Finding Fame Along a Road Having Little To Do With Publication

I found myself, along with my cousin and her husband, on a road in downtown Atlanta where a Ted's Montana Grill sign hangs. Seemed like a grand place to dine, so in we went, squeezing into our lovely booth overlooking a buffalo head (or maybe I should say bison head? I'm never quite sure).

"There's Ted now!" says Archie (my cousin's husband). Ha ha ha! That Archie's such a card. When around the corner of the booth strides Ted Turner (who, I might add, is very tall, up close and personal like that).


"Hi, Ted!" we call out, shaking hands and such. "Ted," says Janie (the cuz), "I just happen to have my camera!" Out of the seat she scoots to get a picture with the very tall media mogul and ex-Braves owner. (Doesn't Janie look nice? Doesn't Ted look nice? Don't the two look nice together? Time to move on.)


Ted was gracious and patient with the scene we were making. "That's the great thing about celebrities," said my cuz, "you can call them by their first name, just like you've known them all your life!" And right there, sitting in Ted's Montana Grill, my delicious bison meatloaf blue plate special steaming on the table, I knew I'd found the hallmark of Fame. When the day comes that I'm walking down the street (or strolling around a restaurant) and someone I don't know from Adam's housecat yells out, "Hey Cathy!" just like we're bosom buddies, then I'll be famous.

I know if I saw Dave Barry on the street, I'd holler, "Dave! Hey, Dave! How's it going, man?" He might keep on walking. He might even call the police on the crazy lady screaming his name. But at least he'd know he was famous.

In the Beginning, There Was the Neumann News

If you look over to the right (No, no, not there. Keep looking till you find the HALL OF FAME. Those are links to places where you can read stuff by yours truly), you'll notice the Neumann News. That's a paper published by Saint John Neumann parish. At least, it was published. I've just returned from a meeting and the times, they are a-changin'.

I have a soft spot in my writing heart for the good old Neumann News. When my pen started stirring again after so many years, it was to the NN that I sent my first story. I didn't know if my little Christmas essay would make it into the paper. I waited and waited till the December edition came out, tore through the pages, and there on the very last page was my piece about Advent traditions in the Hall house! I picked up extra copies and sent them to loved ones, whether they cared to get a copy or not. (Mostly, they did not.)

Ah, vanity. My name in print...that was all it took to get me hooked. I went to the next meeting and found out that anyone who sent in something legible would be published. They were lucky to fill the paper's pages. Still, even with the bloom a little (okay, a lot) off the rose, I stayed through the meeting and agreed to write something for the January issue. That was five years ago.

Now I write every day, sending my stories out way beyond the corners of my little newspaper's world. But that's how it started. Maybe you wannabe writers following along out there can start on your Road to Publication with a paper like the Neumann News. Because there's nothing like regular practice to get you in the writing habit. And a small paper is always appreciative of any talent willing to work for free. No, you won't make a Fortune, but you will be famous. At least, in your neighborhood.

I hope our church paper will keep plugging away. There could be an Ernest Hemingway or Dorothy Parker out there right now, contemplating a story and wondering where to send it. I happen to know a great place to start.

I Write, Therefore I Blog

Three years ago, I didn't know what a blog was. The only on-line journal I'd heard about belonged to my daughter, and I had to sneak around like Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity to read it.

Then I decided to write (as in actually writing, not just sitting at the computer pretending to write while playing Mahjong). And in no time at all, I was reading everybody and their Aunt Teenie's blog. It (the blog, not Aunt Teenie) seemed like one of those "important writing/marketing tools" that every serious writer should have in their "writer's toolbox."

To be honest, I'm not what you'd call a serious writer. But I am seriously pursuing publication. So if you read my blog, you'll get the chance to come along on this fantabulous journey. And if I'm being perfectly honest (she said in a phony British accent), it won't always be about Fame and Fortune as a writer. In fact, I can say with some authority that so far, it hasn't been about fortune at all. I'm still holding out for fame.

Maybe I'll share some of the ways I've found fame, so that you blog voyeurs can find fame, too. Or maybe I'll share other people's fame, if it really impresses me. But mostly, I'm thinking it will be about the fame of Cathy C. Hall. I mean, those other people can get their own blogs, right?