Finding Something Friday's Frighteningly Good Deals

Boo, y'all! I've got some boo-rific treats lined up for you today. Seriously. It's scary how good these deals are.

First, let me ask how many times you've wanted to enter a contest but didn't think you had a ghost of a chance? Now, you do-0-0-0-00-o. Check out Wow!'s Fall Contest right now and start thinking up an idea. You have a whole month to write brilliantly on the prompt. So, get in the writing spirit and take a chance at Wow!

Next, take a peek over at Thomas Nelson Books. They're looking for a few good book reviewers to blog about a few good books! Sign up now and you can take your pick of several books to review (I chose the really creepy, now-I-won't-be-able-to-sleep book). All you have to do is promise to review the book (on your blog and Amazon.com) and good old Thomas Nelson (or one of his minions) will send you the book of your choice! FREE! Well, okay, you're making a deal, but it's not like you're trading your soul here. Unless you choose one of the political books. Then all deals are off.

And you might also win a book if you go trick-or-treating here at Fatal Foodies! Gayle Trent and friends are offering up tasty recipes, book giveaways, and other fun stuff on their blogs. So, leave a post and maybe you'll win a cozy little mystery. Honestly, there are so many goodies, I can't remember them all.

I'm lucky I remembered everything for my own post today. I'm the Headless Horse(wo)man ...and I can't find my head anywhere!

(And thanks to Splindier Hades over at flickr.com for that pumpkin. Sure, I've seen scarier jack-o-lanterns. But, c'mon. That name is creepy!)

What Not to Do Wednesday and the Simultaneous Sub

Whenever I call a submission a "sub," I get a little hungry. Which is kinda funny, since hunger has something to do with the simultaneous sub, grasshopper.

After all, the hungry writer wants to make money. Rather than send his or her submissions out one at a time, the writer hungry for success may be tempted to send those submissions out willy nilly, hoping one will land in a cash-paying market all the sooner.

Of course, many editors are not fans of the simultaneous sub. Some editors go to a lot of trouble to give each sub a fair reading. And after investing that kind of time, an editor is not happy to get a note from a writer saying , "Oops! I've already sold that submission elsewhere!"

If a writer's guidelines say "No Simultaneous Submissions," I generally follow that little rule. Mostly, because I'm afraid that a little thing called karma will catch up to me and smack me around if I don't. But also because I don't want to have to say to an editor, "Oops! I sold that piece somewhere else."

Just like I had to do the other day. In my defense, I'd sent that story out months and months (and months) ago to an anthology. I'd completely given up on it since I'd assumed that the anthology editor had given up on it, too. But I'm a hungry writer. So I sent the same story back out into the world to a magazine market that just happened to be a "No Simultaneous Subs" market.

I sent an "Oops!" email to the magazine editor and he was quite nice, actually. I may even work up the nerve to submit to the magazine again. I mean, I'm still a hungry writer.

But you can't always depend on such kindness from a stranger. Or in your case, grasshopper, an editor. So follow that "No Simultaneous Submission" rule and good karma will come your way. Or maybe just a good sub with plenty of pickles and onions and mayo.

Mmmmm. I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Give a Little Love, Get a Little Love (and 200 Dollars!)

Maybe you've noticed the little "Giving Challenge" widget on my blog and wondered, "Hey! What's that woman talking about?" (If you've seen the SNL skit of the game show with Tina Fey translating what women are talking about while a bemused guy stands there, losing all the money, then you'll understand the hilarious reference in that last line, which for a PG-rated blog, I simply cannot allow. But if you're not an SNL fan, then never mind.)

Um, where was I? Oh, yes, the giving. Cami Walker has a website dedicated to the 29 Gifts, A Giving Challenge. A year or so ago, Cami was struggling with serious illness when a friend remonstrated her. What she needed to do, said the friend, was think a little less of herself and more of others. To that end, Cami's friend directed her to give away 29 gifts in 29 days. Remarkably, halfway through the 29 days, Cami's health began to improve dramatically. Now, she encourages others to follow this prescription and take up the healing power of giving.

To be honest, my mother used to say, "If you'd think more of others instead of yourself..." whenever I whined in my teen years. She may have told me that about a week ago, too. So the healing power of giving has been around for a long time. Which only goes to prove that there's something to giving.

Cami has a book due to be released in 2009 and she wants to include other stories of giving. She'll even give you 200 dollars if your essay is selected! You must sign up for the 29 day challenge, give away 29 gifts (the gifts can be anything: a smile, a sock, spare change), write an essay and send it in by November 29th. Now, I realize you don't have much time here, but if you sign up today and start giving away, you'll still have almost a week to write and polish your essay. And if you don't get around to writing the essay, you'll at least feel better than when you started!

And that's what this woman's talking about! (Check out more details here.)

Finding Something Friday Finally Finds Something Familial

Try saying that five times in a row!

I'm having one of those Fridays when I can't find a thing, much less a few writerly things. But after a foray into the piles of papers stacked next to the computer, I think I may have finally come up with an interesting tidbit.

Wait, that's a cheese cracker. But under the cheese cracker is a note about a market. Familia Books is looking for stories about moms to be jammed packed into a title tentatively called "Wisdom of our Mothers."

Now, I love my mom. And she's a wise woman. But every time I tell a story about my mom, I get into trouble. It always comes down to the way I remember things and the way mom remembers things. Never the two shall meet. So, even though I could certainly use a hundred bucks, I may have to pass on this newest mom book. But if you're willing to take that chance, check out the details here. You have till November 30th to submit your motherly wisdom stories...or not.

Of course, you only have a week left in October to submit to all those other markets you've been considering...The First Line, the LaChance dog stories, the Memories of the 70's contest.

Wait, did I tell you about the Memories of the 70's contest? See, now I have to find something else...hold on a sec.

Okay, the National Association of Baby Boomer Women (Oh, that's me!) want your 500 word essay about a memory from the seventies that you may be inclined to share with grandkiddies. Or maybe a memory that red, hot searing pokers in your eyes couldn't get you to tell the grandkiddies. The choice is yours. Now, I don't have grandkiddies yet, but judging as to how well my kiddies take to my stories, I don't really think it matters. What matters must be whether you can remember anything from the seventies.

Frankly, the seventies are a little fuzzy for me. If the NABBW sponsor a Sharing the Memories from the 80's contest I've got a doozy of a story about the Vatican. But if you've got something you'd like to share circa 1970ish, by all means go check out the details here.

And get writing! I can't find another thing around here.

Tooting My Horn Tuesday Goes Southwestern

But first, we pause for this message:

"She's the birthday girl! She's the birthday girl! The birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday Girl!"

And now back to our regularly scheduled post:

Guess who won FIRST place in the Society of Southwestern Authors Children's Short Story Writing Competition?

That's meeeeee! It was so hugely exciting because for the first time ever I actually got a phone call telling me I'd won! I got a plaque! I got a big, fat check! And I got all that MONTHS ago and had to sit on it till now.

Whew! I seriously was about to bust to get that horn-tootin' toot out there. Here's the picture I sent to Mary Ann (the absolutely lovely Coordinator of the SSA who called from Arizona and now we're BFF's).

I'm holding the Michael Lacapa Award and I really couldn't be prouder. Michael Lacapa, for whom the award is named, was a Native American story teller who worked in developing multi-cultural curricula with the Apache tribe, using story telling as a teaching tool among the school-aged children. You can find out more about him, as well as the Southwestern Society of Authors here. And who knows? Maybe next year, you'll enter and win a plaque! A big, fat check! And get a phone call from the absolutely lovely Mary Ann! Then you can bask in the SSA glow, too.

And now back to birthday business. The glow coming off all the candles is about to burn the house down.

Finding Something Friday: Oh, Look it's a Book (or Two) and an Anthology

You know what I love about being a woman of a certain age ? (And by certain age, I mean the age by which certain less than appealing things start to happen. Use your imagination here...) Okay, that's enough imagining. Here's what I love: when prizes come in the mail, I'm completely surprised because I've completely forgotten all about them!

And really, it's more than just being surprised about the surprises. I can spend at least 15 minutes coming up with all kinds of wonderful reasons why two books would arrive in the mail for Cathy C. Hall. So, it's not just a "What have we here" moment, but a "Why have we here" moment, too. Oh, frabjous joy!

Which is the long way of saying I received From First Draft to Finished Novel and First Draft in 30 Days by Karen Wiesner. And, after a few minutes and a pound to the head, I remembered that I'd won them in the Writer Mama giveaway! I certainly hope I can remember to read them. Then I can tell you all about them.

I can tell you about an anthology call out I found this past week. It's from La Chance publishing and it's all about dogs. The editors are looking for a few good true dog stories, about how a dog has transformed your life. Now, Sally the dog has most definitely transformed my life, but maybe not in the way that these editors have in mind for their anthology. But maybe you have a nice, heart-warming dog story you can send by October 31st. Check out La Chance Publishing here for more details and get 200 bucks for your bow-wow's tail, er, tale.

I might even try writing about Sally the crazy dog. I could use a good surprise.

What Not to Do Wednesday: BEWARE!

Gotcha, didn't I? Grabbed your attention and now you want to know what this big, old BEWARE is all about, right?

It's about grabbing attention, grasshopper. Which seems simple enough, but it's one of the hardest parts of writing. It doesn't matter if I'm writing a funny column, a short story, a book chapter, or an article about office chairs, that beginning is what always takes the longest for me to write! And here's why: I know if I don't grab a reader in the beginning, I won't have that reader sticking around till the end. Unless the reader's my mom. And even then, there's no guarantee with a mom like mine.

I had to revise a story recently for an assignment and really, the revisions were few and mostly a comma here or leaving out an adverb there. But something else was missing in my lovely children's story. Conflict? Nope. Good characters? Nope. Big bang beginning? Well, there you go. I rewrote the beginning till I had written a "Gotcha" start.

So, beware, grasshopper. Don't send anything out unless you grab that reader from the get-go. 'Cause the best writing in the world can't save a ho-hum opening. It's as simple as that.

Finding Something Friday Meets Demands

After months of waffling back and forth, I finally hooked up with Demand Studios, a web content provider that pays a little cash for a little knowledge and speedy writing. And I'm constantly amazed at the articles I find on their assignment board. This week, I got paid to write "How to Write a Check for Cash."

Now, besides being easy money, the whole check-cashing article was HI-larious to the beneficent Mr. Hall. See, I refuse to do banking business. It's not that I can't do banking business. Just that I don't like to do the banking business. But I wrote that little "how to" and took that little check payable to Cathy C. Hall straight to the bank. (It was Paypal, actually, but that doesn't work as well with that particular bon mot, does it?)

So, if you have knowledge about specific topics, like knives, or wood lathes, or um, banking, and you can write simple "How to" articles fast and furiously, then it pays to check out Demand Studios.

Tooting My Horn Tuesday For a Centerville Writer

Just had to send a horn toot out there for Ann, one of the Centerville Writers. Just received an email from her saying that a piece she'd written had been accepted for publication! Though she didn't win one of the money prizes, she still won. Because Ann put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard... or brush to canvas. Um, she's a multi-talented gal.). The point is, Ann wrote something and submitted it. And considering that she'd been away from writing for a long while, that first step had to be difficult.

So, hooray for Ann! When her piece is online, I'll go back and put a link to it. Meanwhile, I'm inspired. In fact, I'm downright perky with the possibilities floating around in my brain.

Guess I'd better put my own pen to paper. (Thanks, Ann!)

Finding Something Friday Finds The First Line and Mother's Hen, Too

Now if that's not an intriguing title for a post, I don't know what is. In fact, it would make a good first line if The First Line Magazine didn't already have a spiffy one for this upcoming issue.

So, if you're good at writing stories from a first line, you might want to try your hand at this one: While not the intended effect, the outcome was surprisingly satisfying (written by Matt McHugh). Your story can't be shorter than 300 words or longer than 3,000 words if you want it to be considered for this market. Oh, and you have to use that first line exactly as it is written. I'm not sure I'll come up with something; so far, I'm uninspired. The last issue's line had to do with a drive-thru funeral business, which I found totally inspiring, but never got around to er, actually writing. Maybe you're more disciplined. If so, check out TFL magazine here and get the details. You have till November 1, 2008 to think up something, write it, and send it in. You might find a surprsingly satisfying outcome if you're published!

Now, on to The Mother's Hen, a contest sponsored by The Muse Marquee. You'll need to dash over to the ezine now if you want to get something in for this contest. Entries won't be accepted after October 10th. And you'll need to read everything carefully before you start writing. 'Cause honestly, I don't remember the details. But c'mon. Who can pass up something called Mother Hen's Contest?

In the words of Tim Gunn, "I'm intrigued." So, start writing and make it work.

What Not to Do Wednesday: Don't Let Fear Hold You Back

That's a good theme for October, huh? I love writing in October because I'm so frightfully good at coming up with stuff!

Anyway, back to the point, my yellow-bellied grasshopper. How many times have you let your fears keep you from doing something writing-related? Haven't submitted because you're afraid your writing's not good enough? Haven't tried a new market because you're afraid you're too green? Haven't asked an editor a question because you're afraid you'll sound like an idiot?

I recently had lunch with a friend who mentioned a fact about social networking that I hadn't considered. However, it happened that I had sent an article about social networking to one of my favorite markets. Oh, dear. I really needed to add something to that article. What to do?

You can probbaly guess that I opted to sound like the writing village idiot. I asked the editor if I could rewrite a section of that article and resubmit. And she was quite nice about the whole thing. For all I know, she'll take a second look at that article now that I've sent the new and improved version.

So, don't let your fears hold you back. Forge ahead. Except into the cellar if you're home all alone. Sheesh. Are you crazy????