Tina Haapala, Excuse Editor

Since the last Scoop , I've come across a few more places you may want to submit your writing. Good Luck! They are sorted chronologically by deadline. September 30, 2011 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest Entry Fee: $7/every 25 lines First prize: $3,000. Second prize: $1,000. Third prize: $400. Fourth prize: $250. There will also be six Most Highly Commended Awards of $150 each. The top 10 entries will be published on the Winning Writers website. October 1, 2011 Mighty River Short Story Contest Entry Fee: $15 30 page max Prize: $500 and publication Consequence Prize in Poetry NO ENTRY FEE No More than 3 poems of any length (theme: consequence of war or social injustice) Prize: $200 Prolitzer Prize for Prose Writing Entry Fee:  £4 1500 word max Top Prize:  £130 and publication. Two runners up receive  £30 each. Do you have a book you are looking to publish? Coffee House Press is seeking submissions now through October 31. Please take a look at their web

The Help movie is still pulling in big numbers at the box office. I know of a few people who have watched it more than once. (A quick glance shows a movie called The Debt also generating a big following this weekend. Let's hear it for movies with strong female characters!) I hope that it continues to do well, and that people come away with plenty to discuss-- not only about race, but about class, parenting, and friendship. Final Lesson: You Are Not Alone Before the book with the baby-blue cover could be published, it had to get written. Before that, it had to be researched. In order to do that, a great number of people had to get together. The book Skeeter and Abilene worked so hard on was a collaborative effort, not just between the two of them, but with over a dozen other maids. Abliene's story alone wouldn't have been enough, neither would have Skeeter's, but once they were able to get other people to share, the work was, at times, unstoppable. Mill