The 2018 A to Z is over!
Whoever writes every day knows that it’s not an easy task. Posting for 26 days, following the alphabetical order, can be quite a challenge. What do you say about the last letters of the alphabet, people?
It’s now time to wrap up the 2018 A to Z Challenge and to highlight a few of the bloggers who not only finished the challenge but went far beyond most others, either through unique themes, outstanding research, or gorgeous photos. Often, all of the above.
Here they are.
In alphabetical order, of course:
This year Claire featured Literary Maps in Children’s Books. She shared classics as well as outstanding atlases and books that help children gain a spatial understanding of the world. As a traveler who has trusted maps more than her phone far longer than the majority I loved Claire’s theme. Her research is impeccable and her selection of books pretty awesome. Don’t miss this unique journey through the land of maps.
Through poetry and fiction, Mona’s blog Life Between the Sheets (of Paper) reflects her Mexican heritage. For this 2018 A to Z Challenge she blogged about all things Latino, specifically culture, language, music, food, in her Mexican American heritage. She specifies that her writing reflects her family, not the entire Mexican American or Chicano or Latino experience. Don’t miss Mona’s A to Z Series filled with stories, gorgeous photos and food. Oh the food…
I was meant to find Stepheny’s challenge. For a month she wrote about bookshops located in the States and occasionally abroad. The research behind her theme is quite phenomenal. Her photos made me want to browse through each and every shop she described. In fact, Stepheny’s challenge triggered a new challenge idea for me 🙂
Though I will likely return, at least for another year, to the French expressions I love so much and sometimes think I’ve forgotten. In fact, as soon as I start writing them down, more pop up, just waiting in the deep layers of my memory.
Susanna lives on Martha Vineyard where she works as an editor and also writes fiction. This is the reason why she keeps two blogs. For the 2018 challenge she combined the theme of her blog From the Seasonally Occupied Territories (Life on Martha’s Vineyard) with the theme of Write Through It (writing and editing): How living on Martha’s Vineyard has affected her writing. And that was a pretty cool challenge to follow.
In addition, Susanna blogs sporadically about the license plates spotted on the island. It’s a year round project with the goal to complete the map of the United States. Along my road trips through the USA I play the game too 🙂
As a final note:
When I wrote about the French singer and composer Jacques Higelin’s death, Sabra commented that she enjoyed listening to the song Pars but wondered what Higelin sang about. Unfortunately I’m only Evelyne and not Higelin, so the translation is what it is: a translation.
PARS by Jacques Higelin
Pars, surtout ne te retourne pas
Leave, but please don’t turn around
Pars, fais ce que tu dois faire sans moi
Leave, do what you must do without me
Quoi qu’il arrive je serai toujours avec toi
Whatever happens I will always be with you
Alors pars et surtout ne te retourne pas
So leave, but please don’t look back
Oh pars,
Oh, leave,
mais l’enfant…
but the child…
L’enfant? Mais il est là
The child? But he’s here
Il est avec moi
He’s with me
C’est drôle quand il joue
It’s strange, when he plays
Il est comme toi, impatient
He’s like you, impatient
Il a du cœur, il aime la vie
He has a good heart, he loves life
Et la mort ne lui fait pas peur
And death doesn’t scare him
Alors pars
So, leave
Surtout ne te retourne pas
But please don’t look back
Oh pars
Oh, go on, leave
Mais qu’est ce que t’as?
But what’s wrong?
Oh pars, et surtout reviens-moi vite
Oh leave, but please come back to me soon
Evelyne Holingue 
Congratulations, Evelyne, on completing the A to Z Blog Challenge. I learned something from each post and often found myself laughing out loud. Thanks for adding so much fun to the month of April.
Thank you, Claire. Glad I made you laugh. Laughing is so important I think 🙂
Good job to you too.
Congratulations, Evelyne. I didn’t catch all of them, getting ready for my summer of backpacking is taking more and more time, but I did enjoy all of the ones I read. Maybe next year I’ll have the time and energy to take the challenge. 🙂 –Curt
Thanks, Curt. Do not apologize. You’ve been one of my most frequent visitors. A post a day is a challenge for the readers too. And the preparation of your trip takes so much more time and energy than the most researched A to Z Challenge. You seem so organized that I’m sure you won’t be “Mal Barré,” which we say in France when we start on a very wrong foot. Maybe you could think of your trip with the alphabet in mind, and I’m pretty sure you’d find something for every letter. You have 1000 miles and a year ahead of you. Just saying:)
Thanks, Evelyne.
Might be a fun way to commemorate the journey. Let’s see, W is for Mt. Whitney. 🙂 –Curt
See? You’ve already planned one of the most challenging letters:)
Now that Z is going to be a challenge! I may have to revert to scientific names of insects… 🙂
Hi Evelyne – yours was a great theme … and one I’ll be coming back to … to hear the music and to read the phrases you wrote up … your links across … some I know – others I will now find – thank you … and well done – cheers Hilary
Thank you, Hilary. I really appreciate your numerous visits. Hope to see you again before next year challenge.
Evelyne, you continue to be an inspiration to me in so many ways…writing being just one.Thanks for sharing your reflections, for taking the time to write, and for reaching out to all of us.
Thank you, Joan. I do my best 🙂
I wrote a lot this winter and I have several manuscripts out now. This challenge was a great break for me. Sharing my native language with Americans is always something I enjoy. See you around.
Congrats on completing the challenge. I only caught the end of it, but I enjoyed the ones I read.
Thank you, Kim. It’s hard to read on a daily basis. If you like French expressions you can find more from my previous challenges. I’ve done it four times. Only the one from last year was slightly different: I introduced two French authors per day (one man and one woman).
I will look through. Thanks. I studied French in school and had liked it very much. I’ll also take a look at the authors. 🙂
I hope that you’ll find words and phrases that will make you want to return to French, Kim 🙂
I also write a lot about my adventures as I learned English (almost from scratch).
Thank you anyway for your visits.
I look forward to reading along as you continue to write. I’d love to go back to my French. I studied more Spanish at university as I majored in Latin American Studies but French was my first love 🙂
I’ll do my best to write more blog posts in French, then 🙂
This year I didn’t participate in the challenge. I mean, I didn’t commit to writing because I knew I wasn’t going to have the time, due to some trips. But still, I enjoyed browsing some blogs, yours among them. I’ve learned some French thanks to this A to Z!
Thank you, Eva. Going on trips can offer you ideas for future challenges 🙂
Glad you learned some French expressions or at least found my theme enjoyable.
Thank you for mentioning my blog in your post, Evelyne. I enjoyed reading and learning about French expressions (some very funny ones) as well as finding several other bloggers who participated.
Of course, Mona. Your theme was perfect. I love how you added family stories and recipes (yummy) and some Spanish words are pretty close to French. This challenge was fun. I only wish I had discovered new bloggers. I don’t know for you, but I found the master list very messy. There was no order whatsoever. The blogs should have been sorted per category. Unless I missed something I just didn’t have the time to go through the very long list. I’m sure, though, that there were also challenges that told of other cultures or languages.
I totally agree, the master list wasn’t easy to retrieve and navigate. I visited blogs that stopped by mine. I found that was much easier.
Congrats on finishing another A to Z challenge! While April can be a little crazy, it’s always fun to interact with other bloggers and see what they’re up to. I enjoyed learning about some interesting french phrases. Weekends In Maine
Thank you! Congrats to you too. It was a pleasure to take short trips to Maine in your company. What a gorgeous state it is!
This challenge was very challenging. Congratulations for completing it. And thank you for pointing out some of your favorites among the bloggers who took part.
Thanks to you for reading, Nicki. I appreciate your comments, always thoughtful and supporting. See you on your blog.
Thank you so much for the link to this song. Heartfelt song, indeed.