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?