The March Madness Writing Contest Is Here!!!

Woo-hoo!!!

Spring is here!

And so is

The March Madness Writing Contest!

The Contest: Write a children’s story, in poetry or prose, maximum 400 words, that is a fractured fairy tale.  Feel free to add a theme of spring, or mix in one of the spring holidays if you like – St. Patrick’s Day, April Fools Day, Easter or Passover, Arbor Day, Earth Day…  Have fun with it!  The madder* the better! 🙂
*as in wild and wacky, not angry 🙂

You do not have to include spring – that is optional.
The story can be a picture book or a short story – whatever you like.
If it’s a picture book, you may NOT include art notes, because we get into a weird area of whether that’s fair in terms of word count and added description etc.  So if you write a picture book that’s wonderful, but make sure art notes aren’t necessary to understand it.
“Fairy Tale” apparently turned out to be a very debatable term, so my fellow judges and I will do our best to handle whatever you’ve come up with.
Title not included in word count.
Post:  Your entry should be posted on your blog between right now this very second and Monday March 24 at 11:59 PM EST, and your post-specific link should be added to the link list below which will remain up through Wednesday March 26 so we can all take our time reading and enjoying everyone’s stories!  (No PPBF on Friday March 21, no new post on Monday March 24, no WYRI on March 26).  If you don’t have a blog but would like to enter, please copy and paste your entry into the comments below.  (If anyone has trouble commenting, which unfortunately happens, please email me and I’ll post your entry for you!)

The Judge:  My lovely assistant and I will narrow down the entrants to 6 finalists (or possibly a couple more depending on the number of entries :)) which will be posted here on Thursday March 27 for you to vote on for a winner.  The vote will be closed at 5PM EST on Sunday March 30 and the winner will be announced on Monday March 31.  (No PPBF on Friday March 28.)

The Prizes!:  

 – 1st Prize is a read and critique by Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary!!! (Unless for some reason you don’t want a read and critique by an agent, in which case you may swap for any of the other prizes)
 – 2nd Prize is a picture book manuscript critique (for rhyming mss only) by Lori Degman, author of 1 ZANY ZOO and the forthcoming COCK-A-DOODLE-OOPS! OR a picture book manuscript critique (for non-rhyming mss only) by Cori Doerrfeld, author/illustrator of LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO and PENNY LOVES PINK as well as illustrator of many others.
 – 3rd Prize is personalized signed copies of THE THREE NINJA PIGS and GOLDI ROCKS & THE THREE BEARS by Corey Rosen Schwartz PLUS a $25 Amazon Gift Card
 – 4th and 5th Prizes are your choice of any two of the following picture books PLUS a $20 Amazon Gift Card:
     – THE THREE LITTLE WOLVES AND THE BIG BAD PIG by Eugene Trivizas
     – CINDY ELLEN: A WILD WESTERN CINDERELLA by Susan Lowell
     – LITTLE RED WRITING by Joan Holub
     – THE THREE LITTLE PIGS AND THE SOMEWHAT BAD WOLF by Mark Teague
     – THE PRINCESS AND THE PEAS by Caryl Hart
     – THE WOLF’S STORY: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD by Toby Forward
     – GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS by Mo Willems

 – 6th Prize (which just skated in under the wire – thank you Sudipta!) is a personalized signed copy of hot-off-the-presses SNORING BEAUTY by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

And don’t forget, all you illustrators, that this will be followed by a related Illustrator Contest in April!!! (to be announced and elaborated on as soon as the writing part of the contest is over! :))

And now, so that everyone will feel happy and confident about posting their stories, I will share my sample, a Wild West twist on The Gingerbread Boy at exactly 400 words (phew!):

The Cornpone Cowboy

     Once upon a time (because that is the way all good fairy tales begin), Farmer Bubba and his lovely bride ThunderLily had the most beautiful ranch in the Wild West.
     The grass was emerald green.
     The rivers were pure as morning dew.
     The cattle were sleek and fat and gave such rich, creamy milk that all the ice cream makers in the world fought over who would get it.
     But even with all this beauty and excellent ice cream, Bubba and ThunderLily were sad.  For though they were surrounded every spring by velvet-eyed calves and stilt-legged foals, fluffy chicks, pink piglets, and wooly lambs, they never had a child of their own.
     Luckily, ThunderLily was not one to sit around moping.  “If I can’t have a child, I’ll make one,” she told her darling Bubba.
     She got cornmeal and buttermilk, eggs, salt, and bacon drippings, and quick as you like she whipped up a sturdy little Cornpone Cowboy.
     “We’ll call him Charlemagne,” she said dreamily as she plucked the skillet from the barbeque pit.
     “You’ll have to catch me first!” snorted the Cornpone Cowboy, and off he rode as fast as his cowpony could carry him.
     He passed the pigpen and the piglets grunted, “Oh, Charlemagne! Come be our friend!”
     “Don’t call me that!” said the Cornpone Cowboy, and he galloped on his way.
     He passed the sheepfold and the lambs baahed, “Oh, Charlemagne! Come be our friend!”
     “Don’t call me that!” said the Cornpone Cowboy, and he galloped on his way.
     He passed the cow barn and the calves mooed, “Oh, Charlemagne! Come be our friend!”
     “Why does everyone insist on calling me that?” said the Cornpone Cowboy, and he galloped on his way.
     And so it was at the hen house…
     . . . the horse pasture…
     . . . and the goat shed.
     Along about sundown a voice called, “Hey, Cowboy! Won’t you come set a spell by the campfire?”
     “Don’t mind if I do,” said the Cornpone Cowboy, tuckered out from galloping. He hopped down from his pony, spurs a-janglin’, and came face to face with…
     . . . COYOTE!
     Quick as a wink he twirled his lariat. . . 
     . . . hog-tied Coyote . . .
     . . . and lit out for home!
     When Bubba and ThunderLily heard his story, ThunderLily said, “That’s our boy! Lightning fast!”
     Which is how he came to be called LightningCharlie instead of Charlemagne (because really, who could live with that?) and they all lived happily ever after!

The End

Wasn’t that nice of me?  Now you can all feel brave and smug, secure in the knowledge that your story is better than that!!! 🙂

Anyone besides me feeling an urge to sing?
     “Like a Cornpone Cowboy
     riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo
     Cornpone Cowboy…“

No? Darn! I was hoping the exceptional quality of my singing would distract you from that story even though “cornpone” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as “rhinestone”  🙂

I can’t wait to read what you have all come up with!  Let the fun begin! 🙂

And remember to check back here for entries added in the comments.  I’ll list them as they come in 🙂 (Titles link to stories in comments – give them an extra moment to load)

Jennifer C – The Princess And The Pete
Pat H – Jack And The Giant
Angela – The Belle And The Sticker Burrs
Sean – No Spring Chicken Little
Shelly – Prince Frog
Kirsten B – Goldi And Red
Pen – The Sweetie Witch
Connie – Chocolocks And The Three Bunnies
Karen – Little Red Hen’s Shiny New Friend
Teresa S – Little Red’s Green Cloak
Eric – A Sleeping Beauty
Katie – Little Dead Riding Hood
Robert – Jack And The Beanstalk
Lisa – Rabbi Wolfberg And The Boarmans Celebrate Sukkot
Denise – The Biscuit Man
Kristen – The Boy Who Cried Spring
Jennifer Mc – Little Red Ray
Debbie – The Three Kittens
Gaye – Chocolate Muffins
Nancy – Big Bad Wolf And Red Riding Toad
Robert2 – The Emperor’s New Clothes
Kelsi – Goldinocks And The Three Scares
Jen – The Mischievous Fire Truck
Heather – Rap-unzel
Robert3 – Humpty
Hilary – Hare And Tortoise
Sandy – The Three Little Pigs And The Shoemaker
Kelly V – A Fractured Fairy Tail (Literally)

474 thoughts on “The March Madness Writing Contest Is Here!!!”

  2. Vivian Kirkfield says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    It's a dangerous place under the sea…and in fairytale land. 🙂 Glad Little Red Ray escaped…this time.:) Aren't Susanna's contests fun, Jennifer?

  3. Vivian Kirkfield says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Kristen…so fun…great lesson…and wonderful take on The Boy Who Cried Wolf…updated for today's kids.:) Loved it!

  4. Vivian Kirkfield says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Hi Suzy…lovely message…and what a clever mash-up of Henny Penny with the sons' names from other fairy tales and nursery rhymes…I'm so happy the family came together in the end. 🙂

  5. Vivian Kirkfield says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Great story, Denise! I love that the little boy gets the biscuit his mom intended him to have…and the biscuit man was a little too cocky for his sliced cheese britches. 🙂

  11. Debbie says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Oh, Susanna, what a fun story you wrote! I will never sing “Like a rhinestone cowboy” without thinking of LightningCharlie (I like how you made that one word, by the way). 😉 Ok, here's my entry…

    The Three Kittens

    Once upon a time three kittens set out to find a place of their own. They found a cozy cottage with a bright kitchen, a book-filled library, and a warm hearth–the perfect home. But they weren’t the only ones who thought so.

    One day one cat baked while her sisters went out looking for their mittens.

    “And you shall get no pie,” the cat sang as she cut herself a big slice.

    “Little pig, little pig, let me come in!” A voice boomed loudly.

    “Yeow!” The cat ran out the door and never came back.

    Her two sisters, who had incidentally found their mittens, returned and wondered where their sister had gone.

    “Maybe she ran away with that owl,” one said.

    “She always did like his boat,” the other agreed. She got out her fiddle and began to play.

    “Go outside, will you, sister?” She hated fiddle music, and besides, the dishes always ran away with the spoons. She made sure all the drawers and cupboards were closed just in case. Then she curled up in front of the fire.

    A loud voice said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in!”

    The cat lifted her head. “I must have been dreaming.” Again she heard the voice, and a shadow of a wolf danced on the wall.

    “Yeow!” The cat ran out the door and never came back.

    The third cat grew tired of playing the fiddle and returned to the house. She went into the library to join her sister, but the room was empty.

    She heard a voice. “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.”

    “Now, sister, I know you’re cross about the fiddle playing, but don’t call me names.”

    The shadow of the wolf appeared and lunged at her.

    “Yeow!” The most responsible of the three, she quickly scrawled a note–
    “Off to Bremen to join a band.” Then she ran out the door and never came back.

    Shouts of joy resounded. The mice ran out into the room. “The cats are away!”

    “Wait!” Mama Mouse held up her hands. “Before we play, we must put away the books.”

    The little mice re-shelved all the books — The Three Little Pigs, Throwing Your Voice for Dummies, How to Make Shadow Puppets, and Who Moved My
    Cheese? — in alphabetical order, of course.

    And they all lived happily ever after! At least the mice.

  15. Debbie says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    This was so cute! What a fun and unique take on The Three Little Pigs. I laughed every time Rabbi Wolfberg said, “Oye Vey!”

  17. Debbie says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    What a fun group of characters you wove together. And who knew that Little Red Riding Hood had all those colors in her closet. Such a fun story!

  19. Debbie says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    This is great! And in rhyme, too! I love the stanza “Someday I might marry (right now I'm all set)…” Great message and fun story!

  26. Stacy Couch says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Nice Cornpone Cowboy! Love how he's running away to avoid his name. (My nephew–whom we call Bubba–hates being called Bubba.) But I'll always think of little Charlie as Charlemagne!

  29. This_Kid_Reviews_Books_Erik says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I love it! I thought the cats were going to say “We're cats – not pigs!” 😉

  30. This_Kid_Reviews_Books_Erik says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    “Did you use mouthwash this morning? Did you use hand sanitizer before you touched anything?” – BAH-Ha-Ha-Ha! Funny!

    Very awesome twist! 😀

  39. This_Kid_Reviews_Books_Erik says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    I love the farmer's of course AND it's spelled right – Erik with a 'K'. 😉 I love that the kids realize that their father is a great dad. 🙂

  44. This_Kid_Reviews_Books_Erik says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    This is very unique! I love how the 3 bunnies just stare at Chocolocks and don't yell at her. 🙂

  49. Debbie says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Thanks! The cats did say that (among other things) in the first few drafts, but then I had to cut, cut, cut to get it down to 400 words.

  50. Jenifer McNamara says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Yes, it's for kids, and everyone does like a happy ending because you don't want to let people down! Thanks for reading.
    Just read about Susanna's contests last week, and this is the first one I've attempted, and all writing contests are fun!

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