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Come on and join author Melissa Bradley as she sets off on her latest adventure...

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If you are not 18, please exit stage left. While there is normally nothing naughty here, I do write and review erotica so there are links to spicy stuff and the occasional heated excerpt.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Reflections On The A to Z

Here I am, only two days late,  for the Reflections Blog Hop. Look at that awesome survivor badge by Jeremy at Retro Zombie. Whoo hoo! We did it!

This year was a challenge for me with a big move and starting a new job assignment, but those difficulties aside, this was an amazing year and I am proud to have finished on time with my posting. I'm still playing catch up on my comments, though, so I apologize profusely to my awesome visitors. You all rock!

I, alas, did not make it to nearly as many blogs as I wanted. I think I hit 5-10 a day, but thanks to the A to Z site leaving the list up, I am going to make it through the rest of the blogs over the next months. I did meet some incredible people over the last month and I am looking forward to building on the initial connections. I was also happy to reconnect with people I had met last year. I am proud of all the challengers this year and I think that the team of co-hosts did an incredible job of keeping things organized, doing all the awesome promotion and having those helpful posts on the challenge's web site.

Speaking of which, the A to Z site was genius. It really helped me a lot to have a home base to go to. Plus, it freed up the co-hosts so they didn't have to have all the info on their personal sites.

There was no real down side, except for the sheer size, but that is workable by leaving the list up. I am also not a fan of word verification. I don't mind the blog owner comment approval on sites, that's cool, but to have to try and read those words... I am old, people, and my eyes kept running those letters together. So many times I was denied and had to do it again. It got very frustrating at times.

Other than that, this was an awesome Challenge and I am participating again next year without reservation. Lee at Tossing It Out conceived of a truly wonderful idea to bring us all together and I thank him. I also want to thank the co-hosts once more, who did a most excellent job of shepherding us through this incredible event. You all are mighty pillars of this blogging community and it would not be the same without you.

30 comments:

  1. You did great considering everything that was going on in your life at the time! And the A to Z Blog was sheer genius. Now we are all set for next year!

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    1. Thanks, Alex! This year's challenge was a bit hairy at times, but thoroughly incredible and I can't wait to do it again. :) You and the team made it so navigable with the site. All the encouragement you guys provided was superlative.

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  2. I have the 2011 A-Z to thank for so many of my blog pals - including a certain Imaginarium owner! It was awesome coming back for this year's, and i hope we can threepeat next year!

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    1. Here, Here! I am so grateful for challenge 2011. Where would I be without LGOOH? We will most definitely three-peat. :)

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  3. I'm surprised you got any posts done with your busy life. Well done! I loved the Challenge too and I'll be doing it next year again. (I posted my Reflections post today too, so don't feel bad!)

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    1. Whoo Hoo! I'm not the only one who posted reflections today. We rock, Christine. I will be right there with you next time around. And thank you for the encouragement in your comments as I fell behind.

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  4. I didn't make it to as many as I wanted to either, but I'm going to keep working on it. Great post, congratulations on a great challenge!!

    Sarah Allen
    (my creative writing blog)

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    1. Thank you. :) I'm happy you're going to keep working on the list as well. It's going to be great to get to see all the blogs we missed during the month. I'm telling you the A to Z site was just genius.

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  5. and we hope most of the readers have survived :PPP

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    1. LOL You readers who stuck by and commented every day deserve an award. :) You're the best, Dezz.

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  6. You did such a great job and your theme was one of my favorites!

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    1. Thank you, Johanna! That means a lot to me considering all of the brilliant themes out there this year. I'm very happy you enjoyed reading about all those fabulous women as much as I enjoyed writing about them.

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  7. You did amazingly well if you had such big things going on in your life. I'm also a definite for next year. It really is a great challenge. Now following :)

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    1. Thank you, Rebecca! And welcome to the Imaginarium. I'm happy to know you are on board for next year. It's going to be great fun once more. I love all the people I meet. :)

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  8. better 2 days late than never :) you did great

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    1. Thank you very much! My dad was a big proponent of better late than never. I do run on my own time zone sometimes. :)

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  9. don't get me started on the word verification...
    It was an awesome challenge, and I hope you'll do it again next year :)

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    1. LOL I hear you on that. I loved, loved your theme of metal music and you definitely turned me on to some really incredible bands. I will certainly be doing the challenge again next year. :)

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  10. Way to go! Cruising down the A-Z highway and playing catch up just like you. They tricked us you know, the challenge is just starting...ha ha ha, only 1000 more blogs to visit ;/

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    1. Thanks, Siv! LOL yes there are still lots of blogs to visit, but I'm glad we'll be doing this together. :)

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  11. They did do a fabulous job. I only wished to have more time to visit everybody.

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    1. 30 days just flies by without you realizing, doesn't it? I think you had an awesome challenge, loved those pictures. :)

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  12. It's quite an accomplishment to anyone who did it. I know I couldn't have what with my posting schedule AND it being held in finals month. ._.

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    1. Finals are rough. I hope everything went well. I almost wasn't able to keep up with the schedule. It is a challenge, but maybe you can do it next year. :)

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  13. Yay! I'm so proud of you, Melissa, because I know that you had so much going on. Congratulations!

    Kathy M.

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    1. Thank you so much, Kathy! And thanks for always leaving such wonderful comments here. It means a lot to me.

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  14. I also found I didn't visit NEARLY enough blogs during the challenge. But at least I managed to post something every day!

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    1. Whoo Hoo! You did it, Rachel! That is awesome that you were able to post every day. I think all of us challengers should be very proud of ourselves.

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  15. Visiting other blogs was a major part of the challenge for me this year. I even made up a spreadsheet to track it and only got to 10% of the blogs. Next year for sure! Great fun

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  16. Congratulation on finishing the challenge. During the challenge I didn't visit as many blogs as I would like to but I have visited every single blog with the reflection post. You are the last one and I am so glad my journey brought me here.

    Evalina, This and that...

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