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Cathy C. Hallhttps://cathychall.wordpress.com/I write, write, write. Then I rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. THEN I submit all those polished-up words out into the world and sell 'em. It's a plan that's worked pretty well.

Banned Books Week (Again)

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BBW14_300x250_2Wouldn’t it be nice for a year to come around and the American Library Association would say, “No Banned Books Week! Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.”?

But 2014 is not that year, and so once again, it’s time to spotlight this freedom-to-read-what we-want issue. Here’s a bit of good news, though, from the ALA site:

“The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.”

If you check out the lists of banned books, I’ll bet you’ll be surprised. Some of my favorite books are on that list, books that informed me in ways I could never have dreamed possible. Books that opened my mind and heart to that far beyond my little scope of the world–or what was happening right in front of me:

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Color Purple

Beloved

Brave New World

Their Eyes Were Watching God

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

I could add more but I think you see where I’m going here. Join me in giving a shout out to your favorite banned book this week. And just because I know Dav Pilkey’s hilarious, and that his books have pulled in many a young reluctant reader, I’m going to cheer for Captain Underpants.

Who’s with me?

When Inspiration Won’t Leave You Alone

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2014-09-12 11.58.17I knew I had a Muffin blog post coming up. I just didn’t know what in the world I’d write about. But I’d worry about that later as I screamed and yelled and ranted through a college football game, followed the next day by another display of football failure.

One day left and still no idea. I watched The Roosevelts (It’s fascinating!) hoping for inspiration.

Nothing. But late that night, right before turning out the light, it came to me, this inspiration rooted in my competitive drive.

Ugh. I didn’t want to write about that. I did not want to explore the idea of when competition goes bad for writers. I mean, it’s not a pretty sight, right? I fell asleep, figuring something else would come to me.

But my brain just would not come up with another idea. It seemed absolutely stuck on the whole competition theme. The clock was ticking and...fine. I wrote “When Competition Gets Ugly.” You can find it over at the Muffin today.

At least those ugly weekend football games were good for something.