About That Exciting Announcement I Promised Last Week

Happy Monday, everyone!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Last week I told you I had something exciting to tell you today and I do!

Are you ready?

dddddrrrrruuuuummmmmrrrrrooooollllllllll!!!!!

This week . . .

. . .

. . . Stop & Shop bath tissue is on sale for $.75 off!!!

I know!  It’s not every day you get such incredible news!

So bring the van and load up, alrighty?  I knew you’d want to know!

Okey-dokey, then.

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you all have a Marvelous Monday 🙂

See you on Wednesday for Would You Read It.

Bye.

Buh-bye now.

Bye! 🙂

Oh, but wait.  I guess there was one more thing. . .

Apparently I’m becoming very nice in my old age, because here it is, only October 6, with a full 3 weeks to go, and I’m announcing. . .

DUHN DUHN DUHN. . . !

The 4th Annual HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST!!!!!
That’s right!  It’s about that time!


courtesy google images

The Contest:  write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (title not included in the 100 words), using the words pumpkin, broomstick, and creak.   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 (you can count candy corn as one word) and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!)  Get it?  Halloweensie – 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 nearly 80 fantastic entries last year so I know you can do it!)  Also, you may use the words in any form – e.g. creak, creaky, creaks, creaking, creaked, pumpkiny, broomsticks, whathaveyou 🙂  No illustration notes please!

Post your story on your blog between 12:00 AM EDT Monday October 27th and Friday October 31st by 11:59 PM EDT and add your post-specific link to the list that will accompany my October 27th 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 3rd.  The winner will be announced in a special Thursday post on November 6th.  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:
 – Julie Hedlund‘s fantastic new course How To Make Money As An Author, interesting, educational and suitable for writers at any stage of their career,
 – a 2015 membership to Children’s Book Insider, an absolutely fabulous resource for kid lit writers of all kinds generously offered by Jon Bard and Laura Backes,
 – a picture book manuscript critique from the renowned Alayne Christian (prose only, 800 words or less),
Alayne Kay Christian is an award winning author of BUTTERFLY KISSES FOR GRANDMA AND GRANDPA. She is represented by Erzsi Deak of Hen&Ink Literary Studio. To read more about Alayne, her critique service, and her books visit her websites and blog.
 – an e-pub or PDF copy (winner’s choice) of Linda Ashman‘s Nuts And Bolts Guide To Writing Picture Books.
 – a PDF copy of Ryan Sias’s A Spooky-Doodle E-Book, “doodle pages, drawing lessons and writing prompts inspire kids to invent their own stories, characters and artwork.” 

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 Julie, Jon and Laura, Alayne, Linda, and Ryan for their very generous prize offerings!

I literally cannot wait to read your stories!!! 🙂

Now, for real, have a Marvelous Monday everyone! 🙂

70 thoughts on “About That Exciting Announcement I Promised Last Week”

  1. Julie Rowan-Zoch says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Well, now I can get out of bed! A sale! Even if we don't have Stop and Shops here, I can be motivated! As for the contest, well, I will eat a bag of candy corn to get the ideas going, then another to write one, another to revise, might need a fourth if one revision doesn't do, and well a fifth to celebrate posting. You are a bad influence, Susanna, but now that my local indie movie theater is offering cupfuls of the stuff this month, I can support local biz too, and that's a good thing, right?

  2. This_Kid_Reviews_Books_Erik says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    YAYYYYYY!!!!!! *Kermit Style* I already have an idea, but right now I need to go get a $0.75 off Stop&Shop bath tissue! 😉

  4. Joanne Sher says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    You TOTALLY crack me up, Susanna! And if ONLY you knew how much we need bath tissue here ;).

    Seriously – I am definitely gonna give this baby a try (the contest, that is!). And a scholarship to your picture book class would be fanTABulous as a prize, by the way. Just sayin' 🙂

  6. Robyn Campbell says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Must ZOOM to the store. CANNOT let a sale go by without making the purchase. And well, that IS something one needs. *ahem*

    Might enter. I have an idea.I think I'll get some thoughts on paper before I say for sure. Love writing 100 words though. WHAT A GREAT MAGIC PAGE!! WAHOO!! Wasn't it, Sus?

  7. Robin says:
    Reply
    Unknown's avatar

    Woo-hoo! Bath tissue for $.75. Wow! Oh wait! The contest. Woo-hoo! I guess if you have mummy story that tissue paper may come in handy. 🙂

  8. Vivian Kirkfield says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Hurray for Halloweensie! Thank you, Susanna…and thank you to the judges (in advance) and the generous prize donors. What a perfect way to start off the week! Pencils are sharpened and thinking cap on…we'll see what sort of story I can stew up. 🙂

  9. Rosi says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    This looks like a lot of fun. I can't wait to read the winners. Maybe I will be struck with inspiration and try this myself. Thanks.

  11. nrhatch says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Really? $0.75 off? Thanks for sharing! You rock.

    And the terms of the contest are so fair! Especially your willingness to accept all forms of creak, creaky, creaking, or creaked.

  23. Susanna Leonard Hill says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Candy corn is a wonderful motivator, Julie! (And seriously almost made the required word list! Maybe next year :)) I literally cannot wait to see what you come up with, and I know it will be accompanied by some gorgeous art! 🙂

  27. Joanna Marple says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    Halloween would not be the same without a Susanna Hill competition! Now if I can carve out some time from my thesis work!!

  40. Janet Smart says:
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    Unknown's avatar

    You've motivated me with those great prizes! I think I'll fly over to
    the computer, knock the cobwebs from my brain with my broomstick, grab a
    piece of pumpkin fudge and start the creaky wheels a turning.

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