Novel – Page 78

Where do I begin?

I had never heard of the A to Z Challenge before so this was my first attempt.

I got a lot out of it, but as anyone who followed me would know; I put a lot into it. To make it clear I’ll list in the same fashion I used for my posts. It’s a method that provides clarity. I said … it’s a method that provides clarity.

1. I enjoyed it, although at times it was hard work. I started by following the ‘suggested’ 5 blogs, but through interest I ended up following 20.

2. I got every post out on time on the correct day.

3. I prepared a few, but only towards the end.

4. I gained a few more followers. I started with a figure in the mid-20’s, and I now have 79. About 5 of those have appeared since the challenge ended.

5. I’m now following about 15 more blogs than I was at the start of the challenge.

Where there any blogs I liked in particular?

Yes, there were several, and they are all mentioned with links in my ‘Z’ is for Zoom-in post: https://tombensoncreative.com/2014/04/27/z-is-for-zoom-in/

What could be improved for next year?

Not a lot, is my initial response, although I feel if we all advertised it on our individual blogs from about mid-March next year, it might increase figures. This would obviously require a much larger support network, and the new team members would have to be aware of how much pressure was on them.

One area that I found frustrating was the logging-in to make comments. Out of habit, I don’t just hit the ‘like’ button when I visit a site. I use WordPress, but when visiting ‘Blogger’ for instance, it was a task sometimes to get a comment accepted. That is nothing to do with the challenge itself, but it does tend to impact on how much time a person might spend trying to make their voice heard

What will I do differently next year?

I’ll get my topic ready and prepare several posts so that I’m ready to go from the outset.

I managed to get around all the back-up team to give a brief vote of thanks. In my ‘Z‘ post I named all of them with a link to their blogs, so it’s easy for anyone to find out who our organisers were.

I have the full list of my A to Z posts in a menu on my blog. My topic / theme was ‘writing’.

I look forward to next time. Now I must get back to my writing.

I’ll be seeing some of you regularly from now on I’m sure. My intention is to conduct two, or possibly three blog patrols per week.

Before I mention the book, ‘Stellar Cloud’, I think it would be pertinent to put something in perspective. My reason for reading Science Fiction was no accident. I believe in broadening my horizons as a writer, by reading widely.

During the A to Z challenge, I enjoyed following Charity Bradford’s blog. The posts she used throughout the challenge were based on Dr Who, the classic British time-travel series.

In itself the topic could be given a light-hearted or devil-may-care treatment, but irrespective of anyone else’s opinion, the alphabet was followed and good posts appeared each day.

The relevance of those challenge posts is simply that Charity’s passion for the genre shines through in them. That same passion allows her to write not only entertaining, but convincing stories in a genre that I do not normally read.

Okay, the average person might think, Science Fiction is not for me, but consider something for a moment. If a story is well told, does it really matter if it’s set in Arkansas, Frankfurt, Rome, or on the planet Zorg?

In ‘Stellar Cloud’ I found a variety of stories that produced the same empathy I would expect for characters in a traditional tale. The imagery was well drawn, the dialogue was natural, and the stories were well told. I found myself believing in each story, and it was thoroughly enjoyable.

I was delighted to find that each story was different. Irrespective of genre, many writers tend to write repetitive tales and they only differ in location and character names. The situations and conflicts in the ‘Stellar Cloud’ collection are sufficiently different.

Charity brings her book to a close with a Prologue and Chapter 1, for her novel, ‘The Magic Wakes’.

I would suggest if you haven’t tried Science Fiction, then Charity’s offerings are a good place to start.