#AtoZChallenge 2023 #Reflections of the Operation Awesome Team

Reflections of the Operation Awesome Team

J: Another year in the books. I really loved this theme. It was great to show off these authors. I wish some giveaways had gotten more entries, but I think the new Twitter algorithm is messing with the normal shares. (Thanks, Mr. Musk.) But honestly, it was just really great to promote all this talent. And it was fun to visit some other bloggers, who hopefully will see all that our magnificent site has to offer to writers in every stage (and readers as well).

The Debut Author spotlight will soon return. Please, if you know someone publishing a book for the first time this year, have them reach out to me. @JLenniDorner on Twitter 

Kate: It's been a blast this year!  So much fun to be able to showcase some of my writing besties and their work as well as meeting some new authors I didn't know so well before.  And what a bunch of creative bloggers there are out there!  I had such a great time going around and visiting other A to Zers and seeing what they were doing.

Dena: Lots of fun this year! It was fun seeing the themes of other AtoZ bloggers. And I loved showcasing some excellent authors here at OA and I hope YOU, our blog readers, found some awesome new authors and books to read. Let us know in the comments!

Suzanna: The theme this year is one of my favorites. I absolutely love reading and interviewing writers for their perspectives. It's amazing to read what inspires people to write stories. So many wonderful ideas to read and write! I've definitely increased my To Read list this month. Did you have a favorite interview this month?

Brandy: I really loved the theme this year! It has been a long time goal of mine to connect more with the writing community and interviewing these talented authors was such a fun way to accomplish that! I look forward to reading their work. In addition visiting other blogs was also super fun and a great way to discover more talent both in and out of the field of writing!




Giveaways that are active this week yet:

(Facebook Log In might not work due to a Rafflecopter error.)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4fa90ac762 S is for Victoria Strauss ~ Signed copies of Passion Blue and Color Song!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4fa90ac760/   V is for Kari Veenstra ~ Signed copy of The Rescuer!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4fa90ac758  W is for K.M. Weiland ~ $20 (USD) Giftcard

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4fa90ac757 X is for Sherry Ellis' setting in Xi'an ~ anthology "Voyagers"

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge 2023
a-to-zchallenge.com

Operation Awesome's #AtoZChallenge 2022 Reflections

J: In December, when Kate first mentioned using adaptations for our A to Z theme, I didn't think there was an alphabet of them worth mentioning. But look at our April! This theme turned out to be really fun. I hope our readers enjoyed what we offered. A to Z is a chance to present other sides of ourselves from what the regular audience counts on getting. Hopefully, this was a kind of bonding experience for our readers. Big bonus if we picked up new fans along the way!

Kate: I really enjoyed this theme because it ties together the two things I am most passionate about - books and films.  It was fascinating to see how many very obscure books became great films, and how many great books fail to live up to their potential on screen.  I enjoyed scooting around the blogosphere and seeing how many different ideas there were out there for our humble alphabet.  Looking forward to next year's A-Z already!

Dena: I'm not much of a movie person so I didn't think I could come up with more than 1-2 movies I've seen [or wanted to see] that were based on books.  I surprised myself by coming up with a whopping 6!  Only needed 4 for the challenge and it was fun watching them [or watching them again] and in some cases reading the books again too.  I also enjoyed hopping to other blogs altho I never have enough time to visit all the blogs that interest me.  Every year I promise myself I'll make more time the following year, but so far I've broken that promise every time.  Hopefully next year I'll do better!

Suzanna: I found it a wonderful experience, and I wanted to write so much about some of the stories to the screen that I selected (looking at you, Cloud Atlas, Dune, and Unbearable Lightness of Being). While I enjoyed writing all of the posts, it was interesting to start to rank these 8. There were of course, many stories that I would love to focus on within this topic, so don't be surprised if some Tuesday Tips are related to stories to screen ideas. I really enjoyed engaging with some of my favorite stories and finding new screen versions. I can't believe I did 8 this time around, which is a lot for me. Eight is a good number, so no complaints there! Also I have a new wish list this year to buy some of the films that I watched, and with a keen eye on some of my favorite films and see if they were written stories first. So much fun, and yes, I would do this challenge again!

Brandy: I found myself really enjoying this challenge! It gave me an opportunity to revisit old favorites and discover some new surprises! It was also fun to explore other blogs! I had a great time with this one!


Did you take part in the challenge? Have you answered our poll?


Our usual posting schedule will resume this month. The next Pass or Pages is June/July. Thanks for visiting!

Please vote in our poll! https://forms.gle/8cvCehkUKHMxx5C86

#atozchallenge Reflection 2021

J: Not enough time! So many great blogs out there. Not as many blogs as previous years, but still, so many great ones. I loved getting to review books this month for OA, even if that's not our usual jam. The books I used were all by debut authors, and only one was an author I hadn't interviewed yet. (X is *hard* -- but at least I used a debut author's book with an X title!) 

https://operationawesome6.blogspot.com/2021/04/bookreview-fragile-remedy-atozchallenge.html -- This is my favorite post on this blog from the challenge. It's a 5-star review. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐📙

Amren: Goodness I'm always surprised by how many ways people choose to use and interpret A to Z. It's cool to see how other creators use the month, and bring their own spin to the event. I loved reviewing books for OA this year. Sometimes as a writer, it's hard to make time to read because the pressure is on to always be producing my own material - this was a great way to take a step back. I found some new favorites for sure!

Kate: What a blast the A to Z was this year!  I visited a bunch of fantastic blogs with such a wide variety of interesting posts, yet feel like I only scratched the surface of what was available.  It was fantastic to be able to share reviews of books I've loved on the Operation Awesome site, and to read all the other reviews.  Believe me, my TBR pile has grown!

Dena: I agree with J.  Too many great blogs, not enough time.  This happens to me every April though, so I can't say I didn't have sufficient advance notice.  I had a lot of fun writing reviews for great books I read over the past year.  It was also fun to read the reviews written by others, especially if I had also read the book and had an entirely different opinion.  Just goes to show that two people can read the same book and come away from it with an entirely different experience.  Visiting the other blogs participating in the A-to-Z Challenge was fun too.  So many different themes!  Overall a great experience and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Suzanna: words

#AtoZChallenge Reflections 2020

A Month of Writing Motivation was the Operation Awesome theme for the 2020 A to Z Challenge. Here are our thoughts on how the challenge went this year:



J: It was a difficult year for the challenge. I thought posting about books on writing motivation would be easier than it actually turned out to be. But I'm glad I did it. I feel like most people could use more motivation in their lives right now. Even if it's something that boosts writing time to just 15 minutes a day. Those few minutes can be an escape if you feel inspired enough. 

Dena: April 2020 was certainly a crazy month.  I chose my motivation topic, “things to work on that still count as writing” back in January, before anyone knew just how insane this season would turn out to be.  And I don't know about you, but I found it difficult to focus on editing my current WiP with all the craziness going on.  This means that my topic turned out to be an actual reflection of what I ended up doing MYSELF during April.  Especially the daydreaming and no-guilt-trips parts.  But now that things are [hopefully] starting to open up again, I'm really excited to get back into my story.  How about you?

Nathaniel: I learned by doing this challenge that I was a hypocrite five times this month because I preached writing advice that I *intend* to practice instead of mastering it beforehand. But that just means we'll all be learning together. :)

Kate: It was a crazy month to be doing the A to Z this year.  When I volunteered to provide prompts, I  din't realize I'd be in a period doing which I was doing little or no writing myself.  I wish I could say that I took my own advice and used prompts to kickstart my own writing, but if I did, I'd be lying...  Thankfully, I found a way to get myself back into it anyway.  I hope the prompts were helpful to anyone else who found writing under lockdown more challenging than they may has suspected.


Amren: I wrote about apps and programs that keep me on-track when I'm writing - I didn't realize how much I rely on technology to keep me in line, haha! It amazes me that anyone's able to get any writing done without all these technological crutches. But it also makes me wonder, what is distracting me so much??? Maybe I need to switch to using those vintage typewriters taking up space in our spare bedroom...





Love the Operation Awesome blog? This is your last chance to join us for 2020! The form has been updated.

#AtoZChallenge 2019 Reflections

J: I'm the only one to have done the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge as part of the OA team before. But we worked together to pick our theme and divide up the alphabet and commenting duties between all of us. We picked up the slack for each other. There were great brainstorms. I think it was the best effort yet! I'm really proud of this team and so glad we took on the challenge.

Karis: Working on my posts for the #AtoZChallenge this year is, I think, what showed me I was stretched too thin. Which is ironic, considering one of my posts is literally about "striking the right balance" and not being stretched thing. I learned that even when I drop the ball, the team here at Operation Awesome is there to pick it up and be incredibly supportive. They're some of the best.

Nathaniel: If you do this next year as part of a team, *don't sign up to write three articles in a row.* Learn from my past mistakes. But in all seriousness, I learned a lot from the posts that my teammates wrote and it was fun to talk with everyone after the articles went live. The interviews were interesting and great to participate in too--it was cool to learn about the people I work with.

Kate: I really enjoyed visiting all the other blogs to see what other people were writing about.  There were some really fascinating topics, some great long-running fiction series and some great advice being given.  I feel like I learned a lot from being a part of it all.  I also loved working with the OA team to figure out what we each would write about and how the posts would fit together.

Amren: A to Z helped me realize that I want to pursue further education in writing. I'm not sure what or how yet, but it's now firmly on my radar. I really appreciate all of the help I got from the OA team to write my posts. I'm glad I had other writers to bounce ideas off and talk about posts beforehand. Oh, and I learned that erotic fiction blogs are a thing. I don't know why this was news to me.

#AtoZChallenge 2017 Reflection Post

The #AtoZChallenge 2017 Theme at Operation Awesome was the Publishing Journey.

The challenge was a real team effort. We each took a few letters to post about or to hunt down guests. Then we took turns visiting the blogs of others, signing our comments from the team. Here are our reflections:

1- Did you enjoy writing an alphabet-worth of posts about the publication journey?

J Lenni Dorner: In addition to writing posts for my own blog and co-hosting at the A to Z blog... it was a real challenge! But yes, I enjoyed it. I hope visitors learned something. Even those people who aren't on the publishing path hopefully got a chuckle out of the quiz post or voted on their favorite debut book.

Jaime Olin: Yes! First off, it was fun trying to use the letters of the alphabet to figure out topics relevant to our theme. Then, I enjoyed writing posts that would be accessible to a wider audience than usual. I hope everyone learned something new or found a tidbit they could relate to.

Kara Reynolds: I'm glad we split up the work at OA :0) I'm not sure I could have done it on my own! But I love the concept, and how it makes you think outside the box about a topic you *think* you know backwards and forwards.

Melinda Friesen: I enjoyed it. The only apprehension I have is that it dates those posts. Most posts on our blog can be shared weeks and months after posting them. Labeling them for this specific event, makes it obvious when sharing them in the future that they are older posts.



2- Was it fun to leave comments on the blogs of other participants?

J Lenni Dorner: I left hundreds of comments this month. It's always fun.

Jaime Olin: Definitely. It was neat to see how many different topics and themes were being explored this month.

Kara Reynolds: I don't typically comment on blogs, so at first it felt like a chore. But as the month went on and the commenting went down, I felt like commenting was more valuable to the blogger.

Melinda Friesen: I only made a handful of comments, but it was interesting to visit other blogs and seeing what they have going on. 



3- Do you feel the challenge brought more people to the blog?

J Lenni Dorner: The Blogger Stats says we had "Pageviews last month= 19,116." I think that's a jump in numbers. So yes, I believe it did.

Jaime Olin: I think so.

Kara Reynolds: At first, yes, but we definitely saw blogging fatigue toward the end of the month. Much fewer page views at the end than at the beginning.

Melinda Friesen: While it may have brought more people to the blog, the big question is, how many will return? Only time will tell. I always feel that trying a new venture is worthwhile. You never know until you try.



4- Will you want to do the challenge again?

J Lenni Dorner: Absolutely!

Jaime Olin: Yes!

Kara Reynolds: As part of the team? Sure!

Melinda Friesen: Blogging the A to Z challenge with the OA time was definitely enjoyable. I'd be game to do it again.



5- Any other thoughts or feelings about the A to Z challenge 2017?

J Lenni Dorner: I love the challenge. I think it brings people together, creating a community in cyberspace for bloggers who might not otherwise have found one another. I believe it helps bloggers reach goals, make connections, and learn from one another.

Jaime Olin: It was a great opportunity to meet new readers and bloggers. Also, having a very specific challenge like A to Z made creating blog posts fun and interesting.

Kara Reynolds: I think a month is too long to sustain the momentum. Now, obviously you need the whole month to do the whole alphabet, but I wonder if there's another way to fit the alphabet in? 

Melinda Friesen: I agree with Kara, that excitement wains as the month goes on. 

As promised, here are the results of the Debut Book Survey:

WINNER: Harry Potter