April 2015 has come to an end and so has the A to Z Challenge. It seems a bit surreal somehow, that a whole month has gone by where we blogged every single day, got lovely comments, found new blogs, made fabulous friends and will continue to grow in this spirit of friendship and happiness all through the months and maybe the years ahead.
![A-to-Z+Reflection+[2015]+-+Lg](https://www.shailajav.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/a-to-zreflection2015-lg.jpg)
As I look back, my reflections on this year’s challenge are not vastly different from last year’s, except perhaps that I had lowered my expectations, both of myself and of others. I know that blogging daily can be exhausting and frankly, blog hopping can be cumbersome when you have over 1000 blogs to check out.
So I wrote this year in the hope that some posts, not all, may be read. Instead I was overwhelmed by the flood of support, both on the blog as well as on social media for the love that I received! I confess I haven’t done enough justice in return and I hope to make it up over the next few months.
Twitter was a good friend during the A to Z Challenge. This year, three things I did differently on this medium, which have helped somewhat:
- I added the #AtoZchallenge tag as well as the handle @AprilA2Z in my titles, so they would get more visibility.
- I created a Twitter list of some#AtoZchallenge participants, so I could view their tweets in a single feed. This is also a good way to keep track of these bloggers post A-Z.
- I joined the #AZchat sessions on Twitter curated by Heather Gardner. TWICE! Within 7 hours of each other. That has to stand for some record. Hey, I even got a medal for it. Thanks my tweeps!
Here are some fascinating stats thanks to the A to Z Challenge which I may analyse at a later stage:
Nearly 4000 views in April alone! Wow! I am dumbstruck. That’s the highest ever for any month since I began the blog last May!
The posts that got the most views:
C for Code linking with L for Letter
and a Non-A to Z post: No More Candles
A Big Thank you to the ones who visited every day and made this possible! I am listing the bloggers who made the effort to read, like and leave comments all through April. Others read and shared on social media channels, which brought more traffic. Such a generous gesture!
I may have missed out a few, so please forgive me if that happens!
Some bloggers did not do the A-Z but were avid supporters of those who did. All of them are wonderful bloggers in their own right! Their names are hyperlinked to their blogs. Do check them out and bookmark them. For comfort, I have broken them down into groups of ten.
PSST: I plan to feature them in smaller groups over the next few months in my posts, so watch out for that!
Vinay Ravindranath, Sanch Living Life, Shilpa Garg, Jyotsna Bhatia, Eloquent Mind, Mel Rowe, Patricia Lynne, Laurel Regan, Lata Sunil, Rajlakshmi.
Parul, Pratikshya, Shilpa Gupte, Little Princess Titli, Vidya, Shalini, Prasanna Rao, Keirthana, Vinitha, Sulekha.
Suzy Que, Marie, Janaki, Sarah, Devika, Swathi, Nibha, Vinodini, Roger Ship, Inderpreet.
Sid Balachandran, Aparna George, Rachna Parmar, Beloo Mehra, Ankita, A.J. Sendall, Ula, Sundari Venkatraman, Soumya Prasad, Shantala Nayak.
Elly, Monica, Jenny, Shashank, Cat Graham, EclecticAlli, Pooja Sharma, Tulika, Nancy, Nisha Sanjeev.
Sheethal, Sonia Lal, DeeCoded, Debbie, Prathima, Mithila Menezes, Heather Gardner, Rosie Amber, Luccia Gray,Rekha Dhyani.
StoryTeller Mary, Yvonne Ventresca, A J Lauer, Henrietta M Ross, Vishal Bheeroo, Courtney Turner, Aathira Jim.
WHEW! Can you say ‘AWESOME BLOGGERS’?
*Please note that the order is completely random and I am going to be updating this list as and when I remember more people.
**Oh and if you did the A-Z along my lines (Writing/ Fiction/ Flash Fiction) and if I have missed your blog, leave a link in the comments and I will pop over and say hello.
With this I bid you all Au revoir. I have always loved this word from French, which means ‘Until we see each other again.’ It means that this is not good-bye. There is no final curtain call. There is always a next act, another chapter to be written and another page to be read.
So, while my blogging will slow down in May, it will not die. I may pop in occasionally to say hello or startle you with yet another Alternate Angle !
And in the words of the immortal Douglas Adams, ‘So long and thanks for all the fish!’
~~~
Oops.. forgot to add this. > Thank you so much for the shout out. 🙂 <3
Apologies for the extremely delayed response to the reflections post. I was in India the last 3 weeks and have just about started to play catch up. I enjoyed your theme and looked forward to it everyday. You were on top of my list of people to visit. 🙂
Congrats on successfully completing the challenge. I am sure you and all those awesome bloggers you mentioned out there are an inspiration for each and every blogger out there :).
The way all of you plan and write for these challenges is an achievement in itself. Hats off!
Congrats on completing the A to Z Challenge! Looking forward to next year! See you on the Road Trip!
Mary @ Jingle Jangle Jungle
It’s been an incredible one month challenge and love ur take. Glad to see my name and that’s so kind of u:)
I simply loved your theme, Shailaja. You wrote some amazing stories with fantastic twists. Enjoyed reading all of them! Thanks for the mention ♥
First time is always great fun, Chicky! I am glad you enjoyed it this time 🙂
Thanks so much, Rachna. For reading, for sharing, for commenting, for supporting and for your frank feedback <3
I think you worry too much, Cat 🙂 You do a great job with the posts. As for the comments, never fear. Those will always be there. So will the ones who love your writing. So relax and take it easy 🙂
You are welcome. Thanks for reading 🙂
Thanks Titli! thanks for reading all through April!
Thanks a ton, Lata 🙂
Eli, I think you have done a lot more visiting than I have! You are so sweet . Thank you <3
would love it!
Thank you kindly, Sid.That means a lot, coming from you 🙂
I think that is a lovely idea. I just might do that 🙂
Even I implemented the first point. It proved to be really useful during the challenge. This was my first time in this challenge. It was exhausting, but, yeah, it was fun! 🙂
http://www.mysteriouskaddu.com/2015/05/a-to-z-reflections-2015.html
My comment did not go through? Kudos to you for having finished the challenge. I loved all your posts on A-Z that I read. You did it! That’s what matters. Thanks for the mention. 🙂
I enjoyed the challenge very much this year. I loved your Alternate Angles stories, Shailaja. So creative and quirky. I like how you experimented with different topics and characters to shock and surprise us. That’s what it’s all about.
It’s always such fun to blog with other bloggers and share our posts. My only regret is that my pantser approach meant I spent a lot of time trying to complete my post and that meant less time for commenting and don’t even get me started about replying to the comments. Sigh. I feel badly and hope to go back and get caught up a little, at least. Everyone is so generous and I want to reciprocate but am slow when I write. Wish I was faster to be able to write the post as well as get around to comment and reply more. Double sigh.
More power to your words. Thanks for the mention.
Yay! we did it! and it was a pleasure reading your posts…
here’s the link to my A to Z….
http://titli15081977.blogspot.in/search/label/A-Z%20challenge%202015
Visiting AtoZ posts is a primary activity for me in the next few months.. And thanks for the lovely stories.
If you cannot Shailaja, I totally understand and no worries…you being a mother, a writer, and a Blog Godmother: that’s a lot of responsibility which takes a lot of your time! Maybe, better to keep on writing brilliant angled posts? And write a book instead? 😉 <3
Yay! Congrats Shailaja! I so enjoyed the alternate angle stories I read! Also planning to catch up! Big hugs
Aww thanks a ton, dearest Vinodini! <3
Lovely! You summed it up so beautifully. Congratulations yet again for completing this challenge with such finesse Shy. Your blog stats look brilliant 🙂
Oooh!!! I get a mention/
*feels thrilled*
And congrats on the successful completion, Shy. You could make a book out of all your posts for A-to-Z, this year. They were that good 🙂
Thank you so much! I loved reading your posts even though I could not read them all… am planning to come back and read them one by one… on second thoughts, why don’t you compile them as an eBook? I am sure it will be a great offering 🙂
I did. Better than any month since last November. 😀 It’s okay I guess.
You are always so very supportive, Parul and I love that. I admire the theme you took up this year and I think you did a fabulous job with it. Kudos on that 🙂
Thanks a ton, Roshni!
You’re too kind 🙂 I enjoyed the AZ Chat immensely this year. I think this is my year, in more ways than one 🙂
Thanks so much Arpita! Did I miss out your name? Will add it ASAP.
Thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed my stories if you got to read them. THe ones listed here are not all fiction, but they are good writers and lovely commenters 🙂
Thank you so much, Niharika, for reading all the posts <3
I did even less when it came to your posts, Indy 🙁 You have always been a great reader and sharer! Thanks for that.
Of course I mentioned you! What did you think? 😉 You did a great job with the challenge and it was a pleasure to see your comments here each day. Much love <3
Oh thank you so so much! I like that you singled out your favourite posts. Makes me want to work on all the posts with care 🙂 Very glad to have found you, Dee 🙂
Thanks Vishal! I must get to your blog. I think I have not visited it even once all this while 🙁 Feeling terrible!
Thanks for reading them all, Ula 🙂
Elly, you have been so supportive and so regular on this blog that I feel really ashamed not to have returned the favour. I promise to make it up as soon as possible. Thanks you for all the love and your confidence in me!
Thanks Sonia! I think you should still look at the stats. It gives a good idea on where we stand in terms of engaging content. Good to have found you this year 🙂
Many Thanks Luccia. Also well done to you 🙂
I think that is a good idea. I agree that I didn’t have the time to visit people, even the ones who visited me daily! Take your time and do it at your own pace 🙂 Thanks for supporting 🙂
Congratulations!!! We survived! What a month it was..yesterday the 1st of May, I was feeling like a child whose exams got over and suddenly, I had all the time in the world. Thank you for the mention Shailaja. BAR has been such an awesome support and I’m glad I got to know you a little better. Alternate Angles were lovely 🙂 I can certainly read them again!! See you around!
Congrats!! It’s an awesome feat to have completed the challenge!!
You deserve that medal! Loved getting to chat with you during #azchat.
What a moving tribute. Cheers to all the listed bloggers, and all participants
I love fiction.
I did not get to participate in A to Z this year, but I have been reading so many blogs that did.
I will check out those you’ve listed here.
Congratulations Shailaja
Thank you so much for the mention, I hardly did anything. Still trying to finish my post before 4th.Hope to read everyone in the coming weeks. Hugs to you.
Wow! You seriously mentioned my name! Thanks.. Actually I had a great time reading your blog posts.. They were super cool!
Looking forward to more and more and more fabulus flash fiction stories! 🙂
See, I did keep my promise and read this in the morning! 😀
Thanks for including me in the list and kudos to the effort in mentioning everyone!
Whoa, that’s a huge jump in views! Congrats! My fave posts were Anger and Unison.
You are an awesome blogger. We made it and been an incredible journey.
Congrats! It’s been a real pleasure reading your stories. Thanks for the shout out.
Congrats on attempting and completing the A to Z challenge Shailaja! 🙂 With your alternate angled stories, no wonder you got so many hits: not surprising to me at ll! I think you could write a book of short stories, easy peasy! 😉 <3
Congrats on finishing! I haven’t looked at my April stats yet – I am afraid to look. I don’t it will be that great. Suppose I should have done more blog hopping. 😛
But I discovered a lot more really good blogs, so worth it.
Congratulations?
Yay!! We all survived!
I’m planning on continuing to visit people for a good time to come — have a LOT of catch-up reading to do!