I took part in the Blogging From A-Z Challenge for the very first time this year. This was because two blogging friends had also signed up for it and thought that I might also be interested, as we had all participated in the November NaBloPoMo together. I agreed as I love a challenge then promptly put it to the back of my mind until I was jolted back to reality, There was only about a week to go and most of the participants seemed to be going with a Theme, something I hadn’t even considered.

Actually, it was pretty obvious what my choice would be given my love of words, and once I had decided on that, I didn’t worry about it. My blogging style is always ‘off the cuff.’ I decide what I am going to write normally just before I write it! However, I have to say, I did do a little preparation for this challenge, as I wrote one or two posts in advance the day before. and all of my posts were scheduled.

Finding words was not too much of a problem. There were some that I had considered anyway. and the others seemed to fall into place as well. Even the letter ‘X’ was not the problem I thought it would be!

So, i would really like to thank Wendy, who did a wonderful take on the challenge by writing letters to people, characters or objects, and chose a song each day, and Mary-Anne who gave us a wonderful story about a hand-sewn quilt she was given by her students (she is a teacher), and what each square represented. I had a lot of support from them both for which I am extremely grateful.

I also met some new bloggers along the way Diary of A Dublin Housewife, Kim L Hine, and All But The Kitchen Sink to name but a few, It was also great that some of the blogs that I already followed were taking part as well LindaGHill, RonovansWrites,  Joeyfullystated and My Spanglish Familia.

I have been extremely lucky in that I had some really positive comments and lots of interaction during the challenge from my blogging friends, and I think, their encouragement and support spurred me on. I really wanted anyone that read my posts to be entertained, and I tried hard to find words that would do that.

I miss the challenge already, It was such fun to do. I loved how different bloggers interpreted it and the subjects they covered, I liked the fact that I had a focus, and a ‘prompt’ as it were. I don’t usually write about anything specific and it made a change to do that. I can’t wait for next year!

I would definitely take part in the challenge again next year and would encourage others to give it a go as well.

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