Hold Your Breath...For Four and a Half Months

Ladies and gentlemen, I am entering the Rooglewood Contest. You may have already known that, but then again, maybe you didn't. Now you do.
You can click on the link above to learn more about the contest. In fact, it's not too late if you want to enter. Basically, this particular contest asks that you write a short story or novella based on "Beauty and the Beast," but with your own twists. From the myriad of submitted entries, Rooglewood Press chooses 5 winners who are then plunged into the publishing process. Their stories are eventually marketed as a collection of retellings.
I would like to win. I can even say now that I am hopeful of winning. But I would still enter even if I knew that I wouldn't win. Why? Because whenever I take on a project like this, I come out of it a better writer than I went into it. The process of writing, the determination of finishing, the weeks of editing, and the leap of courage that it takes to submit my story -- these things mold me. I can look at my work and see that I have improved. And for me, that makes a contest worth it.
The hard part of the contest is the waiting part. Winners will be announced on March 1st, 2015. That is four and a half months away. It seems like forever.
I am reading through my story today, applying final touches before I send it. Even though the submissions deadline is in December, I hope that I can send mine this month...and that I remember to breathe.
I'll keep you posted...

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Goodbye and God Be With You

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