Reflections of the A-Z Blogfest from Susan Kane

         Today we hear from Susan Kane of thecontemplativecat.  Her post is short, sweet, and to the point.   

Reflections of the A-Z Blogfest

Mirror, mirror (courtesy of Bing.com)

A reflection typically is what one sees when looking into a mirror, or a shiny surface.  Looking at this past month, I have observed:

*  Discipline—creating and planning, then writing on an almost daily basis required me to adhere to a deadline. Forethought and having a notepad & pen was necessary at all times.

*  Introspection—looking into myself, and pondering how to approach an assignment differently each day.  Questioning myself about what I wanted the reader to experience was always in front of me.

*  Variety—I like humor, I can be dark, I like to turn ideas over and relate them to something else totally opposite.  I like narrative, I like dialogue.  I like to see God in all the events I observe. This allowed me to explore all those ‘likes’.

Summarizing, this was a great experience, demanding and gritty at times.  I grew as a writer.

This was a daunting task for the A-Z team.  Thank you for your diligence, craziness, and encouragement. 

          Thanks for those kind words Susan!

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• The Fun Factor of the A to Z Challenge (a-to-zchallenge.com)

Stephen Tremp Celebrates the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge

         Most of you know Stephen Tremp from his Breakthrough Blog and his many blog comments.  Stephen has been a blog friend of mine almost from my earliest bloggy beginnings.  I'm a big fan of his Chase Manhattan book series (Openings to be released in January 2012!).  Stephen Tremp was one of the co-hosts of the 2011 Challenge.  We include his reflections post from this past May here today.  Deja vu--you may have read this already.




Well, I survived the 2011 April A to Z Challenge as did many of you. I think survive is very good word. I met some awesome people and got reacquainted with many others.

Thanks again to Arlee Bird, Alex Cavanaugh, Talli Roland, Jennifer Daiker, Jeffrey Beesler, Karen Gowan, and Candace Ganger for putting together such an awesome blogging event and inviting me to take part as a co-host.

I had personal challenges such as an IRS audit for 2008 (why so close to the filing date) and lingering medical emergencies in my immediate family. This prevented me from visiting many blogs the second half of April. So I thank you all for stopping by my blog and saying hi. I hope you enjoyed the science-based posts as much as I did.


I learned much about myself during this past month. Life is precious and should be treated more valuable than gold. No doubt many of you had your own personal obstacles to overcome too. So, if you haven’t already done so, stop by Jennifer Daiker’s blog and Elizabeth Mueller’s blog for two well-deserved awards.

I’m going to take a few days off from blogging. Possibly a week. But that’s all. I have so much to write about that I have material to take me all the way through summer and well into the fall.

Now it’s time to rest and celebrate. Go and do something crazy. Just don’t get caught. That’s an order!

Question: What are some of your reflections from this past month?

Stephen Tremp
Author: Breakthrough Series
http://breakthroughblogs.blogspot.com/

        Thanks Stephen.  I for one never tire of your blog and the fun and fascinating information you provide us.  Oh, and since this is a Deja Vu post don't forget to visit D. L. Hammons site for the list of other blogs participating in the Deja Vu Blog Fest.  

Related articles

• In Which Arlee Bird Explains Why Blogfests Are a Big Deal (damyantiwrites.wordpress.com)
• A Matter of Life and Death: Another A to Z Story (tossingitout.blogspot.com)

A-Z Reflections – snoitcelfeR Z-A by Bob Scotney

     Today we have the Reflections post from Bob Scotney at Bob's Home for Writing.  He tells us about his first Challenge and what his reactions were.

A-Z Reflections – snoitcelfeR Z-A

I had no idea what I had let myself in for when I signed up for the Challenge, never having entered anything like this before. At the 215 (or was it 216) entry I was amazed to see over 1000 register. That nearly put me off.

I planned to have 5 posts in hand throughout the month, this quickly fell back to 3 – Easter nearly saw me quit.

The main negative for me was trying to read too many blogs each day and after 10 days or so I had to give up searching. Then I discovered the Next Blog and Surprise Me buttons on someone else’s blog and they led me to a wider set of Challengers.

However this meant I was unable to comment on every blog I visited.

Another disappointment was the number of entrants who didn’t. I‘d love to know how many actually completed the challenge.

My followers increase by 66% and by the end I had made it past 100. My thanks to all that joined me.

I was honoured to received three awards – I didn’t know they existed before. Thanks for those and also to Elizabeth Mueller for the laughing Zebra at the end.

Would I do it again? Yes – probably, but like many I would have to trim the length of some of my posts.

Finally congratulations and grateful thanks to Arlee and the ‘gang’ who organised the whole shebang. You did/are doing a great job.

Related articles

• In Which Arlee Bird Explains Why Blogfests Are a Big Deal (damyantiwrites.wordpress.com)