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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.

Finding Something Friday on Lots of Writing Stuff

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So much to share today, I’m just jumping right in! Grab what you like and start writing…

If you’ve got a wonderful mom story, you need to polish it up and send it in for the Cup of Comfort for Mothers. They’ve done some restructuring over at C of C, so check out the new site for submission details and the handy-dandy submission form. You have till May 15th to get your wonderful mom story submitted, but check out the blog for other C of C happenings, like the Redbook and Cup of Comfort Silver Linings Contest (also ending on May 15th!) Plus, you’ll get a feel for C of C, which definitely helps if you want to get published in this series!

Lisa (a writer’s group buddy who just started a blog called Writing In the Buff, which is totally not what you’re thinking), sent me a heads-up about Mind-Wings Audio, a company producing audio short stories in all kinds of genres. It’s brand-spanking new, so I can’t tell you anything more than what you’ll find over there. I took a look around, though, and noticed lots of mystery and suspense. Which means either a. they really like mystery and suspense or b. they’ve got enough of that and are looking for something new. Whatever you send, it’s got to be long, like 8, 000 words or so. Sheesh, that’s a book where I write from.

And I know this isn’t writing, but you’re creative types, right? When I saw this note in the latest National Geographic, I ripped that page out (it’s okay-It’s my NG) because you might be visiting a national park sometime soon. I love parks, and I’m always thrilled to find a new one. So, I’m going to check this link to see what I’ve been missing around Georgia. And I’m going to grab my new camera and take some pictures for Your Shot in National Geographic. Wouldn’t it be swell if Georgia, sweet Georgia showed up? Check out the guidelines here.

Now, here’s Sally the crazy dog, who absolutely refused (again) to help me choose a winner for a book contest giveaway (Through Endangered Eyes by Rachel Dillon, remember?). Notice how Sally’s actually ignoring me? Any other time, Sally would be all over a tasty piece of paper (the scraps of paper had names of the contestants). But when I need her to pick one lousy piece of paper, she’s the Queen of Sheba. Hmmph. So, I’m sharing a cat story today. (It’s a wonderful story by Ruth Hartman, who’s a wonderful writer and, I hope, a good sport).

Finding a Winner for Through Endangered Eyes

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When I read Jeanne Birdsall’s wonderful books about the Penderwicks, I was quite taken with Hound. Next time I have a contest, I thought, I’ll use the old “Hound Chooses” method. I mean, if it’s good enough for an award-winning writer, it’s certainly good enough for old Cathy C. Hall. So, here is what happened when I let my hound, Sally Hall, choose the winner for Rachel Dillon’s beautiful book, Through Endangered Eyes.

dscn2331Notice the two scraps of paper (those are just a few of the scraps of paper with names of the contestants) and Sally nonchalantly looking the other way. Oh, don’t kid yourself. Sally knew what was expected of her. But dang if that dog wasn’t ignoring me.

She eventually deigned to paw a piece of paper with the name…Maddie! So congratulations, Maddie! You are going to LOVE this book! I hope it’ll be a big help in your workshop! (Perhaps by the time Through Endangered Eyes comes in the mail, Sally will be out of the doghouse.)