Hey, it’s over! For two months each year, I blog every day. November is reserved for the annual “Book-a-Day Giveaway” event here, where I feature local authors and offer up books and gift cards, and April brings the annual “Blogging from A to Z Challenge,” in which I have participated for – I believe – 12 years now.
This year I had my theme picked out months ahead of time. That’s usually the case for me, as I am the ultimate planner. It just works better if I have the theme, if I know I can cover all the letters, and I have pre-written and pre-scheduled my posts. Because I had a new novel out (October 2021) that is set in 1981, I looked into the possibility of featuring songs from 1981 as my theme. And it worked! What a variety of music – from classic rock (The Stones, The Who, George Harrison, John Lennon) to country crossovers (Eddie Rabbit, Rosanne Cash, Juice Newton) to new wave and punk (Blondie, Adam Ant) to fading disco and folk (Air Supply, Olivia Newton-John), there was truly a wide range of songs. If you missed out, you can start here: https://wordpress.com/post/marthareynoldswrites.com/9561
March and April are always busy months for me. This year I traveled to Portugal and Spain with my sister in March, and I chair and edit the annual anthology produced by the Association of Rhode Island Authors. It didn’t leave me with much time to visit other blogs, but I tried to find a few new ones. And, as always, I’m very grateful for the folks who took the time to visit my posts and like/comment. But having participated in this challenge for so long now, I no longer worry about whether people stop by.
So. on we go. I’m back to posting book reviews on Tuesdays (focusing mainly on my fellow Rhode Island authors) and I’m back to working on a new book, with the hopes of publishing later in the year. So stay tuned for that! And congratulations to all the bloggers who completed the challenge this year!
Martha Reynolds Writes 
I enjoyed coming over for some great songs, some of which I had never heard, and others not heard in a long time. Thanks for the entertainment and good music! Nice meeting you 🙂
https://thethreegerbers.blogspot.com/2022/05/coffee-journey-z-2022-reflection-post.html
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Thank you, Tamara, and very nice to connect with you! 🇨🇭
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Congratulations on finishing this, Martha. You are amazing. I really fell down on it this year which gives me extra respect for those of you who did such a good job.
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Thank you, Jacqui. I still enjoy doing it, even if March and April are ridiculously busy for me! 💕
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I really enjoyed your A to Z theme. It was a great flashback to when I was 10 year old! And a few songs I did not remember.
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Thank you, Jamie!
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I planned ahead this year more so than any other and it was great. The preplanned posts take away so much stress of trying to get new posts up everyday.
Congratulations on another successful Challenge. So glad you’ve been coming back for so many years now.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
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And thank YOU, Lee, for creating the A to Z! 🙌🏼
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Wishing you all the best working on your next book! I’m working hard on mine to publish this year, as well. Happy Writing!
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That’s great, Sheri! Please let me know when it’s ready. xx
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Likewise! 🙂
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It was a fun blog. I’ll bet it was fun for you listening to the music to select the songs. Thanks.
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It was! Thanks, Michelle.
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Hari OM
I take the view that the A2Z provides an anchor for blogging and shakes out the winter blues; so it is very much for each blogger and if others enjoy and join in, all the more fun! I really enjoyed your theme this year and look forward to visiting with you again next April (and on the odd occasion in between!!!) YAM xx
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Thanks, Yamini.
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