2015 A to Z Blogging Challenge Reflections

The A to Z Reflections Post is a post presented on your own blog site giving the A to Z Team, the other Challenge participants, and any other readers your thoughts about this year's April Challenge.

We are looking for feedback about the Challenge. Tell us what you liked and didn't like, what worked and what didn't. If you have suggestions about making future A to Z Challenges better, this is a good time to let us know. You can highlight other bloggers who you felt did an outstanding job or direct us to specific posts that particularly impressed you or that you found to be very helpful.

In other words, we want to know how the A to Z Team did and how the Challenge worked for you. If you'd do it again, tell us why. If you would never consider A to Z again, let us know what would make you feel that way.

Please put up your Reflections post between now and Friday, May 8. AFTER your post has gone live, add the link to the Linky List below. Enter the link that goes DIRECTLY to your Reflections post and not your general blog address. The list will be accessible for the remainder of this year. Be sure to grab the badge.

The list is intended for A to Z Reflections posts only. Any links to advertising sites or non-relevant posts will be removed from the list. General links added before you actually post will be removed. And remember that these posts will be directed to a diverse audience of varying ages and sensibilities so please respect others by refraining from posting obscene materials or hurtful attacks upon others. We want a productive interchange of ideas that can lead to positive innovation.

Add your name to the list below!

A to Z Challenge 2015: Z - World War Z

This is it! The final day.

The final letter.

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter Z:

World War Z

Here's the summary from IMDB:

United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.

Director: Marc Forster
Writers: Matthew Michael Carnahan (screenplay), Drew Goddard (screenplay), Max Brooks (novel)
Stars: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz

That's it! You made it! Congratulations!

A to Z Challenge 2015: Y - Yummy

Almost there!

Only one more day!

If you've made it this far, you might as well start celebrating.

This is a graphic novel I haven't actually read yet, but I've read other volumes of Neri's work, and he's a very talented author.

So, today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter Y:

Yummy

Here is the summary, from Goodreads:

In August of 1994, 11-year-old Robert “Yummy” Sandifer — nicknamed for his love of sweets — fired a gun at a group of rival gangmembers, accidentally killing a neighborhood girl, Shavon Dean. Police searched Chicago’s southside for three days before finding Yummy dead in a railway tunnel, killed by members of the drug gang he’d sought to impress. The story made such an impact that Yummy appeared on the cover of TIME magazine, drawing national attention to the problems of inner city youth in America.

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty relives the confusion of these traumatic days from the point of view of Roger, a neighborhood boy who struggles to understand the senseless violence swirling through the streets around him. Awakened by the tragedy, Roger seeks out answers to difficult questions — was Yummy a killer or a victim? Was he responsible for his actions or are others to blame?

Author: G. Neri

That's it! Please come back tomorrow for the final day!

A to Z Challenge 2015: X - X-Men

Only two more letters left!

If you've made it this far: congrats! X is one of the hardest letters, so here goes...

I remember when the first X-Men movie came out. Huge comic fans as kids, we'd grown out of it a bit by then, but my roommate Nate and I caught it in the theater opening night. At the Cinerama in Seattle.

With a star-studded cast, headlined by the incredible pair of Captain Jean Luc Picard and Gandalf Stormcrow the Grey Pilgrim, it was everything we'd hoped it would be.

So today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter X:

X-Men

Here is the summary, from IMDB:

Two mutants come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers.

Director: Bryan Singer
Writers: Tom DeSanto (story), Bryan Singer (story), David Hayter (screenplay)
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen

That's it! Only two more days to go.

A to Z Challenge 2015: W - The Walking Dead

Welcome to the final week of the Challenge!

If you've made it this far, congrats! You're practically done.

Originally a comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard, The Walking Dead is one of AMC's most popular TV productions ever.

After Mad Men, and Breaking Bad, that channel is really on a roll.

So, today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter W:

The Walking Dead

Here's the summary, from IMDB:

Sheriff's Deputy Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies.

Creator: Frank Darabont
Stars: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yuen, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira

Too many writers and directors to include, I guess.

That's it! Please come back tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: V - Iron Hearted Violet

Happy Saturday Challengers!

Break tomorrow, and then there are only 4 letters left!

Any of you who have made it this far should be very proud of yourselves!

I've blogged about this book before, and I do love it, but I also think this is the first truly Middle Grade novel I've mentioned in this year's challenge.

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter V:

Iron Hearted Violet

Here is the summary from Goodreads:

The end of their world begins with a story.
This one.

In most fairy tales, princesses are beautiful, dragons are terrifying, and stories are harmless. This isn’t most fairy tales.

Princess Violet is plain, reckless, and quite possibly too clever for her own good. Particularly when it comes to telling stories. One day she and her best friend, Demetrius, stumble upon a hidden room and find a peculiar book. A forbidden book. It tells a story of an evil being—called the Nybbas—imprisoned in their world. The story cannot be true—not really. But then the whispers start. Violet and Demetrius, along with an ancient, scarred dragon, may hold the key to the Nybbas’s triumph . . . or its demise. It all depends on how they tell the story. After all, stories make their own rules.

Iron Hearted Violet is a story of a princess unlike any other. It is a story of the last dragon in existence, deathly afraid of its own reflection. Above all, it is a story about the power of stories, our belief in them, and how one enchanted tale changed the course of an entire kingdom.

Author: Kelly Barnhill

That's it! Enjoy your day off tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: U - Underworld

Happy Friday everyone!

Only a few more days to go.

Won't it feel like such an accomplishment once you make it? I know it will for me.

First of the Underworld series, this 2003 release introduced me to the gorgeous Kate Beckinsale, and made vampires cool and dark and mysterious again.

So today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter U:

Underworld

Here is the summary from IMDB:

Selene, a beautiful vampire warrior, entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael, a human who is sought by werewolves for unknown reasons.

Director: Len Wiseman
Writers: Kevin Grevioux (story), Len Wiseman (story), Danny McBride (story & screenplay)
Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Shane Brolly

That's it! Only one more day until the final break.

A to Z Challenge 2015: T - The Book Thief

Ack! I can't believe this post didn't go up as scheduled.

I would have been a co-host without a post if I hadn't noticed!

What would they do with me?

Probably nothing. FWIW, if any of you challengers do miss a post, don't panic. We don't kick anybody off the list unless they have missed several posts in a row, and don't respond to any of our reminders.

If you get behind, just try to get caught up!

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter T:

The Book Thief

This is one of my all time favorite novels, written in hauntingly beautiful prose, and told by one of the most memorable narrators ever.

Here is the summary, from Goodreads:

HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE

1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.

Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.

SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH

It's a small story, about:

a girl

an accordionist

some fanatical Germans

a Jewish fist fighter

and quite a lot of thievery.

ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES

Author: Marcus Zusak

That's it! Please come back for U tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: S - Silence of the Lambs

Another story that's actually a great novel and a great film!

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter S:

Silence of the Lambs

Here is the novel summary, from Goodreads:

There's a killer on the loose who knows that beauty is only skin deep, and a trainee investigator who's trying to save her own hide. The only man that can help is locked in an asylum. But he's willing to put a brave face on - if it will help him escape.

Author: Thomas Harris

And from IMDB:

A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.

Interesting to see the difference, eh?

Director: Jonathan Demme
Writers: Thomas Harris (novel), Ted Tally (screenplay)
Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence A. Bonney

This week was really difficult! Not because S is a hard letter to find a story for, but because it's so hard to pick one from so many great ones. Here are some of the stories I could have just as easily featured:

Star Wars, by George Lucas

Stick, by Andrew Smith

Shameless, a Showtime Production for TV

Serenity, by Joss Whedon

Spirited Away, bu Hayao Miyazaki

Better Call Saul, an AMC Production for TV

Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi

Sex & Violence, by Carrie Mesrobian

Servants of the Storm, by Delilah S. Dawson

That's it! Hope to see you tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: R - Railsea

Happy Tuesday!

I'm really running out of things to say in this section, so let's just get right to it.

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter R:

Railsea

An awesome, otherworldly re-imagination of Moby Dick, in a way, Railsea is mind-bendingly original, and still keeps me up at night as a storyteller years later.

Here is the summary, from Goodreads:

On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt: the giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one’s death and the other’s glory. But no matter how spectacular it is, Sham can't shake the sense that there is more to life than traveling the endless rails of the railsea–even if his captain can think only of the hunt for the ivory-coloured mole she’s been chasing since it took her arm all those years ago. When they come across a wrecked train, at first it's a welcome distraction. But what Sham finds in the derelict—a series of pictures hinting at something, somewhere, that should be impossible—leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters and salvage-scrabblers. And it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea.

Author: China Mieville

That's it! Hope to see you tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: Q - Don Quixote

Welcome back to the Challenge!

We are getting close.

This is the final stretch.

For those of you who made it this far: congratulations!

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter Q:

Don Quixote

Here is the summary, from Goodreads:

Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading chivalric romances, that he determines to become a knight-errant himself. In the company of his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, his exploits blossom in all sorts of wonderful ways. While Quixote's fancy often leads him astray – he tilts at windmills, imagining them to be giants – Sancho acquires cunning and a certain sagacity. Sane madman and wise fool, they roam the world together, and together they have haunted readers' imaginations for nearly four hundred years.

With its experimental form and literary playfulness, Don Quixote generally has been recognized as the first modern novel. The book has had enormous influence on a host of writers, from Fielding and Sterne to Flaubert, Dickens, Melville, and Faulkner, who reread it once a year, "just as some people read the Bible."

Author: Miguel de Cervantes

Man, I haven't read this one since college. I think I'll give it another go sometime soon.

That's it! Come back tomorrow.

And for something a little special, here's Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, by Pablo Picasso:

"Donquixote". Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Donquixote.JPG#/media/File:Donquixote.JPG

A to Z Challenge 2015: P - The Princess Bride

Happy Saturday!

I almost didn't get this post done in time.

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter P:

The Princess Bride

Here is the summary, from IMDB:

While home sick in bed, a young boy's grandfather reads him a story called The Princess Bride.

Director: Rob Reiner
Writers: William Goldman (book), William Goldman (screenplay)
Stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright

What a terrible summary! That doesn't describe the story at all.

That's it! Enjoy your day off tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: O - Office Space

Only one more day before a day off!

TGIF.

I have visited so many blogs this week.

Not as many as the first week, but close.

I still see a few people not posting, so hopefully everyone will get caught up!

Anyway, today's story is one of the funniest films of the 90s. Already well known for Beavis and Butthead, Mike Judge really put his film career on the map with Office Space. If you haven't seen it, you are seriously missing out.

So today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter O:

Office Space

Here is the summary from IMDB:

Three company workers who hate their jobs and decide to rebel against their greedy boss.

Director: Mike Judge
Writers: Mike Judge (Milton animated shorts), Mike Judge (screenplay)
Stars: Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, David Herman

That's it! Please come back tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: N - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Welcome to the second half of the Challenge!

How many of you are left? I have come across a lot of blogs who have given up or who never even started!

Don't forget: if you don't keep your posts up to date, you will eventually be deleted from the list.

Anyway, today's story is my third Hayao Miyazaki film! In case you couldn't tell, I can't get enough of Mayazaki movies. This one is technically pre Studio Ghibli, but it's been re-released by now.

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter N:

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

This one was actually a Manga first, also written by Miyazaki-san, and was then adapted into an animated feature film. Not his first film ever, but probably considered by most to be his breakthrough.

Here is the summary from IMDB:

Warrior/pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writers: Hayao Miyazaki (manga), Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)
Stars: Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyôda

That's it! Please come back tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: M - A Monster Calls/Princess Mononoke

Hump day again!

Today I have something special for you.

I couldn't pick just one story for the letter M, so I picked two! My two favorites.

First is another Patrick Ness novel, which in case the story itself wasn't already poignant enough, is a tale he wrote finishing an idea a friend and fellow writer of his, Siobhan Dowd, had before she died.

Is that something in my eye?

Today's first 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter M:

A Monster Calls

Here is the summary, from Goodreads:

The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

Author: Patrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd)

. . .

But like I said, today I have something special for you.

Two stories!

A book by one of my favorite authors, and a film by my favorite writer and director of animated features, the legend, Hayao Miyazaki.

Not only is Princess Mononoke a great film, it is, in my humble opinion, Miyazaki-san's greatest achievement. I did a list of my favorite Miyazaki films a while back on this blog, you can find it on my series page.

Anyway, how is your challenge going? I actually got behind on posting, and I've slowed down a little with my visiting, but I'm otherwise still going steady.

Today's second 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter M:

Princess Mononoke

Here is the summary, from IMDB:

On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writer: Hayao Miyazaki
Stars: Billy Crudup, Billy Bob Thornton, Claire Danes

Isn't it interesting how the summaries for movies are always so much shorter than the summaries for books? That's it! Please come back tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: L - Laputa

Happy Tuesday!

We're getting close to the half way mark!

Are you hitting your stride yet? My posting is going great, of course, but my blog visiting has been up and down.

So ... technically, as you can probably tell from the poster, this animated feature film is called Castle in the Sky, at least in the US released version.

The original title though is Laputa, or at least some kind of Japanese translation of that. It comes, of course, from the flying island described in the 1726 book Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter L:

Laputa

Here is the summary, from IMDB:

A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writer: Hayao Miyazaki
Stars: Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek, Cloris Leachman

That's it! Please come back tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: K - The Knife of Never Letting Go

Welcome to week three!

Or ... week two and a half!

How was your day off?

I had to work, so it was really only a day off from the challenge for me.

Patrick Ness is an American born author living in the UK. Known mainly for A Monster Calls, the Chaos Walking trilogy was how I was introduced to his work.

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter K:

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Here is the summary, from Goodreads:

Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

Authors: Patrick Ness

That's it! Please come back tomorrow!

A to Z Challenge 2015: J - Jaws

Happy Saturday everyone!

Enjoy your day off tomorrow.

I think I have visited 750 blogs at this point. How many have you made it to? Is anyone feeling burnt out yet? Try not to get discouraged. Write your posts as far ahead of time as you can, so you'll leave more time for visiting and reading.

Today we have the letter J. And for my theme, yet another movie.

One of the greatest films from Hollywood's classic era, this is probably the film that made Steven Spielberg a household name. It was certainly his first breakout success.

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter H:

Jaws

It's been a while, but I have seen this movie many times, and it is a clinic in suspense.

Here is the summary from IMDB:

When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb
Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss

That's it! Please come back tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge 2015: I - In Darkness

TGIF Challengers!

Only one more day to go before our Sunday break.

Today we have the the letter I. I could have gone with Interstellar, or maybe I'll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson, but I haven't actually gotten around to reading that one yet.

In Darkness, by Nick Lake won the Michael L. Printz award for 2013, as well as a nomination for the Carnegie Medal in Literature.

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter I:

In Darkness

So authentic and details it feels more like a biography than a fictional tale, In Darkness is a masterful accomplishment.

Here is the summary from Goodreads:

In darkness I count my blessings like Manman taught me. One: I am alive. Two: there is no two. In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake a boy is trapped beneath the rubble of a ruined hospital: thirsty, terrified and alone. 'Shorty' is a child of the slums, a teenage boy who has seen enough violence to last a lifetime, and who has been inexorably drawn into the world of the gangsters who rule Site Soleil: men who dole out money with one hand and death with the other. But Shorty has a secret: a flame of revenge that blazes inside him and a burning wish to find the twin sister he lost five years ago. And he is marked. Marked in a way that links him with Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitian rebel who two-hundred years ago led the slave revolt and faced down Napoleon to force the French out of Haiti. As he grows weaker, Shorty relives the journey that took him to the hospital, a bullet wound in his arm. In his visions and memories he hopes to find the strength to survive, and perhaps then Toussaint can find a way to be free ...

Author: Nick Lake

That's it! Please come back tomorrow!

A to Z Challenge 2015: H - Heat

H is the eighth letter of the alphabet, which means we're almost third of the way done!

Are you keeping up? Have you missed any posts? I hope everyone is enjoying the challenge, and meeting lots of new bloggers. That's the idea, anyway.

Today we have the letter H. And for my theme, we have another feature film.

With a star-studded cast, and a brilliant script, Heat is a classic 1990s crime drama, that features great performances from both De Niro and Pacino, in the one films they made together that wasn't terrible.

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter H:

Heat

Here is the summary from IMDB:

A group of professional bank robbers start to feel the heat from police when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist.

Director: Michael Mann
Writer: Michael Mann
Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer

That's it! Please come back tomorrow.

NOTE: Today is my day to post at the A to Z Challenge main blog. Please drop by and read my Post for H.