal Welfare t-shirt, a post card from the Caribbean, or a small vial of sand from, Flamenco Beach, one of the top five beaches in the world.

For a little background information, Skellie’s site, Skelliewag.org, launched a little over four months ago in July of 2007. She lives in Australia where she is a university student and ‘ProBlogger.’ Skellie is a frequent freelance writer and guest poster at ProBlogger, Daily Blog Tips, Freelance Switch, and NorthxEast.

Recently named one of “The Ten Most Inspirational Bloggers of 2007” because of her in depth writing style and rapid ascent to the top of the blogosphere, Skellie also plans to release an ebook in the coming months. Once again, for ease of readability the questions have been listed out and linked to the answers below.

1. How did you get into blogging? Were you working around the internet or websites before? When you started was it with the intention of making money?

2. Your site contains some of the most well written, practical, and applicable information for bloggers looking to improve, where do you draw your inspiration?

3. What do the terms Skellie and Skelliewag represent about you, your brand?

4. Your posts make you come across as a very optimistic person, in your daily non-blogging life what brings you joy, and how do you turn that into innovation?

5. Do you have a background as a professional writer and do you have any tips for people who would like to become more proficient in the art of creative writing?

6. Does Australia have some sort of secret blogging club that the rest of us mere mortals do not know about? Why is there so much blogging talent in Australia?

7. Your content has a remarkably smooth and flowing style to it. What is your typical writing process?

8. In one of your latest posts (which actually had an impact on me) you tell bloggers that if they want to be successful they should adhere to Seth Godin’s formula for achievement, which is, “Be Remarkable.” What do you do to follow the “Be Remarkable” mantra everyday?

9. Aside from your obvious hard work and dedication, did you have any mentors helping you in your fairly rapid ascent to blogging fame? Are you currently mentoring or assisting any new bloggers?

10. You state on your site that you would like to get involved with women’s issues, what causes are you most passionate about? How do you plan to apply your writing and communication talents to those causes?

Question 1: How did you get into blogging? Were you working around the internet or websites before? When you started was it with the intention of making money?

Skellie’s answer: I’ve been blogging for a few years, but the blogs were always fun little diversions for me and not intended to get popular. Before that I was mainly working with various websites. It’s always been a hobby for me. I only started to learn about making money online within the last year or so.

Question 2: Your site contains some of the most well written, practical, and applicable information for bloggers looking to improve, where do you draw your inspiration?

Skellie’s answer: Thank you! I get inspiration from everywhere – it’s a collective thing, rather than getting it from just a few sources. I read all kinds of blogs and websites, mainly outside the niche I blog in. These inspire me on a regular basis, particularly when I puzzle out how I can transfer the best ideas of other niches to my own niche.

Question 3: What do the terms Skellie and Skelliewag represent about you, your brand?

Skellie’s answer: I was brainstorming unique names for the site and that’s what I came up with. The meaning and connotations of the name seem to have evolved with the site, rather than existing before. Considering that I focus a lot on uniqueness and innovation, I think it’s appropriate that myself and my blog go by such weird names!

Question 4: Your posts make you come across as a very optimistic person, in your daily non-blogging life what brings you joy, and how do you turn that into innovation?

Skellie’s answer: I try to be a rational optimist in everything I do :). There are about a million things that bring me joy, most of them incredibly different to one another. I’m a person with a strange combination of interests, but that’s what helps me innovate. If you’re bringing together knowledge and experience from a dozen wildly different things, you’re bound to bring that together into something that hasn’t been seen before. When it works, that’s great. When it doesn’t, it’s another learning experience to add to the melting pot.

Question 5: Do you have a background as a professional writer and do you have any tips for people who would like to become more proficient in the art of creative writing?

Skellie’s answer: Growing up I was always a creative writer. I remember tapping out stories back in the days when MS Word was black and green. Over time my interest switched over to journalism, particularly after I realized that, while it’s hard to make a living as a journalist, it’s even harder to make a living as a wannabe author. I studied journalism at university for a while and decided it wasn’t for me (mainly because I’m a terrible journalist). Some of the things I’ve learned have transferred comfortably to blogging, though, so I’m grateful for the experience.

Question 6: Does Australia have some sort of secret blogging club that the rest of us mere mortals do not know about? Why is there so much blogging talent in Australia?

Skellie’s answer: I have no idea. Blogs have really been embraced by the media here and are considered quite cool, so that could be one influencing factor. Alternately, maybe we all just have too much time on our hands? ;-).

Question 7: Your content has a remarkably smooth and flowing style to it. What is your typical writing process?

Skellie’s answer: Thanks! I tend to start by encapsulating each key point I want to write in one sentence. Then I flesh-out each point. I usually turn the sentence into a sub-heading and most of the time I’ll write the introduction last.

Question 8: In one of your latest posts (which actually had an impact on me) you tell bloggers that if they want to be successful they should adhere to Seth Godin’s formula for achievement, which is, “Be Remarkable.” What do you do to follow the “Be Remarkable” mantra everyday?

Skellie’s answer: When it comes to blogging, I try to pursue being remarkable by giving more than I receive. It’s important for me to give readers everything I can and to avoid acting out of self-interest, even if it might benefit me financially or otherwise. I also try to be remarkable by treating readers as individuals and never turning down a request for advice.

Question 9: Aside from your obvious hard work and dedication, did you have any mentors helping you in your fairly rapid ascent to blogging fame? Are you currently mentoring or assisting any new bloggers?

Skellie’s answer: I learned a lot about what not to do through the various mistakes I’ve made over time. Making mistakes is really important – though you’ve got to be willing to acknowledge them, rather than making mistakes and convincing yourself that everything is fine. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not progressing as a blogger. In other words, my most significant mentor has been that part of me that really sucks at blogging. It’s always struggling to get out!

I learned the basics from Darren Rowse at ProBlogger (like most of us). It’s a surreal experience to now be a staff writer at his blog. Seth Godin has also revolutionized the way I approached blogging, though neither of them have been mentors in the personal sense (except Darren more recently).

I do a lot of one-on-one mentoring of readers via email. I’m also doing more in-depth consulting with some people. That’s a lot of fun.

Question 10: You state on your site that you would like to get involved with women’s issues, what causes are you most passionate about? How do you plan to apply your writing and communication talents to those causes?

Skellie’s answer: While freelance blogging is something I’m really enjoying at the moment, the work in women’s issues is what I hope to be my ‘real’ job, so to speak. I’m mainly interested in helping women in the Third World, particularly in the areas of domestic violence, human trafficking and education. I’m still not sure how the skills blogging requires will transfer to that pursuit, but my experiences with Skelliewag have given me the confidence to be much more audacious in pursuing the most important goals I have.

Skellie, THANK YOU for your time, and I wish you peace, happiness, and tremendous success in the future!

Please come back for another installment of the ‘Ten Questions With’ interview series next Tuesday when I will be talking with the orginal blog mastermind, Yaro Starak. Or better yet, subscribe to the MyTropicalEscape RSS feed.

This interview has been powered by the kindness of Skellie, the Culebra Blog, and the Palmetto Guesthouse.