As for some statistics: Since I got rid of the spam bots, my daily visits in April were around a steady 300 per day. The top three most popular posts were:
F for Flowerbeard
I for Ilona the Forgetful and Occasionally Murderous
G for Goat boy
Since several of the stories came from my new book Dancing on Blades: Rare and Exquisite Folktales from the Carpathian Mountains, the book sales have also seen an uptick in April. Thank you! I hope you will enjoy the stories!
I did not have as much time to visit this year as I would have liked (since I was pantsing the posts), but I did follow some really great blogs and themes. I was especially happy that many of them rocked Mythology and Folklore themes. If you are doing the post-challenge blog rounds, I recommend checking out:
Story Crossroads - This international storytelling festival's blog posted a folktale about kindness each day, all from different cultures!
Kelsey Ketch - This author's blog theme was the mythology and culture of ancient Egypt. Each post was concise and interesting and also well sourced!
The Mad Grad Student - This blog is one of my favorites. This year, the theme was mythical and folklore figures in video games, and as a fan of both, I really enjoyed the posts!
Writing Dragons - This blog did not only post amazing dragon art each day, but also highlighted the artists behind each picture, with information and interesting tidbits. This is how you promote independent artists!
Tasha's Thinkings - An A to Z veteran, Tasha brought us a theme of movie monsters this year. Some were classics, and some were just hilarious, with a genius rating system.
Our Literary Journey - This blog also had a folklore and mythology theme, and brought up some well-known and less well-known figures in well-written posts!
Thank you all for participating, posting, visiting, and commenting! You make the Challenge an incredible experience. See you all next year!
You visited mine sometimes - thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you for co-hosting, the visits and kind words. I always enjoy your A-Z posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing these posts, and congratulations on finishing the challenge! I didn't participate this year. I mean, writing... I participated reading and commenting! I hope I will do next year.
ReplyDeleteSee you here from time to time :)
Flowerbeard was my favorite! I loved your posts and I'm amazed that you pantsed them! What a job- and a great one at that.
ReplyDeleteHeather Erickson Author Writer Speaker A to Z Retrospective
A big shout out of thanks for co-hosting, and for all your visits and kind words. Your work on the "managing" side of the challenge is greatly appreciated! But so is your participation. I loved your series, and I'm keeping my eyes open for both Flowerbeard and the Diamond Prince in the Rubber Suit - the world is clearly a better place having them in it. Or at the very least, clearly more strange.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that I finally found your site - now following. Many thanks for those links that will have to be added to my Road Trip.
ReplyDeleteMythology has been a lifetime obsession, although my blog leans more to books and writing. Although my theme was classed as gaming, I was looking at the origins and in many cases the roots were in storytelling, so mythology. One in particular - Witcher - had a strong Slavic folklore vibe.
https://rolandclarke.com/2018/05/07/atozchallenge-reflection/
Roland, I’m sorry I missed your blog. I think it looks interesting and I’ve just followed. :-)
DeleteThanks, Sue - I hope it lives up to expectations. :-)
DeleteI really enjoyed coming to your blog every day. I'm not surprised that Flowerbeard was on of the most popular posts of the month. It was definitely one of my favourites!
ReplyDeleteLauren Mayhew Author - A-Z Reflections
Your posts were always fun to check out. They were so out there and full of WTFery that I loved reading them.
ReplyDeleteThank you for co-hosting!! This was my first year and I enjoyed it very much. I wanted to visit more pages too, but time was against me in April so I'm doing an A to Z Read in May. :-) I'll post a couple of my thoughts as I go back and read. kjscrim.com
ReplyDeleteI got in that same pantsing boat as you and really got behind with commenting, but I think I did better that in recent previous years.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for all that you put into this 2018 Challenge. Without the efforts of the Team this Challenge wouldn't be what it has become and this year's Team particularly made 2018 one of the best A to Z Challenges ever!
Thank you so much for everything!
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Congratulations on another successful challenge. I loved your theme and enjoyed your posts. Thank you for co-hosting.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the challenge, and thank you for the mention! I loved your mix of cute, creepy, and confusing folktales, even though it took me way too long to finish commenting on each! And echoing everyone else, thanks for being a co-host of the challenge, you and the team did an excellent job again this year.
ReplyDeleteJamie Lyn Weigt | Writing Dragons