A Mother's Day Gift

By Catherine Giordano

I got my Mother's Day gift today

I received my 10 copies of Not Your Mother's Book: On Being a Mom the publisher sends to contributors.  I dropped everything in a rush to see my story in print  Then I read a few other stories at random.  I was so impressed.  What an honor to be included in this book with these other great authors. 

Every mother or mother-to-be or everyone who has--or who has ever had--a mother will enjoy these stories.  

I will thank my son for this gift.  Without him, I wouldn't have had a story to tell.  And I would not have had the wonderful experience of being a mother.  His mother.

Use  the link in the text above to go to amazon.com to "look inside" or to order a copy. 

P.S. Don't let the cover fool you into thinking that these stories are about mother-child conflict. The stories cover the joys as well as the trials of motherhood. Some of the stories are sweet, but never sappy. Some of the stories touch on the difficulties of motherhood, but there are no sad or tragic stories.  All the stories are fun reads for contemporary times. 

I Took First Prize

By Catherine Giordano

Forgive me. I have to show off. I took first place in The Maitland Poetry contest on Friday. There were three judges and the poems were judged without the poet's name attached to insure it was a fair contest.

It was only a small contest—only 20 poems were entered. But some of the best poets from the Central Florida area were in contest. To top it off—there was a cash prize. So now I can say I have actually earned money from my poetry.  (Not counting the money I have earned from the sale of my poetry books.) 

Please share this post by tweeting, "liking" on facebook, and "+1 ing"

I want everyone to know about my success.

Please click the amazon shopping cart (above left) to buy from amazon.com,

maybe even one of my books.

This poem, “Safe Harbor,” has a long history. It became about two years ago as a prose piece written to a prompt a writing workshop. It felt poetical so I transformed it into a poem.  Every few months, I’d go back to it and revise it.  It’s been revised about four or five times.

I almost didn’t enter the contest.  A friend reminded me about the contest the day before the deadline.  On the final day, I tweaked the poem again, and I submitted it via the internet.

The theme was “Explore Your World.” I thought this poem about sleeping on a sailboat—“Anchor your sailboat in the crook of a cove” it begins. But like many poems, it veers off in an unintended direction. It turns into a poem about the place of the earth in the universe and it’s about the earth being our mother. It ends “Sleep in the womb of the world.”

The poem may have won the contest, but the poem continues to be a work in progress.  I thought of another revision last night.  

I've gotten great reviews for my first book of poetry, The Poetry Connection.  Check them out at amazon.com

 

Just in Time for Mother's Day

Buy this book on amazon.com

The book is finally out!  Not Your Mother's Book: On Being a Mom is available in print.  It includes my creative non-fiction story "The Accidental Kidnapper."  The story takes a look at how it feels to be adopted as an "older child."  My son was 5 years old when I adopted him.  (I think the story title gives it away a bit.)

It is available on amazon.com.  (It may say "available for pre-order," but that is just a lag in the system.  The publisher tells me that amazon has copies right now.)

I should be getting my own hard copies in a few days now.  I can't wait to hold it in my hands and see my story in print.  also, I'm looking forward to reading the other amazing stories by the other moms. 

The book is also available as an ebook on Smash Words and as a Nookbook on Barnes and Noble. 

\Mother's Day is coming up.  This book makes a great gift.
Flowers wilt and die. Candy gets eaten (and goes straight to the hips). A book is forever.

Please use my links on this page to buy it. And that will be your Mother's Day gift to me.