9/2/10– A friend here in Sedona took her nephew to the local bank (one that has branches in his home town in California) to open a checking account with funds he had recently received.  He is 14 years old, in the 8th grade.  When he was required to write a signature, he could not.  He can only print it his name !!! Therefore, he can't open a checking account. He has never learned cursive writing.I met a retired teacher last Saturday at a Phoenix Writer Club meeting.  She says that cursive writing is no longer taught !!!Of course, this sent me and teacher friend in California (via email) into a flurry of investigation.  My CA teacher (PhD in English Lit) friend consulted with an elementary teacher who assured her that cursive is taught in the 3rd grade and reinforced with remedial training, if necessary, in the 5th grade.I suspect that the particular boy who can't do cursive is a special case.  He may just have refused to learn cursive and his parents did not insist?  and/or his teacher did not insist? But I am wondering about elementary schools here in Arizona.  If any of you out there in Blogland have information on this subject, please let me know. Thanks, Willma

8/30/10– I can't say that all my contacts with editors and contest chairmen have been worth remarking, but I recently submitted a short story (flash fiction) to a contest staged by The Missouri Writers Guild. After I had sent it, I reviewed it on my computer screen again (for the umpteenth time!) with the thought of possibly entering it in another contest.  To my horror I discovered that a key sentence was not in the version of the story I'd sent to the Missouri contest.  I quickly emailed the chairman asking if I could re-submit "Poetic Justice," explaining that  either I (or my new-to-me computer) had lost that sentence.The gracious contest chair responded that she will be glad to have the replacement Ms, adding that one time she  had left her entry fee check out of her submission.  The respondent kindly said she would hold the Ms until the check arrived.  My Missouri contest chair said that her own experience had made her vow that if she were ever a contest chair, she would also be "kind to the submitter."Nice to know there are empathetic contest chairs.  Of course, I will report on this later.  Meanwhile, because several contests for flash fiction do not require that they be the exclusive recipients of an entry, I have submitted that same story to a total of three contests.  Of course, if my entry makes it in any one of the three, the others will be notified immediately.   And I will report here.  Willma

8/28/10–Some of you who tune in to my Blog will have been personally thanked for your comments sent to me during the approximately six months when I did not blog regularly and failed even to open comments.A number of you offered suggestions, requests for my charges for editing, and news.  I appreciate all, and want to pass along this news from writer friend Kay Murphy in California who, like me, used Publish America.  I used them for my humorous novel, Something's Leaking Upstairs. She used this POD publisher for her Memoir, Tainted Legacy. Although 99% of the purchases of my novel have been the result of my appearances at writer meetings, retirement homes, etc. (three to five per appearance) Kay's recent appearances at the site of her Memoir in Missouri have totaled nearly 100 copies. That about doubles the sales she made during a similar return a year ago to that Missouri location.This is a reminder to all:  Be prepared to do your own promotion whether your book is self-published or released by a major commercial publisher.  That's the name of the game, these days.   I'll be Blogging more often in the near future, but not 5 days a week as originally (optimistically!) planned.  Until next time, Willma Gore