Cookie Dough Brownies – Susanna Leonard Hill

Good Wednesday to you all!

This morning we have something very important to discuss. So important that it has to come even before chocolate!

I know!

It boggles the mind!

But here it is:

Last year we did a 7 week Mix ‘n’ Match Mini Writing Challenge. I had tons of fun. I hope you did too! So the question is, assuming I can think up some prompts and scare up some prizes, would you all like to do it again? I know we’re all (hopefully!) coming out of complete covid isolation and maybe not feeling so much like we need something extra to occupy our time in a fun way and keep us in contact, but I thought I’d put it out there. . .

I think I might run it on Mondays starting May 10th (which is pretty soon, so maybe we’d have to start on the 17th…) and run it for 6 or 7 weeks.

Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section!

Or, ooh! I could do a little mini poll! Please vote by Friday April 30th at midnight Eastern so if we decide to go ahead with this crazy little plan I have as much time as possible to pull it together! 😊

After all that excitement and the hemming and hawing of having to make a choice, I’m sure we could all use Something Chocolate! (I mean really, when could we NOT use Something Chocolate? 😊) How about some Cookie Dough Brownies? That sounds like a healthy way to start the day, doesn’t it? 😊

If you’re drooling on your keyboard, please feel free to go get a napkin 🤣

Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Diane who says, “I love all writing but I particularly enjoy creating stories for children. I write picture books and chapter books and use inspiration from my teaching, my interests in nature, travelling, diving and theatre, plus my sense of humour in creating my stories.”

Find her on the twitter at @Diane02789257

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Stop! Stop!

Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-7)

The Pitch: Three sea creature friends boring day suddenly turns into an adventure as they attempt to free themselves from some ocean waste and try to find a solution to their ocean home problem.

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 Diane 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 May, so you could get your pitch up pretty soon for helpful feedback and a chance to have it read and commented on by editor Erin Molta!

Diane is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks about whether or not to run the Mix ‘n’ Match Mini Writing Challenge again!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 😊

Happy Wednesday, Folks!

As we are all picture book folk, immersed in the world of That-Which-Matters-To-Kids, I’m sure you all woke up this morning with only one thought on your minds:

Today is Take Your Teddy Bear To Work Day!

A lot of us, being writers, or work-at-home parents, are not going to supply much of an outing for our teddy bears.

(And I’m guessing it’s pretty unlikely that anyone besides a preschool or kindergarten teacher would actually consider leaving the house with a teddy bear :)… but I mention the whole Take Your Teddy Bear To Work idea because I think there’s a picture book in it somewhere… from the teddy bear’s POV!)

Of course, some of us (that would be me) never actually had a teddy bear. I had a camel I was fond of. He has no hair now. And a Snoopy with an engineer hat and overalls. Alas…he has no clothes or hair now… But no actual bear. (There’s probably a whole nother story idea in that…! 🙂 )

So on this Take Your Teddy Bear To Work Day I’m bringing my Brown Bear – not that coming to work is any big deal for her. She does it every single day 🙂 The chair in my office that I recently had reupholstered has somehow become hers… I could probably have really skipped that reupholstering! 🙂

As you can see, she is wide awake and on the job – a tremendous aid to my writing efforts 🙂

Did/do you have a teddy bear or stand-in? Will you take it to work? If so, what job will you take it to? I’m serious – there may be a future picture book in this! 🙂

Okay, so now that I’m feeling like I had an underprivileged childhood because I never had an actual teddy bear, I believe it’s time for Something Chocolate!

How do you feel about Cookie Dough Brownies?

Recipe HERE at OMGChoclateDesserts

I knew you’d be fans! I mean, it’s a brownie AND a (sort of) cookie with oodles of chocolatey goodness… how can you go wrong?! 🙂

Now. Onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Greg, whom you will remember from his pitch back in the summer for The Bath Of Least Resistance. Greg (clearly a kindred spirit!) says, “If I didn’t have to work for a living I’d be writing, eating chocolate and writing about eating chocolate. For fun I play hockey, geocache, cook, and chase around my son.”

Find him on the web at https://www.facebook.com/gregoryebray/

Here is his pitch:

Working Title: Pochon’s Monster

Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-10)

The Pitch:

A sock stealing monster made of socks?” Viola couldn’t believe the story she heard at a slumber about Pochon’s Monster was true.

Viola sets out to find the monster and get her socks back. With an act of kindness, she gets the monster to relinquish what it has taken.

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 Greg improve his 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 November, so you could get your pitch up pretty soon for some helpful feedback and have a chance to have it read by editor Erin Molta!

Greg is looking forward to your thoughts on his pitch! I am looking forward to the upcoming 6th Annual Halloweensie Writing Contest, which I’m hoping you all saw the announcement for on Monday! Here’s the LINK in case you missed it. And there’s already a prize update – one lucky winner will have the opportunity for a read and critique from editor Marilyn Brigham of Two Lions! And KidLit 411 is contributing a bundle of picture books! And more stuff is rolling in, so stay tuned!

Have a wonderful start-looking-forward-to-Halloweensie Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂