As you all know, I do not normally post on Thursdays.
That is because Thursday is my day for lying on the couch eating bonbons.
I am making an exception today because I have something VERY important to discuss with you.
Something that I know has been weighing as heavily on your minds as it has on mine.
Something very crucial!
Something so earth-shatteringly important that it probably kept you up all night!
So let's just lay it out on the table, shall we?
What is the deal with nuts in dessert items?
I'm serious! Whose idea was that???
Obviously a dessert like pecan pie requires nuts. I'm okay with that.
But brownies, cookies, and ice cream were made to be fudgy, chewy, and creamy respectively. I'm sure you can see how adding hard, crunchy nuts is totally counter to the texture experience and therefore to the true enjoyment of said desserts! Such appalling effrontery!
I think it's high time we take a stand, don't you?
NO MORE NUTS! NO MORE NUTS!
What?
You think I'M nuts???
I won't lie. I'm a little hurt.
Sad face.
Sniffle-sniffle.
Were you expecting a discussion on another topic?
I'm not sure anything needs our attention as much as the ongoing nuts/no nuts debate...
...except maybe...
THE WINNERS OF
The 5th Annual HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST!!!!!
WA-HOOOOOOO!!!!!
(But wait! Before I announce, do you want to state your opinion on whether nuts belong in dessert items?
No? You're sure?
Alrighty then. Don't say I never gave you a chance to be heard :))
As you are all aware by now, we had a record turnout for the Halloweensie Contest - 145 entries! (Plus 2 that came in after the deadline!) Holy Halloweensie! Who'd-a-thunk it?
I was thrilled beyond measure to see so many wonderful stories and meet so many new writers!
But with large entry numbers come hard choices. My assistant judges and I worked hard to winnow the total down to a manageable number of finalists that we felt were truly all-around deserving of that distinction, and those were the ones we presented to you on Monday for your vote.
There were, however, many other entries that were outstanding in certain areas even though they might not have qualified all-around for one reason or another (one reason being that, at a certain point, we just had to stop adding finalists to the list! :))
So my assistant judges and I would like to award recognition and a small prize to the following authors for the following merits:
1. For
Honorable Mention In The Competition As A Whole:
Mishka Jaeger for
The Little Trick-or-Treater Vivian Kirkfield for
Halloween Fever Sandy Jones for
Frank-N-Stein's Store Gabi Snyder for
Jack's First Night (which could also have placed in Best Original POV for being told from a pumpkin's viewpoint!)
2. For
Best Entry For Teen Readers:
Lori Dubbin for
Indelible! (beautifully done!!!)
3. For
Great Kid Appeal: (not already in the finals)
Charlotte Dixon for
Arabella's Web Stacy Jensen for
Gilda's Zombie Fix Julie Rowan-Zoch for
Creeeaak.... Shaelyn Berg for
Scaredy House Saundra Jones for
Halloween Countdown (youngest readers)
4. For
Best Descriptive/Mood Piece:
Rosi Hollinbeck for
The Halloweensie Party Becky Shillington for
Monster Bash5. For
Best Use of Poetic Language:
Randi Sonenshine for
March Of The Gargoyles Suzy Levinson for
Trick For Treats6. For
Spookiest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Bradin Farnworth for
Buddy Amanda Sincavage for
The Haunted Dash7. For
Funniest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Stephanie Salkin for
Mummy Unveiled (which also had great poetic language!)
Mike Allegra for
Night Ninja 8. For being
Judge #3's Favorite Entry :)
Lynne Pisano for
Boo Who? 9. For
Best Written Original Point of View:
Johnell DeWitt for
Dark's Knight (POV of the dark!)
Marlaina Gray for
YIPE! (POV of a terrier :))
10. For
Originality/Creativity:
Carrie Burrows for
Sophie And The Teal Pumpkin (because we learned about the Teal Pumpkin for allergy-sensitive trick-or-treaters!)
11.
For Favorite Character:
Lisa Riddiough for
Mo, The Ghost Who Said MooCongratulations to all of you for fantastic elements of your stories! You may all email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com to collect your prize, which is your choice of
one of the following: (the titles are all links so you can go see what they're about)
For Kindle:
Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard, OR
Rhyming Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard, OR
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Expression by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi , OR
The Postitive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Attributes by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, OR
The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Flaws by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, OR
In paperback:
Show & Tell In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions From Telling To Showing by Jessica Bell, OR
Creating Extraordinary Characters by Angela Hunt, OR
Evoking Emotion by Angela Hunt, OR
Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard, OR
Rhyming Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard
Now then. A word about the prizes before I announce the winners.
We have 9 fabulous prizes, generously donated by authors and various professionals in the writing field. My policy is to let the first place winner have first pick of all the prizes, the second place winner have second choice, etc. That way hopefully nobody gets something they already have, and hopefully everyone gets something that's valuable to them. All prizes are listed at the bottom of this post for your convenience in perusing the goodies :)
Now.
Finally!
Onto the moment you've all been waiting for. . .
. . . the reason you got out of bed this morning. . .
. . . to tell the world once and for all how you feel about nuts in your dessert!
. . . THE WINNERS OF THE 2014 HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST as chosen by you, our esteemed voters!!!!!
In First Place, winner of the whole entire contest and top of the heap who gets first choice of all the prizes...
Shelley Kinder
for
A Meaty Trick-or-Treat
Congratulations, Shelley, on a delightful entry that was all around well done and clearly very popular!!!
In Second Place,
Sam Steinfels
for
Spooky Spies
Congratulations, Sam, on an exceptionally clever premise beautifully executed! You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Shelley chooses!
In Third Place, a tie!!! between
Marla Lesage Polly (sorry I don't know your last name!) for for
Pirate Prepares For Halloween Nothing To Wear
Congratulations, Marla and Polly, on entertaining, well written entries that we all loved! You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Shelley and Sam choose!
In Fifth Place, a three-way tie!!!
Buffy Silverman Cathy Mealy Jana Locke
for for for
Spider's Halloween Debut Goodnight Halloween The Unicorn Ate My Candy Corn:
A Halloween Tall Tale
Congratulations, Buffy, Cathy and Jana, on your wonderful entries! You get to pick your prizes after Shelley, Sam, Marla and Polly!
In Eighth Place,
Patricia Nozell
for
Leila's First Halloween
Congratulations, Patricia, on a standout entry that was markedly different from the others with its unique theme! You get to pick your prize after Shelley, Sam, Marla, Polly, Buffy, Cathy, and Jana!
In Ninth Place, Julie Abery for The Teensy-Weensy Witch! Congratulations, Julie! What a determined little witch! You get the idea of the prize picking by now I'm sure :)
And, I don't think I need to remind anyone that in addition to all these fabulous prizes, everyone mentioned on this page has bragging rights as having won or placed in the Pretty Much World Famous Halloweensie Contest! Not just anyone can say that :)
All the winners should email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com with the subject heading Prize Winner so we can work out details for you to receive your prizes! Finalists who did not finish in the top 10 (Stephanie, Jacqueline, Jean, and Chrystal) may also contact me for their choice of the Kindle or paperback prizes listed above.
Congratulations again to all our winners - it was a stiff competition!! - and congratulations to EVERYONE who wrote and entered a story in the contest. You all deserve a huge round of applause, a confetti parade, and a large amount of chocolate cake :)
Thank you to everyone who helped make this contest SO MUCH FUN, whether by writing an entry, reading people's stories, leaving comments for the authors, and/or voting in the finals. It's because of all of you that this contest was such a success, so many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart!
And before we go, I will give you all advance warning so you can start planning a little time into your December schedule...
The 5th Annual Holiday Writing Contest will be coming up sometime in the neighborhood of December 7-11 so we can all fully enjoy it and still have time for last minute holiday things. I will do my best to post the rules well in advance so you all have time to work on your stories!
Have a terrific Thursday everyone, and thanks again for making the Halloweensie Contest such a wonderful time for all! :)
The Prizes: we've got some seriously amazing prizes! (words in color are links to more info)
-
a picture book manuscript critique by picture book author Diana Murray!
website
Please join me again in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N or anywhere else if you like them, or supporting them in any other way you can dream up :)
Darlings?
Is that you?
I can't see that far...
...from my spot on the floor...
I'm delirious after an agonizing weekend of trying to choose 10 finalists out of more than 10 times that number of entries, all of them wonderful in one way or another! (And no. We did not choose 10. We chose a baker's dozen - 13 for Halloween!)
The fact that I am flat on the floor is nothing to worry about. Really. I'm fine. And so are the other judges. You just can't see them because they crawled off to bed in the wee hours and have yet to emerge.
Seriously. There is no need to worry about us. But we won't say no to chocolate if you wish to send some our way and help us recover :)
We had the biggest turn out we've ever had in terms of number of entries - 145! - and the overall quality of the entries was fantastic. Really, it is readily apparent that the quality of entries in these contests is improving every time. This means there are fewer obvious standouts, almost none that are easy to cut, and there a LOT of very good ones that we have to get very nit-picky over! It is agony, I tell you!
Before we get to the actual list of finalists, I have a couple things to say. (I know you're shocked :))
First of all, I want to thank EVERYONE who took the time and care to write an entry for this contest. You all did a fabulous job and provided great enjoyment for many!
Second, I'd also like to thank EVERYONE - writer, reader, or both - who took the time to go around and read as many entries as you could and leave supportive comments. This means so much to the writers who worked hard on their stories. It helps them see what they did well, as well as giving them the joy of knowing that their stories were read and enjoyed. I hope you all got as much delight and entertainment out of the reading as I did! Plus, we got to meet quite a few new people which was a wonderful added bonus! :)
Third, before I list the finalists, I want to say again how difficult it was too choose! There were so many amazing entries. Really. I could find at least something terrific about every single one. The sheer volume of entries meant that many good ones had to be cut. So if yours didn't make the final cut please don't feel bad. There was a huge amount of competition. Judging, no matter how hard we try to be objective, is always subjective at a certain point - we all have our own preferences for what makes a great story. And the fact that you didn't make the final cut DOES NOT mean you didn't write a great story. Everyone who plonked their butt in a chair and worked hard to write a story for this contest is a winner! You showed up. You did your best work. You practiced your craft. You wrote to specifications and a deadline. You bravely shared your writing with the world. And you have a brand new story that is now yours to expand beyond 100 words if you like and maybe submit at some point to a magazine or as a PB manuscript. So bravo to everyone who entered!
Now. Onto the judging criteria which were as follows:
1. Kid-appeal! - These stories are intended for a young audience, so entries that were well-written but lacked child-friendliness did not make the cut.
2. Halloweeniness - the rules stated a Halloween story, so entries that failed to mention anything Halloween-y did not make the cut even if they were well-written.
3. Quality of story - the rules stated that entries were to tell a story, so if they appeared to be more of a description or mood piece, they didn't make the cut. We looked for a character and a true story arc.
4. Quality of Writing: we took note of spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. In addition, for the rhymers, we looked at rhyme and meter (for which we are sticklers!) We also looked at overall writing quality and use of language.
5. Originality and creativity - because that is often what sets one story above another.
A surprising number of this year's entries were amazingly written... but failed to really tell a story! They were more descriptions, lists, or mood pieces. So as awesome as they were, we had to make some very hard calls.
Without further ado, I present to you the 2015 Halloweensie Contest Finalists. A mix of poetry and prose, stories for younger readers and slightly older (but still kid) readers, funny, spooky, and cute. Please read through them carefully, take your time, think it over, and vote for your favorite. To help with objectivity, finalists are listed by title only, not by author.
And I'd like to be very clear about the voting process. You are MOST welcome to share a link to this post on FB, twitter, or wherever you like to hang out, and encourage people to come read ALL the finalists and vote for the one they think is best. Please do that. The more people who read and enjoy these stories the better, and the more objective votes we get the better. HOWEVER (and I want to be very clear on this) please do not ask people to vote for a specific number or title, or for the story about the pumpkin ballerina or whatever. Trolling for votes or trying to influence the outcome is counter to the spirit of this competition which is supposed to be based on merit. I thank you in advance for respecting this.
#1. Leila's First Halloween
Tears puddle in Leila’s dark eyes. Tomorrow is the Halloween costume parade at her new school.
“Costumes cost money,” Mama sighs. “I can’t buy something you wear once for this strange holiday. Any extra money must be sent to our sisters and brothers in Aleppo.”
Halloween haunts Leila’s thoughts. A stomach ache? Mama never lets her miss school. A costume from Teacher’s bin? Her classmates will laugh.
“I know!” she cries, grabbing a navy pullover and red leggings.
As her classmates don costumes, Leila asks Teacher for 50 stars and white tape.
“I’m an American now, an American flag!”
#2 Pirate Prepares For Halloween
Pirate wonders what to wear.
Knitted cap with dreadlocked hair?
Striped pajamas? Bandoleer?
Same old shorts she’s worn all year?
Black bandana? New tattoo?
She can’t dress like pirates do!
But a costume would delight
on this dark and haunted night.
Zombie? Werewolf? Ninja? Cat?
Too cliché, she can’t wear that.
Pirate wants to go disguised,
but her friends should be surprised.
Pirate gathers what she needs:
old bandana, borrowed beads,
Jolly Roger, tattered lace.
Then she snips and sews with grace.
When her tutu is all set.
Sauté, plié, pirouette.
Pirate plans a dance routine
to perform on Halloween.
#3 Spooky Spies
He focused a triangle on the approaching costumed family.
“That Jack-O-Lantern is watching me,” said Franz.
“Don’t be silly,” said his mother, “It’s just a pumpkin.”
“It winked at me!” yelped Tess, “Creepy, haunted pumpkin!”
“Impossible,” scoffed their mother, ”On to next house!”
Hours later, after the last trick-or-treater had gone home,
a lone man waltzed down the dark street.
“Report, Jack-O,” he murmured.
“Evening, sir. I have your list. 100 kids said trick-or-treat. 95 kids said thank you. Five kids took their candy and ran,” reported Jack-O-Lantern.
“Excellent.” said the man, “See you next October.”
“Goodnight, Santa,” replied Jack-O-Lantern.
#4 Nothing To Wear
It was Halloween day,
soon to be night.
Where darkness would lurk,
between Halloween lights.
But Harry and Ava
had nothing to wear.
No colourful costume,
to give folks a scare.
So off they both set,
to "Costumes'R'us".
Hitching a ride, on the
666 bus.
They said to the driver,
"Your costume is cool.
Totally haunting,
just like a ghoul"
He smiled and he nodded
"it's Costumes'R'us"
then he drove them both there,
and they jumped off the bus.
But the shop sign said "closed",
How could that be?
Then the driver and bus,
disappeared from the street.
#5 Grow-A-Ghoul
“Grow-a-Ghoul in 31 days. Guaranteed to be a hit on Halloween. Keep your Ghoul in a dark closet, and feed them a cup of fruit punch every day,” read Meredith.
“Oh goody,” said Ethan, “I can’t wait to scare the pants off Franz Findley.
“My ghoul is going to haunt the whole town,” boasted Sarah.
On October 31st, the ghouls floated out of the closet.
“WOOOOOOO,” wailed Meredith’s ghoul.
“AAAHHHHOOOOO,” moaned Ethan’s ghoul.
“Let’s be best friends! We can hold hands and wear matching princess costumes!” exclaimed Sarah’s ghoul.
“Oh dear,” said Sarah, “My ghoul is broken.”
#6 The Unicorn Ate My Candy Corn: A Halloween Tall Tale
My costume’s crumpled in a heap,
My candy’s in the pail.
Blinking eyes, I’m close to sleep
Until I hear a wail.
And then a snort. And clacking feet.
I think my room is haunted.
A voice neighed out, “I NEED A TREAT!”
I ask what kind it wanted.
“The sweetest treat, shaped like my horn.
With bands of orange and yellow.
I’m craving all your candy corn!”
I hear the creature bellow.
My room is dark, but now I see
Four legs, a mane. . . a horn?
Who ate the treats? It wasn’t me.
I blame the unicorn.
#7 Paisley The Ghostling
Paisley loved Halloween.
What other day could a ghostling wear a costume, trick-or-treat, and play in the
dark?
Paisley wished she could join the fun, but she had scare duty like all the other ghostlings.
Boo-hoo. What's a ghost to do?
An idea came as quick as a spook.
She'd wear a costume and haunt the kids trick-or-treating.
Paisley dressed as broccoli.
Vegetables were sure to bring a fright.
Paisley yelled, “Eat your vegetables!”
All the kids screamed.
Paisley had a spooktacular time.
Next year she will go as parsnip.
#8 A Meaty Trick-or-Treat
Once upon a Trick or Treat,
T. Rex set out to get some meat.
He and friends went door to door,
Until their bags could hold no more.
"T" raced home past ghosts and clowns,
Costumed pets, and haunted frowns.
When safely home, he dumped his treats:
Frog legs, pork, and scrumptious meats,
Gizzards, ribs, roast beef, and turkey,
White meat, dark meat, Jamaican jerky!
Then "T" saw something quite bizarre...
A package labeled, "CHOCOLATE BAR."
He grabbed it, halved it, took a bite,
But something simply wasn't right.
He stuffed some bacon in between,
And CHOMPED his Halloween Supreme
#9 An Alien Goes Trick-or-Treating
Allen the Alien has landed on Earth on a cold, dark October night.
“Cool costume!” shouts a princess.
“Take me to your leader,” quips a vampire.
“Beep. Boop. Bop,” greets a robot.
Allen is confused.
“Where did his mother find that outfit?” remarks a witch dragging along a little ghost.
The Earthlings are playing dress up!
Allen puts on his costume – jeans, t-shirt, cap, sneakers. Aliens love to dress up as Earthlings.
Allen follows four ninja turtles to a haunted house.
“Trick or Treat!”
“Poor kid doesn’t have a costume,” whispers the ogre handing out candy.
Allen smiles.
#10 Spider's Halloween Debut
Spider spun her sticky web
and scrutinized the scene below.
A ghoulish ghost and ghastly witch
were putting on a scary show
to entertain a costumed crew
who bravely watched the chilling sight.
The audience heard gruesome groans
and shivered in the cold, dark night.
Spider itched to join the fun,
to haunt, to scare, to steal the show.
She dropped a line and skittered down,
but no one looked… so she let go
and landed on the witch’s neck.
Spider scampered, spider crawled,
She heard a screech! She heard a howl!
Creepy spider spooked them all.
#11 The Haunting
Tonight when children go to bed,
I’ll be that thing that they all dread.
I’ll creep into their darkened room,
A spirit from the grave exhumed.
For this is Halloween tonight,
When even darkness shakes with fright,
But I’ll be laughing with delight
When frightened children bolt upright!
What’s that in the children’s room?
A gang of youngsters in costume!
They’re waiting for me in the dark,
A clown, a monster,
…is that a shark?
Now it’s me who shakes with fright!
The children laughing with delight,
I bolt back to my burial site,
I won’t be haunting them tonight!
#12 The Teensy-Weensy Witch
On Halloween night: October thirty-one,
A teensy-weensy witch shrieked "Let's have fun!"
She packed her tiny spell book in her pointy purple hat,
Put on her witch's costume, grabbed her broomstick and her cat.
They left the tiny house in the thickening gloom,
And zoomed in the air on her itsy-bitsy broom.
Out of the dark came a haunting "Whoooooo...
Watch out witches we're after you!"
The witch gave a wobble, the broomstick took a crash,
Landing in a puddle with one ginormous splash!!!!!
DAGNABIT YOU GHOSTS OUT IN THE BLACK!!
Next Halloween I'll get you back!!!
#13 Goodnight Halloween
In the dark gray room
Lay a tattered costume
A dim glow-stick
And a bent witch broom
And the smell of
Fresh chocolate’s sugar perfume
And there were three little ghosts
Haunting a house
And a pair of black cats
With a little toy mouse
And a sad saggy pumpkin, flame guttered out
Goodnight room
Goodnight broom
Goodnight sweets I can’t consume
Goodnight mouse
Goodnight cat
Goodnight house and witch’s hat
Goodnight glowstick
Goodnight ghosts
Goodnight pumpkin-love you most
Goodnight socks and tired feet
Goodnight Halloween
Goodnight trick or treat
Now that you've had a chance to read through the finalists, please vote for the entry you feel deserves to win in the poll below by 5PM EST Wednesday November 4.
2015 Halloweensie ContestTune in Thursday November 5 to see THE WINNERS!!!
Thank you all so much for taking the time to write (if you did), read, and vote! These contests simply wouldn't be what they are without all of you!
I can't wait to see who the winners will be!
Tune in Thursday... same bat time, same bat station :)
(And we will have a regularly scheduled Would You Read It on Wednesday too!)
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lie on the couch and eat bonbons all day.
Okay.
Not really.
I'm actually driving to Vermont as we speak and will be in the car all day, so forgive me if I don't reply to your blog comments until later!
But don't worry - I have plenty of miniature Halloween chocolate bars to keep my sustained whilst I drive... and A Clash Of Kings on audible to listen to (yes, I'm officially hooked on the Game of Thrones series! :))
Have a marvelous Monday everyone!!!
Ear of snake and tongue of bat! It's finally time for...
The 5th Annual HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST!!!!!
aahhhrrrooooOOOOO!!!!
 |
| courtesy google images |
The Contest: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (title not included in the 100 words), using the words
costume,
dark, and
haunt. Your story can be scary, funny or anything in between, poetry or prose, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!) Get it? Hallo
weensie - because it's not very long and it's for little people :) (And yes, I know 100 words is short but that's part of the fun and the challenge! We got over 130 fantastic entries last year so I know you can do it!) Also, you may use the words in any form - e.g. haunt, haunts, haunted, darkness, darkening, costumed, whathaveyou :)
No illustration notes please!Post your story on your blog between right now this very second and Friday October 30th by 11:59 PM EDT and add your
post-specific link to the link list below. There will be no Would You Read It this week, and no PPBF, so the post and the list of links will stay up all week for everyone to enjoy. If you don't have a blog and would like to enter, you can simply copy and paste your entry in the comments section of that post once it's up. (Or, if you have difficulty with the comments, which unfortunately sometimes happens, you may
email your entry to me and I'll post it for you!)
The Judging: in a grueling, marathon weekend, my lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to 3 top choices (hee hee hee - you know how much trouble I have with only 3, so we'll see) which will be posted here and voted on for a winner on Monday November 2nd. The winner will be announced in a special Thursday post on November 5th. If we get more than 20 entries, I will post 6 finalists and give prizes for 1st through 3rd. If by some chance we get the kind of turn out we did last year, all bets are off. I may post as many as 10 finalists and I'll probably end up giving everyone a prize :) But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it :)
The Prizes: as always, our generous community has contributed some truly amazing prizes!
-
a read and comments on a PB ms by fabulous agent Tricia Lawrence of
Erin Murphy Literary Agency!!!
Tricia Lawrence - Agent
Tricia is the "Pacific Northwest branch" of EMLA—born and raised in Oregon, and now lives in Seattle. After 19 years of working as a developmental and production-based editor (from kids books to college textbooks, but mostly college textbooks), she joined the EMLA team in March 2011 as a social media strategist.
As agent, Tricia represents picture books/chapter books that look at the world in a unique and unusual way, with characters that are alive both on and off the page, and middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction that offers strong worldbuilding, wounded narrators, and stories that grab a reader and won't let go.
Tricia loves hiking, camping out in the woods, and collecting rocks. She loves BBC America and anything British. She has way too many books and not enough bookshelves. You can find Tricia's writing about blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking, and other social media topics (for authors and the publishing industry at large)
here and
here.
-
a picture book manuscript critique by Diana Murray!
websiteDiana Murray writes stories and poems for children. She is the author of several forthcoming picture books, including CITY SHAPES illustrated by Bryan Collier (Little, Brown, June 2016), GRIMELDA: THE VERY MESSY WITCH illustrated by Heather Ross (Katherine Tegen Books /HarperCollins, July 2016), NED THE KNITTING PIRATE illustrated by Leslie Lammle (Roaring Brook Press /Macmillan, August 2016), and GROGGLE'S MONSTER VALENTINEillustrated by Bats Langley (Sky Pony Press, Fall 2016).
Diana was awarded the 2010 SCBWI Barbara Karlin Work-in-Progress Grant for a picture book manuscript. She has many poems published and forthcoming in magazines, including Spider, Highlights, High Five, and Hello. Diana won the SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for poetry in 2013 and 2014, as well as the Honor Award in 2013. Diana is represented by Brianne Johnson at Writers House literary agency. She recently moved from the Bronx to a nearby suburb, where she lives with her husband, two very messy children, and a goldfish named Pickle.
-
a query critique from
Heather Ayris Burnell, founder of the
Sub It ClubHeather is a mom by day, children's book writer by night, and librarian on the side. Her picture book, Bedtime Monster, is published by Raven Tree Press. She has far too many manuscripts in various stages of development. If only she didn't need sleep! Represented by Sean McCarthy Literary Agency.
-
a 6 month subscription to
One Stop For Writers (value $50)
-
an e-pub or PDF copy (winner's choice) of
Linda Ashman's
Nuts And Bolts Guide To Writing Picture Books.
-
personalized signed copies of
Sarah Frances Hardy's Dress Me! and
Paint Me! -
a personalized signed copy of
Amy Dixon's Sophie's Animal Parade -
a personalized signed copy of
Corey Rosen Schwartz and
Rebecca Gomez's What About Moose?-
a personalized signed copy of
Penny Parker Klostermann's There Was An Old Dragon Who Swallowed A KnightPlease join me again in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N or anywhere else if you like them, or supporting them in any other way you can dream up :)
Now then. Time for my sample entry which I provide because I would never ask you to do anything I wouldn't do myself. Also, in case anyone is worried about the quality of their entry they have only to read my truly horrific attempt to be filled with confidence that their's is MUCH better! I have to confess, I was really down to the wire this year (my schedule is a little bit nuts!), so, ahem, yeah.. maybe I'll think up something better during the week and swap it!
So, here goes nothing...!
Halloween Surprise! (100 words)
Halloween. Trick-or-treat.
Spooky shadows. Darkenedstreet.
Suddenly my brother, Jay,
Tugs my arm. “Let’s go this way!”
He pulls me off the beaten track,
Passes Old Man Clancy’s shack.
Creeping fog licks at our heels.
I don’t like the way this feels.
Something glides in silent flight,
Ghostly shapes against the night.
“Witches! Let’s go home!” I say.
“Owls. Let’s go on,” says Jay.
Spidered moonlight through the trees.
Heartbeat pounding. Shaky knees.
Up ahead this haunted night
Monsters dance by bonfire light!
Turning! Running!
Then, “SURPRISE!”
Costumed monsters end disguise.
Cake and presents, friends who say,
“Happy Halloween Birthday!”
Everyone feeling better about their stories now? I should certainly HOPE so! :)
I can't wait to read all of yours! I'm so looking forward to them! I hope there will be a lot - the more the merrier! And there are still 4 days to write, so you have time if you haven't written yet. Feel free to spread the word to your writing friends as well.
Remember to put your post-specific link (not your general blog link or people will find the wrong page if you post again before the contest is over) in the list below!
Happy Writing and Happy Halloween!!! :)
Happy Columbus Day everyone!
I hope you're all enjoying days off from school and work!!!
You know what I always say?
What better way to celebrate Columbus Day then by talking about Halloween?!
And what's more interesting, fun and exciting about Halloween then anything else (except for miniature candy bars that have no calories because of their tiny-ness!)???
The 5th Annual HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST!!!!!Can you believe we're at the 5th???!!!
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| courtesy google images |
The Contest: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (title not included in the 100 words), using the words
costume,
dark, and
haunt. Your story can be scary, funny or anything in between, poetry or prose, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!) Get it? Hallo
weensie - because it's not very long and it's for little people :) (And yes, I know 100 words is short but that's part of the fun and the challenge! We got over 130 fantastic entries last year so I know you can do it!) Also, you may use the words in any form - e.g. haunt, haunts, haunted, darkness, darkening, costumed, whathaveyou :)
No illustration notes please!Post your story on your blog between 12:00 AM EDT Monday October 26th and Friday October 30th by 11:59 PM EDT and add your post-specific link to the list that will accompany my October 26th post. There will be no Would You Read It that week, and no PPBF, so the post and the list of links will stay up all week for everyone to enjoy. If you don't have a blog and would like to enter, you can simply copy and paste your entry in the comments section of that post once it's up. (Or, if you have difficulty with the comments, which unfortunately sometimes happens, you may
email your entry to me and I'll post it for you!)
The Judging: in a grueling, marathon weekend, my lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to 3 top choices (hee hee hee - you know how much trouble I have with only 3, so we'll see) which will be posted here and voted on for a winner on Monday November 2nd. The winner will be announced in a special Thursday post on November 5th. If we get more than 20 entries, I will post 6 finalists and give prizes for 1st through 3rd. If by some chance we get the kind of turn out we did last year, all bets are off. I may post as many as 10 finalists and I'll probably end up giving everyone a prize :) But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it :)
The Prizes: yeah... I'm still working on the prizes :) Feel free to chime in in the comments if there's something you'd particularly like to win! :) But prizes will include:
- a read and comments on a PB ms by fabulous agent Tricia Lawrence of
Erin Murphy Literary Agency!!!
- a 6 month subscription to
One Stop For Writers (value $50)
- an e-pub or PDF copy (winner's choice) of
Linda Ashman's
Nuts And Bolts Guide To Writing Picture Books.
- hopefully some other critiques and helpful books/resources... like I said, I'm still working on it :)
Plus whatever else I dream up in the meantime :)
I hope those fantabulous prizes fill you with enthusiasm for the contest!
So sharpen your pencils!
Get your butt in that chair!
See what amazing, knock-your-socks-off story you can dream up!
It's a chance to hone your writing skills, practice your craft, write to specifications and a deadline, win amazing prizes, AND get to read and enjoy the wonderful stories written by all your fellows :)
Many thanks to Tricia for her very generous prize offering!
I literally cannot wait to read your stories!!! :)
Have a Marvelous Monday everyone! :)
