A-Z Reflections Post 2026

Well it's time to do a reflections post on the A-Z challenge and one of the co-hosts, J Lenni Dorner gave some pointers on what to consider including so here goes:

• How do you feel about the Theme Reveal? (Especially if this is not your first year doing the Challenge.) I think it's useful to let people know you're taking part and what you're planning to write about but I'm not sure having a list on the A-Z site is actually that helpful. (Although it probably is for the co-hosts to gauge what the level of participation is going to be.)
• In what ways does the reflection post help you?  It's a good way of looking at what worked, what didn't etc.
• What experiences have you had in the past, or hope to have this year, with the Road Trip?  I've tried to do the Road Trip a couple of times and have failed miserably.
• Does the HTML on the badges/ graphics page help you? Yes, thanks.
• Did you meet your blogging goals in April? I did.  
• What were your top five favourite blogs from the challenge to visit in April this year? Difficult to say - I'm still working my way through the list but several people who I already followed did the challenge so I enjoyed following them through the challenge.
• Did a co-host (J Lenni Dorner, Arlee Bird, Zalka Csenge Virág, John Holton, Jayden R Vincente, or Ronel Janse van Vuuren) comment on your blog during the challenge? Yes, several of them, thank you.
• Is there a comment you received on your blog in April that is your favourite? "Wendy, how do you remember all of the authors you've read! I am amazed at your A-Z this year and you are only on "D"!! Wow!"  This was left by one of my regular readers who always leaves me great comments.
• Who were your top comment-leavers this challenge, and did they do the challenge?  Definitely Terri, who left the comment above, plus Kim and Joanne who did not do the challenge. Of people that did do the challenge Joyce at http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/ and Faith at GOLD in the CLOUDS were regular commenters.
• Is your blog open to comments from everyone, or only comments from those who "sign in" to the platform? Open to everyone.
• Do you feel this helps or hurts your blogging comment goals? Helps
• Are there any other blog hops you regularly take part in? Wednesday Hodgepodge at From this side of the pond, a weekly gratitude post at Living to tell the Story and I also try to join in with a stream of consciousness post on Saturdays here.
• Did you discover anything interesting because of the Challenge? Lots of things.
• Will you plan to do the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge in 2027, and why (or why not)?  I probably will if I can think of a suitable theme.  I definitely work better with a theme.
• Will you recommend this blog hop to others?  Difficult to say.  My regular followers are already aware of the challenge from visiting my blog and new visitors have tended to be people doing the challenge anyway.
• If RoadTrippers only visit one of your Challenge posts, which would you suggest and why? (This question is also the prompt if you create a RoadTrip post.) Probably the A post.
• Do you plan to visit the A to Z site every month? I look at all the new posts as and when they're posted.
• Did you refer someone to hope to win a guest post spot? No
• What else could the team offer you to persuade you to encourage others to join the challenge?  I don't feel I need encouraging, I just don't have that big a circle of people.

Phew that was a marathon.  I really enjoyed doing the A-Z again this year particularly looking back at the books I've read and their authors.  What frustrated me, as it seems to every year, was that despite deciding on my theme way back last summer, I still wasn't totally prepared by the start of the challenge.  Consequently that meant I didn't have as much time as I'd like to work my way through the list of people taking part.  I think I'm about half way through the list now and I've tried to comment as much as possible.  I will continue to work through it but it will probably be at a more leisurely pace.  The way the commenting system works on Blogger still frustrates me too as it's hard to see the continuity in the same way as you can on Wordpress sites but I have no plans to switch platforms.

Finally 2 big thank yous - firstly to the team that make the A-Z challenge possible.  I can't imagine how time consuming it must be for you all especially when you all have your own sites to maintain and many of you are published authors.  Secondly to all those people who did visit my A-Z posts and particularly those that left regular, encouraging comments.  A lot of my blogging is about keeping a log of my daily life so I'd do it even without the comments but it is great to feel that your posts are not just disappearing into the web.