THE CAT’S MEOW
FOR WRITERS & READERS EZINE®
Not Your Typical Internet-based
Magazine!
Issue 38,
Vol. 08 © JANUARY 10, 2008 Ezine:
ISSN: 2237-65
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
PLEASE
NOTE: Although
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IN THIS ISSUE:
“Far From Home” by Sandra L. Hoynacki
BIRTHDAY
& ANNIVERSARY WISHES CORNER
COFFEE
HOUSE 4 POETS & WRITERS CORNER
FEATURED WRITERS, AUTHORS AND
POETS FOR JANUARY 2008:
“An Interview with Carol Roach” by Kathryn Esplin-Oleski
“The Habits of Love,” “The Blood Drive,” “Looking At
the Stars,” “Room Brighteners,” and “Connected”
“Storms,” “Green Grass of Home,” “Fragments of Time”
and “Far From Home” by Sandra
L. Hoynacki
“New Year’s Prayer” by Joan Clifton Costner
“Endure,” “The Forgotten,” “Little Girl Lost,” and
“Jesus Loves You” by Conrad
S. Cardinal
“For Rainbow” by Earla Jean Hollon
“Dreams of Reality,” “Growth in Spirit” and “Kiss of
Fate” by Shelly Wiseberg
“No Wonder Our Children Do Not Care Anymore” by Roger Dean Kiser
“Better In Blue,” “Initiation,” and “Leverage” by Luke Boyd
“Derby’s Retirement” by J.C. Breeze
“The Snowmen Passeth Away,” “Eyes of December’s
Midnight,” and “Winter Doldrums” by Carol Dee Meeks
“Legions of Christmas Legend” [Part II] by R. Thomas Thompson
“Hollywood Writers Strike Hurting Legitimate Writers
Outside of La La Land” by
Lance Winslow
“Communicating with Confidence Takes Preparation” by Sharon A. Michaels
“Five Ways to Shine as a Professional Writer” by Dana Blozis
“The Myth of Writers Block – 2008, The Year You Stop
Thinking And Write” by Susan Scharfman
“The Business of Christian Writing” by Athena Dean
“Writing Tip – Don’t Ruin Your Image!” by Steve Osborne
“What Can a Naked Couple Teach You about Attracting
Readers for Your Writing?”
by Jurgen Wolff
(Where the Best of Contemporary Literature BOOKS
Can be Purchased By New and Established Authors!)
ROSANNE CATALANO
Happy New Year and WELCOME TO 2008!
I pray that you had
a beautiful holiday season. And that your New Year is filled with love,
happiness, health and lots of prosperity! Can you believe its 2008 already?! I can’t! I also cannot believe that this coming
June I am going to be 50 years old…It blows my mind that I’m going to be 50! Oh
my, the wording I just used does give my age away lol. However, for the first
time in my life I made New Year’s ResolutionsJ.
In the past I never did because I was never sure I would be able to keep them. But
this year I decided my resolutions would be to finish writing my third book (my
1st fiction novel), get it published, and to also upgrade The Cat’s
Meow for Writers & Readers a bit. So I revamped this issue by taking out
the Feature Article
column, starting with this month’s issue. But the Helpful Nonfiction Articles
column will remain; as will the other sections. And I have put indents in columns,
stories and articles; poems will remain the same, centered on their page. Please
know that I will always keep you informed whenever upgrades are made; for you
are what fuels the continuation of The Cat’s Meow for Writers & Readers. And I am so thankful to have your continued support!
I, in turn, would
like to ask an urgent favor… the favor is a prayer request! And it’s for
Sandra Hoynacki’s
mom, who is extremely ill at this time. Sandra Hoynacki, as you all know, is a regular
writing contributor for this magazine. She’s also a friend of mine. So I
urgently ask for you to please pray for Sandra’s
mom just now… I thank you, and I know Sandra thanks you too!
Also, my heartfelt
condolences go out to Maria Barone on the loss of her dear friend Lillian
Martin.
Maria Barone, as you may or may not know,
was once a writing contributor for this magazine. I’m sorry for your loss Maria… I only found out this month, through the
town-grapevine, that Lillian passed away on September 12th, 2007;
hence the reason my condolences are only being sent now! I fondly remember
standing side-by-side with Lillian and having long conversations with her while
we both fed the stray cats in the apartment building courtyard. She will never
be forgotten…
Although what I’m
now going to write about is NOT what I wanted to talk about in the New Year, I
felt compelled to
put pen to paper after reading in the newspapers about yet another house fire. I
had mixed emotions about this particular fire though. The house fire happened a week before
Christmas. Only this one was not in The Bronx but in
I’m sure you are
wondering why I was compelled to write about what some may consider a bad thing
happening. Well, the reason I told of this little
boy’s altruism is because there are not enough people like Tommy Monahan in
this world; people who would risk their own lives to save the life of another,
especially not the life of an animal. “They were only animals!” some would say.
But to me, and to Tommy Monahan, they were cherished and loved and God’s
children too. There is also a big lesson
to be learned… never go back inside your home if it’s on fire once you are
safely outside. And to make sure you have a Fireman decal on your window or
windows, to warn the firefighters there are animals inside to be saved.
Reading about this
tragedy made me realize yet again how very important it is that we all know
what to do in
case of a house and/or apartment fire! Would you know what to do? I know the
first thing I would do is make sure to get my husband and two fur-babies
outside to safety; never mind saving material possessions! The other thing is
to have a Fireman decal notifying the firefighters that we have animals; in
case we’re not able to get our felines outside with us. I just got myself a Fireman decal that will let firefighters know that my
husband and I have animals inside our house. And I believe that everyone should
ask their nearest Fire Department for one of these decals, whether or not you
live in a house, apartment, condo or co-op! Especially if your animals decide
to hide because they’re frightened of the smoke and flames (which I’m guessing
is what happened with the nine year olds’ pets.) My condolences to Tommy
Monahans’ surviving family…
So
that this little boy and his pets’ lives were not in vain, please become
informed. Go to your Fire Departments’ web site to find out more about what to
do in case your house is on fire. You can also go to PetPlace.com
for Fireman decals (dogs & cats).
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