To Ban Books or Not To Ban (It's Not Really a Question)

The last week in September is Banned Books Week, which does NOT mean that the American Library Association and a bunch of other illustrious organizations are jumping up and down, trying to get books banned.

It does mean we're all jumping and down for the freedom to read what we choose to read.

Now, I'll be the first to say that there are books out there that little bitty kids probably shouldn't read. And maybe some books that grown-up kids wished they'd never read. But deciding what to read (or not read) should be an individual's choice (or a choice discussed with a parent in the case of younger students). Because, frankly, there are some folks out there who have a very strange idea of what's improper reading material. Just take a look at this map of banned books to see what I mean.

I've read most of the books that have been banned somewhere, sometime. Honestly, my mother let me read all kinds of books when I was a kid. And I survived with my morals, values, and political views (such as they are) intact.

It's all about Freadom, whether you're a writer, a reader or both. No question about it.

Finding Something Friday on Meyers-Briggs and Blogs

Have you ever taken the Meyers-Briggs personality test? The one where you find out if you're extroverted, or introverted, thinking or feeling, and such? Way back in the day, when I was (apparently) a different personality, I took the test. I came out ENTJ, which was affectionately called "The Field Commandant." Hmph.

When I took the test (online) today, I came out ISFJ or ESFJ, depending on which test I want to believe. Either way, I've changed personalities. I suppose that's what thirty years of living with the Beneficent Mr. Hall will do to you. I've completely lost my bossing around skills. (Um, not even I believe that.)

Most writers tend to be introverted, I think. And probably most fiction writers will score higher on the sensing, feeling side of the test. We have to have that imagination factor in order to write spiffy stories. Blog writing, on the other hand is completely different. Maybe that's why my blog scored a different personality than me. (I don't want to get into a whole Frankenstein thing here, but it kinda weirds me out that I created this blog that's gone and developed its own personality.)

Try it yourself with this Meyers Brigg personality test for your blog. Turns out Cathy C.'s Hall of Fame is an ESFP, known as The Performers. We're fun and entertaining blogs. Maybe I'm not particularly fun or entertaining, but wheee! My blog is!

Of course, I had to check Cathy on a Stick's blog. That blog came out ESTP, The Doers. They're the active and playful types in the blog world. Now, that's just scary accurate, isn't it?

Many thanks to Shrinking Violet Promotions, which I found this week, for providing me with this info on the Typealyzer. If you're looking for a fascinating blog for the shy types, (or any types, really) Shrinking Violets is packed with promotional stuff for writing types .

Now, fly, fly my blog buddies, and find out what type blog you have! And maybe you could share your blog's personality with the rest of us. (I'm keeping an eye on the old Hall of Fame. It's already got a personality. Next, it'll go get a mind of it's own. Talk about scary!)

All for National Punctuation Day Stand Up and Cheer!

Gimme a C, gimme an O, gimme an M-M-A. Gooooooo, Comma!

Or apostrophe, colon, semicolon, dash, and ellipsis. It's National Punctuation Day and I'm as pleased as a pack of punctuating people can be!

See, misuse of punctuation is one of those little pet peeves I have. I don't go on and on about those who missed the punctuation pontoon boat, so to speak. I mean, Lord knows, I've misplaced a comma or two in my time. But when I see an apostrophe used incorrectly, I squirm a bit and want to fix the erring mark. And the rampant misuse of the semicolon? Don't even get me started.

I've never met Jeff Rubin (the former newspaperman who instigated the holiday), but I'll bet he's a fine fellow. Anyone who celebrates the semicolon, and promotes the proper use of all punctuation, is worth cheering for!

(We'll discuss ending sentences with prepositions another day.)

Tuesday Tip: Just So You Know, I'm Taking Notes

You may recall me mentioning here on the Hall of Fame that I attended an Elton John/ Billy Joel concert.

Here's where I wrote about that little adventure again, in an oh-so-humorous way. I mention this so you'll know that, from time to time, I write about the adventures from my oh-so-personal life. That's what writers do. All the time.

So, if you were to, say, get lost three different times going to the same place (like a Junior Hall did recently), you might show up in a witty column. Or you might show up in a short story as the character affectionately called "Wrong Way."

Just thought I'd tip you off, in case you read something someday and think, "Wait a minute. That could be me, except that I don't have a big, old wart on my nose."

It's probably not you. But it could be you. Especially if you do have a big, old wart on your nose.

Finding Something Friday on Confusing Words

Once in awhile (okay, every day), I spend some time (okay, hours) exploring (okay, pooting around) on the wide world of the web (okay, mostly Facebook).

Anyway, I find interesting things. Then I bookmark them. Then I completely forget that I've bookmarked them. So, it behooves me to occasionally take a little time and check my bookmarks. It's like opening a Bookmarks Box of Chocolates. I never know what I'm going to get!

Today I found Confusing Words. This is a handy little tool for those of us who may have trouble with certain words. Words like the perennially confusing lay, lie. And let's not forget those favorites, affect vs. effect. You don't have to look up a whole bunch of grammar rules. You can go to this site and find the definition of said confusing words, as well as sentences using said confusing words. And bam! That confusing cloud hanging over your head suddenly disappears.

Assuming it's a word thing. I wonder if there's something in my Bookmarks called Confusing Life Stuff (okay, you know what I mean).

What Not to Do Wednesday on Feeling Flickr Foolish

I wish I had a nickel for every time the Beneficent Mr. Hall drove around, trying to find his way. I wouldn't be a rich woman, but I could probably buy one of those GPS thingies. I've always wanted one of those GPS thingies, grasshopper. I should add that to my Christmas list.

The point is, we could save a lot of time and energy if one of us (and I think we know who) asked for help. Unfortunately, grasshopper, there was an incident yesterday when one of us (and I think you know who) should have asked for help, but instead fell into a big, old black hole of foolishness.

Here's how it started: I wanted to put a little zing into my other blog (Finders & Keepers). So, I happened to notice one of those lovely widgets for Flickr. Wheee! I have a Flickr account. I downloaded a couple of fun photos, followed the directions, but... the widget thing did not come up.

Hmmm. I tried again. And again. Grasshopper, I'm ashamed to say how long I spent trying to find the way to make the widget thingie work. Until the moment when I thought, I can ask for help. I clicked on the Support page and there it shone, brightly lit directions pulling me out of the black hole.

Run, don't walk, to your Support page or Help page or Ask Forum, or whatever it's called, grasshopper, if you run into a technical problem. You don't have time to waste (especially when there's Christmas Lists to be written).

Tooting My Horn Tuesday on a Contest Win Or Try It! You'll Like It!

Times are tough, I know. Markets to submit your lovely writing to are dropping like flies, and many of the markets left standing don't want to pay. What's a poor writer to do?

Try a contest. I know I might have mentioned (okay, harped about) this idea before, but I really feel like it's a way to improve your writing (because you're sending something out there, oftentimes, with a fee. It behooves you to put utmost effort into the submission you send). Also, I'm rather fond of financial remuneration for my utmost efforts. Aren't you?

Time and time again, I see writers giving away perfectly wonderful stories. And, occasionally, this is a practice that can pay off. But you don't want to make a habit of it. Kinda reminds me of something my mother used to say: "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"

She probably wasn't talking about writing. But, still. You get the point. There are plenty of contests out there, with nominal fees, and generally, the sponsors don't publish the winning stories. You can still sell your story somewhere else!

Now, winning a small contest is not going to add anything special when you're trying to sell your novel. But your wonderful novel should sell itself. Meanwhile, you can make a little money on your wonderful stories. And give your writing ego a little boost in the bargain.

I won First Place (the Pen Point Group Award) in the mystery fiction category for the White County Creative Writers. (Wheee!) The story, "Like a Pirate," is one of my favorite stories. I wrote it three years ago. The original was a diamond in the rough (not that I realized that fact three years ago). It needed polishing details, but the plot was good. And every time that story got rejected, I worked on it just a little bit more.

Here's a contest for you to try: The Saturday Writers 8th Annual Short Story Contest. There's a small fee, and it's open genre. Oh, and it's sponsored by an organization packed with gifted writers! So, poor writer, pick your best story, polish it up, and put it an envelope.

And may the best writer win.

Finding Something Friday on Dogs, Agents, and the Holidays

I'll bet that's a group of words that doesn't show up in a search engine very often.

Today, I was going to wax poetic about building blog stats, and Sparky, and burning a feed, and search engine-y things. But the truth is, I do all this stuff (like burning a feed of my blog) and I'm kind of hazy on the whole business. So, that would have been a very short Finding Something Friday. Instead, let's take a look at Dogs and The Women Who Love Them (2009 True Story Contest).

We're not talking about a crazy dog like Sally Hall ( notice how I found a pic of Sally wearing a holiday crown? Or at least wearing a crown, Sally-style.). We're talking about a contest where the "stories should demonstrate the benefits for a woman who fulfills a life purpose by partnering with a dog to perform extraordinary physical, emotional, or spiritual service." That kinda leaves Sally out. But maybe you and your dog fit the bill. Write the story, keep it under 2,000 words, and get it postmarked by September 30th. I still love my Sally dog, you know. But we're kinda lacking in the "life purpose" thing.

Now, agents. I found Litmatch a few months ago, and made a note about it. But like many notes, it got sorta lost in the shuffle. Since today was a "clean up that mess over there" day (according to the Beneficent Mr. Hall), I found Litmatch again. Whee! It's a free service which lists agents and agencies and allows you to track submissions to such (and gives information about all things agent-y, too). I haven't signed up for it yet, but I made a note about it.

Now, on to the (Thanksgiving and Christmas) holidays. I found an email in my Inbox from the editor of Girlfriend to Girlfriend Magazine. She's looking for articles about the aforementioned holidays, and she's looking for pieces with a female slant. Oh, and she's looking for a family slant, too. She has another magazine called Simple Joy, so I think she has lots of slots to fill. And she'll pay you a small honorarium. You know, it was a very l-o-n-g email, so I might be forgetting something. Well, you can email me if you need more particulars.

And if you know all the particulars on that business I was going to write about (like "why do I burn a feed of my blog and check subscribers, and what exactly does RSS stand for, anyway?"), you can email me about that, too.

What Not to Do Wednesday on Embarrassing Moments

Oh, grasshopper, I'm so embarrassed.

Yesterday, whilst searching amongst (what is this, Merry Olde Englande?) pictures on my computer, I came across this:
Well, obviously, it's a major award. Presented to me by Jules, who has a lovely blog, busting with funny stories and whatnot.

Clearly, I copied the award and filed it under Important Stuff to Remember To Do. It is also clear that I did not remember. In point of fact, I forgot. Which is where the whole embarrassing thing comes in.

I'm just going to blame it on the Beneficent Mr. Hall. If Don Henley and the Eagles weren't blaring into my ears at all hours of the day and night, I could remember major awards.

And I would certainly remember to thank friends, like Jules, for thinking of me.

Tooting My Horn Tuesday for Characters, Conferences, and Cool Writers

You know how when you hear someone speaking, maybe a preacher, maybe a teacher, and it starts out so well and then...you...just...driffffttttt...offffffffffff.

Um, anyway. Sometimes, someone comes along and commands your attention. If you were lucky enough to attend the free (Yeah, that's right. FREE!) writer's conference at Agnes Scott College during the Decatur Book Festival, you may have been grabbed by any one of nine different writers!

Author N.M. Kelby grabbed my attention. There was no drifting off at all during her presentation on "How to Write Great Characters." She had so much good stuff to share, I don't know where to start. But according to this multi-published author, you should start your fiction story with a great character, because character-driven stories are selling.

And here's a list of what Ms. Kelby says fiction readers expect:

1. Your characters must either reveal themselves or change in some way. (Okay, that's standard fiction-writing procedure. But she had a lot to add. Which I'd remember if I took better notes.)

2. Readers want to identify with your hero. (Even with an unlikely hero, there must be something there the reader can relate to.)

3. Romances must be earned. (You can't tell me you don't feel like screaming when a romance is thrown in, all nice and tidy-like.)

4. Wrongs gotta be paid for, one way or another. (Does the word "guilt" ring a bell?)

There may have been a few others on the list, but that should get your great character started. Use dialogue and action to build your character, and write your heart.

Perhaps that was the real attention-grabber. Write your heart, and the great characters (and readers) will follow.

(Here's her latest books. Considering all the great info she shared (for free!), the least I can do is give her a shameless plug!)

Finding Something Friday on Pick-Your-Market-and-Submit

I found a warm-the-cockles-of-your-heart email in my Inbox this week. I heard from a writer friend of mine whose story had (sorta) been selected as a finalist in a contest. Terrific! And guess where she heard about that contest?

That's right. Here at the old Hall of Fame. I (sorta) didn't remember the contest, but that's beside the point. The point is that people actually win writing contests, or get their stories accepted at markets, all the time. Why can't that writer be you? So, here's a few places to submit:

Stories That Lift like (likes?) family-friendly fiction, between 50 to 2500 words. Pay is $5 to $20, enough to buy a cheeseburger or three. Read more about the guidelines here.

Cell Stories would love to put your short (1000 to 1500 words) story on miscellaneous cellphones. Unfortunately, they're not a paying market. But I mention them because they accept reprints. Maybe you've already sold a story or two, but wouldn't mind one bit sending it out there again, amongst the masses, into cellphone world.

Baconology, a soon to-be-published anthology of horror stories based on what I like to call PORK GOLD, will accept submissions until the anthology is filled. So don't lay about, like a pig in a sty, rolling around in the mud of story ideas. Get that psychotic pork plot on paper and send it in (more details here).

There, now. That should keep you busy till next Finding Something Friday. Meanwhile, I need to check the last few FSFs. 'Cause I kinda should be submitting something myself. (And by "something," I mean something other than whatever totally creepy, but scathingly brilliant, PORK GOLD story I write. Right after, um, lunch.)

Tooting My Horn Tuesday on the Old Goal-O-Meter

When I checked my old Goal-O-Meter last night, I realized that a. I've got just a few working months left for 2009 (Because let's be honest. We all know I'm not going to work in December.) And b. I've accomplished most of my goals!

Which is kinda amazing, considering my um, work ethic. Take, for example, today. I started out reading my email and saw a message about writer-ly quotes. Well, I had to check out Karen's post over at her blog, Musings of a Novelista, because you never know when you're going to need a nice, inspiring quote, right?

Thinking about writing quotes made me think of The Writer Mama Giveaway, so I had to scurry over there and check out what Christina Katz was giving away. And then I had to comment, 'cause you can't win if you don't comment. And just now, I had to check the url and ended up reading all the comments (already up to 20!)

Then, I had to find my camera, 'cause everybody likes a neat picture on a blog post...but would you believe I spent five whole minutes, trying to plug the wrong end of the cable into the computer? Eventually, it dawned on me to turn the dang cable around and try the other end, but time was a'wasting.

I suppose to the untrained eye, time-wasting would appear to be the essence of my work ethic. But think of all the interesting people and stuff I would have missed if I'd taken that direct path to my goals.

Which I've almost met-in September-thank you very much!