A TO Z CHALLENGE REFLECTIONS POST

     This was my third A to Z Challenge and probably my favorite so far.  I got to not only play historian, but to get creative too.  It wasn't always easy to come up with 21st-century cultural memes that had 16th-century analogues, but I managed.  I guess my underlying goal was to help make people realize that life on Earth has been around for a very long time, that 500 years is just the blink of an eye, and that people who lived in the 1500's thought and felt and dreamed and schemed very much like people of the 21st century do.  It was an incredibly innovative time, bringing huge advances in science, communications, philosophy and the arts that changed the world every bit as much as the Internet has done for you and me.
     But of course, the satisfaction I derived from my own blog posts is only a part of what the A to Z Challenge is about.  The real genius of the Challenge is its focus on interactivity - discovering new blogs and bloggers, reading and commenting on their posts, replying to their comments on your posts.  Because as fascinating as it is for me to discover 16th-century people I'd never heard of, it's maybe even a little better to discover some new contemporaries who love to blog as much as I do.  The Challenge, at its heart, is about creating and sustaining a supportive community, and that's a really wonderful goal.  So once again, I'll thank Yvonne Ventresca, my friend and the very talented author of the Crystal-Kite-winning YA novel PANDEMIC and the forthcoming YA thriller, BLACK FLOWERS, WHITE LIES, due out in October (I can't wait!)  Among the many ways Yvonne has always supported me and my writing career, she was the one who first told me about the A to Z Challenge and encouraged me to participate.  And I want to thank the A to Z founders, hosts, minions and participants for making the month of April so exciting and rewarding!  I'm very proud to be part of this annual adventure.