Contest | Cathy C. Hall Writes

I’ve had connections with Alabama all my life; some good, some not so much. But now I have a great connection and I’m tooting my horn!

I sent one of my all-time favorite children’s stories to the Alabama Writers’ Conclave Writing Competition and I won…er, something. The actual prize (First, Second or Third) won’t be announced till July, but in any case there’s a little Fame and Fortune coming my way. Stay tuned next month and I’ll tell you all about it.

But maybe more importantly is the story behind the winning story. I kept working on that little story till I got it right. You know how you have a gut feeling after you’ve written something? A feeling that says, “Dang! That’s some good writing!” But then, when you send it out into the world, no one else seems to think so. Still, my gut was telling me not to give up on “The Chocolate Cake Bait.” (My gut was awfully chatty, wasn’t it?)

I believed in that children’s tale of boyhood friendship. And I guess the good writers in Alabama did, too!

Fly me to the moon, and put my name among the stars…let me show what I can do for Jupiter and Mars!

What, you wonder, is Cathy C. Hall singing about now? So glad you asked. A swell friend (thanks, Nicole!) sent me this cool link: http://lro.jhuapl.edu/NameToMoon/index.php. Click on it and you can send your name to the moon, courtesy of NASA and the Orbiter.

Now, I’m not saying there’s life on the moon…or Jupiter or Mars, either, for that matter. But if there is, they (or he, she or it) is going to know the name Cathy C. Hall. You can’t buy promotion like that. (Literally. It’s free till the sign-up deadline, June 27th.)

And while I’m thinking of moonlight, I’ll pass along the following mushy contest about Past Loves. If you can write 700 words about a former sweetie, you could win a Fortune. And it’s absolutely free to enter. Check out all the details here. But don’t wait too long. Deadline’s August 17, 2008.

The beneficent Mr. Hall is my one and only sweetie. But for the sake of a little Fortune, I may be able to remember a toad or two or twenty I kissed before he hopped along. (Just for the record, I only took Mr. Hall to the moon.)