Humor | Cathy C. Hall Writes

I know I usually do my horn tooting on Tuesdays, but I’m just so proud of myself for earning these swell badges that I had to share!

First, of course, I earned the Procrastination Badge. According to the little pamphlet thingie that comes with the badges, one can earn this cute vacuum cleaner badge in a variety of ways:

a. skip writing for more than three days in a row

b. spend over 30 cumulative hours on the forums

c. clean your home instead of working on your novel

Guess how I earned it? Keeping in mind that dog hair is swirling around the keyboard as I type. And that I don’t even know how to get in the forums.

But one badge is never enough, is it? So I went for two. And honestly, I’m really thrilled over earning the Word-Count Padding Badge. I mean, this badge requires mad writing skills.

I had my main character study for a World Geography quiz and added about 30 countries and their capitals. Isn’t that brilliant? I think I may have earned bonus points for choosing countries like Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo. And the best part is that I can always go back and add more!

And last, but certainly not least, I earned the Nano Socializing Badge by dragging a few friends into Nano with me. Friends who have tons more words than I do.

But do they have any badges? Hah.

You know how your stories are sort of like children? You’re proud of them when they go out in the world and do well. And you love each and every one of them, exactly the same.

Except sometimes, you like one a little better than the other. She makes you laugh, or she makes you smile, or maybe she makes you sigh. But mostly, there’s just something there, close to your heart, that makes you like her just a teensy bit more than the others. Not forever, of course. You know that tomorrow, your heart will be pulled in another direction.

That’s just the way it is, with stories and kids. And that’s the way it is with my story, “The Funny Thing in The Bathroom at Casa Del Rio.” You can read it in A Shaker of Margaritas: Hot Flash Mommas. This anthology has just come out of Mozark Press, and it’s brimming with wonderful stories about the forty or older woman and her search for happiness, or love, passion, or perhaps revenge.

I’m not sure what each character is searching for because I haven’t had time to read each and every story. But I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read so far. And I’m so glad that this story of mine found a home there. There’s a little piece of me in that forty-something woman who bumps into a long-ago lover in the Senoritas.

Makes me feel twenty-something again when I read it. And for just a few minutes, that’s a fine thing. Might make a fine gift for the woman of a certain age you know. That’s all I’m saying.

And that I really love “The Funny Thing in the Bathroom at Casa Del Rio.” I’ll keep smiling… until the next special story grabs my heart.