And The Next Contestant Is...

I can't decide whether to gush over "Act of Valor" or "Walking Dead" this morning, so I'm going to skip both for now and talk about writing contests.

I'm pretty new to this contest thing.  I joined RWA a couple of months ago and went to one chapter meeting...I'm definitely a "stick your toe in the water, wait five minutes, then submerge to one ankle" kind of a girl.  Let's not rush it!

But then, since I was finally an RWA member, my crit parters, Mary and Dawn, suggested that I enter something in the NTRWA Great Expectations contest...so, after a whopping 48 hours of furious editing and emailing back and forth, "I" entered.  I say "I", because if Mary and Dawn hadn't been willing to tear apart my entry six ways to Sunday, it wouldn't have gotten out the e-door. 

Anyway.

"I" placed fifth out of 13 in the Contemporary Series category, and got some great feedback.  Some of it was conflicting advice, which was also helpful...what one judge liked, another didn't.  So I kept that part. 

So now "I" have taken those suggestions; and have been tormenting Mary and Dawn again, and am going to enter NEORWA's Cleveland Rocks contest.  We'll see.  I may have edited the life out of it, but maybe not. 

I'm also going to be judging, which is going to be even more interesting!  I took a judging workshop, and learned a lot.  I'm practicing how to say "don't quit your day job" in different words.  Like:"Please keep writing in your spare time, some day you'll learn how to use "spell check.""

And, as The Big Guy often reminds me, I do know that I live in a glass house. 

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And now for something completely different: 



Last night was Zombie night. Yeah, I know, there was some awards show on, I did see J Low in a Saran Wrap dress, but I figure I'll get the highlights from MSN this morning and not have to sit through all the speeches and commercials. 

I know I've said it before, but I love, love, love AMC's Walking Dead.  They throw in a few nasty zombies every week, and last night's episode was especially crunchy and squishy.  But it's not about zombies.  It's about relationships.

Last night, Rick, who wears the white hat, had it out with his BFF Shane, who wears a camoflage hat. 

I totally think Shane (on the right there), is smoking hot.  It's that bad boy thing, dontchaknow.

Rick always tries to do the right thing...the traditional, what we all believe is the right thing thing. 
But the zombie apocalypse has come, and the rules have changed.  And Shane is working hard to redefine things.  It's not quite clear how pure his motives are, but he does what he does with a lot of angst and nice muscles.

My Kentucky girl is also a bit in love with Daryl, who wasn't on last night.  At. All. 

In the last episode, Daryl hinted that his unresolved childhood issues might be coming to the surface.  Okay, maybe "hinting" is a weak verb in this instance.  He pretty much went on a rant at Carol, his possible love interest, and it was pretty clear that he wasn't upset about what he said he was upset about.  That's as clear as the muddy water in an episode of Hillbilly Handfishing.  You just had to be there.  So maybe you should be there next week, and more will be revealed?

We also went to see Act of Valor yesterday.  That's the movie with the real-life Navy Seals.  It was pretty intense.  It also requires kleenex.