A week before Christmas
I can’t see the floor.
“Mom! Don’t you know
what a vacuum is for?”

“Of course,”sayeth I,
as the dust puppies roll,
“But the finalists wait
for results from the poll!

“Who’s twelfth? Who eleventh?
Who tenth down through first?
If suspense should continue
they’re liable to burst!

“Forget about cleaning!
Forget about wrapping!
Forget about shopping,
and baking, and napping!

“These talented writers
are eager to hear
which one of them will be
the winner this year!

“So, hold onto your reindeer!
I’ll get the mess tamed
as soon as the winners
have all been proclaimed!”

Are you ready. . . ?????

It’s time to announce the WINNERS of the

13th Annual Holiday Writing Contest

~ for children’s writers ~

Wow! You guys really know how to make a judge’s job hard! What a fantastic group of entries we had for this year’s Holiday Contest! You all out-did yourselves! It was a joy to read each and every one of these entries! You should all pat yourselves on the back for your talent and creativity!

I want to reiterate 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 your entry wasn’t a finalist, please don’t feel bad.  There was a huge amount of competition.  Judging, no matter how hard we try to be objective, and even though we do it blind, is always subjective at a certain point – we all have our own preferences for what makes a great story.  And within the parameters of the contest, sometimes we have to put aside a great story because it did less of a good job meeting the contest criteria. 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 revise, expand, and polish if you like and maybe submit at some point to a magazine or as a PB manuscript.  A lot of people have successfully done that at this point – we have quite a few books in the world that were born in Halloweensie, Holiday, or Valentiny Contests, including two picture books mentioned in the prize section, plus a chapter book series that came out of the Fractured Fairy Tale Contest one spring!  And not necessarily from people who were finalists – it’s about the idea and what you do with it. So bravo to everyone who entered!

But as you well know by now, with large entry numbers, all of high quality, 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 over the weekend for your vote.

There were, however, a few entries that barely missed being finalists, and other entries that were outstanding in certain areas even though they might not have qualified all-around for one reason or another, or that the judges couldn’t reach a consensus on.

So my assistant judges and I would like to award recognition, a lovely badge (which I haven’t made yet – getting to that!), and a small prize to the following authors for the following merits:

1. For Honorable Mention In The Competition As A Whole: (entries we truly wrestled with not including in the finalists!)

Elizabeth Meyer zu Heringdorf for The Wrong List (so much energy and fun, great countdown, humorous, great ending!)

Rose Cappelli for One Magical Christmas (sweet, well-written, great story for younger readers!)

Elizabeth Volkmann for The Perfect Tree (lovely story, so well-structured and written!)

Julie Lerczak for Mittens’ First Christmas (cute, fun, and kid- (and cat-) friendly!)

Jessica Russo for On Christmas, We Skate (creative, entertaining, humorous, fun!)

Daniella Kaufman for Sprinkle’s Cookie Countdown (fun story, excellent rhyme, innovative cookie ideas!)

Janet A. Bryce for Christmas In The Forest (sweet story, wonderful use of nature to create a woodland tree)

Jessie Raspbury for Cookie Contest Countdown (fun story, great kid voice!)

Jenna Daucunas for New Year’s Countdown (excellent countdown to New Year’s, good fun and energy!)

Jessica Iwanski for And Now There Are None: A Tale Of Ten Christmas Ornaments (excellent countdown, fun story)

Ellen Akemi Crosby for Michiko’s Merry Mochi (nicely tense countdown to a Japanese holiday treat!)

Lauri C. Meyers for Santa’s Rocket Sleigh (SO clever and funny – you put us in stitches!)

2. For Humor: (you made us laugh out loud! 😊)

Katrina Swenson for Eight Little Reindeer (clever and funny – especially the “never mind”!)
Jenny Crooks-Johnson for Goat’s Christmas Surprise (how can you not love an elf-goat?!)

3. For Nonfiction and/or Educational Elements: (you taught us something!)

Mona Voelkel for Seeds (a countdown story about the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree)
Dr. Anne Lipton for The First Christmas in Space (a countdown story with Apollo 8 and 9 and Saturn V)
Carmen Castillo Gilbert, PhD for Countdown To La Navidad (a lovely Spanish Christmas celebration countdown)

4. For Kid-Friendly: (you wrote a story kids would love!)

Linda Staszak for Five Days Till Christmas (great kid voice, also very funny!)
Sarah (Sezza) Hetu for A Merry Badgered Christmas (excellent kid appeal!)

5. For Great Story For Younger Readers: (you wrote a great story for youngest readers!)

Marty Findley for Waiting For Christmas (great countdown with fun details for younger ones!)

6. For Lovely Message: (you made us feel what the holidays are all about!)

Russell Wolff for Light (so touching)
Bru Benson for There Is. . . (lovely message about making a difference)
Jen Keenan for Five Magic Flights (lovely message of hope, comfort, joy, and love)

7. For Beautiful Writing: (you evoked scene and emotion!)

Michelle Lee for One, Two, Three. . . Breathe In The Season (lovely!)


Congratulations to all of you for fantastic elements of your stories!  You may all use the handy Contact button or email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com subject line Prize Winner to collect your award badge (which I have not made yet, sorry! getting to it!) and prize, which, for Category 1: Honorable Mention in the Competition as a Whole, is ten dollars for an online store that begins with A.

For all the other Categories 2-7, the prize is five dollars in a format that can be emailed for you to put toward something you’d like at a large online store (and I’m being cryptic because if I’m not I get a ton of problematic spam mail, but hopefully you can figure it out.  The store starts with the letter A 😊 )

And now…

…the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

The announcement of the WINNERS OF THE 2023 HOLIDAY CONTEST as voted on by you, our esteemed readers!!!

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…

Jessica Iwanski
for
The Just-Right Christmas Tree!!!

Congratulations, Jessica, on a lovely, kid-friendly story that shows the transformation of a tree’s understanding of what makes a perfect Christmas Tree – clearly very popular with a LOT of readers!!!

In Second Place

Michael Flowers
for
Pete’s Lump Of Coal

Congratulations, Michael, on turning the concept of coal for Christmas into a creative, entertaining story that also teaches us about how coal is made! In rhyme, no less! You get to pick your prize after Jessica.

In Third Place

Julie Hauswirth
for
Cookies For Santa (Ellie)

Congratulations, Julie, on a sweet, kid-friendly story of kindness written in excellent rhyme! You get to pick your prize after Jessica and Michael.

In Fourth Place

Bri Lawyer
for
Elf Olympics

Congratulations, Bri, on a creative, entertaining story about how the elves spend their 12 free hours a year – apparently not sleeping! Such fun! You get to pick your prize after Jessica, Michael, and Julie!

In Fifth Place

Danna Zeiger
for
Making A Miracle
       

Congratulations, Danna, on a lovely, kid-friendly Hanukkah story that also showed a child living happily in a cooperative situation between mom and dad’s separate homes. So nicely done! You get to pick your prize after Jessica, Michael, Julie, and Bri!

In Sixth Place…

Robin Currie
for
First Minutes Of Christmas

Congratulations, Robin! What an absolutely beautiful job you did of telling the Christmas Story as a countdown in perfect rhyme for younger readers! You get to pick your prize after Jessica, Michael, Julie, Bri, and Danna!

In Seventh Place…

Colleen Murphy
for
A Cup of Clour, A Dash of Salt, and A Sprinkle of Hope

Congratulations, Colleen!  We loved your beautifully rhymed story of bringing the world together through baking! I’m sure you get the idea of how the prize picking goes by now 😊

In Eighth Place…

Katie Mahood
for
Oh Christmas, Where’s You Go?

Congratulations, Katie, on an original and creative take on a countdown that perfectly captured a child’s anticipation… and how quickly it starts all over again! You get to pick after Colleen 😊

In Ninth Place

Barb Edwards
for
Cookies For Santa (Max)

Congratulations, Barb! We loved your super kid-friendly story with it’s very believable and humorous rationalizing about cookie-eating 😊 You get to pick after Katie! 😊

In Tenth Place

Christina Shawn
for
Countdown To Snow
A Wicked Christmas Bash

Congratulations, Christina, on a delightful story that not only counted up and down but really made us feel the anticipation and enjoyment of snow! You get to pick your prize after Barb!

In Eleventh Place

Kelly Clasen
for
Homes For The Holidays

Congratulations, Kelly, on a heart-tugger of a story with a lovely surprise ending! You get to pick after Christina!

In Twelfth Place

Nicole Loos Miller
for
Always Worth The Wait

Congratulations, Nicole, on a lovely story of thoughtfulness and love with a nice twist ending that surprised us! You get to pick after Kelly!

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!  (The sooner the better!)  And for your convenience, the whole prize list is included at the bottom of this post.

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 and a shower of holiday confetti!

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, or by donating a prize.  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… hmm… maybe didn’t mention…? but seem to do every year so you’re probably not surprised, I’m taking a little blogging break so I can spend time with my family. So I will see you all in a couple weeks – most probably the first week of January 😊

Before we part company, 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 2023!

Happy Holidays, and all best wishes for a wonderful New Year!!!

The Prizes!: Good luck choosing!!!

⭐️ Ask Me Anything Zoom Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Sandra Foreman Sutter, owner and “top gnome” at Gnome Road Publishing, and author of STAN’S FRIGHTFUL HALLOWEEN (Spork, September 2020) and THE REAL FARMER IN THE DELL (Spork, March 2019)!!! Not only will Sandra read and critique your manuscript, you will get to talk to discuss it with her!

⭐️ Rhyme & Meter Self Study Course – Renee LaTulippe Renée M. LaTulippe is the author of The Crab Ballet (Cameron Kids/Abrams, 2022) and Limelight: Theater Poems to Perform (Charlesbridge, 2024) and has poems published in many anthologies including No World Too Big, Night Wishes, School People, National Geographic’s The Poetry of US, One Minute Till Bedtime, Poems Are Teachers, ThankU: Poems of Gratitude, and A World Full of Poems.

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique with Penny Parker Klostermann, talented author of THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON WHO SWALLOWED A KNIGHT (Random House 2015) and A COOKED-UP FAIRY TALE (Random House 2017) as well as the forthcoming SPIDER LADY: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid WWII Army (Astra/Calkins Creek 2025) and MERRY CHRISTMAS, DEAR MARS, September 3, 2024 from Macmillan/Godwin Books – a story that placed 2nd in the 2011 Holiday Contest! (How’s that for inspiring?) 😊

⭐️ Winner’s Choice of either a Picture Book Manuscript Critique (750 words or less) OR a signed copy of WINTER: A SOLSTICE STORY (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, October 10, 2023) (US addresses only) from author Kelsey Gross. WINTER: A SOLSTICE STORY was inspired by the 2020 Holiday Contest in which the original version of this book, a story entitled The Solstice Tree, placed 6th! (How’s that for more inspiration? 😊)

⭐️ Winner’s Choice of either an Ask Infowoman: A Library Consult 45 min. Zoom session to discuss questions on school visits or review of a school visit presentation (PowerPoint/slide deck) OR A Conference Proposal Consult, Kathy’s brand new service offering advice on writing winning conference proposals for NCTE, TLA, SCBWI, and other educational and library conferences. Regardless of where you are in your writing career – brand new or seasoned author – Kathy Halsey has a wealth of information to help you! From insight into what books school librarians need/want in their collections (which can help you target your writing for success) to helping you create an engaging school visit and all kinds of things between…and beyond… check out her website to see what this fantastic prize can offer you! Please visit her website to see her many, many qualifications!

⭐️ 20 Minute Coaching Session from Kirsti Call, multi-published author, book coach and life coach! Kirsti is the author of SMARTY ANTS, MOOTILDA’S BAD MOOD, THE BIG SCREAM, COW SAYS MEOW, COLD TURKEY, and THE RAINDROP WHO COULDN’T FALL, and she has a depth of knowledge and experience to help you on your writing journey and in your life. Together you can talk about where you are, where you want to be, and how to get you there!

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming) from Kari Ann Gonzalez, author of HOW TO HATCH A READER (Gnome Road Publishing, August 15, 2023)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Laura Jensen Bower, author of THE IMPOSTER (forthcoming from Gnome Road, March 5, 2024) and EMILY SNOOK, THE WORLD’S SMALLEST COOK (forthcoming from Little Gnome, Fall 2024)

⭐️ a first read-through recording package from children’s author and poet Sarah Meade, contributor to HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING (Pomelo Books, 2020!) where she will read aloud and record up to five PB manuscripts for one author (1,000 words or less each, fiction or nonfiction, rhyming or non-rhyming) so you can hear how your stories sound to someone who is unfamiliar with them on a first read-through! Very helpful and enlightening!

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming) from Danielle Sharkan, author of SHARING SHALOM (forthcoming from Holiday House, Fall 2024) (X (formerly Twitter) @danirae)

⭐️ A Signed Copy of Jilanne Hoffman’s gorgeous A RIVER OF DUST: The Life-Giving Link Between North Africa and the Amazon. Jilanne Hoffman is the author of 2 board books, THE HONEY BEAR HIVE (Mudpuppy January 2023), HAPPY CAMPER (Mudpuppy January 2022), and A RIVER OF DUST (Chronicle Books, July 25, 2023)

PLUS A Copy of ALPHABEDTIME generously gifted by an anonymous donor (Thank you so much! You know who you are 😊❤️)

⭐️ Signed Copy of Winner’s Choice of One of Barb Seregi‘s Picture Books: THE TRUTH ABOUT HAZEL’S COOKIE (Hope Freelancing, November 23, 2017), OLIVER’S RATTLE (Barbara Seregi, October 19, 2022), or TOMMY AND THE GOOD NEWS SHOES (Bowker, October 24, 2023)

PLUS A Signed Copy of Candace Spizzirri‘s delightful FINLEY: A MOOSE ON THE CABOOSE (Gnome Road, April 18, 2023)

Please join me 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 birthday, holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, recommending them for school and library visits, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! 😊