The #AtoZChallenge 2016 Reflection is late.
Almost five (5) years late with my deepest apologies.
2016 was my first time in the activity and I was not aware there was a reflection segment afterwards!
As I was a first-time writer in the 2016 Challenge, I was uncertain what I should write about. I do not recall a genealogy topic then, so I tried my hand at a mystery, but it turned into an (attempted) murder of a nameless, means-to-do-well relative that can wear out her welcome two hours before she arrives!
Enter: Nostalgia!
I enjoyed penning the reparte between the victim, Nostalgia and “Mister Rabbit,” the main suspect (her brother), who is recounting what happened. The bickering, banter and raucous name-calling between them came far too easily, proving a long love-hate relationship between the adopted pair.
My only disappointment: I thought I would be successful in writing her demise – the first murder that I would have gotten away with; but something happened halfway through the alphabet.
I got hate mail! All of my social media accounts exploded! I had to turn off my phone for the entire weekend!
I remember, the halfway point happened on a Friday night. I was in a Twitter chat discussing genealogy and the topic turned to my writing.
I was told (repeatedly for most of the hour) that I did not have permission to kill off Nostalgia! An imaginary character that I had created four or five years earlier – a composite of six women from my life – and I was not allowed to kill her! Seriously?
It was unbelievable but also endearing that my writing convinced enough readers to rally around The Old Fossil.
To save her, I quickly had to rewrite that last five (5) segments of the alphabet, but it had too many loose ends. I asked for a special badge “After Z” to wrap up the story, and was floored the challenge bosses allowed it! It arrived in my email within a couple of days.
But, by year’s end, I did not want to write anymore. An uncle, my mother and a close friend each died from health complications.Â
When I did decide to start up again (early March 2021), Nostalgia’s Mystery went missing during a website amalgamation! I have managed to locate most of it, but am uncertain of two things: (1) where to put it, and (2) is there still an audience for it?
SLR®