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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.

Great Big Gobs of Good Writing Stuff (Tuesday Twitter Finds)

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Whenever I flit over to Twitter, I always find a lot of good writing stuff. I don’t always read the good writing stuff because there comes a time when I must actually write the (hopefully) good stuff. But I mark the stuff that you might be interested in so that I can share. Thus, Tuesday Twitter Finds (at least, for this Tuesday. You know I won’t remember to flit over to Twitter every Tuesday, right?)

Biographile’s  (That’s such a cool name and a very cool site) having a Short Memoir Contest and giving away a Nook. A Nook Tablet, to be exact. So that’s pretty awesome for writing 1000 words or less. The theme is “Overcoming loss” and the deadline’s Monday, April 23. Get all the details and submit here.

Chuck Sambuchino’s celebrating the release of his new book (Red Dod/Blue Dog) with a sweet giveaway. Heck, you might even have a picture of your dog in his book (Oh! Let us know if you do!) But whether you do or not, you can win some swell writing books and a critique from Chuck if your name is randomly drawn. ‘Course, you can’t randomly win if you don’t randomly enter. So go here and leave a comment (and check out the cute dogs!).

And if you have a way cool literary tattoo, you’ll want to enter LitReactor’s Literary Tattoo Showdown. To be perfectly clear (in case the Beneficent Mr. Hall is perusing here) Cathy C. Hall does not have a tat. But if I were ever to get one (and that would assume that the Beneficent Mr. Hall was no longer with us), it would be a literary tattoo. I could see myself wearing a line from a favorite book, or even a favorite pic (one of the tattoos I saw for the contest was Scout in the ham costume from To Kill a Mockingbird. I wish I had the coolness to pull that one off.) Now, you don’t have a lot of time here (Friday, April 13) but if you’ve always wanted a literary tattoo, today might be the perfect day for a little ink. Assuming you are a not a member of the Hall household.

And finally, the last Twitter Find is a reminder to you about the contest going on here at my little ‘ol blog for a copy of Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Presents Flush Fiction. You’ll want to comment here, on this lovely post, but you need to go here if you want your name included. And if you get a tattoo with a toilet on it, I seriously will send you a copy of Flush Fiction myself. (Assuming you are not a member of the Hall household.)

Heaven on My Mind

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I mentioned earlier in the week about Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Messages from Heaven being a national best-seller.

I’ve been thinking about that all week…I mean, there have been a ton of Chicken Soup books, and they all follow a similar format. They’re feel good books, nice little stories to ease what ails you. And yes, it’s always been a fairly lucrative franchise. But still. National best-seller? What’s so special about Messages from Heaven?

I’ve decided that it has to be the subject matter. Perhaps we hunger for more than material comforts; we want to know that there’s spiritually more, more than mortgage payments and careers and cars and closets of shoes.

Or maybe it’s as simple as reassurance. Maybe we just want to know that love carries on.

If you happen to be awake late tonight, you can hear Amy Newmark, coauthor of the book and publisher of Chicken Soup for the Soul. She’s the featured guest on George Noory’s Coast to Coast AM show, and starting at 10 PM Pacific Time (1 AM Eastern Time) to midnight, she’ll be discussing Messages from Heaven.

(You can click on this link to find the radio station in your market that carries the show.)

And now, maybe you’re wondering, too. What is so special about Messages from Heaven? So I’m going to give you a chance to win a copy. Just leave a comment and let’s see…I’ll draw a random name on Friday week. I’m limiting it to US residents only since I’m mailing one of my copies, but you know it’s available just about anywhere, right?

It’s a national best-seller after all. Which kinda gives me a hopeful feeling about this old world and the people in it.