Writer's Contests or how to frighten away your family and friends

      I've been entering contests to help me with getting published. Usually, I send in a story prompted by the promoters of the contest. They suggest what they're looking for and you submit with the hope of winning. Most of the time, the prize is a free editing of your work, a valuable offer. But some contests give out cash prizes, just as good

    My trilogy is a supernatural/ sci-fi romance, very dark. But my blogs are about life in general, my crazy life in particular, and the many adventures with my grandchildren. I feel like a person with a split personality because it's so easy for me to shift from one genre to another.

     Well this past week, I entered one of my blogs in the Midlifecollage.com site. This site showcases stories of a certain age, my age group or as the youngest grandson tells me, "The old writer's page." He's still alive because he's so darn cute and he keeps me humble.

     This site is different than the other sites I submit stories to because it isn't the Editor or Publisher voting on the best story, but other writers and anyone interested in reading good stories. My story was posted on Monday the 9th and it ended today. The prize is fifty dollars, but the money is not what drew me to this site, it was the chance to get a story published.

     The week before the 9th, I sent out a mass e-mail campaign asking friends and family to vist the site and comment. I resent the e-mail again on the 8th and then I began to check the site daily, to see how I  compared to the other worthy contestants. I found myself in a neck to neck race with another writer, and I began to badger, bribe and nag my friends and family to please log on and comment.

     Did I say nag? Well I did, oh yeah. My family stopped answering the phone, probably sick of my calling them and asking if they could maybe get their neighbors to visit the site and comment. The other day, I stopped by my sister's house to visit. I knew she was home, her car was parked in front of the house and her T.V. was on, but as I peeked through the curtains, the place appeared empty. Was my constant pleading causing her to hide in the coat closet in fear of me asking her to go through her phone book to ask her prayer group to comment on my story? Probably. Do I blame her, no, I can be a bit obsessive. Both my parents had OCD and as the first born, I inherited the double whammy of OCD.

    I don't know the results of this contest yet, but I think I'll wait a while before entering another contest. I like my family and friends and don't want to drive them mad. So for all you poor people, you know who you are because I hounded you on facebook, e-mail and phone, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your support and love and patience. You have given me the courage to dream and to act on a dream.

     Love you all...although, I did see another contest featured in Writer's digest...Hmm!!!