A-Z Reflections

The  A-Z April Challenge 2012 was certainly a highlight 

for me personally, satisfying to the core. 

Now exhausted but happy, 

I look forward to the next steps of getting   

a book out in print or circulating in the great electronic library out there.

At the beginning of the Challenge, the possibilities were daunting. 

A plan did not emerge immediately. I played it by ear, with this and that. 

I turned to visual prompts and worked on two favourite places. 

Malacca in Malaysia, from a historical point of view kicked off with 

E for Mista Ee, based on an ancestor and his family.

A recent visit to Istanbul and Cappadocia inspired 

the stories around F for Feriha,  the hamam masseuse and her band. 

This journey came back full circle to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

with one of the characters, Q for Quraishah. 

Characters seemed to develop one story after the other, 

each taking on a life of their own. 

I was pleasantly surprised by the flow of ideas.

My play on the choice of names and their meanings was aimed 

at highlighting how tradition and culture still 

play an important role in individual lives 

in the parts of the world mentioned. 

Positive outcomes:

• a well organised Challenge with great support;
• developing self confidence in publishing a story;
• exposure to other bloggers of similar genre.

Suggestions: 

• categorising genres eg. flash fiction, cooking, gardening, spiritual etc would make it much easier to filter through 1900 blogs and perhaps weed out the advertisers and marketing sites.
• categorising or indicating city and country of origin. This will identify the gaps and improve participation from more countries.