Monday, May 9, 2016

A to Z Reflections 2016


Another April A to Z has come to a close. (Thank goodness)
I picked the least graphic photo.
You're welcome. And yes,
it really did hurt like hell,
but I turn into a comedian
when bad things happen. Don't
sit next to me at funerals.

April brought all sorts of interruptions to my intended writing productiveness. The first of which, on the eve of A to Z, was accidentally slicing off the tip of my index finger while making dinner. Not the best thing to do with a month of off the cuff blogging ahead of me. Mashing the keys with my giant gauze-wrapped finger didn't go so well and, for the first week or so, put be behind as far as visiting other blogs because it was just frustrating and painful to type.

While that was healing, the machine that is one of my primary income sources for my business decided to act up and behave like a two year old being force-fed an all vegetable dinner. For three long days I was covered in blue ink - no, seriously, my hands and arms looked like I'd violently murdered every single smurf that may have ever existed - while I played equipment tech and finally tracked down the faulty part and replaced it.

Which put me three full days behind on production, meaning I was working a lot of overtime trying to catch back up during one of our busiest months. One the whole, the work aspect of April was incredibly stressful and didn't allow me the time and energy I'd hoped for as far as spending time writing story starts. I still managed to do them all, just not as in depth or on time as I had wanted to.

On the more exciting side of things that distracted me from A to Z this year, was emailing back and forth to discuss a deal with my publisher that resulted in a three book contract for my space opera series, The Narvan.

But I made it through and wrote 26 short story starts, one of which became a full story. I visited blogs, made blog friends, and had a lot of laughs while reading some hilarious posts in a month that I really needed some stress relief.

What would I do differently next year? Write half the posts in advance. Having done posts both ways, each for two years, I'm ready to go with a combination and give myself a little slack. I'd love to continue with the short stories based on words visitors provide, but I'd also probably do some posts on random things to break them up, maybe every other day.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to stop by, some of you each and every day, and for all the words you so generously offered to inspire me. I hope you'll continue to hang around.

23 comments:

  1. Hi Jean - gosh that finger slice sounds not too nice - hope it's fixed now. Congratulations on the book series ... that's great news.

    Then doing the A-Z is an accomplishment in itself .. cheers and I'll be seeing you around - Hilary

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    1. The finger is mostly healed now, thanks. Still trips me a up a little typing now that it's a smidge shorter though.

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  2. Oh man, I remember doing the finger slice thing. I was cutting up raw chicken at the time and wondered if my finger tip ended up in our dinner. Finger lickin' good? Not quite. Happy healing and congrats on the book contract. That's super.

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    1. Ha! I never found my tip either. We scrapped dinner though after being in the ER for several hours to get the bleeding stopped. By that point, I was thinking Arby's.

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  3. Oh dear, that sliced finger sounds painful beyond words! Kudos for managing the offline and online challenges so well.
    I enjoyed your posts tremendously, it's a terrific idea to do interactive A-Z's - more fun for the readers! :) But it's way more stressful for the blogger, great job managing it all the way through. Seriously impressed.

    Congrats on the book deal!

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    1. Thanks! I do enjoy doing the interactive posts too. Even though I'm supposed to be writing every day, it gives me something new to work on each day in April.

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  4. Congrats on your book news!

    I enjoyed your story starts but can see how that would be a hard way to do A to Z. Good for you for finishing despite adverse conditions.

    Yvonne V

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    1. Thanks! I had fun with the starts, but last year I was able to finish a lot more of them. Missed doing that this year. Thanks for all your words!

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  5. I had forgotten until you mentioned the finger incident, but during April I also had a couple of DIY repair projects conspire against me. A small but tedious fridge repair project expanded into another when I was going in and out of the door we use the most in the house (of course it was this door, no other) and the latch mechanism broke - again - meaning we couldn't use that door until it was fixed. Andy why oh why did this have to occur when I was already hip-deep in repairing the fridge??? Delay delay delay and these two boogerhead projects seriously impacted my posting schedule for a few days, but was able to catch up, fix fridge, and fix door without too much catching up required. At least none of my projects resulted in bloody pix :)

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    1. Sounds like you had quite a month too! Glad everything is fixed now and congrats on surviving April. :)

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  6. How exciting! The book deal, not the sawn off finger! April set me back in my writing endeavours but I've gotten back on track. Next year I'll probably be finishing a book series so I don't know if I'll survive another challenge. It was a lot of work wasn't it? Answer: Yes!!

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    1. Thanks! Well the finger was quite exciting too, but in a bad way.

      Good to hear your back on track with your writing. Good luck with your series!

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  7. ACKKKKKK to the finger. Congratulations on your deal. That's such good news!!!

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  8. I think you get triple sparkle points for completing the challenge in spite of all the other life challenges (and excitement - congrats!). I like your plan for next year. I enjoy writing off-the-cuff and don't really want to give that up, but it would really be nice to have a bit more time to visit and comment and deal with all those little interruptions life always seems to toss out in April. So your compromise sounds like something I'm going to try next time. Hope you're finger is fully healed and you've returned to a more normal color.

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    1. Woo triple points! Awesome! I'm looking forward to next April. :)

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  9. Ouch! Jean, that musta hurt! I generally lie low during A to Z. Unless you're taking part there's not a lot of traffic outside of the A to Z itself. I was mightily impressed by your efforts this year, though!

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    1. Yes, A to Z does tend to take over the blogosphere. Thanks for dropping by. :)

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  10. I think one idea for you to differently would be not to slice your finger open lol! Congrats on the book deal :)
    Debbie

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    1. I will certainly aim to not slice any body parts next year. Thanks!

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  11. Sorry you were a wounded warrior during the #Challenge. You can't keep a good gal down.

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  12. Congrats on the series, and hope you are healed now. Greetings!

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