Saturday, April 30, 2011

Ze End!

Wow, what a month! Over a thousand bloggers took part in the A to Z Challenge -- truly an epic turn-out for an initiative started by Arlee Bird last year. I don't mind saying that at times I felt just a tad overwhelmed trying to get around to everyone, but it was worth it to meet some wonderful new bloggers!

I'm proud to say I completed the challenge, despite two days of darkness on this blog after Google removed it unexpectedly (more on that to come at a future date). Thank goodness for an older blog, where I posted the letters X and Y. I'm thrilled I have my usual blog back again to finish it off. It's been such a pleasure co-hosting the challenge and I hope my new blogger buds continue to keep in touch.

On to yesterday's giveaway: the winners of The Golden Prince are: *drumroll* L'Aussie and Bish Denham! Woo! Ladies, I'll be in touch for your addresses.

And if you get a chance head over to Chick Lit Love to see another tip from me. And I do believe you still have a few hours to win a hard copy of The Hating Game! Massive thanks to Laura for running the tips all this week, and for putting together such fun clips!

Final thing: A friend of blogger India Drummond is raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support, a fabulous charity that helps victims of cancer and their families. She's decided that for the first five people who donate at least £5 and put her initials somehow (friend of IMD) after your display name on the form (you can still donate anonymously, but you need to put in some code on the public form so she knows who you are), she'll send you a free digital copy of her debut novel Ordinary Angels. So donate to a very worthy cause and get a free book! Donations can be made with credit cards or paypal.

I'll be taking a blog break until Monday, May 9th. After the busy month and all the drama of the past few days. I'm woefully behind on Willow edits and I need to have them to my editor pronto! Have a great weekend, everyone!

52 comments:

  1. Congrats on having such a productive month despite the A-Z craziness!

    BTW, this was the exact phrase I was going to use for my Z! LOL.. now I'll have to think of something else. Tsk! I should have gotten up earlier!

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  2. Have a great break Talli - glad to see the blog's up and running again!

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  3. Congrats on co-hosting a wonderful challenge - despite your rollercoaster of a month!

    It's been great to meet you, and truly looking forward to your new book!

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  4. Thanks, Talli, for a wonderful co-hosting job. Yeah, making the complete rounds to visit everyone was the biggest challenge and I failed in that. But we made it didn't we. Now we can slow down a little maybe, but maybe not all that much.
    Glad you got your blog back.


    Hope you'll join us for The A to Z Challenge Reflections Post on Monday May 2nd.

    Lee

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  5. Thanks Talli for co hosting the challenge, you had quite a challenging time yourself with the loss of your blog.
    Have a wonderful rest,

    Yvonne.

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  6. Take a rest, my dear...you had a "challenging" month. Did you see the hat I made for the royal wedding on my blog? How did you celebrate?

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  7. Champers all round! Congrats, we did it! Sue@JumpingAground (Alliteration & drabbles)
    Sue@traverselife(Workplace bullying)

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  8. Well done on a great event. I'll be back to see what a regular post looks like.
    cheers,
    mood

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  9. Wow Talli, I'm thrilled! I figured for sure someone else would get it. Thanks and I look forward to reading it.

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  10. Hi Talli .. congratulations on getting around and around .. and being a part of the promotional team for the A - Z Challenge ..

    So pleased the blog is back and up and running and yes it will be interesting to know what happened.

    Enjoy your editing for Willow .. cheers Hilary

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  11. Whoo, we made it! Enjoy your break! I think we all need one!

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  12. Ze end indeed. You have been an inspiration to everyone, covering all the blogs and cheering everyone on. Thank you for all your boundless energy. It's been a great learning experience for me.
    Manzanita@Wannabuyaduck

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  13. Have a good break.
    Happy Writing.
    Smiles.

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  14. YAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAY!!! Well done you!!! And not only did you finish the challenge you retrieved your blog form the evil jaws of blogger!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Enjoy your break!! Take care
    x

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  15. Congrats Talli and to the giveaway winners. Rest next for many I think.
    Maybe later you can share what you learned from the almost deleted blog experience on what not to do to get yours flagged as spam! I still can't believe the stupidity of it all. It's not as if this blog is all that new. It's been around for over a year! :O)

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  16. Great to have met you, wine o'clock woman! :-)

    Enjoy your break, good luck/strength/perseverance with your edits, and see you around! :-)

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  17. Glad it all got sorted. What a headache. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

    It has been exhausting this Challenge, but it proved one thing...if pushed I can actually write everyday. I can actually find time to write everyday. No more excuses!

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  18. I am so please I met you Talli and it has been a challenge getting around to everyone but well worth it. I mean how would I have gotten to know about Pimms.

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  19. Congrats to all and so glad to see your blog is back!

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  20. It was fun, but I'm glad it's over.

    Congrats on finishing despite the problems.

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  21. It's amazing how you take the time to go around to so many blogs and comment. May the muses of the blogosphere continue to smile on your lovely Internet presence! :)

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  22. Lol, love your Z word for today!

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  23. woo!!! Congrats to you guys. You did it! :o) <3

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  24. Your blog disappeared?! Yikes! That reminds me, I should back mine up. Happy editing, see you around the 9th!

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  25. Hey Talli. Hope you enjoy your break AND enjoy working on your book edits. =D

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  26. Congratulations on making it to the end, and enjoy your blogging break!!

    I'm really glad to have discovered your blog through the Challenge. Thanks for co-hosting!!

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  27. I'm so pleased you have your blog back, Talli! Whoop! Am woefully behind with the A-Z Challenge, but just like a limping marathon runner, I'll keep trekking. :)

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  28. Talli, we did it! Congratulations! I have an award for you!!

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  29. Thanks for being a co-host, I was so glad I signed up for this challenge.

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  30. I'm relieved you finally have your blog back safe and well.

    Congratulations on completing the A-Z Challenge and good luck with the edits.

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  31. I really enjoyed meeting you, and I deeply appreciate your always entertaining comments! Thanks for co-hosting this amazing challenge! I'm so glad that your blog finally returned, and admire you for never giving up on the rest of us, while you were in the midst of a crisis! You really do have True Grit! Julie

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  32. There's an Award for you on my blog :O)

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  33. Congratulations to the winners and I'm so glad you got your blog back!

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  34. I know the feeling, Talli--I've had to take breaks from time to time as well!

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  35. I'm so glad you're back & it was fun to read so many terrific blogs this month.

    Enjoy your holiday -- it's well deserved! :)

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  36. Hi Talli - well done on getting to the end, thanks for the mention - it's been such fun hosing your films - and good luck with the edits!
    Love Laura x

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  37. Well done Talli x

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  38. Thank you for being one of the hosts of this challenge. It has been such a great experience.
    Congrats on finishing. Enjoy your break

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  39. Good luck on the edits, Talli... Is it wine 0'clock yet?

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  40. Congrats so glad we crossed the finish line...I'm wiped out~You were a fun host!

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  41. It has been a great challenge. So glad to have had a chance to participate and meet so many awesome people. Looking forward to getting back to regular posts. Enjoy your break.

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  42. Thanks Talli! Woo hoo! Lovely to win this book. Can't wait to receive it.

    Congrats on completing the challenge and thank you for being so great getting around so much to visit.

    I think we all need to go zzzzzzzzzzz for awhile.

    Denise<3

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  43. Congrats on completing the challenge (despite Google being naughty!).

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  44. Enjoy your well deserved break, Talli, although editing isn't exactly a day at the beach! Looking forward to your book and your future posts. It's been a pleasure to 'meet' you!

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  45. Congratulations on completing the A-Z challenge, even with a missing blog [g]

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  46. Congrats on finishing the blog! And enjoy your vacation :)

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  47. Enjoy your break from blogging although I know it is so you can work harder on your book. I was aware about your blog problems from your FB posts, thank goodness it got sorted. As I am not a technical person it is the sort of thing one dreads however I stick with blogger due to its simplicity of use and do try to back up as instructed. I also now have old blog posts as a PDF file.

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  48. Have a great week off Talli! Are you getting blogging withdrawal yet??? :)

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Coffee and wine for all!