The Perfect Gift

A few weeks ago, Bogey had his fifth birthday. He remains as much a pistol as ever (see my story in Chicken Soup: I Can't Believe My Cat Did That-available September, 2012)

I can't ignore the fact that one of his favorite activities (and most annoying habits) is sipping water straight from the faucet. Never mind if you're trying to brush your teeth or wash your face. He'll meow, push up against you, and be a general pest, until you let him slurp from the cool stream.

That's why I figured that his own personal drinking fountain would make The Perfect Gift. He could have flowing water whenever he wants. And I could wash my face in peace.

I placed the order and the mailman delivered a box only two days later (no kidding!) containing The Perfect Gift. I put it together, filled it with water, and plugged it in.

That The Perfect Gift is popular, could be described as an understatement.

The third fountain fan is visiting grand-dog, Tinker Bell.

Now wouldn't you think that The Perfect Gift would keep Bogey out of my bathroom sink? No such luck. Apparently he still enjoys having a drink with Mom as much as having a drink with his friends. I think he gets that from his Dad.

Anyway, I just received The Perfect Gift, too.

A writer friend announced a couple of weeks ago that her story made it into final round for Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Power of Positive, to be released in October, 2012. I had made it through first round for that book, too, but heard nothing about making final round. So I figured I'd be getting the dreaded "Sorry we couldn't use your story" email. I sulked around the house in a most unpositive fashion as I waited for the bad news. But a few days later, lo and behold, I got an acceptance email, too!

I have to pinch myself to be sure I'm not dreaming. That will be three CS books in 2012. Unheard of...at least for me.   : )

I tried to figure out what I'd done differently. Better writing? Kinder editors?

Nope. I think it's because I'm submitting more stories than I've done in the past...at least one story a month to the CS people. The moral to my story is this: keep sending out those submissions if you want to be published. Your persistance will eventually bear fruit.

On the other hand, you could deduce that sending one story a month to CS and having only 3 selected is not a terrific statistic. But who wants to be a Negative Nellie? My batting average may be low, but at least I'm still in the game.