Completing the Challenge

You may have noticed I once again did the A to Z Challenge last month. At this point, it's more a habit. And a game. Can I write blog posts as normal, but make it fit the letter of the day?

I won't bore you with how this works. I've written about it before. The only difference this year was that I did not make a back up plan. I didn't need it before, so why bother this year?

(Previous reflections posts: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.)

In case you missed some (or all) of my April posts, here are some highlights:

• Hardest letter of the month: Yarn Boxes 
• Most obvious letter that I almost missed: Lanterns in Trees
• Most contentious (via the comments): Billions
• Repeated (oops, I used the same title last year): Zilch
• X cheat: X: Wanted
• Post with the most comments and views: Another Pair of Ugly Slippers
• My favorite post for April: Early Exit Denied

My "hopping" was kind of hit or miss. I went through the master list starting after where I was (#61) and I got to #221. The goal was to comment on five new blogs a day. Alas, this did not happen every day. It was more like 4-5 days per week, fewer (like two) during spring break. (You'd think I'd've had more time on vacation. Nope.)

Here are a few new to me blogs that I found via the challenge:

• Erin Penn's Second Base: A series of short stories, all taking a few days, so each installment wasn't too long, but it formed a complete story.
• Quilting Patchwork Applique: All about quilting in French with English.
• The Transformed Non-Conformist: A personal journey about the people who influenced his life.
• The Curry Apple Orchard: Various travels.
• Random Acts of Roller: The Sherman Brothers.

Plus, of course, I kept up with my usual blogs. There were some interesting themes: 

• AJ Blythe: John Williams' scores
• Charity's Writing Journey: Fictional places
• Doesn't Speak Klingon: Flash fiction based on suggestions via comments
• Lynda Grace An Hour Away: Less of a theme and more of just general musings
• Patricia Lynne, Independent Author: She took new-to-her words and created flash fiction of 100 words based on the term

If I didn't note your blog, post a link in the comments. Lots of really great themes. It's hard to remember what all of them were.

And now April is officially over. Whew. See you next year...