Fame and Fortune | Cathy C. Hall Writes

Just for the record, I did not start out as a cheapskate. It took years of molding by the beneficent Mr. Hall before I achieved that goal. But all I can say is that when I perused the latest issue of Wow!, it made my penny-pinching days worth it!

My article, “The Cheap Writer’s Guide to Conferences,” was a feature! Now, here’s the funny thing. As I eyed the list of articles, I thought, Hmmmm, didn’t I submit something about conferences? Then I saw the title of an article, “The Cheap Writer’s Guide–” and I thought, Hold on a minute! That’s the title of the article I wrote! Someone stole my title! Then I started reading the blurb about the article and thought, Dang! I had the EXACT SAME IDEA! Seriously, someone stole my title AND idea! Then I saw my name and thought what an idiot.

But not such an idiot that I didn’t write a darn good article about how to save money and attend writer’s conferences. So check it out here. A little Fame for me. A small Fortune in savings for you. Just another day on the Road to Publication.

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!