The 2013 Holiday Contest WINNERS!!!

Happy Thursday to you
Happy Thursday to you
Happy Thursday, Happy Thursdaaay…
Happy Thursday to you!
It was so nice of you all to come visit me on a non-posting day!  Can I offer you some non-denominational holiday cookies?
And perhaps a nice cup of cocoa to go with them?
I like to be neighborly and provide snacks to anyone who comes all this way through the snow and cold to visit 🙂
Now that no one is in danger of fainting from caloric deficit, let’s get right to the purpose of today’s post, shall we?
Normally I’d string you along for awhile and tease you with something… anything… that had nothing to do with why you’re really here.
But in the spirit of the holidays, I’m not going to do that today.
Nope!
I’m going to get right to the point.
Yes sirree!
No beating around the bush today!
We’re going to get right to it…
…as soon as we have a rousing chorus of Adeste Fidelis!
Adeste fideles læti triumphantes,

Venite, venite in Bethlehem.
Natum videte
Regem angelorum:
Venite adoremus (3x)
Dominum.

There’s nothing like singing in Latin is there?
Want to do another verse?
Just kidding 🙂  I know you don’t 🙂
Okay, seriously, would you guys stop singing holiday songs so we can get down to the business at hand?  Sheesh!
The 3rd Annual Holiday Contest!!!

WINNERS!!!

As you are all aware by now, we had a record turnout for the 3rd Annual Holiday Contest – 118 entries!

I was thrilled beyond measure to see so many wonderful stories!

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.

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:
     Erik Weibel for Code Name: Kringle
     Michelle Senters for Cookies For Papa Noel
     Sue Heavenrich for Blue Latkes And Salsa
     Hayley Barrett for Not-So-Merry Sickmas

2.  For Best “Quiet”Story:
     Kristine Poptanich for Silent Night
     Leslie Colin Tribble for The Christmas Bird
     Teresa Robeson for A Home For The Holidays   
     Debbie Austin for Home For Christmas    
     Patricia Tilton for Toby’s Shopping Rush
     Cindy Williams Schrauben for A Dark Night Before Christmas

3. For Best End-of-Story Twist:
     Cathy Mealey for Festive Feeding Frenzy (CPR on a chipmunk :))
     Rachel Stones for Fresh Frosting (toothpaste!)
     Tracey Cox for Breaking News: Santa Is Real (Emergency Broadcast Test!)

4. For Best-Written Original Point Of View:
     Kristen Fulton for Raisin’s Christmas (excellent dog POV!)
     Sue Frye for Christmas Trappings (great rat POV!)

5. For Best Job Reworking Familiar Rhymes/Songs/Stories:
     Laura Renauld for This Is The Tree That Jill Trimmed
     Marcy Pusey for Monty The Mudman
     Buffy Silverman for The 3 Little Pigs Light The Chanukah Candles  
     Charlotte Gunnufson for Goldilocks’s Night Before Christmas

6.  For Funniest Entry: (not already in the finals)
     Kathryn Cunningham for ‘Twas The Stomach Flu Before Christmas
     Suzy Levinson for Reindeer In The Eggnog

7. For Best Wicked Humor:
     Julia Maisen for Catching Krampus
     Julie Rowan-Zoch for It’s A Wrap

8.  For Great Kid Appeal: (not already in the finals)
     Mandy Yates for One Squirrelly Christmas
     Sharon Chriscoe for Hot Tub Santa
     Anne Cavanaugh Sawan for The Gingerbread House Disaster

9.  For Best Religious Entry:
     Bonnie Ogle for The Sound And Smell Of Christmas

10.  For Best Entry By A First-Time Writer:
     Angie Hawkins for NOEL
     Lucy Dixon for The Story Of An Elf (who didn’t want to be on the shelf!)

11. For We-Loved-It-But-Thought-The Humor-Was-A-Little-Too-Grown-Up 🙂
     Teresa M.I. Schaeffer for Always Ready Or Not
     Kristen Foote for No Sleep For Santa
     B. Lee Draper for ‘Twas The Accident Before Christmas

Congratulations 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

The Easy Way To Write Picture Books That Sell by Robyn Parnell 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

The Ultimate Fiction Thesaurus by Sam Stone OR

In paperback:
Show & Tell In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions From Telling To Showing by Jessica Bell OR

The Six Senses In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions From Bleak To Bold Narrative by Jessica Bell OR

Adverbs And Cliches In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Subversions Of Adverbs & Cliches Into Gourmet Imagery by Jessica Bell

And now…

…the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

The announcement of the WINNERS OF THE 2013 HOLIDAY CONTEST as voted on by you!!!
rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat
DDDRRRUUUMMM RRROOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!
In First Place…
Winner of the whole shebang…
who gets first choice of all the prizes…
DAWN YOUNG
for ‘Twas The Night Baafore Christmas!!!
Congratulations, Dawn, on a fabulous and fun entry that was clearly very popular!!! 🙂
In Second Place…
Kristen Foote
for The Great Christmas Morning Mix-Up
Congratulations, Kristen!!  You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Dawn makes her choice.
In Third Place…
Laura Wolfe
for The Gift Horse
Congratulations, Laura!  You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Dawn and Kristen choose theirs.
In Fourth Place…
Heather Preusser
for Behind Schedule
Congratulations, Heather!  You get to pick after Dawn, Kristen and Laura.
In Fifth Place…
Cecilia Clarke
for The School Concert
Congratulations, Cecilia!  You get to pick after Dawn, Kristen, Laura and Heather.
In Sixth Place…
Ann Magee
for The Christmas Present
Congratulations, Ann!  I’m sure you get the idea of how the prize picking goes by now 🙂
And I have to mention the tie for 7th Place, because they were both only 1 point out of 6th Place…
Tied for Seventh Place:
Deborah Holt Williams for Seriously Santa? and Angela Pena Dahle for Three Little Kings!
Congratulations, Deborah and Angela!

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 6 (Deborah, Angela, Cheryl, Patty, Marcie, Penny, Michelle Barnes, and Carrie) 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 tinsel parade, and a large amount of Christmas Pudding (which truthfully I don’t know what that is, but it sounds like the right thing for this time of year :))

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!

As I mentioned a while back, I’m taking a little blogging break so I can spend time with my family – I’ve got cookies to bake, Christmas presents to shop for and wrap, and my sister and her family are arriving form Georgia on Sunday! 🙂 –  so I will see you all in a couple weeks – most probably Wednesday January 8th for Would You Read It unless there’s a hue and cry over missing another PPBF on January 3rd.  If you’re desperate for PPBF, please take it up with management 🙂

So now, I want to wish you all a happy and healthy holiday filled with love, laughter, joy, and family, and a happy, healthy and successful new year!  It is a pleasure and a privilege to get to spend time with you all, and I’m happy and grateful to know each and every one of you!

Looking forward to all the things we’ll do in 2014!

Love,
Susanna

95 thoughts on “The 2013 Holiday Contest WINNERS!!!”

  5. Susanna Leonard Hill says:
    Reply

    You're probably right, Beth – it won't be that restful! 🙂 – but it will be so lovely to spend 2 whole weeks with my family! Thank you for your very sweet words – you are too kind! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, my friend! 🙂

  8. Susanna Leonard Hill says:
    Reply

    Thank you so much, Kim! I will try to relax… I'm not that good at it 🙂 – not with all the family home 🙂 – but I'm really going to try to have time to read a book for fun! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

  9. Susanna Leonard Hill says:
    Reply

    It IS a fun group, isn't it? Children's writers have to be among the best people in the world! I'm glad to have “met” you too, Debbie! Congratulations again on a lovely story. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 🙂

  24. Susanna Leonard Hill says:
    Reply

    Yeah… the build up was a little weak on this one… I was SO tired by the time I got to pulling it all together that I couldn't come up with anything very original and entertaining! I'm glad you enjoyed the contest, and congratulations to YOU for an amazing entry that we all loved! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, my friend! 🙂

  25. Susanna Leonard Hill says:
    Reply

    Thank you, Teresa! I admit I'm looking forward to it. As soon as I'm done answering blog comments I'm going down to the basement to hunt down the Christmas wrapping paper and bows 🙂 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and congrats on a delightful story! 🙂

  27. Susanna Leonard Hill says:
    Reply

    I think ice chocolate is called chocolate milk 🙂 Although if you are in NYC and go to Serendipity's you can get frozen hot chocolate which is one of the best things in the world! 🙂 Thanks so much for joining in the contest and congratulations on a marvelous entry! Happy birthday to your son, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 🙂

  28. Susanna Leonard Hill says:
    Reply

    Of course you can sing in Latin, Erik. I would expect nothing less from you 🙂 I know more verses of this song in Latin than I do in English, because we had to learn the Latin version in grade school 🙂 Congratulations on a truly fabulous entry! I'll look forward to that email 🙂 Happy Holidays!

  31. Cheryl Secomb says:
    Reply

    I thought it was very entertaining! As Pamela pointed out, I was so impressed with the Latin. 🙂 Thank you for the very kind words. Have a wonderful Christmas, Susanna, and a much-deserved holiday break!

  32. Cathy Mealey says:
    Reply

    Congratulations to all the writers and to the Hostess with the Mostess, Susanna! What an awesome compilation of creativity!
    Thank you for my Twisted Ending honor – much appreciated! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and joyous non-specific holiday celebrations with family and friends.

  33. Patricia Tilton says:
    Reply

    Congratulations to all of the winners and to all who submitted entries to make this the biggest contest to date! And a special thank you to Susanna for all of the hours and weeks you put into this contest. And thank you for my Quiet Story honor. Have a wonderful holiday with you family!