Wicked Wednesday - A to Z Challenge Reflection post

A lot of April went by in a blur, but I had a fantastic time with the A to Z Challenge. I met so many new wonderful folk and discovered some awesome blogs. Everyone did a fantastic job. A big thank you to the A to Z team.
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)Life is Good (Tina Downey)Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller)Pearson Report (Jenny Pearson)No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)Coming Down The Mountain (Karen Jones Gowen)

You guys are amazing!

My experience with the Challenge was phenomenal. I wrote a paranormal romance story that stretched out over the month. I never expected the reaction I received. I hoped I could entertain a few people, but wow. I'm at a loss for words. So many people loved the story. It makes me blush, feel warm and fuzzy, and boosts my fragile writer's ego. Your comments and encouragement made me smile every day.

I wasn't going to publish my story after the Challenge, but so many of you are encouraging me to do so. So with the help of my fantastic friend and critique partner, Cherie Reich, I'll be self-publishing the story. It will be cleaned up, a little will be added, and it shall be named Fearless.

(This little self-publishing bit will be practice to prepare me for my series of novellas.)


I just have to get a good image for the cover. Does anyone have a stuffed hippo willing to do some posing for me?!


What I loved about the Challenge: Meeting people and discovering new blogs. Seeing what surprises my friends had in store. The writing advice and awesome stories. Learning new things. And, of course, the comments on my blog.


What frustrated me about the Challenge: While the good greatly outweighs the bad, a few things made me relieved the Challenge was over. It consumed a lot of my free time. There were so many blogs to check out, I didn't get a chance to visit them all. I couldn't keep up with visiting people from the Challenge and visit the blogs I regularly follow. I'm afraid those who didn't participate in the Challenge might have felt a bit neglected, and I'm sorry.


What might help those frustrations: Perhaps the Challenge could divide the various blogs into groups. I'm not sure how you would want to do this. Maybe writers, photographers, artists, jewelers, etc. Or by general themes like stories, poems, photos, people, trivia, movies, etc. Though I was happy to meet all sorts of people, I was most looking to meet other writers.


Will I be doing the A to Z Challenge again next year? Yes. Most definitely yes.