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Congratulations to Vanessa! As always I wish I could have given prizes to everyone who entered.

Vanessa - Please could you contact the blog email via the Contact tall tales & short stories link at the top of the blog so I can arrange for the tickets to be sent to you.
Thanks
Tracy

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Congratulations to you all!
Look out for an email in your inbox!  
Sandra, I'll try and contact you on twitter.
Thanks
Tracy

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Back in April I helped spread the word about Explore Learning's National Young Writers' Award 2012.

Now in its fourth year, the annual competition run by tuition provider, Explore Learning, attracted over 13,000 entrants from budding young writers from across the UK. Jamie Reger was awarded a trip to Disney Land Paris with his family, as well as £500 worth of books for his school, Broomfield House in Kew.

The task was to write a 500-word story with the theme ‘Old and New’ and Jamie Reger’s story stood out amongst the thousands of other entries made due to its creative approach, ingenuity and wonderful use of descriptive language.

Jamie’s story was about how a cuddly bear links a boy to his distant past. The story can be read in full here

The winning entry was selected by bestselling children’s author Andrew Cope, famous for the popular ‘Spy Dog’ series. Andy commented: “The entrants this year completely blew me away. These are some of the best young writers in the country and I’ve loved the opportunity to get involved in a competition where we encourage children to put pen to paper, get inspired and create something that’s never been created before. I chose Jamie’s story because it was simple, thought-provoking and leaves me wanting more. Where will the history book and teddy take him next? I can feel a series coming on…”

The competition aims to encourage children to get their creative juices flowing and give writing a try and to support this, tutors from Explore Learning ran free workshops with hundreds of schools across the UK.

Jamie said: "I was very surprised to find out I'd won. I have wanted to be an author since I started learning to write, so to win Explore Learning's National Young Writer of the Year from over 13,000 children was a dream come true. I was thrilled to be chosen by an amazing author like Andrew Cope. He said my story made him cry. I'm so excited about taking my family to Disneyland Paris to celebrate!"

Alexis Humphrey from Explore Learning was thrilled with the number of entries received this year. She said: “Writing is a fantastic pastime for children. As well as helping with their grammar and spelling, it takes them away to another place where anything goes; it lets their imagination run free and we were amazed by the inventiveness of some of the stories we received. We’re proud to put on a competition that attracted so many entrants and want to congratulate all our participants, and of course Jamie, who fought off tough competition to have his story named the best in the country.”

Explore Learning specialise in providing maths and English tuition to children aged 5-14 of all abilities. The programme works in line wi

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WOW! What an amazing response to this competition. Yet again I wish everyone who entered could have won but sadly there could be only one winner.  So drum roll, please...

Congratulations Sally!

And a huge thank you to Molly Ker Hawn of The Bent Agency for agreeing to join in with our blog celebrations in such a fantastic way!

Thanks to everyone who entered and I wish you all success on your writing journeys.
Tracy

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As many of you know, over the last few months, the National Year of Reading has overseen a competition for readers aged 12 – 18 to respond to their favourite book in a creative way that promotes the book as a ‘must read’ for all their friends.

Managed by the Centre for Youth Literature on a website hosted by Good Reading Magazine, the competition received over 320 entries.

The judging panels in each state and territory have come back to us with their recommendations. All the panels pointed out how impressed they were at the high calibre and sheer ingenuity of many of the entries, and choosing eventual winners required considerable consultation.

However, a list was eventually arrived at, and you can see it here:

Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who sent in an entry. We hope you continue to read books, love them, and promote them to your friends!

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CONGRATULATIONS BETH! - please could you contact me via the blog email with your postal address and I'll get the books sent out to you asap. 
If you go to the header bar and CONTACT ME it will link you straight to the blog email.

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Your name was picked by random from the hat and a signed copy of the US version of THE SHIFTER by Janice Hardy will be on its way to you.

Please click the link to read an interview with Janice Hardy on tall tales & short stories

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A message from Alexander Gordon Smith.

Thanks for all the brilliant entries! Reading about your worst nightmares was a nightmare in itself – I don’t think I’ve ever encountered so many terrifying ordeals in one place before. It reads like a collection of horrific short stories. Less cheese before bedtime, I think! It was incredibly tough trying to pick three winners, but after much deliberation I have chosen the following nightmares, which scared me the most:

Hannia: This is absolutely terrifying! I have lucid dreams too, which is great sometimes as you can control your dreams, but other times it’s even worse because you know you’re having a nightmare but you’re still petrified. Everybody has had dreams of being chased, but meeting a twisted version of yourself like this is unthinkably nightmarish. And a brilliantly written account!

Donna: Wow, reading about your nightmare gave me goosebumps! That inexplicable feeling of dread you get sometimes in dreams is so weird. One of the dreams I remember most vividly when I was a kid involved me going out with my mum, but feeling that same sense of dread – that things weren’t as they seemed, and that she wasn’t really my mum but something evil. And when she turned to look at me she had horse’s teeth. So creepy! This is spine-chilling stuff – and I hope you never reach the far bank in your dream!

Anonymous: I think the dream about being forced, at gunpoint, to eat your three-year-old son’s ear is one of the most disturbing things I have ever heard! And the fact he had the body of a man but the face of a child just makes it even more horrific.


And I’ve got a bonus prize for Christopher for saying that his worst nightmare would be to lose this competition – I couldn’t be responsible for making his worst nightmare come true!


Congratulations to the winners! And thanks to everybody who entered, they were all excellent descriptions of worst nightmares and worthy of winning. I just wish I had more books to give away! I hope you manage to have a nightmare-free night tonight!








Anna (Mary Weasley)

Laurie

Natasha



CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL SEVEN WINNERS

PLEASE COULD ALL SEVEN WINNERS LEAVE THEIR FULL NAMES AND ADDRESSES IN THE COMMENTS BOX.

THIS INFORMATION WILL BE KEPT PRIVATE AND NOT PUBLISHED ON THE BLOG BUT WILL BE PASSED ON TO THE AUTHOR ALEXANDER GORDON SMITH.

YOUR PRIZES WILL BE POSTED TO YOU ASAP.

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