Wednesday, August 11, 2021

2020 Cat Writers' Association Certificate of Excellence

I know a lot of people got a ton of writing done last year during the pandemic, but that wasn't the case for me. In fact, I had a terrible writing year, mostly due to family stresses that completely zapped my creativity. 

When the time came to choose my entries for the 2020 Cat Writers' Association Communications Contest, I found only one piece of writing to be worthy of consideration. 


Last summer our friends Dawn, Lola, and Lexy at Lola the Rescued Cat's blog asked us to submit Mudpie's story to their Rescue Stories series. We were so honored to be asked and couldn't wait to put paws to keyboard.

We entered Mudpie: She Mended Her Mom's Broken Heart in the Written Article: Feline-Human Bond category, a category I've never entered before but felt was the most fitting...

This category includes pieces that are written to examine and celebrate the joys and challenges of sharing our lives with cats, and pieces that will help cat owners better understand how cats relate to us and how we can share our lives with them in the most satisfying ways. Pieces should include an emotional tie between the human and the cat. Includes but is not limited to: personal-perspective pieces exploring the human-cat relationship, featuring individual cats and their people and how they enhance each other’s lives; profiles of individual cats and their owners and their lives together; memoirs of life with a particular cat or cat family; issues surrounding cat loss: preparing for loss; euthanasia decisions; grief; mourning; etc. If photos and graphics are used, they should enhance the piece and be specific to the topic at hand.


I'm so excited to announce that last week we found out we won a Certificate of Excellence for the article! While I may have only submitted one entry this year, I couldn't be happier that it's for Mudpie's story. My precious little girl deserves to have the spotlight on her for once, even though we found each other under such heartbreaking circumstances.

I can hardly believe that in 5 years I've now won 15 Certificates and 2 Muse Medallions. Never in my wildest dreams did I think such a thing was possible when I joined the CWA back in 2013. Cats are my greatest passion and being recognized for my writing about them is truly a dream come true.

15 comments:

Summer at sparklecat.com said...

Congratulations on such a meaningful Certificate of Excellence!

Mickey's Musings said...

Congratulations!!!
Mudpie's story of how she and you found each other is a good one and it is pawsome to see it recognized :)
Purrs, Julie

The Island Cats said...

Congratulations on your COE! So well deserved.

ZOOLATRY said...

Well deserved, Melissa ... as always. Your writing is passionate, your photography shows your love of Mudpie. Together they speak to all who share love for our cats. Congratulations.

Patricia T said...

Congratulations!

The Florida Furkids said...

ConCatulations!!!

Brian's Home Blog said...

Congrats on the Certificate of Excellence, that's really wonderful!

Hairballsandhissyfits.com said...

congrats on an incredible Certificate of Excellence! Such a lovely story and Mudpie does indeed deserve accolades for helping to mend your heart!

pilch92 said...

Congrats on your much deserved certificate. XO

Leah said...

Many congrats and concats on your COE! The kitties and I are happy for you!

Sandee said...

Way to go. What an honor.

Have a fabulous day. Scritches to precious Mudpie. ♥

catladymac said...

Concatulations !

meowmeowmans said...

That's so wonderful! Congratulations on your well-deserved accolades!

Three Chatty Cats said...

Congratulations!

Valentine said...

I'm so excited for you, Miss Melissa! If I could congratulate you in purrson, I would give you a great big wiggle with my floofy tail and kisses on your cheeks with my lil' tongue.