Naughty? Or Nice?

          The deadline for "Fifty Shades of Santa" submissions is hurtling towards us. Romance...humor...nothing sexually explicit is what they're looking for.  I can do funny and I can do not-raunchy, but romance? Not really. 

photo by floridapfe

         Last night I took my "Santa" story to my writing critique group. Helpful and encouraging and on-point they were, as usual. And it reminded me of more reasons why writing critique groups are so valuable:

1.  You'll get a speeding ticket when you leave your critique group. Okay, I didn't get caught by the police speeding when I left the WWWPs last night, but I was exhilirated and I was speeding--until I slowed down, realizing that the police would probably not consider "I'm-so-excited-because-writing-outside-of-my-box-is-so-fun-and-they-kinda-liked-my-story" as a valid excuse for breaking the law. Do you think I was right?

2. Any intestinal blockage (or blockage of any other kind) will clear up. Instantly. Someone (we won't mention names) brought brownies that included pureed prunes as one of the ingredients. Hopefully, too many explosions didn't occur as a result of that culinary debacle. What's that you say? You're stopped up creatively? A writing critique group will start the creative juices flowing again, too.

3.  The chance to open your mouth, gaping, in awe. In one evening, writers share stories that are heart-wrenchingly tender, gut-bustingly funny, and sobbingly-sad. All in one night. 

     I'm encouraging you, before it's too late, to send in your holiday romance stories to mizgotrocks@wt.net  Pat Smith of Welkin Press is eagerly anticipating a flood of stories.  Make sure they're 2,000-8.000 words long, and make sure you don't wait too long...the deadline is September 30.

      Donna, thanks for posting this call. And Lisa--I expect to be competing with you for a spot in this anthology. So if you haven't already written and sent off something, you'd better get your rear in gear...

And please check out my guest post on "The Muffin" where I explain the real difference between men and women--and whether you agree or disagree, please leave a comment.

I'm a Woman...W-O-M-A-N, I'll Say It Again

      How much mileage can you get out of a scraped scalp? Apparently a lot.

     A year or so ago, I got my head caught in the sink at work. I was trying to save $5. Washing my hair so I wouldn't have to pay my hair stylist an extra fee... After the shampooing was finished, I was going to drive quickly to my appointment, so my hair would still be damp when I arrived.

      That was the plan, anyhow. Since the sink was incredibly small, the faucet was huge (and apparently I was incredibly cheap), it ended up a bit of a mess.

        Because.

        My head.

        Got.

        StuckanditwasaonestallbathroomandIhaddeadbolteditsoIwasREALLYstuck!

         Within the last week, I've gotten the news that Mozark Press is publishing my fictionalized story of this hair-raising experience. My blogging buddy Lisa Ricard Claro and my fellow WWWP (Wild Women Wielding Pens) Linda O'Connell also have stories in this anthology. 

          Today I got an email telling me my nonfiction version is going to be part of Publishing Syndicate's first book in the Not Your Mother's Book series; it's titled On Being a Woman and will be released on October 9.

           See? A bit of flesh left on a faucet goes a long way...

         What kind of tidbit of life experience have you used in several ways--morphing it for various publications or contests? Or What was the stupidest thing you ever did?(Getting my head held hostage by a faucet is not one of my brighter moments, for sure.)