Tag Archives: Contest!

Tooting My Horn Tuesday on Whispering Prairie Press

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ImageSo, yes, I’ve already trumpeted this success across the social media world. But not everyone’s blithely following along on Facebook, so for you, and you up front, and you, way back in the last row, I’m tooting my horn.

I won first place in the flash fiction contest at Whispering Prairie Press!

Now, honestly, I’ve been so entrenched in my novels that I haven’t worked on flash in a while. But I pulled up a story that I love–a story where I’d received some nice feedback–and as soon as I read through it, I could see what needed tweaking. So I worked some edits and sent it off.

That’s what working on your craft will do–no matter what kind of fiction you’re crafting. You get better. And then you apply what you’ve learned to whatever you’re writing.

So that’s a Tuesday Tip, too, I guess. Keep writing and you will get better.

(And maybe you’ll even win a sweet little cash prize from Whispering Prairie Press!)

Catching Up Is Hard To Do

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ImageHonestly, I can never quite catch up when I take time off from technology. There’s just too much Twitter, too much Facebook, too much lovely stuff out there that keeps on going, even if I’m (mostly) unplugged. But I shall give a brief accounting for, and will zip around this week to make sure I haven’t missed anything like a Zombie Writer Apocalypse.

Firstly, the writer getaway was lovely and productive. And now you’re wondering just how productive and I will tell you that I got all the way to 33,000 words in the revision. I mean, this was a serious writing writer getaway. More than the word counts, however, was the conversation, the opportunity to bounce around plot ideas and character developments and story arcs. Think of your best critique group meeting ever, multiplied by ten (and throw in a couple adult beverages consumed on a rustic deck overlooking the Georgia mountains) and you’ll have an idea of this working writing vacation. 

But I also had the time to read start Twenty Master Plots (It’s a great read so far and I’d recommend it for those of you who are thinking, 20 plots? But there are only five basic plots–)and so while I was on the beach getaway (though not while I was actually visiting with Mom and Dad), I had time to think. And now I’m hacking away at those 33,000 words.

So it goes with revisions and getaways.

Thank you for your lovely votes over at Susanna Hill Leonard’s contest–my story placed and when I know what I’ve won, I’ll let you know. And maybe I’ll give that prize away. (I think it’s a how-to book)

And lastly, just a reminder to keep writing and keep submitting! Send in your stories for the Not Your Mother’s Book series. Those contract emails are going out all the time! And I received payment for a story I sold to The Red Squirrel Magazine (a children’s market in China), so I suppose now I can’t say, “Millions of Chinese people don’t care a whit about what Cathy C. Hall’s doing.”

Maybe a hundred Chinese kids are thinking even now, “Wonder if Cathy C. Hall’s gonna write another scathingly brilliant, not to mention funny, story?”

So it’s back to working and writing for me. Assuming, of course, that’s not a Zombie Writer pounding down my door.