The time has come, the walrus said, to announce the WINNERS of. . .

The 9th Annual Valentiny Writing Contest

~ for children’s writers ~

First of all, I want to thank EVERYONE who took the time and care to write an entry for this contest.  You all did a fabulous job and provided great enjoyment for so many! As always, I was thrilled to see so many wonderful stories!  It is amazing and inspiring, not to mention VERY entertaining!  There is just so much talent out there amongst you all!  The other judges and I are blown away anew each time!

Second, I’d also like to thank EVERYONE – writer, reader, or both – who took the time to read as many entries as you could and leave supportive comments.  This means so much to the writers who worked hard on their stories.  It helps them see what they did well, as well as giving them the joy of knowing that their stories were read and enjoyed.  I hope you all got as much delight  and entertainment out of the reading as I did!  Plus, we got to meet quite a few new people which was a wonderful added bonus! 😊

Third, I want to say again 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 yours didn’t make the final cut please don’t feel bad.  You’re in good company! There was a huge amount of competition. And remember that the judging is based on the contest criteria. If you wrote a great story that didn’t showcase enthusiasm enough or that was too grown-up or not related to Valentine’s Day, you didn’t make the final cut.  But that 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 expand beyond 214 words if you like and maybe submit at some point to a magazine or as a PB manuscript.  So bravo to everyone who entered!

Because it was such a hard choice, and there were so many wonderful stories, before we get to the winners, my assistant judges and I would like to award bragging rights, recognition 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!)

Ian Rodrigues for This Time It’s For Real
Kelly Clasen for The Spruce Hollow Valentine Spectacular
Kris DeCaro for A Big Brother, On Valentine’s Day
Ariel Eishen for A Day For Heart
Nancy Riley for Wings Of Love
Laura Wippell for Roses For Mom
Emma Sales for I Need To Know What Love Is
Carla Gullett for Stan’s Valentine Plan
Penelope McNally for Valentine Cake

2. For Beautifully Written

Corine Timmer for Love Is In The Air
Katie Mahood for Impossible Love

3. For Sweet/Touching

Amanda Revell for Not So Empty
Laura Seely-Pollack for The Valentine Pine
Melissa J. Miles for A Valentine For Vincent
Katie Lee Reinert for Bailey’s Perfect Valentine
Kathy Nimmer for A Perfect Match

4. For Humor

Kelly Adamson for #1 Best Pest
Mike Flowers for Heart Candies From Hank
Michelle Lee for Jellyfish And Butterscotch
Katie McNickle for Baby In A Bow

5. For Originality

Jessica Russo for Where Ladybugs Sleep

Congratulations to all of you for fantastic elements of your stories!  Please email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com subject line Prize Winner to collect your award badge (might have to be a little patient on this – I haven’t made them yet and we have a new baby in the family as of 4 days ago that is keeping us all busy 😊, but figured it was best to get the winners posted!) and prize, which 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 when I’ve done this for previous contests I got a ton of problematic spam mail because of the way I worded the post, but hopefully you can figure it out.  The store starts with the letter A 😊) I know it’s not much, but hopefully it will come in handy for something!

And now…

…the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

The announcement of the WINNERS OF THE 2023 VALENTINY CONTEST as voted on by you, our devoted 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…

Ryann Jones
for
R-EEL Love

Congratulations, Ryann! Terrific job 😊

In Second Place

Katrina Swenson
for
For! The! Love!

Congratulations, Katrina! You get to pick your prize after Ryann.

In Third Place

Sarah Meade
for
Daisy And Macy’s Best Valentine’s Day Ever!

Congratulations, Sarah! You get to pick your prize after Ryann and Katrina.

In Fourth Place…

Jill Purtee
for
Red’S Blue Valentine’s Day

Congratulations, Jill! You get to pick your prize after Ryann, Katrina, and Sarah!

In Fifth Place…

Katie Schwartz
for
Finn And Bug – So In Love!

Congratulations, Katie! You get to pick after Ryann, Katrina, Sarah, and Jill!

In Sixth Place...

Kim Collazo
for
Glitter And Glue

Congratulations, Kim! I’m sure you get the idea of how the prize picking goes by now 😊

In Seventh Place…

Jess Freeman
for
Short Stack

Congratulations, Jess!  You get to pick next 😊

In Eighth Place…

Ashley Sierra
for
Tara And The Valentine’s Day Dino Dance-Off

Congratulations, Ashley! You get to pick after Jess 😊

In Ninth Place…

Brenda Covert
for
Strawberry Valentine

Congratulations, Brenda!  You get to pick after Ashley! 😊

In Tenth Place…

Nicole Terry
for
Valentine’s Eve

Congratulations, Nicole! You get to pick after Brenda! 😊

In Eleventh Place…

Lori Bonati
for
Beverly Bunny’s Valentine Surprise

Congratulations, Lori! You get to pick after Nicole! 😊

In Twelfth Place…

Angela Jelf
for
Blake Shakes!

Congratulations, Angela! You get to pick your prize after Lori! 😊

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!  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 gigantic chocolate heart… or lots of little chocolate hearts… or both… really, you can never have too much chocolate 😊 .

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!

Have a marvelous Wednesday, everyone! 😊

The Prizes:  Swoonworthy! As always, we are so fortunate to have an abundance of wonderful prizes donated by our very generous friends in the kidlit community! Just look at all these goodies!

⭐️ 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 and discuss it with her!

⭐️ Access to author/editor Alayne Kay Christian‘s webinars! Alayne is the author of BUTTERFLY KISSES FOR GRANDMA AND GRANDPA (Blue Whale Press, 2008), SIENNA THE COWGIRL FAIRY: COWBOY TROUBLE (Blue Whale Press 2021), THE WEED THAT WOKE CHRISTMAS (Blue Whale Press, 2020), and AN OLD MAN AND HIS PENGUIN (Blue Whale Press, 2020)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (Rhyming or Non-rhyming, Fiction or Nonfiction) with written feedback AND a 30-minute Zoom Chat with children’s author Vivian Kirkfield, author of the brand new, about-to-be-released PEDAL, BALANCE, STEER: Annie Londonderry, The First Woman To Cycle Around The World (Calkins Creek, February 20, 2024), PIPPA’S PASSOVER PLATE (Holiday House, 2019), SWEET DREAMS, SARAH (Creston Books, 2019), FOUR OTTERS TOBOGGAN (Pomegranate, 2019), MAKING THEIR VOICES HEARD: THE INSPIRING FRIENDSHIP OF ELLA FITZGERALD AND MARILYN MONROE (Little Bee Books, 2020), FROM HERE TO THERE: INVENTIONS THAT CHANGED THE WAY THE WORLD MOVES (Clarion Books, 2021), and SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING (MoneyPenny Press Ltd, 2010)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Hanh Bui, author of The Yellow Áo Dài (Feiwel & Friends, April 25, 2023) and the forthcoming Ánh’s New Word: A Story About Learning a New Language (Feiwel & Friends, May 14, 2024) PLUS a signed copy of The Yellow Áo Dài!

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (Rhyming) PLUS Zoom Chat from developmental editor Lou Piccolo! Lou studied English Literature, creative writing and teaching at university in South Africa. After working as an EFL teacher in France for twenty years, she studied proofreading and editing before becoming a developmental editor of children’s and young adult’s literature for independent authors. She is a graduate of Renee LaTulippe’s Lyrical Language Lab – Punching Up Prose With Poetry course and Making Picture Book Magic, the in-house writer for Editions Entrefilet’s language-learning magazine ‘Go English Kids’ for children of 8-12 in France, and a traditionally published author of MG and YA fiction with Burlington Books.

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique with Rebecca Gomez, author of FEDERICO AND THE WOLF (Clarion Books, May 19, 2020), TWO TOUGH TRUCKS (Orchard Books, September 17, 2019), TWO TOUGH TRUCKS GET LOST! (Scholastic, Inc, September 1, 2020), HENSEL AND GRETEL: NINJA CHICKS (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, May 24, 2016), WHAT ABOUT MOOSE? (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, June 9, 2015) and the forthcoming middle grade novel in verse, MARI IN THE MARGINS (Bandersnatch Books, May 2024)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique with Laura Sassi, author of GOODNIGHT, ARK (Zonderkidz, August 4, 2015), GOODNIGHT, MANGER (Zonderkidz, October 6, 2015), DIVA DELORES AND THE OPERA HOUSE MOUSE (Union Square Kids, March 6, 2018), LOVE IS KIND (Zonderkidz, August 7, 2018), LITTLE EWE: The Story of One Lost Sheep (Beaming Books, February 23, 2021), BUNNY FINDS EASTER (Zonderkidz, February 1, 2022), HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTMAS CHILD! (Paraclete Press, October 4, 2022), and the MY TENDER HEART BIBLE series (Paraclete Press)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique with Aixa Pérez-Prado, author/illustrator of CITY FEET (Reycraft Books, January 12, 2023), and OUR WORLD: ARGENTINA (Barefoot Books, October 3, 2023)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique with Beth Stillborn, writer of middle-grade fiction, occasional picture books, fiction for grownups, and poetry, and qualified editor of anything you put in front of her!

⭐️ 30 Minute Ask Me Anything with Rebecca Gardyn Levington, author of BRAINSTORM! (Sleeping Bear Press, 2022), WHATEVER COMES TOMORROW (Barefoot Books, Mar 7, 2023), I WILL ALWAYS BE…(HarperCollins, Spring 2024), and AFIKOMAN, WHERE’D YOU GO? (Penguin/Rocky Pond, Spring 2024)

⭐️ 20 Minute Zoom Ask Me Anything on Indie Publishing with author Kizzie Hutcheson Roberts, indie author of THE ELVES GO MARCHING (Elemental Ink, December 1, 2022), THE EGGS GO ROLLING (Learning Spark, February 16, 2023), and HARPER AND THE RAPTOR RESCUE (chapter book) (Learning Spark Educational Publishing, June 27, 2023)

⭐️ Ask Me Anything Zoom Chat and signed book from Cindy Schrauben, author of THIS COULD BE YOU (Cardinal Rule Press, April 2022) and the just announced HANK’S CHANGE OF HEART (scheduled for February 2025 from The Little Press)

⭐️ Signed copy of KING CAKE BABY (Pelican Publishing, January 23, 2015) from author Keila Dawson

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, recommending their books for school and library purchases, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! 😊