Monday, March 21, 2016

A to Z Theme Reveal 2016

Only ten days to go. How did April get here so quickly? Today is the annual theme reveal for the famous, world-wide blog hop, The A to Z Blogging Challenge. Not everyone has a theme for the challenge. I didn't have a theme the first year but I have every time since. This is my 6th time participating in A to Z. This year I'm stepping back from being an administrator and taking on the less vigorous duty as Ninja Minion. Find other theme reveals here.

And now the theme:

For my 2016 A to Z Challenge, I’m sharing three facts for each letter. The genres I write and love to read are mostly science fiction and high or epic fantasy. In fantasy, there is often magic associated with crystals or metals. They also used herbs both for medicine and for magical spells. Each day I will post a short description of an herb or a mineral you might find in medieval or fantasy writings. For the record, most of the herbal remedies I’ve investigated are not recommended by the FDA. Many are actually poisonous and dangerous. As tribute to my second love, I will post a scientific fact that may deal with physics, biology or health science. And because another name for a writer is wordsmith, each day I’ll share a strange word that I would probably never use in my writing, but that amuse me in some way. So enjoy my trio of quick facts. And don’t forget to visit the IWSG site where we’ll share a writer’s resource for every day of the challenge.

I've had so much fun researching for this but it's the most work I've done for an A to Z Challenge. Even as I write, a few posts have holes in them I need to fill yet. So much of the science is interesting, I get distracted and end up reading on and on about something I didn't know. And I'm horrified that so many of the plants people drink in herbal teas can be very poisonous. I don't think any of the ones I used are considered harmless.

Only one post for me this week. I'm visiting my mother for a day, hoping to cheer her up a little for spring. I also need to do some work on the outside as the warm weather has started the green things happening a little bit earlier than usual.  Not complaining, even if it means I have to start mowing the grass again. Also, I'm doing a final read-through on the last book in my Futhark Chronicles, Heir of Futhark. I need to get it back to my publisher before the week is out.

I'm not posting again until next Monday, so I'll share this fact today:
76% of people eat the ears of a chocolate bunny first.

It gives me a 'good mom' moment every time I'm reminded that none of my children are candy or sweet eaters. No chocoholics at our house. I've never put more than a few pieces of candy in their Easter baskets even when they were little. But at some point when they were all in their teens, they told me how disappointed they were not to get a chocolate bunny for Easter. So now, they all get one every year. Children are strange.

Did you do a theme reveal today? Are you having a chocolate bunny for Easter? Eat the ears first? Did the calendar start of spring coincide with actual spring weather's arrival at your abode? Do you drink herbal tea?



39 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Susan - enjoy that special visit with your mother .. so important to share this time of year with Spring around and Easter .. then later on your Mother's Day.

I'll enjoy your theme and learning the facts ... cheers Hilary

M.J. Fifield said...

Back when I used to have chocolate bunnies, I would eat the ears first. :)

I'm not sure Florida has spring, but I know it's snowing at home today.

Happy Spring!

Tasha Duncan-Drake said...

Nice way to combine fantasy and sci-fi :) As for chocolate bunnies - I start at the ears - it's seems less vicious because you then bite the head of faster ;)
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I got a bit distracted doing research for mine, which is also in three parts. (Great minds think alike?)
I've already had to mow once this year. Stupid grass.
Enjoy time with your mother and don't forget the chocolate bunnies.

mshatch said...

I'll be looking forward to this :)

Nilanjana Bose said...

If I ate chocolate bunnies I'd eat the ears first probably. Agree that the research is the funnest part of the A-Z, even more than writing up the posts. Interesting theme. Look forward to reading the facts and words.

Best wishes.
Nilanjana.
Madly-in-Verse

Misha Gerrick said...

Very interesting theme. Best of luck with getting all the holes filled in time. :-)

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

We didn't get a ton of candy in our Easter baskets, but we always got a chocolate bunny. I don't remember what part I ate first - knowing me, I probably started with the tail or the feet. Had to be different. :)

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Now I'm worried about the tea I drink.

I don't eat chocolate anymore so all of the Easter bunnies are safe from me.

Maria Zannini said...

Sounds like a lot of work for your blog hop this year. Good luck!

Enjoy visiting your mother. I know she'll appreciate it.

betty said...

Very nice theme! Looking forward to reading your posts; always good to learn more facts! That is interesting about the chocolate bunny with the ears being eaten first. Looking back to growing up; that is what we would do, start with the ears and work our way down the body :)

Happy Easter and enjoy your time with your mom!

betty

Pat Hatt said...

Research can be distracting indeed. Very true, so much can be poisonous. Have to watch everything.

Fantasy Writer Guy said...

Your A-Z plan sounds lovely! Looking forward to it. My heart, by the way, is now broken knowing that your kids suffered chocolate bunny deprivation. I will be a while recovering. :(

The Cynical Sailor said...

I love the bunny ear fact! Yes, that was me too - demolish the ears and then on to the rest of the poor bunny. I'm very intrigued by your theme and looking forward to checking your posts out. I revealed my theme today, but I still have quite a few more posts to write. Yikes. Cheers - Ellen | thecynicalsailor.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

This sounds like a fun theme. A bit of everything. =)

Tara Tyler said...

how fun! i'm going to learn many new things with your multi-topics theme! all right!

The Really Real Housewives

Jamie said...

Sounds like an ambitious theme! I'll go eat a chocolate bunny butt in honor of it. ;)

cleemckenzie said...

I'm ready for April. . .I think. And I always eat the ears first, so I'm with the 76%.

A Tarkabarka Hölgy said...

I love all of these! :) I am especially curious about the herbal remedies (poisonous or otherwise). Cool theme!

@TarkabarkaHolgy from
The Multicolored Diary
MopDog

Rachel Pattinson said...

I'm looking forward to reading your posts - I think it'll be very beneficial for my current WIP :)! I also eat the ears of a chocolate bunny first...is there any other way??

J E Oneil said...

I don't know how it got here so quickly. I think the world might be on fast forward...

Anyway, your theme sounds really cool. I hope I learn some new cool words :). I think it will be a neat month. My best to your mom.

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to the #Challenge once again. Love this theme reveal pre-challenge opportunity already finding blogs to return to or not. See you in April.

Pat Garcia said...

All the best for the challenge and I look forward to visiting your blog.
Shalom,
Pat

Ann Bennett said...

Wow, you have an interesting read planned for everyone. I'll enjoy the herb part. I'm not big into herbs. A piece of me always knew it was like taking a med I didn't need.

diedre Knight said...

Your theme sounds fascinating! Including several points of interest is a great idea:-)
I did a theme reveal today, we always eat the bunny ears around here;-) I do like herbal tea sometimes, but as far as natural remedies, we've only used aloe vera for sunburns.

Random Musings said...

This sounds great. I especially like the idea of the weird word part, I love weird words!
Debbie

A Beer for the Shower said...

Ah, my kind of researcher. I too easily get lost and distracted by other really fascinating tidbits and facts. I'm not an ears eater, though. I take pleasure in biting its nose off first.

...Don't ask me why.

Looking forward to the A to Z! Sounds really interesting!

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi, Susan,

I love your theme. Anything to do with magic, fantasy, and sci fi is a winning combination. I also like that you are including crystals, herbs, etc.

Ravyne said...

Wow! I love your themes! Sounds like fun! I look forward to your posts ~Lori~

Lori's A2Zs @ As the Fates Would Have It & Promptly Written

Jemima Pett said...

I don't eat the ears of a chocolate bunny first. That's all I'm prepared to say. And I'm amazed at the amount of work you've done - three things for each letter - what a star! Have fun, Susan!
Jemima Pett

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I always eat the left ear of the bunny first, then the right ear, then the rest of the corpse. And then I have ice cream afterwards.

Barbara In Caneyhead said...

Great theme! Should be very interesting. Living in Caneyhead and living with a redneck husband, folks still have "strange" customs even in hubby's lifetime. For instance chewing the bark of the "toothache tree" when one had a toothache. Or filing a flesh wound with white clay from the baygall. When petroleum was first discovered, they used it for medicine!

As to the bunnies, yes, we all tend to eat the ears first. My children always got a bunny. In fact I had to load their baskets with chocolate, because their daddy was going to eat most of it! LOL

nashvillecats2 said...

I look forward to read your inyeresting theme Susan. Good luck.
Yvonne.

John Holton said...

Should be an interesting topic. Looking forward to it!

John Holton
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Co-Host
The Sound of One Hand Typing

Susan Kane said...

My grandmother was a pharmacist, and part of her education was studying and understanding herbs. I am reading up on that fascinating part of culture.

Will check in on you!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Great theme! I remember getting so caught up in the topics I did that required research. It was fun, though, and I learned a lot from writing those posts.

I was surprised when I looked at the all natural teething tablets I was using for my son and discovered they had things like belladonna in them. Everyone waved it off, but I thought about the fact that the all natural products weren't regulated. What would happen if there was a mixup in making them and this poisonous substance ended up having too much in the tablet? It just wasn't worth it to me.

Elizabeth said...

That's a fun theme, all three of those things sound interesting! My theme also distracts me a lot because it involves YouTube.
Here in Oklahoma, we had 70s most of last week, near freezing temperatures Saturday night, and an 80 degree afternoon two days later. You never know what our weather will do next!

Nicola said...

Great theme. Can't wait to join in your daily fun. I've not gone with a theme this year (being a novice and all - it was far too scary). But I am enjoying writing my randomly writing posts. Still a lot of prep to do but it's going in the right direction. Wishing you lots of fun throughout April!

Unknown said...

What a lovely theme idea; and my, 6 years on the challenge! So much to learn out there; I look forward to following your post through the challenge. #AtoZChallenge