Holiday Big Kitties (in smaller domestic form), are you tangled in strings of sparkling lights? Your personal let's-be-merry imitation of a fun ball of yarn? Is that bright red ornament out of your clawing reach, or has it crashed to the floor, your prey now a triumph of tiny metallic pieces. Have you managed to victoriously topple that out-of-place tree while righteously launching yourself toward all the winged creatures, especially the one top. After all, aren't all angels supposed to be Cats? And those silly stars, glittering like the eyes of a yummy warm-blooded meal, well, who can resist that planning crouch, the fierce leap and final paw grab? And aren't all stars just heaven's beloved Cats shining their light benevolently upon the tiny Earth?
Yes, it's a Merry Catmas, a time for lavish use of claws and fangs, yes, a time to rip and shred the package wrappings into environmentally friendly scraps. Mother Earth must be served, after all, you smiling, tail swishing say, while sitting contentedly before the christmas red, but not merry face of your human.
Hey, Big Beautiful Cats, stroll on over to Title Magic for a wonderful and inspiring blog by Anna Campbell, a romance author from down under, Australia, where *loudly purring moi* would luv to prowling visit one day, when accidentally ending up on a terrorist list is a thing of the past. One of the most exciting meows about Anna's blog is the inside, behind-the-scenes look at what writers endure, how we, and she, persevere for our sacred calling.
Below is *smiling purr* moi's comment:
Hi Anna, your contest experiences and life experiences toward becoming published, are truly inspiring. Contests as I look back are like the first line of my wip -- curses or in this case, contests were strange beasts of irony, at least, as I've experienced them. I spent one year, 1999, doing nothing but entering every romantic chapter contest I could. The result, other than the absolutely fascinating and useful critiques, was a first place, a second place and a third place, all different stories. One thing I definitely gained was a new level of discipline, and a much better understanding of what was commercial and what was not in the world of romance writing. One judge so luved my entry she wrote me several personal gushing pages. I cried and cried. That same entry got one 'ten' in the Golden Heart that year, the highest at the time. Although, I absolutely love this novel, it may never see the published light of day because it is written in a style most readers won't enjoy. So it goes. But it kept me writing. Another great keep-me-on-track through Hades and back was a judge who wrote my opening prose of a dream the hero was having 'was pure genius and not to touch it'. So I never have changed it, another novella I luv, but may not get published. All this rambling, the point being, as you've expressed, there is tremendous value in the contest experience. Certainly, that is true for the American Title IV, which has opened several doors even though I was out the first round. I will say my experience of contests in 1999 and the ones I entered a couple of years ago, is different in that the critiques were much harsher and very limited in their writer vision. Why? I don't know. But I figured, I might as well get rejected by real publishers, rather than worry about chapter contests anymore. Which has proven to be a valuable strategy for me. Anna, thanks so much, you have given us the gift of your presence, the gift of your experience and the most important gift, your writing. Luv your website! Holiday Hugs!
Holiday Hugs from the Kougar...
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