By Cheryl Rushing

For Christmas 2007, one of the gifts my husband got me was a gift certificate to a writing class put on by an adult continuing education group here.  It was a 6-week course starting in January of 2008 and was probably one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten.

The instructor was Lisa Wroble.  Lisa is a real-life, honest-to-God WRITER, as in, that’s pretty much all she does (and she makes a living at it!).  The very first night of class she talked about her life and her work and I realized that she was where and who I wanted to be.

We’ve kept in touch sporadically since class ended in February 2008, so I was hoping she’d agree to meet with me and have dinner so I could pick her brain.  She was gracious enough to do so last night.

That 2.5 hours flew by so fast I can’t believe it.  We ate a little, we talked a lot, and I got some of the best advice I could have ever received. 

I’m rethinking my goals, I’ve got a good idea of where to go from here, and I’ve got to take a long hard look at what in my life is either (1) keeping me from getting there, or (b) not necessary to my operations.

As I told her last night, I’m incredibly lucky to have family, friends and a husband who believe in me and support me in what I want to do.  But no one  gets “it” like another writer.

Thanks for the great evening, Lisa!

On Saturday morning I attended my first meeting of the Gulf Coast Writers Association.  I’ve heard about this organization from other writers that I trust, and the meeting did not disappoint.  In fact, I’ll be joining the group at the next meeting.

Along with old business and new business, they have a speaker, and this week, at least, a lesson.  The lesson was on apostrophes.

There was an editor at the meeting, and she proposed the question to the group (which was about 60 total) asking where would you put the apostrophe in this sentence:

“The food festival was made up of some of the area’s finest restaurants.”

Now, I have put the apostrophe in the proper place, after area, which indicates possession.  The finest restaurants belong to the area, so the area possesses them. 

I was amazed at how many people wanted to argue for no apostrophe.  Professional writers, even!

I am a stickler for punctuation, and I really enjoyed the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. It’s a fun and somewhat snooty look at common punctuational errors and their correct usages.

Highly recommended! 

I’m always on the lookout for writing opportunities, and one of the ways I do that is by keeping track of the RSS feeds of searches for certain sites, including craigslist.  I haven’t found anything viable yet, but hope springs eternal.

Anyway, the following two items popped up in my search feed sometime over the weekend and I had a little bit of a chuckle:

I am a writer and need a job (redacted)
hey im 16 years of age and i am a writer, its been my passion since i could draw little story using my crayons and paper. im about to start publishing my book of potery and i have worked for the school newspaper. but i need a more reliable job. so if there is a job out there that could suit my writing ablilitys let me know.

RE: I Am A Writer (redacted)
DUDE!!! 
STAY IN SCHOOL AND WORK ON YOUR GRAMMAR AND SPELLING. BOOK OF POTERY?

Now, I didn’t post the reply, though when I see things like this I often wish that I had the nerve.  If I did, I wouldn’t be quite so in-your-face or ALL IN CAPS.  I would probably send this kid an e-mail.

A few weeks ago I was looking at some postings on a freelance job board, and there was someone looking for copyediting work and his/her profile drove me nuts.  So much misspelling, so much improper grammar.  My guess is the jobseeker was not a native English speaker.

If you want to be a writer, your best friends should be spellcheck and a good editor BEFORE you hit publish.

My good friend Jane Kennedy Sutton just sent me the following e-mail:

I will be signing copies of The Ride at Barnes and Noble, 5377 Tamiami Trail North in Naples on Saturday, March 14, 2009, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Familiar, friendly faces are much appreciated so if you have the opportunity, please drop by. It would be helpful and also very much appreciated if you would pass the word along to friends, family and anyone you happen to pass on the street!
 
Thanks.
 
Jane Kennedy Sutton
Author of The Ride
http://janesutton.com/
http://janekennedysutton.blogspot.com/

The Ride is a fantastic book.  I can tell you that because not only was I one of the people who critiqued it, but I enjoyed every minute of it AND I own an autographed copy.

If you like contemporary women’s fiction with a twist, you will love The Ride.  Please go out, buy the book and get Jane to sign it for you.  She’s an incredible writer!

My second (and final) article on Project PayDay went live yesterday at I’ve Tried That.  Here it is:  Can You Make Money With Project PayDay?

My regular monthly writers meeting with Florida Writers Association, scheduled for this Saturday, has been rescheduled for next Saturday.

We’re also starting up writing challenges again!  This month’s theme?  WEDDING DAY.

Something tells me I already have something written on this…

The following is my entry in the WritersWeekly Winter 2009 24-hour Short Story Contest:

“If any of you can show just cause why they should not be married, speak now; or else for ever hold your peace.”

A cough at the door of the chapel door made them all turn.  The pastor shot his wife a concerned look.

Suddenly the dark foyer was filled with pale pink light.  A dazzling woman emerged, looking like a cross between a jewelry box ballerina and Glinda the Good Witch.

The pastor cleared his throat.  ”I thought I told you not to come back here.” he addressed the apparition.

The witch moved closer, filling the room with the same pale pink glow.  She came within an arm’s length of the bride and groom and stopped,smiling at them.

“Who are you?”  the bride asked.

“I am the Marriage Fairy, my dear.  I am here to save you.”

“To save me?”  the bride looked confused.

The pastor shoved roughly between the couple and shook his finger at the fairy.  ”I told you not to come back here!”

“What is the meaning of this?” the groom demanded.  He side-stepped the pastor and took his shaken bride by the arm.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,”  the bride whimpered.

“I am here to save you, my dear.  You are making a terrible mistake,” the fairy started to come closer, then pointed her star-shaped pink wand at the pastor and the groom.  Pink sparks shot from the end, and both men were pushed backward a few feet.  When they tried to recover, they were rooted in place.

The pastor’s wife began to twitter and flutter a handkerchief in front of her face.  ”Oh dear, oh dear!”

“I’m not making a mistake,” the bride said, lifting her chin.  ”I’m marrying the man of my dreams.”

“Oh, my sweet deluded girl,” the fairy giggled.  ”You’re no different from any other bride.”

“I think you should leave,” the groom said.  He was rewarded with a shower of pink sparks, and a span of pink duct tape appeared over his mouth.

“Dear child, you must listen to me.  You cannot marry this man.  The consequences would be dire!”

“How dare you say such a thing about the man I love!”

“Let me show you,” the fairy said.  She stepped closer to the bride and held out her hands.  ”Do you want to see?”

The bride thought for a moment and nodded.  The fairy placed her hands on the bride’s cheeks, and told her to close her eyes.

When she did, she found a movie inside her eyelids.  There she was with her husband on their honeymoon.  There he was carrying her over the threshold of an impressive house in an exclusive gated community.  Then they were having candlelit dinners, and soon her belly began to swell with a baby.

As the baby grew, her husband began to spend more time at the office.   He stopped bringing flowers and picking up his dirty socks.  As she aged her hips widened and her face cracked with wrinkles, while her husband grew more dashing.  She saw him stepping out with beautiful young women, while she sat at home trying to keep his dinner warm.  Finally, she saw him packing his things and leaving her crying and alone.

The fairy took her hands away, and wiped tears from the bride’s cheeks.  ”There, there, my sweet.  It doesn’t have to be that way.”

The bride gulped back a sob.  ”That was awful.  I can’t possibly marry him.”

“That’s right, my dear.  It would be a terrible mistake.”  The fairy smiled and turned away, but the bride grabbed her sleeve.

“Wait!” she cried.  ”Show me the man I’m meant to marry, so I can go and find him.”

The fairy stopped short, back rigid.  She took a deep breath, turned back to the bride and smiled, showing her perfect white teeth.  ”I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way.”

“What do you mean?” the bride asked.

“I can only save you from making the mistake.  Finding the right man is up to you.”

The bride crossed her arms across her bodice and glared at the fairy.  ”So you can come in here and ruin my wedding by showing me what a horrible marriage this will be, but you can’t show me the man I’m supposed to marry?”

The fairy nodded.  ”That’s right.”

The bride thought about this for a long moment.  Then she took a breath, turned her back on the fairy and nodded at the pastor.  ”Let’s get this show on the road.”  She walked over to the groom and took his hand.

“But wait!” the fairy said.  ”What are you doing?”

The bride looked back over her shoulder.  ”Marrying this man.  You showed me what the future might be like with this man, but not who would be better for me.”

“You would marry him, even knowing what the future holds?”

The bride smiled at her future husband.  ”That would have been my future if you hadn’t shown it to me.  But now?  I can change it.”

The WritersWeekly.com 24-Hour Short Story Contest Winter 2009 Winners List has been posted.  My name is not on it.

I must admit the winning entry is quite good, but this contest is seriously messing with my self-esteem.  I think I’ve entered it for the last time.

My entry will be posted later this week.

Not even an honorable mention?  Gah.

I was looking at this blog the other day and thinking that it was missing something. Oh, yeah! CONTENT.

I’m finishing up my second article for I’ve Tried That and just pitched a third one to them, which they have agreed to.

I’m still waiting on the results from the WritersWeekly.com’s 24-Hour Short Story Contest, and contemplating whether I will be entering the Spring 2009 version.  I was thinking about posting my entry, but I am going to wait until the results for the winter contest are posted.

At the end of last year I applied for a super secret agent position at I’ve Tried That to check out a money-making opportunity called Project PayDay.

The article has been written, and it’s posted here. Please drop by and take a look.

A Deeper Look Into Project PayDay.

I’ll be writing a follow-up article next week, so stay tuned!