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April has been the A-Z challenge month for me. I invested quite a bit of myself in it, and like I said in my yesterday’s Reflection post, I have the organizers to thank for giving my muse a huge boost.

But I also need  to thank some of the most consistent and kind commenters on my A-Z posts, without whom I would have fizzled out about halfway down the challenge. They provided extraordinary word-prompts for my flash pieces, and were unfailing in their generous support.

So, here goes, in no particular order:

Marian Allen : She sent me some lovely prompts, and made some super-awesome comments!

Petra Hefner : I loved her positive posts and her equally positive comments.

Nutschell: Another blogger whose posts made an impression on me, and who always left me exciting comments.

Nicole/MadlabPost :  Always patient and kind on twitter and on the blog. I’m so happy to have met a blog-friend like her.

Dafeenah: A genuine, emotional  writer, and a generous commenter.

Bornstoryteller: He wrote an entire story in the A-Z challenge. And I have seldom had a more encouraging and consistent commenter.

PencilGirl : Every blog should have a commenter like her, for the sheer number of smilies and the genuine warmth of feeling 🙂

Patricia : Her first A-Z post floored me, and we have been in touch on blog and twitter ever since.

Christina Majaski : She is a straightforward girl with an awesome blogging voice, which is why her admiring comments meant so much more.

Joy : I don’t know if Joy remembers, but we used to visit each other’s blog two years ago when this blog was new, and have now re-connected thru A-Z. She has been very very generous with both her prompts and comments.

Corinne O’Flynn : I found her via the #atozchallenge via twitter, and have loved interacting with her on the blog and twitter.

Claire Goverts : I used a great many of Claire’s prompts and can never thank her enough. She is ever so sweet on twitter too.

Anna Tan: She wrote fiction for the A-Z, and lovely to talk to, both on my blog and twitter.

Talli Roland: One firecracker of a woman, who is all fun and laughter, yet also a fount of support and kindness….a prolific commenter and a joy on twitter.

India Drummond: I don’t know how she coped with A-Z despite going on a blog tour and sundry other things in April, but she did. She even found time to comment on my posts.

Alex and Lee: I met them via A-Z, and remain in awe of how they took the time to stop by my blog. Often. Despite organizing the challenge. Amazing.

I’m sure I’m missing out others who I need to thank, but I’m racing this post close to midnight and hope to make up for my errors by next week….I’ll visit and personally thank as many people as I can.

A few non-A-Z bloggers who used to be my friends before and supported me through A-Z:

Gladys Hobson : When Gladys comments, it makes my day. She cheered me on through much of A-Z, and I love her for that.

Indigo: An amazing writer who edits as a profession, and one of my oldest blog-friends—one I’m proud to have. She read and commented on my A-Z posts when she wasn’t doing so well.

Bronxboy55: If you mean to read one new blog this year and stop, make it this one. Awesome writer, humanitarian, humorist. His comments made the difference between posting and not posting on A-Z a few times, just at the points I was about to give up.

Thanks to each and every one of the bloggers mentioned above, and to all the others who visited, and took the time to comment. I’m grateful.

As I said yesterday, I’m going to work on an e-book, a Kindle short  (if research confirms it is the best fit for such a small book) based on the flash pieces I did on the A-Z. I haven’t decided on a title yet, and need to edit, cull out and sort all the pieces  before I can call it a manuscript.

It would be an interesting experiment, because the manuscript would be very  short, and not very suitable for traditional publication.

We’ll see.

Hope to receive words of advice from any and all A-Zers who have followed my work through the challenge.

Signing off on my last official A-Z post, till next April! Happy blogging, everyone.

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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23 Comments

  • Petra says:

    I mean Blessings, haha, got excited!

  • Petra says:

    Wow, thank you! I just hopped over here from your “A to Z Stories of Life and Death” and found this awesome surprise. I’ll have to say that the A2Z challenge was was quite a challenge, but I learned much and might do it again. 🙂 And I’m glad to have met you!! Now back to what I was reading about your ebook… Blessigs!

  • nutschell says:

    Aww, thanks!!! You just made my day. Naturally this comment is two whole weeks late. 😀 I’m so glad I did the A-Z challenge. It was such a crazy month, but I got to meet kindred blogging souls like you. Let’s make sure to keep each other posted on our writing journey!
    hugs,
    nutschell

  • I just noticed this post and came here to read it. Thanks for mentioning me in your list and I hope that your e-book comes out well. There are others who are more knowledgeable about publishing on Kindle than I am. Compiling all of your short stories sounds like a good idea though. I liked reading many of them so I have no doubts that others will too 🙂

  • toby says:

    It was wonderful to meet you via the Challenge, and let’s keep it going! You’re a powerful talent and I find that inspiring.

  • Damyanti says:

    It was awesome to meet each one of you, and thanks a ton for the comments. I’m off to visit a few of the blogs now 🙂

    The Kindle short is so far an idea (mostly in my head) but with the help of a few very special people, I hope to turn into a real project with real outcome! If it works on Kindle, maybe will do another version easily available in the Asia-pacific 🙂

  • anna says:

    It’s been great connecting with you too =)
    The e-book sounds interesting. Why restrict to Kindle though? (Seeing that Amazon DOESN’T sell to Asia-Pac, I’m on a bit of an anti-kindle phase right now…)
    Have you considered smashwords.com? They support multiple formats.

    ALSO I will be in Singapore in June.

  • YOU however, are the awesomest! The A to Z was a lot of fun and so glad to have met you. Will always be a huge fan of your blog, dear. Thank you so much…

  • K.C. Woolf says:

    Brilliant, more great blogs to discover. 🙂 Thanks!

  • Dafeenah says:

    Thank you so much for your kind words! I loved reading your writing. I am so glad to have found you through A-Z

  • Thanks! I’m glad I made an impression. Look forward to keeping in touch here and on twitter.

  • Arlee Bird says:

    What a sweet way to close things out. Thank you is something that is often so fleeting and sometimes a perfunctory act. You have taken it to a gracious level that gives meaning to your expression. A thank you in return for this and for your efforts in April. Let me know what’s happening with the ebook.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

  • Thank you and I’m glad I found your blog through the Challenge!

  • Joy says:

    You’re a a good writer, with a talent for rousing emotion in your reader. Reading your work is always a pleasure. I’ll make sure I stay connected this time around.

  • baygirl32 says:

    It was a great month, with some great posts! glad to have found you

  • It has been a pleasure getting to know you through your writing, the blog, and our communications. Thank you for the kind words.

  • Marian Allen says:

    P.S. I awarded you a Stylish Blogger award! The rules and badge are here: http://www.marianallen.com/2011/05/writers-tools-asking-questions/

    MA

  • indigo bunting says:

    Just wish I had time/energy/brain to say more about your incredible writing! You go to such chilling places, and then such beautiful places, and sometimes they are two sides of the same coin and sometimes they are their own thing and… anyway, even when I get behind in my blog reading, I catch up eventually. Congratulations on completing this in such an astounding way!!!

  • Marian Allen says:

    PencilGirl, I’m with you. We have a Damyanti fiction addiction! 🙂

    D, I’m SO looking forward to reading more of your posts and more of your fiction. I did a couple of posts on formatting for Smashwords and Kindle (in the sidebar of my blog) when you reach that point. I’m currently running an ad on Facebook, so I can let you know how that works out for me. (So far, not so good!)

    Thanks for the thanks. I’m SO GLAD to find your wonderful blog and your wonderful self!

    MA

  • PencilGirl says:

    Wow!! Thanks.. 🙂 🙂 I’m quite flattered! 😀 😀
    But in all honesty, I was just a little bit addicted to your fiction.. 🙂
    Going to check out some of the others you’ve mentioned right now.. 🙂