NaNoWriMo | Cathy C. Hall Writes

The Nano Lament (Sung to the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”)

I’ve been working on the novel, all the livelong day.
I’ve been working on the novel, and I’ve got a lot to say.
Don’t you see your shouting hubby? He’s starving and he’s mad!
Don’t you see I’ve got to finish? Peanut butter’s not that bad.

First TH: 30, 000 words on my novel-in-progress! Count ’em and weep, fellow writers. (Come to think of it, the Beneficent Mr. Hall is almost on the verge of tears himself. Perhaps for an entirely different reason. Perhaps it has something to do with my personal hygiene. Perhaps I’ve shared a little too much.)

A quick word about Thin Threads, which is a new book series based on stories about thin threads or life-changing moments. Many moons ago, I sent a story and forgot all about it. Until I received a recent email saying, Whee! You’re a finalist! (I’m paraphrasing, but it was something along those lines.) Then, I received another email saying, Whee! Your story’s been selected for a Thin Threads book or whatever we decide to do with it! (Second TH) So, check out their recent contest if you’ve got one of those thin thread moments.

Finally, when I looked back at the Tooting My Horn Tuesday posts, I realized I had more toots than last year (Um, you know what I mean, right?). And I’m darn thankful for the throngs (Third TH) of folks who put up with my tooting, and always have such nice things to say. (Okay, maybe throngs is stretching it. But I’m all about the THemes.)

Oh! And have a blessed and bountiful THanksgiving! (Gee, I sure hope the Beneficent Mr. Hall picks up a turkey for us or it’s going to be a very peanutty holiday at the Hall house!)

I found the funnest contest for you word lovers! (Um, is funnest a word? The red line thingie is not showing up under it, so I guess funnest is okay. But P.S. Thingie is not.)

The Georgia Review decided to honor Ambrose Bierce with a Devil’s Dictionary for the 21st Century. Now, you may recognize old Ambrose as the guy who wrote that short story you had to read in high school (“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”). But he also penned The Devil’s Dictionary, a dictionary of common terms with some rather uncommon, not to mention, satirical definitions. Take his definition for Dictionary: A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work.

Oh, that Ambrose was a hoot and a half. Until he took off for Mexico and disappeared. Still, I’m sure Ambrose regaled the local ruffians with his usual wit right up until the moment that they, well, made him disappear. But you want to know about the contest. Send in your new and satirical entries by December 1 (maximum length, 200 words) and if your word is chosen, you’ll receive a lovely honorarium, or perhaps even the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place prize. You have to mail that submission, so start thinking and writing. Get all the details here.

If you read about the Abilene Writers Guild contest over at Finders & Keepers, then you can skip ahead because you already know that the contest has a category for children’s writers. But if you write short stories, poetry, flash fiction, articles, or even novels, there’s a category for you, too. And prizes! And an entry fee (but it’s only 5 bucks, unless you’re sending in your novel excerpt). You only have till November 30th, so go check out the details here and jump on that contest!

And finally, a quick update on that National Novel Writing Month. Yes, I signed up. That would explain the neat little badge I added to my blog (I’m not gonna lie. I’m a sucker for blog stuff like that. Not enough of a sucker to add the word count widget, though). And I’ve written a ton of words. They may not necessarily be good words, but they are words (and not words like thingie, either). Which reminds me of Ambrose Bierce’s definition for novel: a short story padded.

Which brings me to the end of this rather wordy post. I’m sure you’re wondering about that picture of the monks, working on the sand painting. It’s simple, really. A picture’s worth a thousand words. (Wonder if the nanowrimo folks will let me throw in a couple of pics?)