Would You Read It Wednesday – The 17th Pitch

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Isn’t it great when you wake up looking forward to the day?  And I know you all did because it’s Would You Read It day 🙂

Before we get started, let’s select our Something Chocolate snack.  It’s very drizzly and drab here this morning, so I’m thinking some hot chocolate would be mighty nice.  Care to join me?

because this is exactly how hot chocolate is always served at my house 🙂
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Ahh!  That’s better!

Now, before we get to today’s pitch, a couple of teensy housekeeping details.

First, a reminder about our new feature which starts Friday – Perfect Picture Books Friday.  For the full description, click here.  This new feature is intended as a resource for all of us – parents, teachers, homeschoolers, writers, and gift-givers.  The posts will showcase a favorite book and include ideas and links on what it’s good for and how to use it at home and/or in the classroom.  (I’m going to try very hard to get my post up early on Friday so that anyone who needs to look at an example of how it’s done can do so – I might even post it late Thursday.)  Not only will this be a great resource, it will also strengthen our community and hopefully encourage people to visit all of our blogs 🙂

Second, don’t forget that next week is the Thanksgiving writing contest!!!  Click here for details.  (Please scroll down – it’s the last item in the post.)  It should be really fun and the winner will get a prize along with all our admiration, so please join in!  You still have time to write your entry (and it’s short!) 🙂

And last but not least, our theme for this week’s Fun Foto, if anyone wants to do it, will be THANKSGIVING.  This will be out last Fun Foto because it didn’t turn out to be as fun as we thought and we’re hoping people will get a lot more out of Perfect Picture Books!

And now, it’s time for Would You Read It!  If you need to refill your hot chocolate, go ahead.  I’ll wait 🙂

Ready?

This week’s pitch comes to us from Halli who hails from rural Alberta, Canada, and whose YA novel Shifters is being released in March 2012 from Imajin Books.

Working Title:  SIMBIOTE
Age/Genre:  YA Sci-Fi
The Pitch:  Kal is a donor in the illegal bulb trade.  He donates his own symbiotic bulbs to the humans on the multi-million dollar black market.  Their addictions can cost them a pretty penny, but what does it cost Kal?  What does he suffer every year at harvest time?  When he gets caught he realizes the risks he has put upon himself, his potential girlfriend and his family are far worse than he ever imagined.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Halli improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  (And please spread the word about Would You Read It to anyone you know who might be interested in pitching.  I have openings in mid-January which isn’t that far away :))

Halli is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  And I am looking forward to your Perfect Picture Book posts on Friday.  (I can’t WAIT to see what you all choose!)  And also to your Thanksgiving contest entries next week 🙂

Perfect Picture Books!

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I hope everyone had a nice weekend!

I got to babysit 🙂  Want to see?  (I know.  I promised not to inundate you with pictures of the most adorable granddaughter the world has yet seen.  But I’ve been pretty good… :))

How can you not fall in love with this? 🙂

What’s that?  You need one more?  OK.  You’ve twisted my arm 🙂

Just look at those cheeks!  I think she’s related to Friday’s chipmunk 🙂

All right.  That’s enough.  Stop asking me to show you pictures.  We have all kinds of excitement to get to this morning!

Remember that secret I mentioned on Friday?  The one you’ve no doubt been desperate to find out about all weekend to the point where you could hardly think of anything else but what will Susanna spring on us Monday????  You probably didn’t even sleep last night!

Well get ready, because here it comes!

But first,  let’s talk about how to remove stubborn stains from laundry items…

Tee hee 🙂

Seriously, here’s the news:

I’m starting a new feature!

In the spirit of Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays, the brainchild of Shannon Messenger, and various YA listicle-type things, I am starting Perfect Picture Book Fridays!  I’m announcing it today so you’ll all have time to gear up for the inaugural list this Friday, November 18.  Here’s what we’ll do:

As part of your Friday post, showcase a picture book you love.  This is NOT a review feature in the usual sense.  We’re all going to assume that you recommend the book you’re posting.  What’s going to make this feature really great is the details.

(Please note: to start with, Perfect Picture Books Fridays will only list traditionally published picture books.  In the future, I hope to expand to e-books and possibly self-published books, as well as books for older readers, but for now we’re going to stick with traditionally published picture books.)

(image of book cover optional)
1.  Give us the book title, author/illustrator, publisher, year, fiction or non-fiction, and audience age (preschool, elementary school or both)
2.  Tell us the themes/topics of the book (e.g. sibling rivalry, or, through hard work we achieve mastery, or, ocean life.)
3.  Give us the opening sentence or page and a 1-2 sentence synopsis.
4.  Link to any available resources you know of to expand this book’s use at home or in the classroom (e.g. links to classroom guides, coloring pages or other activity sheets, or fun activities that can be done in conjunction with the book like a leaf collage or an egg carton caterpillar etc.) and/or list your own ideas.
5.  Link back to the Perfect Books page of my blog (which will be useful in a week or two when we start having a list!)

Then add your post link to the list, using the picture book title along with your blog’s name, and every Friday parents, teachers, homeschoolers, and writers will have a great resource at their fingertips, perfect for going to the library to gather some weekend reading, or planning upcoming lessons for the following week, or studying great writing over the weekend, or all of the above!  (And as an added bonus, you’ll hopefully be increasing traffic to your blogs and attracting parents, teachers, and writers!)

In addition, I have added a Perfect Picture Books tab in the header of my blog where all these wonderful books and resources will be archived by age and subject (and permanent links to your blogs) – a go-to resource that parents, teachers, and writers can access at any time.

At the end of each month (starting with November even though we’re only going to be up and running for half the month) I will do a random drawing from among the names of the participants (you’ll get one chance for every book you’ve listed that month) and the winner will receive their choice of a $10 Amazon gift card or whatever picture book I’m giving away that month.

We all want to introduce our children to the joys of books, and encourage them to be life-long readers.  So much of that is dependent on finding the right books to suit their individual needs and interests.  The marketplace can be overwhelming and sadly, not all of us have time to go and chat with our local children’s librarian or spend hours researching books.  Perfect Picture Books will be your new resource – a community of parents, teachers, librarians, and writers whose recommendations you can trust, and a way to make life easier for parents and teachers.

Please pass the word to everyone you know who might be interested.  The more people who are involved, the more comprehensive and helpful this resource will be.

I hope you’ll all find this idea as fun and exciting as I do and join in starting this Friday.

I’ll bring the donuts 🙂

Fun Friday Foto Fextravaganza, Straight From The Editor #3, and more!

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There is just too much fun to be had to stick to a single category!  So get ready to start your day off with a bang 🙂  We will be whooping it up with Fun Friday Foto, Straight From The Editor #3, the Thanksgiving Contest!!!, and a secret!!!!! (I’m not going to manage Warm Fuzzies this week – I’m afraid of scaring you away with too much reading – but feel free to check out the other Warm Fuzzies :))

So let’s get comfy.  This morning I am in the mood for something besides donuts so, in keeping with the season, we will be having pumpkin muffins hot out of the oven.  Please help yourselves 🙂

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Mmmm!!!!

Gfyih shuf fgioh mnbysr
Sorry.  I didn’t mean to talk with my mouth full 🙂

Now then.  Let’s start with Fun Friday Foto.  This week’s theme is HIBERNATION, and you’ll note that those of us who have posted so far are all having the same problem – choosing just one!  Here are mine:
This guy is getting ready!
(and yes, I know he looks like me with my muffin :))
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This guy’s thinking of spending the winter here, but he’s afraid you can see him 🙂
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These two are looking cozy and settling down for their long winter’s nap 🙂
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I hope at least one of those gives you a story inspiration!  If it does, please share 🙂  Now hop on over to Catherine’s and Stacy’s and see their hibernation photos, and then if you’d like to post one (remember, kid-friendly) you can put your link in the comments and everyone will come visit you.

Next, it’s time for Straight From The Editor!  As you will recall, our pitch winner for October was Kim.  Readers felt fairly unanimously that her pitch was strong, and it turns out our fabulous editor felt the same way.  Here, once again, is Kim’s pitch:
Working Title:  Henry Hears You
Age/Genre:  YA
The Pitch:  13-year-old boy finds his voice as the new advice columnist for the school newspaper only to discover that some problems don’t have easy solutions when he gets a letter from a kid threatening to kill himself if the gay bashing doesn’t stop.
And here are Erin’s comments:
I definitely want to read this! I am intrigued. The only advice I can offer is to break it up into two sentences like this: 13-year-old boy finds his voice as the new advice columnist for the school newspaper. But he discovers that some problems don¹t have easy solutions when he gets a letter from a kid who threatens to kill himself if the gay bashing doesn¹t stop. It makes it easier to read -- not such a run-on sentence -- and gives it slightly more punch.

I hope you all find this helpful in writing your own pitches!
And now, the moment all you eager writers have been waiting for….  The announcement of the
Thanksgiving Contest!
Write a children’s Thanksgiving story beginning with the sentence:
They were supposed to go to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving, but the blizzard came in fast….
Maximum word length: 250 (but anything less is fine)  Prose or poetry is fine (and if you choose rhyming poetry you have permission to twist that first sentence a bit so it fits your rhyme scheme, or use the first sentence outside the rhyme and then continue in rhyme.)  Remember everything you’ve learned about writing stories for children 🙂  My assistant judge and I are prepared to be dazzled 🙂
Post your story on your blog any time between Monday November 21 and Thursday November 24 and link to the link list.  Or, if you don’t have a blog but would like to enter, just copy and paste your entry into the comments the week of the contest.
Three finalists will be chosen from among the entries and posted here on Friday November 25, and you wonderful readers will get to choose the winner! 🙂
The prize will be your choice of a Thanksgiving picture book (to be selected) or a $15 Amazon gift card – in time for the holidays 🙂
And now for the secret!  I love secrets, don’t you?  They’re so exciting.  I bet right now you’re rubbing your hands together in anticipation and wondering, what could it be?
Well…
I’ll tell you on Monday.
I know.  I’m just that mean 🙂
Have a great weekend, and see you Monday!!!

Would You Read It Wednesday – The 16th Pitch

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In case you were wondering, there are only 46 shopping days left until Christmas, counting today!

I’m not sure why the radio feels it necessary to tell us this in a panicky voice, as though we might have trouble getting our shopping done in 6 and a half weeks!  But there you have it.  Consider yourself forewarned.

Personally, I couldn’t shop for 6 and a half weeks.  Maybe after I write a New York Times bestselling book, or Punxsutawney Phyllis gets made into a movie 🙂 but at the moment, 6 and half minutes of shopping is more in line with my budget! … and my patience… 🙂

So.  That is my public service announcement for the day.  Chocolate creme donut anyone?

Now onto the fun stuff.  We have a winner in the Halloweensie Contest!!!  I do want to say again, before I tell you who the winner is, that ALL the entries were really wonderful – I was so impressed.  So if you didn’t make the list of finalists, don’t feel bad.  The competition was stiff.

Okay.  Are you ready???  Drum rollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!

The winner of the Halloweensie Contest, the signed copy of Haunted Party by Iza Trapani, and your admiration is #2 – Cathy!!!  Congratulations, Cathy, on a really great piece of work!  Please email me at susanna [at] susannahill [dot] com or use the handy Email Me button in the right-hand side bar to contact me with your address so I can mail your prize!

And never fear!  We will be having another contest in a couple weeks which I will be announcing on Friday!!!

Now.  Buckle up your reading glasses because it’s time for everybody’s favorite show:  Would You Read It!

Today’s contestant is Dee from Down Under who blogs at DeeScribeWriting and is currently participating in NaNoWriMo.  She presents us with the following:

Title:  Hating Ric
Age/Genre:  YA Verse
The Pitch:  On the day of his brother, Jason’s funeral, 17 year-old Ric’s anger explodes, and he races Jason’s car through the streets, crashing and badly injuring jogger, Kate.  Ric is sent to a juvenile justice centre, where survivor guilt and grief set him on a reckless destruction course. Help comes through his music and from an unexpected source in Kate who is struggling to put her own life back together.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Dee improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.
Dee is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  And I am wondering about your holiday shopping habits… 🙂
And a quick reminder that Friday’s Fun Foto theme is HIBERNATION if you want to post a kid-friendly, story-inspiring, hibernation-related photo on your blog Friday 🙂  Friday will also be the next installment of Straight From The Editor!, so stay tuned.  Friday may or may not include a Warm Fuzzies entry (depending on whether or not I can pull something together :)) but it will include the next contest announcement.  So see ya Friday!!!

Tons Of Fun Monday!

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I hope you’re all feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning (and really, don’t ask me what being “bushy-tailed” means exactly or what it has to do with being awake… :))

Since it’s Monday, I assume some of your bushy tails look like this:

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and some like this:

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But if you’re feeling like the second one, never fear!  You’ve come to the right place!  We have donuts 🙂

And, as you know, we always have plenty of fun around here!  Today is extra-especially fun because of all the winning!  Ready?

First  off: this week’s Fun Foto theme is HIBERNATION!  So scout around for a child-friendly photo that says hibernation to you and get ready to post it on your blog Friday for everyone to enjoy and use as a story prompt 🙂

Next up: the October Pitch Pick.  The winner, whose pitch will be sent to the awesome editor Erin Molta for evaluation and comment, is none other than KIM!!!!!  Congratulations, Kim!!!  Well done!!!  And congratulations also to Carla, Christie, and Tracy, our other brave contestants, who put their work out there for everyone to see and critique.  As always, all the pitches were wonderful, and I’m sorry that everyone can’t win.  But please, keep those pitches coming.  It’s great practice, and who knows?  You could be a winner next time!  Stay tuned for Straight From The Editor coming up whenever Erin’s comments happen to arrive… 🙂

Next: the winner of which book will go on a journey around the world is Can’t Sleep Without Sheep! If you would be interested in having Can’t Sleep come to your neck of the woods, please sign up in the comments.  I will either choose one person to start with (possibly by a contest of some kind… mwah-ha-hah!) and let them send it on, or if enough people from enough far-flung places sign up, perhaps I’ll just put together an itinerary.  The idea is for the book to travel around and be signed with a first name, location and date (and a tiny message if you like) and then come back to me eventually to share with kids on school visits!

illustration copyright Mike Wohnoutka 2010

Finally: here are the Halloweensie Contest finalists for you to vote on.  Boy did this turn out to be way harder than I expected!  Everyone’s entries were so good!  In the end, though, my assistant judge and I narrowed it down with heaviest emphasis on what a child would most enjoy since the point is, after all, to write for kids, with secondary consideration to how close you came to the 100 word count.  So here are the 3 finalists, identified by number. not name.  Please read them and vote for #1, #2, or #3!

#1

Oh Judy!
A gaggle of boys and girls dressed like soldiers, dancers, animals and one lone devil walked down the street in search of Halloween treats.
Before they reached Judy’s house, a ghost darted out of the bushes.
“Boo!”
A ballerina jumped throwing her candied apple into the air.
A bear cried as the gooey treat fell on his furry head.
The devil stumbled over a jack o’lantern into the bushes.
The group joined together to return the devil to his feet.
“Oh Judy,” they yelled.
“What?” she cried from her front porch, as a shadowy figure slipped into the bushes.

#2

Red candied apple dripping in goo.
Orange carved pumpkins spelling out BOO!
Yellow glowing jack o’lantern’s grin,
Green as the wart on an ugly witch chin!
Blue satin Cinderellas looking for a shoe,
Purple bubbling cauldron of stinky witch brew.
Black is the cat, white ghost in flight,
A rainbow of colors on Halloween night!

#3

Boo smirked and pulled Jack O’Lantern to the spooky looking house.
“Come on. Let’s go here.”
Jack O’Lantern gasped at skeletons and ghosts hanging from trees. The eerie sound of a wind chime, the only noise.
“Maybe we should have come out earlier,” said Boo, shivering in the cold and dark.
Circumnavigating a hanging ghost to reach the door, Boo dared to ring the doorbell.
Just as the door creaked open, a gust of wind blew the hanging ghost into them.
“Aargh!” They screamed as two candied apples were thrust toward them.
The boys ran and called back,
“Thank yoooooooo!”

So please vote for your favorite today or tomorrow!  (Poll will close Wednesday November 9 at 5 AM EST so I can post the winner on Wednesday morning.)


<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/5648197/”>Halloweensie Contest</a>
The winner will receive a signed hard cover copy of Haunted Party by the incomparable Iza Trapani!
And as I said, all of the entries were fantastic – I was so impressed with the quality and with how imaginative people could be within the constraints of the writing requirements!  I’m looking forward to the Thanksgiving Contest I’ve had requests for which I will post as soon as I think up what it is 🙂

Don’t forget to vote for the Halloweensie winner, let me know if you’d like to have Can’t Sleep journey to your house, and pick out a hibernation foto for Friday!

Who Will It Be? – Pitch Pick #3!… Plus Some Extras

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Sorry for the mess my blog has been this week.  You may blame Mother Nature and her very clever idea that we should have 2 feet of snow for Halloween 🙂  Talk about trick vs. treat!  I’m still playing catch-up, so today’s post will be a bit of a smorgasbord – not that I haven’t done that before 🙂

Included in today’s awesomeness will be Fun Foto, Warm Fuzzies #2, and the October Pitch Pick.

I know.

That’s a lot to pack into a Friday.  But after all, it IS Friday, so the weekend is coming and I know you are all full of happiness and enthusiasm about that, so hopefully you will feel generous with your energy and wade on through so we can get back on track next week!  Anyone who is in a hurry should feel free to skip to the part that’s most relevant to them… no hard feelings… (although I did get up at the crack of dawn and slave over all the parts… )  (oops, did I say that?!)  I promise, I’ll try to be brief.  For me 🙂

(This is the part where no one will point out that if I was technologically able in ANY way I would have long since figured out how to schedule posts ahead and then if my power went out it wouldn’t matter and I would never have gotten behind in the first place.  Thank you all for not mentioning that :))

So.  Fun Foto.  Technically, we’re not doing it this week because we didn’t get it together we knew you were too busy!  But I hate to skip it altogether, so here is my themeless Fun-not-really-a-Foto just for kicks:

Isn’t it sweet?  Write a story about this!
(courtesy weheartit)

Anyone else who wants to put up a themeless foto, friendly for kids ages 0-12, feel free to post your link in the comments.  And for one of the best photos I’ve seen in a long time, check out Cynthia’s blog, Random Thoughts, from yesterday.  Is that a great photo or what?! 🙂

Onto Warm Fuzzies Week #2:

This week’s task: post a picture or piece of music that describes your WIP.  Then in the comments, people are supposed to guess what your WIP is about 🙂

Here’s my picture for that:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Any guesses? Remember, I write picture books 🙂

And finally (we’re moving right along, aren’t we? I’m being so brief!) it’s time for Pitch Pick #3!!!  One lucky participant is going to get her pitch read by the epitome of awesome editors, Erin Molta!!!  To refresh your memory, the October contestants are listed below.

#1 Carla

Working Title:  Witches Don’t Dance
Age/Genre: Picture Book
The Pitch:  What happens when witches dance?  Little Linda knows it can get messy, but she also thinks it might just be the witches’ only chance to save their Halloween Party.
#2  Christie
Working Title: Gleek
Age/Genre: MG Contemporary
The Pitch:  A math whiz but not great at reading and writing, eleven-year-old Art Schaeffer unknowingly stumbles upon the school bully’s rule-breaking science fair project and must find a way to expose him before the judges make their final decisions.
#3  Tracy
Working Title:  Pizza’s Band
Age/Genre:  Early Reader
The Pitch:  Pizza, JuiceBox and Cake are best friends. Cereal arrives with his brand new guitar they head to the garage for band practice. But when Bratwurst interrupts, will Pizza be brave enough to protect his friends from this bully?

#4  Kim
Working Title:  Henry Hears You
Age/Genre:  YA
The Pitch:  13-year-old boy finds his voice as the new advice columnist for the school newspaper only to discover that some problems don’t have easy solutions when he gets a letter from a kid threatening to kill himself if the gay bashing doesn’t stop.
On your mark… Get set… VOTE!!!!!

<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/5640800/”>Pitch Pick #3</a>
In the interest of trying to get back on track, the poll will close on Sunday, November 6 at 11:59 PM EST so that I can announce the winner in Monday’s post, so please get your votes in as soon as you can because I love announcing winners.  I will also post the finalists for the Halloweensie Contest for you to vote on Monday, so we will have another winner next week.  Yippee-ay-oh-ky-yay!  Is next week going to be fun or what?

Thank you all for your patience this week.  Hopefully next week will be a little less crazy!  Oh, and since people have expressed interest, we will be having a Thanksgiving Contest of some sort, so feel free to leave me words that evoke Thanksgiving for you in the comments!

Have a great weekend!!!

Once Upon A Halloweensie Contest

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Due to our freak snowstorm, this post is interrupting Would You Read It Wednesday, so if you haven’t seen today’s Would You Read It, please scroll down or click here so Christie gets her pitch feedback!  Thank you!

Once upon a Halloweensie, 2 feet of snow fell out of the sky and caused all manner of trouble!

So, the good news?  Those of you who would like to enter the Halloweensie Contest and didn’t get around to writing your stories yet still have a chance to join in the fun!  I’ll give you until the end of tomorrow – Friday November 4.  For those of you who might not remember, the contest is for a 100 word story (in poetry or prose) suitable for children, using the words boo, candied apple, and jack-o-lantern.  The story can be a little under 100 words but must not go over!  If you don’t have a blog and want to enter, just copy and paste your story in the comments.

Here’s my sample, just for fun (because obviously I can’t enter my own contest :))

Mom was out, so Caitlyn was babysitting for Dex and Jax.
“Is it time yet?” asked Dex.
“Not yet,” said Caitlyn.
They put two dozen candied apples on a tray.
“Is it time yet?” asked Jax.
“No,” said Caitlyn.
They poured three jumbo bags of mini chocolate bars into the cauldron.
“Now?” asked Dex.
“Nope,” said Caitlyn.
They hung fake cobwebs around the door.
They turned off all the lights.  Caitlyn lit the jack-o-lantern.
It was dark and spooky.
“Is it time yet?” whispered Dex.
“Yes!” Caitlyn whispered back.  “One.  Two.  Three…”
“BOO!” they all yelled.

Boy was Mom surprised!


I think about 6 or 7 people that I know of wrote their entries and posted them on time.  I’m hoping they’ll all see this (or I’ll try to contact them) and get the addresses of their Halloweensie posts into this linky list so they’re easy for everyone to find in one place.  And I hope you’ll all go read the stories they worked so hard on!  And, while I’m hoping, I also hope a few more of you will be inspired to join – especially all you fellow PiBoIdMo folks whose creative thoughts are flowing right now!  Remember, the prize is a signed copy of Haunted Party by the one and only Iza Trapani 🙂

And just so you know?  I’ve decided to make this an annual contest!  Of course we’ll use different words and have a different prize each year, but you might as well go ahead and mark your calendars now for Halloween 2012 🙂  It will give you something fun to work toward.  While I’m at it, I’ll probably do this for most of the major holidays because it’s fun, good practice in writing, educational for all us writers honing our craft, and a chance for me to give away signed books by authors I know and love 🙂  Better start thinking about Thanksgiving 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday – The 15th Pitch

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(Which this week, due to Mother Nature’s sense of humor, is taking place on Thursday!)

Hello everyone!  I’m so glad to see you all!  I feel like I’ve been out of touch for ages.  I apologize to all the awesome bloggers I usually follow for missing what I’m sure have been brilliant posts this week.  I will do my best to catch up, but there’s nothing like being disconnected from the internet for 4 days to make you realize how fast you can get totally backlogged!  And right at the beginning of PiBoIdMo, too!

I’m so behind I don’t know if there’s any hope of catching up, but if you’ll all indulge me (and the wonderful writers who have taken the time to send in their pitches and write stories for the Halloweensie contest) by reading a couple extra posts too close together, I’m hoping to get Would You Read It up today, as well as the proper Halloweensie post, and the Pitch Pick for October up tomorrow, but I’ll be playing catch up for a while.

Before we start, though, I will share a couple pictures of our Halloween Wonderland.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… except for all the leaves… and the fact that it’s October  🙂
That thing in the trampoline used to be our apple tree which we planted as a mere sprout when we first moved here 18 years ago 😦
Luckily the girls love a good romp in the snow 🙂  This was a shallow spot – I didn’t have the camera out when they were over their backs in the white stuff!

Okay.  That will be quite enough of that!  Truly, all this snow is making me feel a little light-headed.  I think it’s time for a piping hot cup of coffee (which I can once again brew! :)) and some glazed chocolate Dunkin’ Munchkins!  Join me, won’t you?

Now, then.  Onward!

Today’s post comes to us from the prolific Christie, whose MG novel was pitched last month.  This time she’s sharing a picture book pitch:

Working Title:  The Tooth Fairy Star
Age/Genre: Picture Book
The Pitch:  Tiffany Faye loves being the tooth fairy, but when all the other fairies complain about her terrible dancing, she has to find a way to dance without being clumsy or else give up her job as the tooth fairy.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Christie improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.
Christie is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!
Please be kind enough to check back and read the Halloweensie Contest post which I will get up ASAP for all the wonderful writers who posted stories!  Thank you all for your patience and good will 🙂

Halloweensie Delay

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Apparently it’s Octsnowber.  We have 2 feet of snow and no power or iinternet.  I am currently lurking outside Dunki’ Donuts (I know you’re surprised!) poaching 3G to write this on myphoone.  Please post your Halloweensie entries and I’ll get the contest and link list up as soon as I can.  So sorry for the trouble, but we’re told it may be days…Hopefully I’ll be able to sort it all out eventually.  Meanwhile, please fotrgive my temporary absence from the blogosphere!

Fun Friday Foto Fextravaganza – Halloween! – and Warm Fuzzies!

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Important Update to the Halloweensie Contest!
Want to enter but don’t have a blog?  No problem!  Just copy and paste your entry into the comment section on Monday!  (We may all be doing that if I don’t get the Linky Tool thing figured out :))

To start today’s festivities, I ask you all to witness my awesome fun foto!  I realize, of course, that this is technically another pumpkin, but it’s so unbelievable I have to show you.  Prepare to be amazed!

lolcats

No pumpkin I ever carved came out looking remotely that artistic.  In fact, the ones I carve are generally no longer recognizable as pumpkins…

But if you’re going to get nitpicky and require something Halloween but non-pumpkin, I always go for the cuteness.  How’s this?

lolcats

Catherine and Stacy have fun fotos up, too, so please go check out theirs!  Anyone else who would like to join in the fun, please post a 0-12-year-old friendly photo that says HALLOWEEN to you on your blog, then hop back here or Catherine’s blog and put your link in the comments so everyone can come visit you.

Now, onto item #2: The Warm Fuzzies Blogfest!

Juliana Brandt is running this awesome fest.  Please visit her over at her brand new beautiful website.  This week’s discussion topic is as follows:

This week, be it good or bad, funny or sad, share with us the best response you’ve heard when you’ve told someone you’re a writer. Also, tell us, do you tell other people that you’re a writer?

So here are my thoughts.

For a long time, I didn’t tell anyone I was a writer.  I mentioned it once or twice and was met by the question, “Oh!  What books have you written?” at which point I was forced to confess that I’d written all kinds of things but none of them were published.  So I stopped mentioning it.

Then came the wonderful day when I got an actual offer from an actual, reputable publishing house.  At last I could say I was a writer and when people asked the inevitable I could say, “I wrote The House That Mack Built!”  To which most people would say, “O-oh!” in an uncertain voice with that look that said clearly, I’ve never heard of that so it must not be too good.  (Or they would say, “You mean The House That Jack Built?” as if I might not know the title of my own book…)

A book or two later, when I was starting to feel a little more like a writer, people would say, “What have you written that I would have heard of?”  Well, truthfully, most people aren’t all that well-versed in young children’s literature.  If it’s not on the New York Times Bestseller list, they probably haven’t heard of it, and I have never been on the New York Times Bestseller List… yet!  So I would mention my 2 or 3 titles, they would look at me blankly, and there would be an awkward pause in the conversation.

Another frequent response is, “Oh, I’m going to write a book.  I have tons of ideas.  I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.”  Like it’s easy, something to be tossed off in a spare afternoon.

But somewhere along the line I have become comfortable with the fact that I am a writer.  Maybe not famous.  Maybe not the best writer in the world.  But a writer is who I am.  Nowadays when people ask what I do I say I’m a writer, and I say it with assurance.  And I feel a certain sense of pride.  Neither I nor my books are particularly well-known (can you say virtually unheard of :)) but I feel a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

As to the best moments, I have a couple.  One I wrote about last week – when a woman asked me to sign a copy of Can’t Sleep Without Sheep for her newborn daughter, to be the very first book in her child’s library.  There is no way to beat that.  Really.

And a few others, when people have told me that one of my books is their child’s favorite.  That it is read over and over in their house.  That’s why we write.  To share our stories and hopefully make someone’s day a little better.  To me, there is no higher compliment than to be told something I wrote is treasured by a child.

So that’s my Warm Fuzzy 🙂

I hope you all have a great weekend, and I hope you’re all ready for Halloween – stocked up on candy that of course you are most certainly not going to eat any of yourself… except for a few pieces that are required to fulfill your Something Chocolate quota for Would You Read It… 🙂 and ready to don your costume.  In case anyone is wondering, this year I will be dressing up as a write-at-home mom.  It’s a stretch, I know, but sometimes you’ve got to get out of your comfort zone 🙂

And I hope everyone is ready for the Halloweensie Contest (click the link if you don’t know about it yet) on Monday!  I’ve already heard from one person that her entry is ready to go.  I’m so excited!  I can’t wait to read everyone’s creative 100 words!

See you Monday!  Trick or treat!