I also had red curls as a child, but my tendency to bare my teeth and occasionally swipe at people who touched me without invites with scissors or other sharp objects left me untugged.

Ha. I was cherubic with bright red hair and big blue eyes and dimples and skin so pale it could light rooms, and I quickly learned I'd get candy if I let Grandma's friends fuss. I was the adorable little girl with the bow in my hair that you want to smack for being so damned cute.

No wonder my older sister cut my hair off all the time.

There's film of me, night before my fifth birthday, serving as sister's flower girl.

My teeth are bared - totally feral snarl. I have roses and I'm flinging them as hard as I can into the guest's faces. Yes, I was in a bad mood - long story, mother gave me walnuts, almost died, brother put lifesized doll (something called Patty Playpal) as gift in chair in Montreal hotel for baby sister as pressie, baby sister woke up in night and thought it wsa dead murdered child and tried to claw through the wallpaper, also thought man sister was marrying was complete asshole (and was correct)...

Anyway. My red wisps were generally left alone.

baby sister woke up in night and thought it wsa dead murdered child and tried to claw through the wallpaper

ooo, plot bunny.

Cindy, yes, I pay entry fees--these things are basically big fat fundraisers for RWA chapters.

As for how worthwhile it is...that all depends. I think the feedback I got from one contest alone (the Molly) was worth the entry fees for all five of the contests I entered this year, because I got four judges who all understood what I was trying to to do and had ideas for how to strengthen it. 90% of the changes I just made to my first chapter came from their suggestions.

But the judge draw is a crapshoot. In another contest I had three judges who liked my writing but didn't understand/enjoy what I was trying to do with it. Other judges liked what I was doing, but not enough to give it a perfect score, and with few if any suggestions for improvement. Very frustrating.

Basically at this point I'm looking for whatever will improve my chances of getting published. I'd like to know if the edits I made to my first chapter improved it. Finaling in this contest would be one way to find out, but so would giving it to a fresh set of beta readers to see how they react.

Part of the reason I'm considering this is that the entry fee is the exact amount that I bid, and lost, on critiques from various authors and editors donated to help authors who lost their homes to Katrina, and the contest is sponsored by a Louisiana chapter who'll be donating a portion of the proceeds to hurricane relief. So it feels like it's just using money I'd already set aside. OTOH, I could just write a check to Habitat or the Red Cross and count on beta readers for feedback.

So I explained my current dilemna to my beta-readers and asked for feedback on some very specific points. Only one person has responded so far, but she brought up something that surprised me. She saw the protagonist as being rude and confused when interacting with one of the other characters, when I was actually going for "flusterred". Which I suppose is close, but rude implies more antagonism than I was going for. Guess I'll have to give their interaction a closer look.

Sometimes I think it would be easier to kill someone myself and get away with it than get that written murder right. but I have patience that's not.

Well, the murder might be quicker. Takes a lot less time to kill someone than write about it, but I'm not so sure about the getting away with it. (As far quickness goes.)

Plus, a murder mystery can entertain many, while an actual murder is sort of self-indulgent.

Of course, you don't really have to worry about someone giving your murder a bad review.

I don't think the DA would be too amused though. that counts.

True.