Ho! Ho! Ho! The 6th Annual Holiday Contest Is Here!!!

December 8, 2016January 16, 2018542 Comments

Deck the halls!

Light the menorah!

Fill the Kikombe cha Umoja!

It’s time for…

The 6th Annual Holiday Contest!!!!

12-days-1

WA-HOOO!!!! 🙂

The Contest: Write a children’s holiday story (children here defined as approximately age 12 and under) using the basic format/concept of The Twelve Days Of Christmas! Your story may be poetry or prose, silly or serious or sweet, religious or not, based on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever you celebrate, but is not to exceed 300 words (I know! So much freedom after the Halloweensie Contest 🙂 ) (It can be as short as you like (the judges will be grateful 🙂 , you are welcome and encouraged to write shorter, but no more than 300! Title not included in word count.) The field is wide open! Have fun! The more creative the better! No illustration notes please. (And yes, if you feel compelled to submit more than one entry you may, just remember you’re competing against yourself!)

Post: Your entry should be posted on your blog between right now this very second and Monday December 12 at 11:59 PM EST, and your post-specific link should be added to the link list below. We’re trying a new system for this contest – the one I use for Perfect Picture Book Friday – fingers crossed it works better than the other one for everyone! This post and the list will remain up through Thursday December 15 for your reading pleasure (no WYRI or PPBF.) If you don’t have a blog but would like to enter, please copy and paste your entry into the comments on my December 8th post. (If anyone has trouble commenting, which unfortunately happens, please email me and I’ll post your entry for you! But please don’t send attachments! Just copy and paste your story into the email.) Also, please only post your entry once – either in the comment section of my blog or on the link list.

The Judging: My lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to 10-12 finalists (depending on the number of entries) which will be posted here on Friday December 16 (or, if we’re desperate for a little extra time, Saturday December 17) for you to vote on for a winner. The vote will be closed on Monday December 19 at 5 PM EST and the winners will be announced on Tuesday December 20. Whoever gets the most votes will be first and so on down to tenth place. Judging criteria will be kid appeal/kid-friendliness, creativity, quality of story, quality of writing, and originality. If we can post the finalists sooner and move everything up a bit we will, but with 300 word entries it takes longer…

The Prizes!: And oh, my! there are some good ones!

– A Picture Book Manuscript Critique and Chat with Sarah (Miller) Rockett of Sleeping Bear Press (ms due January 1st, chat in February) kindly donated by Jodell Sadler and KidLit College

– Enrollment in literary agent Jodell Sadler‘s Pacing Picture Books 2 WOW picture book writing class!

s149388948426827116_p1_i8_w450

– A Picture Book Manuscript Critique by the fabulous Cori Doerffeld, author/illustrator of Penny Loves Pink, Little Bunny Foo Foo, and many more…!

penny_cover bunny-foo-foo

– A Picture Book Manuscript Critique by the awesome Vivian Kirkfield, author of Show Me How: Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting And Cooking, and the forthcoming picture book from Creston Books, Sweet Dreams, Sarah.

sweet-dreams-new-on-amazon vivian-kirkfield

– A Picture Book Manuscript Critique by talented agent Jodell Sadler (or other staff of Kidlit College)

jodell-sadler

– Enrollment in Making Picture Book Magic (my online picture book writing class – in January or a later month to be mutually agreed upon by the winner and me)

– 2017 Children’s Writer’s And Illustrator’s Market and a $25 Amazon Gift Card. (2 available)

– Book Markets For Children’s Writers 2017 and Magazine Markets For Children’s Writers 2017 published by The Institute Of Children’s Literature.

– a pack of Susanna Leonard Hill’s amazing What’s The Story Cards (scroll about 1/2 way down the page… (2 available)

I can’t thank these authors and other industry professionals enough for their incredible generosity! Please visit their sites, buy and recommend their books and services to your writer friends and/or friends with kids, write them nice reviews on Amazon, GoodReads etc if you’ve read and liked their books, and show your appreciation to them in any way you can!

Now.

The time has come for my sample. And I think I can say unequivocally that this is the worst sample I have ever written 🙂 Are you ready? You’re going to have to grit your teeth to get through this one 🙂 But that should be very comforting to all of you because you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that ANYthing you wrote is better than this! 🙂

Noel’s 12 Days Of Christmas (209 words)

On the First Day of Christmas Noel sighed miserably
Alone by her little fir tree.
“It’s not Christmas without company.”

But the mice in the walls overheard…
And they made sure to pass on the word…

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas the door chimed merrily.
Noel answered curiously.
And what in the world should she see?
But…
Twelve moose a-munching
Eleven bears a-lunching
Ten reindeer shedding
Nine otters sledding
Eight foxes yapping
Seven possums napping
Six cats with kittens

Five singing wolves

Four flying squirrels
Three loud crows
Two playful mice
And they said, “We will be company!”
So Noel let them in joyfully.

But before long these hairy, loud guests
Made the house a bewildering mess!
And Noel’s thoughts turned back longingly
To the quiet and peace by her tree!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas Noel said graciously,
“I thank you for your company.”
And then…
Twelve moose a-munching
Eleven bears a-lunching
Ten reindeer shedding
Nine otters sledding
Eight foxes yapping
Seven possums napping
Six cats with kittens

Five singing wolves

Four flying squirrels
Three loud crows
Two playful mice
Headed off to another party.

On the Twelfth Night of Christmas Noel sighed happily
Alone by her little fir tree…
With one kitten for sweet company.

So now! Is everyone filled with confidence about their entries? I certainly hope so after that display! Never let it be said that I’m not willing to make a fool of myself for you guys 🙂 It just proves how much I love you 🙂

I can’t wait to read all of your (much better!) stories! I hope there will be a lot – the more the merrier! And there are still nearly 5 days to write, so you have time if you haven’t written yet and want to join the fun. Feel free to spread the word to your writing friends as well. If you just want to enjoy reading, that’s great too! We need all the readers we can get, so feel free to spread the word to parents and teachers! And what better way to entertain yourself and your kids while waiting for the holiday goodies to bake? Or get someone to read aloud while everyone else wraps presents 🙂

Remember to put your post-specific link (not your general blog link or people will find the wrong page if you post again before the contest is over) in the list below! OR copy and paste your entry into the comment section if you don’t have a blog! (I am truly hoping this form and spread sheet will work, but I made them without help at midnight and it’s entirely possible I screwed up! If that is the case, I will get help to fix them ASAP!!! I experimented with mine and it worked so…fingers crossed! Please allow several minutes for the list to update and refresh your browser before panicking and thinking your entry didn’t load!)

Rejoice! and let the festivities begin!!! 🙂

And don’t miss the additional 41 fabulous entries in the comment section below!
(Scroll through comments to view)

1. Sneaky Snoop: A Cautionary Christmas Tale – Rebekah
2. Bear’s Longest Twelve Days Ever – Karen
3. The Seven Days Before Hanukkah – Robin
4. A Woodland Christmas Countdown – Jane
5. Grandma’s Christmas – Maggie
6. The Twelve Days Of Zoo Christmas – Kim
7. The Eight Nights Of Chanukah – Melissa
8. The Twelve Puppy-Days Of Christmas -Tilly The Spaniel
9. The Twelve Days Of Giftmas – Mary
10. The Twelve Days Of Christmas – Anita
11. 12 Days After Christmas – Kathryn
12. The 8 Days Of Hanukkah – Leah
13. A Plane Ticket In A Rare Tree – Hermanator
14. Twelve Days Til Christmas – Kathy
15. The Twelve Days Of Petmas – Anne
16. The Christmas Cookie Crook – Susan
17. Kindness Counts To Twelve! – Tracy
18. A Child’s First 12 Days Of Christmas – Ingrid
19. Sweet Hopeful Hymns We Sing – Rebekah

21. Twelve Surprises For Sally – Lorraine
22. The Ways We Celebrate Holidays: A Merry Mash-Up – Jodi
23. The Twelve Days Of Santa’s Surprise – Ann
24. The Twelve Days Of Canadian Winter – Anne
25. The Twelve Days After Christmas – Sam
26. The Christmas Parade – Judy
27. The Twelve Days Of Kittymess -Kristin
28. Chocolate For Santa – Katherine
29. The Sweetest Treat – Lauren
30. A FURever Home For Christmas – Mariah
31. The Twelve Nights Of Christmas – Marie
32. Twelve Crows At Christmas – Jennifer
33. The 12 Emotions Of Arbor Day – Jen
34. Raindrop’s Gift – Robyn
35. A Gift For The Princess – Monica
36. The Woodland Christmas Tree – Lucretia
37. Burrito’s Epiphany Gift – Carmen
38. The Partridge In-A-Pear-Tree – Elizabeth
39. Tis Flu Season – Mona
40. The 12 Gifts Of The Holidays – Liza
41. A Cold And Clammy Christmas? – Shelley

Would You Read It Wednesday #235 – Good Old Gus (PB) PLUS The October Pitch Winner!

December 7, 2016March 28, 201729 Comments

Would you look at that?

It’s Would You Read It Wednesday again!

I really do not know where the time goes sometimes!

And the fact that today is Wednesday means that tomorrow is the opening day for the 6th Annual Pretty Much World Famous Holiday Writing Contest! Woo hoo! I hope you’ve all got your entries ready, or nearly so. You have 5 days to post, though, so if you’re not done yet, don’t panic 🙂

I, of course, need to panic because I have not given my sample even a second’s thought yet… It will seriously be a miracle if I get one together to post for you guys tomorrow! But fingers… and toes… and eyes… etc… crossed 🙂 Let’s hope the Muse is around and feeling generous!

Down to today’s business, I’m happy to announce that the winner of the October Pitch Pick was Michele with her pitch for When The Sheep Fall Asleep. Congratulations, Michele! Your pitch is winging through cyberspace to editor Erin Molta and I’m sure you’ll hear from her soon! (Although given that we’re approaching the holidays, it may not be right away!)

And congratulations as well to all our other pitchers who wrote fabulous pitches for interesting stories and bravely put them out there for us to read and comment on and use to help each other learn how to write strong pitches. You are all winners just for making that effort! Consider yourselves showered with virtual chocolate treats! 🙂

And speaking of chocolate… how about a little Something Chocolate? Festive and perfect for winter holiday entertaining – or breakfast 🙂 – there’s nothing like a Hot Chocolate Cake Roll!

Hot Chocolate Cake Roll

Recipe HERE at Will Cook For Smiles

Doesn’t that look scrumptious? Mmmm! Yum! Get a cup of coffee and have another slice! 🙂

Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Noel who is a lifelong learner and avid reader trying to become an avid writer for children. Recently moved from the snowy “Great White North”, Noel now has opportunities to acquaint herself with coastal creatures that provide new inspiration for stories.

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Good Old Gus

Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 5-8)

The Pitch: After years of working with his Captain at sea, an ice cream loving dog is left to wait, alone on the pier for the Captain’s return only to find that there are others on land who need his help more than they realize.

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 Noel 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 Would You Read It in the dropdown under For Writers in the bar above. There are openings in January, so you have a little time to polish your pitch before putting it up for helpful feedback and have a chance to have it read by editor Erin Molta!

Noel is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to the 6th Annual Holiday Writing Contest which opens at midnight!!!!! Can’t wait to read all your amazing entries!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Biggest Smallest Christmas Present

December 2, 2016December 1, 201617 Comments

Hurray! It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday!

I have a cute one for you today 🙂

Along with a heads up that this is probably the last Perfect Picture Book Friday of 2016. By next Friday the Holiday Writing Contest will be underway… as well as the Friday after…and then we will all be up to our ears in holiday preparations – cleaning, ~~sampling the gingerbread~~ baking,~~tasting the Christmas brownies~~ shopping, wrapping, greeting, entertaining the little angels who are on school vacation,~~sustaining ourselves with Something Chocolate~~ traveling, spending time with friends and family – far too busy for blogging!

But I hope you’ll like today’s pick – a little reminiscent of Eloise to my mind!

the-biggest-smallest-xmas-present

Title: The Biggest Smallest Christmas Present

Written & Illustrated By: Harriet Muncaster

G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books For Young Readers, October 18 2016, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-5

Themes/Topics: Holidays (Christmas), ingenuity, perseverance, making the best of things

Opening: “Clementine lived in an ordinary house on an ordinary street with her ordinary mom and dad and brother, Charlie.
But there was one extraordinary thing about Clementine…”

Brief Synopsis: Clementine is not an average-size girl. She’s so tiny she bathes in a teacup. Santa keeps bringing her presents that are much too big. How can she get him to bring her a present that’s the right size?

text and illustration copyright Harriet Muncaster 2016

Links To Resources: The 5 Best Toys Of All Time (or how to let kids use their imagination and creativity as Clementine does 🙂 ); 25 Easy Christmas Crafts For Kids

Why I Like This Book: Clementine is cute and spunky. She may be tiny, but she finds ingenious and creative ways to use the gifts she receives that are too big for her. She can’t use the xylophone sticks to play the instrument… but they make great stilts! And the xylophone itself? Well, she can play it by dancing on it – making her own music! The fairy slippers are too big to wear… but one of them makes a perfect bed. Still, she longs for a present that’s just the right size. She does her best to explain this to Santa, but her first two attempts are foiled. I love the ending because of the ambiguity. Did Santa really get her message? Or has he known all along that she would get more out of presents she had to find her own way to enjoy? The art is delightful and engaging, showing Clementine’s disporportionatly big personality. A fun, fresh read for Christmas time!

text and illustration copyright Harriet Muncaster 2016

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday #234 – Armadillo’s Pillow Fight (PB) PLUS The October Pitch Pick!

November 30, 2016March 28, 201727 Comments

Good Morning, Poppets!

I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings with plenty of pie! 🙂

So.

Here’s the situation:

My internet, as you know, is feeble at best (forget dial-up – think internet delivered by carrier pigeon… 🙂 ) Stone Age internet speed is pretty much the only downside to living on Bueberry Hill. But in the computer age it’s a real humdinger! Ever since my email server updated itself (without my knowledge or consent!), I’ve been having extremely sporadic luck being able to access my email. I can get email by going to the local library, which has awesome internet speed, but usually not at home.

For the past two days, however, my email has been showing signs of working better! (Miracle of miracles!) And I allowed it to lull me into a false sense of security (because it was pouring rain and chilly and I didn’t want to go to the library!) After all, it made sense that the kinks would eventually get worked out of this fancy new email update and it would function as it was meant to! But… when the time came to put this post together…my sluggish internet and fancy updated email once again refused to speak to each other. As a result, I was not able to access the emails with the updated versions of the pitches for today’s pitch pick!

So, I have two options.

Option 1: hope the internet is working at 5 AM and try to update this post before most of you have gotten to it.

Option 2: postpone the pitch pick another week.

One or the other will show up below… which will it be??? I guess we’ll just have to be surprised! 🙂

Looks like I have internet this morning!!! We’ll see how long it lasts… 🙂

#1 Michele – When Sheep Fall Asleep – PB ages 3-6

All Sam wants to do is stay up late. His parents agree to a deal: If he gets into bed and counts sheep all the way up to ten, then he can stay up all night. But the sheep aren’t cooperating, and once the monkeys, elephants, chickens, and even hyenas start crowding in, it’s all Sam can do to keep his room from turning into a zoo!

#2 Greg – Pochon’s Monster – PB ages 4-10

Staring at a pile of single socks, Viola wonders if Pochon’s Monster is to blame. A sock stealing monster made of socks. Created by the inventor of the manual dryer to take revenge on owners of electric dryers, one sock at a time.

Viola stakes out the laundry room and catches the monster red-socked in the act of stealing a sock. With a loud pop and a bright flash the monster escapes. Viola tracks down the monster and with an act of kindness gets the monster to relinquish what it has stolen.

#3 Carolyn – Muggsy And His Go-Go Cart – PB ages 4-8

Muggsy Pawsborne is born without his hind legs. However, he and his family have never seen this as a disability. It has always been his Musggsability, which means he can do anything other dogs can do, just differently. When Muggsy starts at a new school, he encounters the typical group of mean kids. When the mean kids make fun of Muggsy’s wheelchair during recess, he is left feeling embarrassed and lonely. A friendly classmate encourages Muggsy to participate in the school’s Olympic Day in order to show everyone that just because Muggsy has a wheelchair doesn’t mean he is disabled. Will Muggsy persevere and become the top pooch in school?

#4 Lisa – X Marks The Spot – PB ages 4-8

X is tired of his alphabet job. He wants to be a pirate! After getting hired to sail aboard The Porpoise, X quickly finds that he doesn’t eXactly fit in. For eXample, all the other posh pirates have squawking parrots and silver swords, but X only has his pet oX, a clumsy old aXe, and an ill-fitting tuXedo. X is utterly eXcluded from the pirate party on the poop deck. But when a band of scallywags try to steal The Porpoise’s most valuable treasure (spoiler: it’s their parrots!), X discovers his purpose with one eXpert move that saves the day!

Please choose the pitch you think is best and most deserving of a read by editor Erin Molta and vote for it in the poll below by Sunday December 4 at 5 PM EST!

Sheesh! That was exhausting! How about Something Chocolate? Now, before you point out that this is pink, I realize that of course! It’s made with white chocolate, which I know is the poor sister of the chocolate family, but it’s so pretty and seasonally appropriate that I’m sharing it anyway 🙂 (Also, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as hot chocolate made out of white chocolate, and I thought you might not either, so I felt it incumbent upon me to further our chocolate experience!) (Also, just because white chocolate is the poor sister doesn’t mean it should be shunned – it’s still chocolate – technically!)

Slow Cooker Candy Cane White Hot Chocolate!

Recipe HERE at Real Housemoms

Even though it’s not dark chocolate doesn’t it look beautiful and delicious? I haven’t actually tried it yet… but it’s cold and rainy again and this looks so cheerful and festive that today might be the day! 🙂

YUM! It would probably go GREAT with a brownie 🙂

Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Nadine who says, “I am an elementary librarian in an urban school district and I love my job! I am on the selection committee for the Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award (PA’s state book award) and a wiener dog owner and lover!”

Find her on the web at:
Website
Twitter
FaceBook

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Armadillo’s Pillow Fight

Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 3-8)

The Pitch: Willow Armadillo is planning a pillow fight. She asks a friend to spread the word of this nocturnal party. As each friend gets the message, an important detail is left out. Poor Willow. Perhaps her pillow fight wasn’t meant to be.
ARMADILLO’S PILLOW FIGHT is a 446-word character driven picture book and is as much fun as a game of Telephone or Whisper Down the Alley. Children will roll with laughter at the animals’ silly missteps. ARMADILLOW’S PILLOW FIGHT is a great read-aloud encouraging audience participation.

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 Nadine 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.)

Nadine is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday #233 – Harry’s Magic (PB)

November 23, 2016March 28, 201716 Comments

Hi Everyone!

It’s Would You Read It Wednesday, and since every day is a good day to improve our vocabulary, and tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I have decided that the word of the day is snood.

Say it with me:

S N O O D

Fun, isn’t it?

S N O O D

Rolls right off the tongue! 🙂

And in case you’re wondering ~~what the heck that has to do with Thanksgiving~~ what a snood is, it’s that hangy thing on a turkey’s nose – kind of at the top of its beak. (Not to be confused with the wattle which is the hangy thing under its chin 🙂 )

Ah, the majestic turkey!

turkey-1

Because majestic is the word that comes to mind when describing a creature who seems a little too large for its legs and is covered in bizarre hangy things 🙂

But seriously. We have lots of wild turkeys in our neck of the woods and they’re pretty cool in real life. Did you know that an adult wild turkey has about 5,500 feathers, including the 18 special ones that make up the male’s beautiful fan? That a turkey’s field of vision is 270 degrees and they can see in color? That turkeys can swim (although they don’t do it often!)? And that a wild turkey can run up to 25 miles per hour when necessity dictates (like when Scout and Jemma are chasing them 🙂 ) and fly up to 55 miles per hour? (And you thought they couldn’t get off the ground! They can… but it’s pretty funny to watch 🙂 )

And they have snoods.

What could be better?

Alrighty, then! Now that we’ve all learned a little something about the wonder that is turkey, I think it’s time for Something Chocolate! (It probably should be a chocolate turkey, but why go with the predictable? 🙂 )

I invite you all to join me for a delicious breakfast of Peanut Butter Fudge Cake!

Recipe HERE at Cooking At Home

Health food, as you can see, since peanut butter is protein and chocolate (from the cocoa bean) is a vegetable, and there are clearly whole grains involved in anything with the word “cake” in it 🙂

Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Anne who says, “My name is Anne Sawan. I am a writer and a member of SCBWI New England. My picture book, “What Can Your Grandmother Do?” won the International Picture Book Contest held by Inclusive Works in 2014, was recently released in Europe and will be published in the USA by Clavis Publishing this spring. I also have several ebooks on MeeGenius: When Santa Was Small, The Baseball Game, The Great Adventure Brothers and The Halloween Costume. Some of my other writing has been featured on Brain-Child, Adoptive Families, The Mid, Scary Mommy and Blunt Moms.”

Find her on the web at https://agsawan.wordpress.com/

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Harry’s Magic

Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)

The Pitch: Eliza wakes up on the wrong side of the bed feeling quite grumpy, almost as if a monster has taken over her body. Her brother Harry says will cast a magical spell to drive out the angry beast and restore Eliza to her sweet, silly self. This 560 word, rhyming picture book will have children ages 4-8 laughing as they watch Eliza running about gathering up all of the necessary and ridiculous ingredients for Harry’s magic potion, but will Harry be able to save his sister in time?

So what do you think? Would You Read It? YES, MAYBE or NO? (And for those of you whose mouths are stuck with peanut butter from the delicious breakfast above, you may be excused for a glass of milk so you can come back and tell Anne what you think 🙂 )

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 Anne 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.)

Anne is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to having a houseful of family – some of whom have already arrived, the rest of whom are coming – the people I love and for whom I am truly thankful!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂

And Happy Thanksgiving!!! 🙂

Coming From The Back Of Beyond And Taking You By Complete Surprise…!

November 21, 2016November 23, 201630 Comments

Happy Monday, Folks!

Ooh! Startled you, did I?

Sly as a fox! Silent as a snake! Stealthy as a panther!

And you didn’t think I could be stealthy! 🙂

Admit it.

You doubted my ability to sneak up and take you by surprise!

But, by George!, I believe I may have pulled it off today!

Because guess what?

It’s Monday and I’m unexpectedly posting.

And the thing I’m unexpectedly posting about is the upcoming, eagerly awaited, highly anticipated and yet still managing to come barreling at you sideways from out of left field announcement of the. . .

The 6th Annual Holiday Contest!!!!

12-days-1

WA-HOOO!!!! 🙂

Post: Your entry should be posted on your blog between 12:01 AM EST Thursday December 8 and Monday December 12 at 11:59 PM EST, and your post-specific link should be added to the link list on the official holiday contest post which will go up on my blog on Thursday December 8 and remain up through Thursday December 15 for your reading pleasure (no WYRI or PPBF during that week.) If you don’t have a blog but would like to enter, please copy and paste your entry into the comments on my December 8th post. (If anyone has trouble commenting, which unfortunately happens, please email me and I’ll post your entry for you! But please don’t send attachments! Just copy and paste your story into the email.) Also, please only post your entry once – either in the comment section of my blog or on the link list. Also please do NOT send me entries before December 8!

The Judging: My lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to 10-12 finalists (depending on the number of entries) which will be posted here on Friday December 16 (or, if we’re desperate for a little extra time, Saturday December 17) for you to vote on for a winner. The vote will be closed on Sunday December 18 at 5 PM EST and the winners will be announced on Monday December 19. Whoever gets the most votes will be first and so on down to tenth place. Judging criteria will be kid appeal/kid-friendliness, creativity, quality of story, quality of writing, and originality.

The Prizes!: Ok, so as usual I’m still working on the prize list and will have to update, but here are some of the prizes that will be offered, and I think we’re going to have some additional awesomeness to add!:

– A Picture Book Manuscript Critique and Chat with Sarah (Miller) Rockett of Sleeping Bear Press (ms due January 1st, chat in February) kindly donated by Jodell Sadler and KidLit College

– Enrollment in literary agent Jodell Sadler‘s Pacing Picture Books 2 WOW picture book writing class!

s149388948426827116_p1_i8_w450

– A Picture Book Manuscript Critique by the fabulous Cori Doerffeld, author/illustrator of Penny Loves Pink, Little Bunny Foo Foo, and many more…!

– A Picture Book Manuscript Critique by talented agent Jodell Sadler (or other staff of Kidlit College Kidlit College)

– Enrollment in Making Picture Book Magic (my online picture book writing class – in January or a later month to be mutually agreed upon by the winner and me)

– 2017 Children’s Writer’s And Illustrator’s Market and a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

– a pack of Susanna Leonard Hill’s amazing What’s The Story Cards (scroll about 1/2 way down the page…)

– . . . and more to come . . .!

And now! Sharpen those pencils! Top off those coffee mugs! Get those derrieres in your chairs! And start writing those prize-winning entries!!! You’ve got 2 1/2 – 3 weeks (depending on if you post on the first or last day of the contest 🙂 )

I can’t wait for the festivities to begin! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Waiting For Snow

November 18, 2016November 17, 201613 Comments

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

You know, there’s nothing the WeatherFolk like better than drama!

They are never happier than when they can use words like “hurricane”, “tornado”, and “polar vortex”!

They love prompting you in urgent tones to make sure you’re stocked up on batteries, bottled water, canned goods, flashlights, and toilet paper 🙂 (I don’t know why they never mention chocolate… seems to me that should be right up there at the top of the list!)

They love predicting that holiday travel will be nightmarish. It warms them to the cockles of their weather-beatin’ little hearts 🙂

So, in my neck of the woods, the headlines for the next couple days read:

SNOW IN NORTHEASTERN US AS TEMPERATURES PLUNGE UP TO 50 DEGREES THIS WEEKEND!!!

As writers, we can all appreciate the WeatherFolks’ use of ~~exaggeration~~ evocative verbiage 🙂 I believe the content of the article suggests that some places may see a dusting of snow and it’s going to be a wee bit colder over the weekend than it was this unusually warm past week 🙂 But it just sounds so much more interesting when they say the temperature is going to “plunge 50 degrees,” doesn’t it? Kinda makes you want to stock up on toilet paper… in case you need to wrap yourself in it to stay warm… 🙂

Anyway, speaking of snow, look at this wonderful book!

waiting-for-snow

Title: Waiting For Snow

Written By: Marsha Diane Arnold

Illustrated By: Renata Liwska

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, November 1, 2016, fiction

Suitable For Ages: publisher says 4-7… I think 3-6/7

Themes/Topics: patience, seasons (winter), snow, friendship

Opening: “Hedgehog found Badger staring at the sky.
“What are you doing, Badger?”
“Waiting for snow. It’s winter and I haven’t seen one snowflake.””

Brief Synopsis: Poor Badger is desperate for snow, but no matter what he does the weather won’t cooperate. Hedgehog assures him that everything comes in its own time, but oh! it’s so hard to wait!!!

text copyright Marsha Diane Arnold 2016, illustration copyright Renata Kiwska 2016… a glimpse of ways the friends try to pass the waiting time… 🙂

Links To Resources: waiting is hard, and kids have to do a lot of it! Have your kids/students make a list of things they have to wait for, or draw a picture of something they’re waiting for; 10 Ways To Play With Kids While You’re Waiting; 12 Games To Play While You Wait

Why I Like This Book: If you’ve ever had a kid… or been a kid… or, well, you’re anyone living life on this earth 🙂 you’ve had to wait for things and you know how hard it is! (er, ahem, writers… agency and/or publishing contracts…! Am I right? 🙂 ) This sweet, funny, and beautiful book is about a little badger who is waiting for snow. He and his friends try everything they can think of to hurry it along but, as is so often the case when you really want something to happen, nothing works. What he learns in the meantime is the value of good friends. What he learns in the end is that everything happens in its own time. I think we can all take a lesson from Badger’s experience 🙂 The soft, fuzzy art is the perfect complement to the text – endearing, engaging, sweet!

text copyright Marsha Diane Arnold 2016, illustration copyright Renata Kiwska 2016

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday #232 – Celebirdy: The True Story Of Mike The Headless Chicken

November 16, 2016March 28, 201714 Comments

Good Morning, Everyone!

So, it turns out (not that this will come as a surprise to any of you, but it constantly shocks the socks off me!) that I really DO live under a rock!

Actually, I think it’s possible I still live in a cave!

When it comes to modern technology, I am a helpless baby. Just ask my long-suffering children 🙂

Yesterday, thanks to a conversation at lunch with the lovely Elaine, Queen of Kidlit411, I found out that you can CHOOSE what shows up in your Face Book news feed!

Seriously! I’m not kidding!

No doubt you guys all already knew this. Like I said, I’m pretty much the last one to figure anything out! But in case anyone out there is as technologically challenged as I am, it’s true. You can go into your preferences and star people and pages you want to be sure to see every post from.

And now, for the height of hilarity, I will instruct those who might be as clueless as I am (talk about the blind leading the blind! 🙂 ) If you go on your FB page, at the top right there’s a little down arrow.

screen-shot-2016-11-15-at-9-24-37-pm

See it? Next to the padlock with the three lines?

If you click it, one of the options is for “News Feed Preferences”

screen-shot-2016-11-15-at-9-28-14-pm

If you click on News Feed Preferences, you get this:

screen-shot-2016-11-15-at-9-28-41-pm

And if you choose “Prioritize who to see first” it will take you to a screen that shows you every single person you’re friends with and all the pages you like, and you can select which ones you want to be sure not to miss!

Amazing, isn’t it?

I invite you all to practice by going to your FB pages, selecting your News Feed Preferences, Prioritizing who to see first, and clicking on Susanna Leonard Hill – Author! 🙂 That way you will be sure never to miss any of my scintillating Author Page posts (upon which I slave, working my fingers to the bone and burning the midnight oil! 🙂 ) And I assure you that you do not WANT to miss any of them because I may well hold a giveaway of awesome new picture books in the next week or so just to encourage people to like my page and star it in their news feeds so they actually see it!

Let’s not call it bribery. I think happy incentive sounds much nicer 🙂

And speaking of ~~bribery~~ happy incentive, how about Something Chocolate? For this morning’s treat, I’m thinking Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies!

You’re going to totally thank me for this one! I mean seriously – it has oatmeal in the title! How much more breakfast can you get? And no-bake? Ready in 5 minutes? It doesn’t get much better 🙂

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies!

Recipe HERE at SugarApron

I’m pretty sure this is exactly what your mother had in mind when she told you it was important to start the day with a healthy breakfast! 🙂

We should be having the October Pitch Pick, but due to the Halloweensie Contest and the DIRE problems with my email (which refuses to load no matter how many picture books or chocolate oatmeal cookies I attempt to bribe it with!) I didn’t get the word out to the October pitchers. So… maybe next week…

Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Carolyn whom you will remember from her October pitch for Muggsy And His Go-Go Cart who says, “I am a teacher librarian in the Chicagoland area. Working with children, I have discovered that they love to hear stories about the underdog overcoming obstacles and defeating “the top dog”. They also love weird, but true stories. These observations inspired me to write these two stories.”

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Celebirdy: The True Story Of Mike The Headless Chicken

Age/Genre: Nonfiction Picture Book (ages 7-11)

The Pitch: This nonfiction story tells the account of a chicken that lived without its head for 18 months. The truth doesn’t get much weirder than that!

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 Carolyn 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.)

Carolyn is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to all the people who are going to like my FB author page and star it so as to be sure not to miss a single one of my not-to-be-missed spectacularly awesome posts! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Before Morning

November 11, 2016November 10, 201623 Comments

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

Oh my goodness do I have a beauty for you today!

I read a lot of picture books.

Many of them are excellent.

But every now and again I read one that is just so perfect, so magically written and illustrated, that it takes my breath away, knocks my socks off, and makes me whisper to myself, “Man! I wish I’d written that!”

Today’s selection is one of those 🙂

The Halloweensie Contest is over.

Thanksgiving is coming.

And that means, before you know it, the skies will be swirling with flurries of snow!

My Perfect Picture Book today is all about that most coveted of childhood days – the peaceful, happy, special perfection of snow days 🙂

before-morning

Title: Before Morning

Written By: Joyce Sidman

Illustrated By: Beth Krommes

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October 4 2016, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-7

Themes/Topics: seasons (winter), snow, snow days, invocations, language fun (rhyme, word choice)

Opening: “In the deep woolen dark, as we slumber unknowing, let the sky fill with flurry and flight.” (These few words actually cover 5 spreads, some of which are wordless.)

Brief Synopsis: Although there is much going on in the busy, busy world, a small child wishes for just one day to be a delightfully snow-covered pause.

before-morning-2

Links To Resources: the final page of the book explains invocations and invites young readers to come up with their own; make paper snowflakes; snow recipes; make your own snow!

Why I Like This Book: Oh my goodness! What’s not to love? This book is beautiful in every way! The rhyming text is written by Joyce Sidman (you know what a huge fan I am of Red Sings From Treetops!) and it is gorgeous and poetic and spare. How can you not love a book that begins “In the deep woolen dark”?! 🙂 The entire book is 66 words, so expertly chosen and crafted together that as a writer I can only feel awe. And the art is scratchboard and watercolor, exquisitely done, showing the little girl’s hopes that while she sleeps the world will turn white, allowing for a hushed, snow-covered morning that keeps her family home for a leisurely breakfast, some extra time together, the chance to go sledding and make snow angels, and come home to dry wet mittens. It is everything we all love about snow days, and every child’s prayer for one to come to their house!

before-morning-1

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

P.S. One little side note: my email service is msn, which has recently switched its Outlook mail platform. I am having TERRIBLE trouble getting my email!!! So for people who have contacted me about the Halloweensie Prizes, or people who are in my writing class, or anyone else who may be emailing me, if I don’t get back to you right away, that’s why! I can’t receive, read, or send email with any kind of reliability. A serious problem in the world we currently live in! If anyone else has experienced this problem and found a work-around, PLEASE let me know!!!

The 2016 Halloweensie Contest WINNERS!!!

November 10, 2016November 9, 201661 Comments

As you all know, I do not normally post on Thursdays.

That is because Thursday is my day for lying on the couch eating bonbons.

I am making an exception today because I have something VERY important to discuss with you.

Something that I know has been weighing as heavily on your minds as it has on mine.

Something very crucial!

Something so earth-shatteringly important that it probably kept you up all night!

So let’s just lay it out on the table, shall we?

What is the deal with that 5th dentist???

I’m serious! 4 out of 5 dentists recommend Trident for their patients who chew gum. But the 5th dentist won’t step up!

Obviously s/he is holding out for something!

A vacation in the Caribbean? A fancy car? A nice fat donation to his/her bank account?

Or maybe s/he is just a nonconformist – bucking the establishment – refusing to follow the rest of the herd sheep-like!

But, whatever! Cave already! Give us the confidence to know that ALL 5 dentists are on board with Trident! How can we chew it if the non-recommending 5th dentist is right? If s/he knows something s/he’s not telling us???!!!

Ah! I feel better now that I’ve gotten that out in the open!

What do you guys think? Should we track down that 5th dentist and get a straight answer?

What?

You don’t CARE?

Why? Were you expecting a discussion on another topic?

I’m not sure anything needs our attention as much as that 5th dentist…

…except maybe…

THE WINNERS OF

The 6th Annual HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST!!!!!

WA-HOOOOOOO!!!!!

As you are all aware by now, we had a record turnout for the Halloweensie Contest – 150 entries! Holy Halloweensie! Who’d-a-thunk it?

I was thrilled beyond measure to see so many wonderful stories and meet so many new writers!

But with large entry numbers 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 on Monday for your vote.

There were, however, many other entries that were outstanding in certain areas even though they might not have qualified all-around for one reason or another (one reason being that, at a certain point, we just had to stop adding finalists to the list! :))

So my assistant judges and I would like to award recognition and a small prize to the following authors for the following merits:

1. For Honorable Mention In The Competition As A Whole: (all-arond well-written stories we loved that just missed the finals for one small reason or another!)

Ann Kelly for BooBoo Ghostie Caught A Sneezy!

Wendy Greenley for Halloween Costume Countdown

Marla LeSage for Where The Candy Went

Jen Garrett for Too Old For Halloween

Patricia Nozell for Another Halloweensie Tale

Shelley Kinder for Four Finicky Ghosties

Jessica Dunnagan for Ghost Saves Halloween

Kristen Foote for The Spiders Who Stole Halloween

2. For Great Kid Appeal: (not already in the finals)

Laura Gutman for Untitled

Kelly Darke for Spider-Ghost

3. For Best Descriptive/Mood Piece:

Jill Proctor for A Headless Halloween

Johnell DeWitt for Spiders, Spiders, Everywhere

Alistair Lane for Halloween Haiku

Kirsten Bock for Into The Forest

4. For Best Use of Poetic Language:

Susie Sawyer for The Ghost Of The Moon Spider

5. For Spookiest Entry: (not already in the finals)

David McMullin for BUZZZZZ!

Merriweather Kane for Dare

6. For Funniest Entry: (not already in the finals)

Matthew Lasley for The Haunted Outhouse

Gabi Snyder for Zombie Mommy

Michele Blood for Hesper’s Revenge (dark humor 🙂 )

7. For Best Written Original Point of View: (not already in the finals)

Vivian Kirkfield for The Trick Or Treat Bag (POV of… you got it!…the trick or treat bag!)

Lindsay Leslie for Cornered (POV of Halloween candy)

8. For Originality/Creativity:

Hilary S for Entry #2 (mom’s a dentist!)

Kristy Rachal for Monster Chef (a monster halloween food network style 🙂 )

9. For Favorite Character:

Julie Abery for her Teensy-Weensy Witch

Angela Hawkins for her Gertude The Hornless Unicorn

Patricia Tilton for her Matilda in All Hallows Eve

Congratulations to all of you for fantastic elements of your stories! You may all email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com to collect your prize, which is your choice of one of the following: (the titles are all links so you can go see what they’re about)

For Kindle:

Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard, OR

Rhyming Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard, OR

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi , OR

The Postitive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Attributes by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, OR

The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Flaws by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, OR

In paperback: (PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR EMAIL!)

Show & Tell In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions From Telling To Showing by Jessica Bell, OR

Creating Extraordinary Characters by Angela Hunt, OR

Evoking Emotion by Angela Hunt, OR

Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard, OR

Rhyming Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard

Now then. A word about the prizes before I announce the winners.

We have 10 fabulous prizes, generously donated by authors and various professionals in the writing field. My policy is to let the first place winner have first pick of all the prizes, the second place winner have second choice, etc. That way hopefully nobody gets something they already have, and hopefully everyone gets something that’s valuable to them. All prizes are listed at the bottom of this post for your convenience in perusing the goodies 🙂

Now.

Finally!

Onto the moment you’ve all been waiting for. . .

. . . the reason you got out of bed this morning. . .

. . . in spite of your bleary eyes and rumpled hair. . .

. . . to once and for all get a straight answer about chewing gum out of that stubborn 5th dentist!!!

. . . THE WINNERS OF THE 2016 HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST as chosen by you, our esteemed voters!!!!!

In First Place, winner of the whole entire contest and top of the heap who gets first choice of all the prizes…

Judy Sobanski

for

The Witch’s Broom

Congratulations, Judy, on a delightful and humorous entry that was all around well done and clearly very popular!!!

In Second Place,

Meagan Friedman

for

Night Fright

Congratulations, Meagan, on a wonderfully written fun entry! You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Judy chooses!

In Third Place,

Jen Bagan
for
Little Witch’s Holiday

Congratulations, Jen, on an entertaining entry with a great surprise ending that we all loved! You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Judy and Meagan choose!

In Fourth Place,

Ingrid Boydston
for
Little Miss Zombie

Congratulations, Ingrid, on a beautifully written version of the classic rhyme with a fun twist! You get

In Fifth Place,

Linda Hofke
for
Tree’s Halloween Costume

Congratulations, Linda, on your cleverly written entry with a perfectly fitting ending! You get to pick your prize after Judy, Meagan, Jen, and Ingrid!

In Sixth Place,

Sandy Perlic

for

The Dare

Congratulations, Sandy, on your deliciously just-the-right-amount-of-spooky entry! You get to pick your prize after Judy, Meagan, Jen, Ingrid, and Linda!

In Seventh Place,

Jim Chaize
for
Spider And Ghost

Congratulations, Jim, on a fun story with believably competitive characters and a great ending! I’m sure you get the idea of the prize picking by now! 🙂

In Eighth Place, a tie! between

Karen LaSalvia for Candy Korn and Sara Gentry for Spider’s Trick Or Treat

Congratulations, Karen and Sara for clever, delightfully-written stories, Karen’s with a very original POV, Sara’s a masterpiece of perfect brevity! You get to pick your prizes after Jim.

In Tenth Place,

Stefanie Tatalias
for
Moon’s Halloween Surprise

Congratulations, Stefanie, on a sweet and wistful entry that we all loved! You get the prize that’s left… hopefully still something good that you want! 🙂

And, I don’t think I need to remind anyone that in addition to all these fabulous prizes, everyone mentioned on this page has bragging rights as having won or placed in the Pretty Much World Famous Halloweensie Contest! Not just anyone can say that 🙂

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! Finalists who did not finish in the top 10 (Leslie and Becky) may also contact me for their choice of the Kindle or paperback prizes listed above.

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, a confetti parade, and a large amount of chocolate cake 🙂

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!

And before we go, I will give you all advance warning so you can start planning a little time into your December schedule…

The 6th Annual Holiday Writing Contest will be coming up sometime in the neighborhood of December 8-12 so we can all fully enjoy it and still have time for last minute holiday things. I will do my best to post the rules well in advance so you all have time to work on your stories!

Have a terrific Thursday everyone, and thanks again for making the Halloweensie Contest such a wonderful time for all! 🙂

The Prizes:

– a Picture Book Manuscript Critique by wonderful editor Marilyn Brigham of Two Lions!!!

Marilyn Brigham

Marilyn Brigham edits picture books, chapter books, and middle grade for Two Lions, the children’s imprint at Amazon Publishing. Her recent titles include Go to School, Little Monster by Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Bonnie Leick and The Secret Knock Club: The Great Sleep-Under, by Louise Bonnett-Rampersaud, illustrated by Adam McHeffey. She is looking for commercial, character-driven picture books and chapter books; holiday picture books; and widely appealing, high-concept middle grade. She is not currently acquiring board books or nonfiction.

– a Picture Book Manuscript Critique by the fabulous agent Jodell Sadler of Sadler Children’s Literary Agency!!!

Jodell Sadler

– winner’s choice of a Picture Book Manuscript Critique or a 15-minute phone call for all your writerly questions from fantastic author Katy Duffield (LOUD LULA – Two Lions 2015, FARMER MCPEEPERS AND HIS MISSING MILK COWS – Cooper Square Publishing 2003, ALIENS GET THE SNIFFLES TOO – forthcoming from Candlewick, and many other titles)

Katy Duffield

– winner’s choice of a Picture Book Manuscript Critique or a Query Letter Critique from amazing author Dori Kleber (MORE-IGAMI, Candlewick 2016)

Dori Kleber

– a Picture Book Manuscript Critique from the awesome Vivian Kirkfield, author of the forthcoming SWEET DREAMS, SARAH – Creston Books, 2017) AND personalized signed copies of her wonderful books SHOW ME HOW and the LUCKY DRAW ANTHOLOGY.

Vivian Kirkfield

– a Bundle Of Books from KidLit411 (must be selected by someone in the USA due to postage) including:
Picture Books:

THEY ALL SAW A CAT by Brendan Wenzel
GOODNIGHT GOODNIGHT CONSTRUCTION SITE by Sherri Duskey Rinker
THE LITTLE MOUSE, THE RED RIPE STRAWBERRY AND THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR by Don and Audrey Wood
A MORNING WITH GRANDPA- Sylvia Liu

Middle Grade Books:

THE GEOGRAPHY OF YOU AND ME- Jennifer E. Smith
SUNNY SIDE UP Jennifer and Matthew Holm
IF YOU’RE READING THIS Trent Reedy
AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS Gennifer Choldenko

(What a totally awesome book bundle for writers, readers, parents, teachers, or gift-givers!!!)

– a 6 month subscription to One Stop For Writers (value $50)

– an e-pub or PDF copy (winner’s choice) of Linda Ashman‘s Nuts And Bolts Guide To Writing Picture Books.

– a personalized signed copy of THE PEDDLER’S BED by Lauri Fortino

the-peddlers-bed

– a personalized signed copy of GRIMELDA THE VERY MESSY WITCH by Diana Murray

c361c-grimelda

Please join me again 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 holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N or anywhere else if you like them, or supporting them in any other way you can dream up 🙂