It occurs to me that I’m always a bit off.
And you know what? I’m okay with that. In fact, it’s probably a good thing when it comes to Not Your Mother’s Book…On Family. My copies came in the mail this weekend and though I haven’t had time to read all the stories, I laughed out loud at every word I did read. What’s more, the Beneficent Mr. Hall laughed out loud at my story, “The Bathroom Mystery.”
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Mister Man has to laugh. What’s the big deal, Cathy?
The big deal is that Mr. Hall may be supportive and all that but he’s not one to actually read my stuff. (His beneficence only stretches so far.) So for him to open the book–and read the story–and laugh out loud? I don’t even know what to say.
Wait. I do know what to say. Read this book.
You know what else? I’m in such a swell mood from the Beneficent Mr. Hall’s uncharacteristically HUGE support, I’m gonna give away a copy of Not Your Mother’s Book…on Family. So if you live in the US or Canada, leave a comment about your funny family. And if you share this post on Twitter or Facebook or on your blog, let me know and I’ll give you a couple extra entries.
Unless you’re Sioux or Lisa or Linda. Y’all can read your own books.
(And P.S. I’m off to the Week of Writing Retreat up in North Georgia and frankly, you never know quite what you’re gonna get up in North Georgia, interwebs-wise. So don’t panic if I don’t respond to your lovely comments. Just keep tweeting and adding up those entries! You could win Not Your Mother’s Book…on Family and laugh your butt off. Though to be honest, I’ve tried to do that for years, and my butt’s still there.)
Cathy C. Hall Writes 
Cathy–The stories ARE laugh-your-butt-off worthy, but like yours, my butt is still alive and growin.’ I hope your weeklong (sigh) retreat is wonderful. (A week? I’m soooo jealous.)
A whole week *sigh*. I wish you’d make a retreat, Sioux–you’d love it–and they’d love you! (And I know you have the bucks; I’ve seen your credits!)
Cathy–I didn’t mean your butt was growing (like mine)–I just meant laughing a lot has not reduced it one bit. Your butt’s still there, and my butt is still there but MY butt is growing wider.
Take pictures. Take notes. At least we can participate vicariously…
Cathy, Your book looks like one I could keep my bottom in the chair for, for an extended period of time. We all could enjoy a good laugh.
As a child, my father liked to fish. For a family gathering, the family went to fish from a lake bridge. I didn’t like the idea of fishing; the idea of touching a worm disgusted me. Fish flipping too close to me frightened me, as well. And, I didn’t like the idea of seeing anything from the fish’s insides, that would make me squeamish. Besides, I didn’t really like to eat fried fish like the rest of the family.
On the fishing trip, the sun beat upon my face, arms, and back. The blistering sun made me so uncomfortable; my skin turned red within a short period of time. The pungent smells sickened me. About the time I started to put the fishing pole away, I received a bite on my line. I didn’t want to touch the fish, so I called my father over to take it off for me. After he removed the first fish from the line, I caught ten more fish. For the rest of the fishing trip, I was hooked on pulling in the fish. Since that fishing trip, I’ve never wanted to fish again. The fact that I had seasickness, twice after that, may have influenced my decision to bypass the family fishing episodes.
Oh, thanks, Patricia! And thanks for sharing your story! I do love fishing, as long as I’m catching something. But I’m only willing to wait about…oh, five minutes or so. (I have the patience of a gnat!) 🙂
So, do I just leave a comment to be in the pickins’? I’d love to win the book! 🙂
Hey Cathy,
So happy for you and all my writer friends who are on the book. Hope you have a lot if fun at hyphen writers’ retreat. Oh, I’d love to win a copy of the book!
Don’t know how the word hyphen got on my post. I’m blaming the grammar ghosts.
Glad to be in such great company. 🙂 Enjoy your retreat!