Siliver Lining Contest from REDBOOK Magazine and Adams Media

Today's forecast for St. Peters, MO: High 71 degrees, chance of showers, but there's a silver lining on the horizon. Really!

Today's weather is a perfect opportunity to mention a contest I found out about from editor Colleen Sell, in the Cup of Comfort Community Bulletin. You can subscribe to the bulletin by clicking on the above link.

Adams Media, publisher of A Cup of Comfort series, and REDBOOK magazine are teaming up to sponsor a Silver Lining contest.

They are looking for personal essays between 1,000 to 2,000 words which tell how you've found the silver lining—what or who gave you inspiration, strength, hope, and comfort—during a personal challenge.

NOTE: I pulled these details from the March 20 issue of The Cup of Comfort Community Bulletin. Please click on the links below and read and follow carefully.

Grand-prize winner wins $1,000 and will also be excerpted in a future issue of REDBOOK and published in full on CupofComfort.com. Prizes will also be given to the authors of the three runner-up stories; these will be announced in REDBOOK and on CupOfComfort.com.
You must enter by May 15, 2009, and submissions will be accepted only through the online submission form. Make sure to select "Silver Lining Story Contest" on the pull-down menu of the form's "Select Cup of Comfort Book/Contest" field.

To submit a story, you must be a CupOfComfort.com member (Register Now) and logged into the site (Login Now).

Please note that the Silver Lining submissions are for the contest only and not for publication consideration in a Cup of Comfort book. Please also note that Colleen will not be involved in vetting stories or selecting winners for the Silver Lining contest. Instead, all entries will be reviewed by Meredith O'Hayre, the Cup of Comfort project editor at Adams Media, and REDBOOK editors will review the top 100 submissions and select the winning stories.
To learn more about the Silver Lining contest and for complete contest rules, click here.

Good luck to everyone who enters.

Now, for a little personal announcement--if you scroll down on the March 20 bulletin to the Cup of Comfort Author Appearances section you'll notice my name--Donna Volkenannt. I'm excited to be participating in the book signing at the Missouri Writers' Guild Conference at the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau, MO, on Saturday, April 4. I will be signing copies of A Cup of Comfort for Military Families, which includes my story "Welcome Home." If any of you will be attending the MWG conference or are anywhere near Cape from 5:15-7 p.m. on April 4, please stop by and say hello! I would love to meet you!