Ok đ I’ll stop đ Because what iguana do really is let you know that it’s time to fire up those brain cells and write your entry for. . .
The6thAnnualValentinyWritingContest
~forchildren’swriters~
The Contest:  since writing for children is all about “big emotion for little people” (I forget who said that, but someone did so I put it in quotes!) and Valentines Day is all about emotion, write a Valentines story appropriate for children (children here defined as ages 12 and under) maximum 214 words in which someone feels brave!  They can be brave about asking someone to be their Valentine, of course, but they can also do something brave to get a Valentine (the person or the gift), or do something brave to help a friend. They could be brave about giving something up, or brave about asking someone they’re not sure about for some reason to be nice. . . sky’s the limit! Think beyond the obvious! Your story can be poetry or prose, sweet, funny, surprising or anything in between, but it will only count for the contest if it includes someone brave (can be the main character but doesn’t have to be) and is 214 words (get it? 2/14 for Valentines Day đ  You can go under the word count but not over! (Title is not included in the word count.)  If you are so inclined, you are welcome to enter more than one entry – just remember you’ll be competing against yourself đ  No illustration notes please!
Post your story on your blog between 12:00 AM EDT Friday February 12th and Sunday February 14th by 11:59 PM EDT and add your post-specific link to the list that will accompany my February 12th post. Â There will be no regularly scheduled posts that week (Tuesday Debut, Would You Read It or PPBF), so the post and the list of links will stay up all week for everyone to enjoy. Â If you don’t have a blog and would like to enter, you can simply copy and paste your entry in the comments section of that post once it’s up. (Or, if you have difficulty with the comments, which unfortunately sometimes happens, you may email your entry to me and I’ll post it for you! Although I have a question I’d love addressed in the comments: would it be easier for everyone to post their entry in the comment section of my blog so everything is all together? I know it means no blog-hopping, but do you guys think it would be simpler?Or do you prefer the opportunity to visit new blogs?
The Judging: over the next several days, my lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to 6-10 top choices depending on number and quality of entries (hee hee hee – you know how much trouble I have with the narrowing, so we’ll see) which will be posted here and voted on for a winner on Thursday February 19th (or possibly a day or two later if the judges need extra time.)Â Â The winner will be announced Monday February 22nd depending on judging and voting time needed. Â The dates of the judging/voting/winner announcements are subject to finagling depending on how much time the judges actually end up needing!
Judging criteria will include:
Kid-appeal/Kid-friendliness – remember, this is a story for kids!
Creativity in using bravery and success in making us feel the bravery!
Valentine’s Day appropriateness – this is a VALENTINE story!
Quality of story – we will look for basic story elements and a true story arc
Quality of writing – use and flow of language, correctness of mechanics, excellence of rhyme and meter if you use it, PROOFREADING!
Originality – surprise us with something new and different! đ
How well you followed the Submission Guidelines – agents and editors expect professionalism. This is a chance to practice making sure you read and follow specified guidelines.
The Prizes: I’m still working on prizes (aren’t I always đ), but I wanted to get the contest guidelines up so you’d have time to write. If anyone has anything fabulous to offer, drop me an email đ  But meanwhile, start writing and watch this space for prizes which I will add as I get them organized!
So you’ve got nearly 3 weeks to write your entry! Butt in chair! Valentine Chocolate and coffee/tea on your desk! Brain in gear! Ready, set, WRITE! Be Brave! You can do it!!!
You’re just in time for some high jinx and shenanigans!
I’m always on the lookout for those fun holiday quizzes, but let’s face it: we’ve done Elf Names, and Reindeer Names, and that pretty much covers the available options. Last year I made up a What Kind of Christmas Cookie are you quiz. . . which was entertaining. . . but now we’ve done that too.
So this year I’ve decided to combine holiday quiz tomfoolery with writing prompt/idea generation! Try out this one!
I will not even try to deny that some of these combinations work better than others đ But I don’t mind if you cheat a little and use the first letter of your middle or last name or the month your pet iguana was born to get a better result đ
My Holiday Picture Book Title is The Littlest Cookie (or, because there’s an alternative on that one, The Biggest Cookie, which is probably more appropriate!) But I think I could write either of those stories and have fun doing it! I might add in a type of cookie. . . The Littlest Sugar Cookie or The Biggest Peppermint Supreme Cookie. Or I might expand one way or the other: The Teeniest Tiniest Itty Bittiest Cookie or The Most Gigantic Christmas Cookie of All Time! But have a go and see what you get and share your title in the comments if you want to!
Wasn’t that fun?
Don’t you feel like you just got a little surprise holiday gift?
I bet those writerly brain cells are already humming!
So you’re welcome, and I won’t keep you from getting words on the page!
Go forth! Write! Create!
And enjoy your holidays!
Merry Christmas!
Happy Hanukkah!
Wondrous Solstice!
Happy New Year!
Etc. etc.!
See you in 2021!
Uh. . .
Were you expecting something else?
I already gave you your next picture book idea AND JOY!
What more could you want?
Oh, silly me.
There I go again, just completely forgetting the only reason you came to see me today!
I guess, now that you mention it, it IS time to find out who won
THE10THANNUALHOLIDAYCONTEST!!!
~forchildren’swriters~
As always, I was thrilled to see so many wonderful stories! Really! It is amazing and inspiring, not to mention VERY entertaining! There is just so much talent out there amongst you all!
But as you well know by now, with large entry numbers, all of high quality, come hard choices. My assistant judges and I worked hard to winnow the total down to a manageable number of finalists that we felt were truly all-around deserving of that distinction, and those were the ones we presented to you on Monday (ahem, okay, technically it was Tuesday đ) for your vote.
There were, however, a few entries that barely missed being finalists, and many other entries that were outstanding in certain areas even though they might not have qualified all-around for one reason or another, or that the judges couldn’t reach a consensus on.
So my assistant judges and I would like to award recognition, a lovely badge, and a small prize to the following authors for the following merits:
1. For Honorable Mention In The Competition As A Whole: (entries we truly wrestled with not including in the finalists!)
Kaitlyn Sikes for ‘Twas A Cold Winter Solstice (beautifully written!)
Jessica Hinrichs for The Merry Melody Farm (also great for younger readers!)
Randi Lynn Mrvos for Four Things (also wonderful kid voice!)
Jilanne Hoffman for Promises Are For. . . (a poignant exploration of promises dishonored and promises kept)
Deborah Clayton for The Song of the Stable Mouse (a sweet, kid-friendly retelling of the Christmas story from the POV of a little mouse, nicely written!)
Elyse Trevers for Baia’s Bags of Blessings (a timely story of generosity and spreading the joy of Chanukah even in difficult times)
Laurie Carmody for The Holiday Henchman (a glimpse of Christmas from the naughty side that kids will enjoy)
Linda Schueler for Planting Smiles (a believable story of reluctance turning to understanding)
Patricia Nozell for Star (a miniature horse with a big heart who finds her own way to shine)
Cathrene Valente Youngquist for The Toymaker and the Christmas Tomte (told like a folk or fairy tale)
Mary Vander Plas for Oy to the World: An Ode to 2020 (so fitting!)
Shannon Howarth Nelsen for Christmas Bread (so evocatively written we could almost smell the bread)
2. For Make This A Picture Book! đ
Ashlee Hashman for Gingerbread Construction Crew
3. For Great Depiction of Sibling Relationships
Pamela Love for Angel’s A
Melissa Trempe for Operation Christmas Distraction
Cynthia Stacey for The Christmas Tree
4. For Great For Younger Readers
Kirsten Leestma – December 21st
Larissa Elliott – Christmas Good
5. For Great Kid Appeal
Ellen Turcio for A Super Scooper
Stacey Miller for A Cranky Christmas
6. For Inventive Re-Telling
Lauri C. Meyers for Gingerbread Girl To The Rescue (a new version of The Gingerbread Man)
7. For Great Ending
Gabrielle Cardwell for Decorating The Tree
Ashley Bray for Noella
8. For Wonderful Stories Celebrating Other Lands/Holidays/Cultures/Customs
Shariffa Keshavje for Holiday Helpers
Rachel Hobbs for The Day of the Three Kings – Argentina
Linda Hofke – Not Counting On Sweet Treats This Year
Kathryn Rammell – A Swedish Pageant And The Mystery of the Missing Meatballs
9. For Unique Point of View
Megan and Rob Hunnicut for Sugar’s Spin (POV of the chosen cookie!)
10. For Humor đ¤Ł
Bill Canterbury for Princess Oblivious
Congratulations to all of you for fantastic elements of your stories! You may all email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com subject line Prize Winner to collect your award badge and prize, which is ten dollars for category 1 – Honorable Mention in the Competition as a Whole – and five dollars for all the other categories, in a format that can be emailed for you to put toward something you’d like at a large online store (and I’m being cryptic because when I did this for Halloweensie I got a ton of problematic spam mail because of the way I worded the post, but hopefully you can figure it out. The store starts with the letter A đ )
And now…
…the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
The announcement of the WINNERS OF THE 2020 HOLIDAY CONTESTas voted on by you, our esteemed readers!!!
rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat
DDDRRRUUUMMM RRROOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!
In First Place…
Winner of the whole shebang…
who gets first choice of all the prizes…
Dana Marie Miroballi for Christmasaurus Hex!!!
Congratulations, Dana, on a fun, kid-friendly, delightfully humorous story that was clearly very popular with a LOT of readers!!!
In Second Place
Rebecca Gardyn Levington for A Spark of Friendship
Congratulations, Rebecca, on bringing the Shamash to life in spot-on rhyme! You get to pick your prize after Dana.
In Third Place
Molly Ippolito for Firling’s Friend
Congratulations, Molly, on a sweet entry that made us hope that Firling wouldn’t be left out! You get to pick your prize after Dana and Rebecca.
In Fourth Place
Julie Abery for Waddle Santa Do This Christmas?
Congratulations, Julie, on a delightful, original story about penguins pitching in!!! You get to pick your prize after Dana, Rebecca, and Molly!
In Fifth Place
Allison Strick for Let It Grow! Let It Grow! Let It Grow!
Congratulations, Allison, on a very well written, creative, original take on green gifts! So clever! You get to pick your prize after Dana, Rebecca, Molly, and Julie!
In Sixth Place…
Kelsey Gross for The Solstice Tree
What a lovely story, Kelsey, where all the forest truly helped out! Nicely done! You get to pick your prize after Dana, Rebecca, Molly, Julie, and Allison!
In Seventh Place…
Kristy Roser Nuttall for The Twelve Sleighs of Christmas
Congratulations, Kristy! We loved how the elves helped Santa out of his fix by turning one sleigh into twelve! I’m sure you get the idea of how the prize picking goes by now đ
In Eighth Place…
Natasha Zimmers for The Christmas Owl
Such beautiful writing, Natasha! You evoked the peace of the snowy woods, made us feel the tension of the situation, and taught us something about owls as a bonus! You get to pick after Kristy đ
In Ninth Place
Laura Bower for The Sleigh–Awake Band
Congratulations, Laura, on your entertaining entry written in excellent rhyme! Who would have thought Santa had a band along with him to keep him from falling asleep? You get to pick after Natasha đ
In Tenth Place
Chelsea Tornetto for The Christmas Corgi
Congratulations, Chelsea, on an adorable entry that made us all want a Christmas corgi! You get to pick your prize after Laura!
In Eleventh Place
Kelly Swemba for Christmas Impossible: An Unquiet Night
Congratulations, Kelly, on a delightfully fun and kid-friendly entry that saw the elves helping out in true squirrel control fashion! You get to pick after Chelsea!
In Twelfth Place
Marty Findley for Not Too Little
Congratulations. Marty, on a wonderfully relatable story that celebrates every child who has ever wanted to help and been made to feel that he or she isn’t ready for that yet! You get to pick after Kelly!
All the winners should email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com with the subject heading Prize Winner so we can work out details for you to receive your prizes! (The sooner the better!) And for your convenience, the whole prize list is included at the bottom of this post.
Congratulations again to all our winners – it was a stiff competition!! – and congratulations to EVERYONE who wrote and entered a story in the contest. You all deserve a huge round of applause and a shower of holiday confetti!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this contest SO MUCH FUN, whether by writing an entry, reading people’s stories, leaving comments for the authors, and/or voting in the finals, or by donating a prize. It’s because of all of you that this contest was such a success, so many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart!
As I… hmm… maybe didn’t mention…? but seem to do every year so you’re probably not surprised, I’m taking a little blogging break so I can spend time with my family. Although it will be a bit different than in other years, it’s still holiday time đ So I will see you all in a couple weeks – most probably the first week of January đ
Before we part company, I want to wish you all a happy and healthy holiday filled with love, laughter, joy, and family, and a happy, healthy and successful new year! It is a pleasure and a privilege to get to spend time with you all, and I’m happy and grateful to know each and every one of you!
Looking forward to all the things we’ll do in 2021!
Happy Holidays, and all best wishes for a wonderful New Year!!!
The Prizes!: OMG! So much awesomeness!!!
A Picture Book Manuscript Read and Critique by Agent Kaitlyn Sanchez of Olswanger Literary! Although she is currently closed to submissions (making this prize EXTRA special!) a look at her wish list will give you an idea of what she likes.
Agent Kaitlyn Sanchez
A 12×12 Silver Membership (valued at $177 but worth so much more!) generously donated by author and 12×12 founder and queen, Julie Hedlund! 12×12 is a fantastic, educational, supportive community with TONS to offer its members, including interesting and informational webinars of all kinds, access to forums and critiques, and the chance to submit to agents. If you’re not familiar with it, you can learn all about it HERE. Julie is the author of A Troop Is A Group of Monkeys (Little Bahalia Publishing, 2013), My Love For You Is The Sun (Little Bahalia Publishing, 2014), and the forthcoming Over, Bear! Under, Where? (Philomel Books, Fall 2021)
Julie Hedlund Photo credit Kim Huggins
A Picture Book Manuscript Read and On The Spot Critique by prolific author Laura Purdie Salas! Laura offers a 50-minute on on-the-spot critique via Zoom for one picture book manuscript of up to 600 words (fiction or nonfiction, rhyming or prose or poetry). She will read it out loud to the writer and then do a critique right then and answer questions. Laura is a writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, prose, her own submissions and work for hire – she’s done it all! She is also the author of a number of fantastic books for writers which are often given as prizes here. Some of her books include A Leaf Can Be (Millbrook Press 2012), Clover Kitty Goes To Kittygarten (Two Lions 2020), Snowman – Cold = Puddle (Charlesbridge 2019), If You Were The Moon (Millbrook Press 2017), Making A Living Writing Books For Kids (CreateSpace 2017), and Picture Books The Write Way (CreateSpace 2014)
Rate Your Story owner, Picture Book Mechanic, and author Lynne Marie is offering 4 amazing prizes!
[From the Rate Your Story site] “A SPEED PASS allows a Non-Member to submit to Rate Your Story, as well as a Member to submit additional items to best serve the rating and feedback needs of our writing community.
We have a variety of Speedpass options, including pitches, query letters, art or a single manuscript at any time for a rating + guaranteed comments*, and it will be returned in less than 7 days’ time. Should you require a faster turnaround, fast pass options may be purchased to facilitate that.”
A Picture Book Manuscript Critique by gifted author and former Holiday Contest prize winner, Jenna Waldman, author of the forthcoming Larry’s Latkes (October 2021) (originally written for the Holiday Contest!) and Shark-bot Shalom (August 2021) She is on twitter at @SarafinaDesign
Personalized, signed copies of The Night Baafore Christmas (WorthyKids 2019) by Dawn Young and Louis (HMH Books For Young Readers 2020) by Tom Lichtenheld, illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zoch. The Night Baafore Christmas will be signed by Dawn, the author. Louis will be signed by Julie, the illustrator.
Two Picture Books (TBD) donated by Darshana Khiani, whose own picture book How To Wear A Sari is forthcoming from Versify in June 2021.
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! đ
âď¸Deck the Halls! âď¸ Light the menorah! âď¸ Fill the Kikombe cha Umoja! âď¸
It’s time for . . .
THE10THANNUALHOLIDAYCONTEST!!!
~forchildren’swriters~
The Contest: Write a children’s holiday story (children here defined as age 12 and under) about a Holiday Helper!
Your helper can be one helper, or a pair, or a group or a bevy or a herd of helpers. Your helpers can be children, animals, elves, aliens, unicorns, fairies . . . whatever your heart desires. He/she/they can help bake, decorate, shovel snow, wrap gifts, clean the house, entertain guests, feed the hungry, comfort the lonely, bring the holiday spirit to those who have lost it – sky’s the limit đ But the focus of the story must be on helping – not just a brief mention in passing that Marla helped Dad set the table in the middle of a story about her frustration at not getting the starring role in the school holiday pageant.
Your story may be poetry or prose, silly or serious or sweet, religious or not, based on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year’s or whatever you celebrate during the Holiday Season, but is not to exceed 250 words (I know! So much freedom after the Halloweensie Contest đ ) (It can be as short as you like (the judges will be grateful đ , you are welcome and encouraged to write shorter, but no more than 250! 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 between right now this very second and Wednesday December 9th at 11:59 PM EST, in ONE of the following three ways:
Post your entry on your own blog and enter your post-specific link (not your main blog URL) to the link list below, OR
Paste your entry in the comment section below (please include your byline since if your posting handle is something like MamaWritesByNightlight I will have no idea who you are đ), OR
If you have trouble pasting your entry in the comment section for any reason (which unfortunately does happen!) you can email it to me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com and I will post it for you. If you email it, please copy and paste your entry into the body of the email NO ATTACHMENTS – they will not be opened. Please include your title and byline at the top of your entry. (And since there have been many questions about this byline means who it’s by, for example, The Hanukkah Helper by Janie Simcox.)
Please submit your entry only ONCE! If you add it to the blog link list, and the comments, and email me to post it, things get very confusing! I try to stay as glued to my desk as possible, but sometimes I have to get up so if I donât respond to your email or approve your post immediately, donât panic! Iâll get to it as soon as I can!
There will be no regular posts (Tuesday Debut, Would You Read It, or Perfect Picture Book) for the duration of the contest so this post with the links and comments will stay up for everyone to visit and enjoy until I post the finalists.
The Judging: My lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to approximately 10 finalists (depending on the number of entries – if we get a lower turnout we’ll post fewer finalists, a higher turnout possibly one or two more.) In the interest of finishing up the contest in a timely fashion so everyone can go about their holidays, we will do our best to post the finalists here by Monday December 14th for you to vote on for a winner. The vote will be closed on Wednesday December 16th at 5 PM EST. Whoever gets the most votes will be first and so on down to tenth place (or wherever we place to), and the winners will be announced on Thursday December 17th. (These dates are subject to adjustment if it takes the judges longer than we anticipate to get the judging completed.)
Judging criteria will be as follows:
1. Kid-appeal! – These stories are intended for a young audience (ages 12 and under), so we’re looking for stories that children will enjoy and relate to.
2. Holiday Helpers! – the rules state a Holiday Helper story, so it must be crystal clear that the story is about someone helping someone else in some way during Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year’s, or whatever seasonal winter holiday you choose. The story must center on helping – the help must not be just an offhand mention/reference in a story about something else.
3. Quality of story – entries must tell a story, including a main character of some kind and a true story arc even if it’s tiny đ Entries must not be merely descriptions or mood pieces.
4. Quality of Writing: check your spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. If you’re going to rhyme, give us your best đ Overall writing quality and use of language are also important.
5. Originality and creativity – because that is often what sets one story above another.
6. PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS! Large numbers of entries make it easy to cut entries that haven’t been entered as we asked.
The Prizes!: The prize list is completely and totally awesome! Read! Covet! Write your best! đ
A Picture Book Manuscript Read and Critique by Agent Kaitlyn Sanchez of Olswanger Literary! Although she is currently closed to submissions (making this prize EXTRA special!) a look at her wish list will give you an idea of what she likes.
Agent Kaitlyn Sanchez
A 12×12 Silver Membership (valued at $177 but worth so much more!) generously donated by author and 12×12 founder and queen, Julie Hedlund! 12×12 is a fantastic, educational, supportive community with TONS to offer its members, including interesting and informational webinars of all kinds, access to forums and critiques, and the chance to submit to agents. If you’re not familiar with it, you can learn all about it HERE. Julie is the author of A Troop Is A Group of Monkeys (Little Bahalia Publishing, 2013), My Love For You Is The Sun (Little Bahalia Publishing, 2014), and the forthcoming Over, Bear! Under, Where? (Philomel Books, Fall 2021)
Julie Hedlund Photo credit Kim Huggins
A Picture Book Manuscript Read and On The Spot Critique by prolific author Laura Purdie Salas! Laura offers a 50-minute on on-the-spot critique via Zoom for one picture book manuscript of up to 600 words (fiction or nonfiction, rhyming or prose or poetry). She will read it out loud to the writer and then do a critique right then and answer questions. Laura is a writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, prose, her own submissions and work for hire – she’s done it all! She is also the author of a number of fantastic books for writers which are often given as prizes here. Some of her books include A Leaf Can Be (Millbrook Press 2012), Clover Kitty Goes To Kittygarten (Two Lions 2020), Snowman – Cold = Puddle (Charlesbridge 2019), If You Were The Moon (Millbrook Press 2017), Making A Living Writing Books For Kids (CreateSpace 2017), and Picture Books The Write Way (CreateSpace 2014)
Rate Your Story owner, Picture Book Mechanic, and author Lynne Marie is offering 4 amazing prizes!
[From the Rate Your Story site] “A SPEED PASS allows a Non-Member to submit to Rate Your Story, as well as a Member to submit additional items to best serve the rating and feedback needs of our writing community.
We have a variety of Speedpass options, including pitches, query letters, art or a single manuscript at any time for a rating + guaranteed comments*, and it will be returned in less than 7 days’ time. Should you require a faster turnaround, fast pass options may be purchased to facilitate that.”
A Picture Book Manuscript Critique by gifted author and former Holiday Contest prize winner, Jenna Waldman, author of the forthcoming Larry’s Latkes (October 2021) (originally written for the Holiday Contest!) and Shark-bot Shalom (August 2021) She is on twitter at @SarafinaDesign
Personalized, signed copies of The Night Baafore Christmas (WorthyKids 2019) by Dawn Young and Louis (HMH Books For Young Readers 2020) by Tom Lichtenheld, illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zoch. The Night Baafore Christmas will be signed by Dawn, the author. Louis will be signed by Julie, the illustrator.
Two Picture Books (TBD) donated by Darshana Khiani, whose own picture book How To Wear A Sari is forthcoming from Versify in June 2021.
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazone, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! đ
This is the part in the proceedings where I would normally post my sample to entertain and encourage you. Ahem. Seems I’ve been a little over-scheduled with life lately, and my sample isn’t quite finished. . . If I can get it done whilst running the contest I’ll pop it in here. If not, you guys have the hang of these contest by now and you don’t really need my example! đ
I know you guys are going to come up with great stories, and I’m so looking forward to reading them all! đ
***UPDATE 12/8/20*** – I’m late adding this in and it would have benefited greatly from more time to work and a slightly longer word count, but. . .
A Little Christmas Joy (249 words)
Cara longed to play in the snow. She wanted to open her mouth and feel the cold snowflakes melt on her tongue. She wanted to lie on her back and make snow angels. But Cara wasnât allowed outside alone, and everyone was busy inside because it was Christmas Eve. âSo many presents to wrap!â Mom said. âIâll help!â said Cara. She handed Mom scissors and tape, and pressed her finger to the crossed ribbon so Mom could tie a snug bow. âThis tree needs decorating!â said Dad. âIâll help!â said Cara. She hung pepperminty candy canes from the fragrant-needled boughs wherever she felt spaces. âSo much cookie dough to bake!â said Caraâs big sister. âIâll help!â said Cara. She grinned and scooped a fingerful of dough from the bowl into her mouth. The whole day passed, and Cara never got to play in the snow. She carefully placed cookies and milk on the hearth for Santa, along with apples for the reindeer. When Santa arrived, he saw everything Cara had helped with – the presents, the tree, the cookies â and her snow boots waiting hopefully by the back door. He smiled and whispered, âYou help everyone else. Itâs time you got a little special help yourself.â When Cara awoke, her gift was beside her. A wet nose, a wagging tail, and a note in Braille on her collar that read: Hi Cara! Iâm Joy, your Guiding Eyes. I canât wait to take you out to play in the snow!
*** There you have it đ ***
With so many great prizes up for grabs I hope there will be a lot of entries â the more the merrier! And you’ve still got a couple days to write, so you can squeeze in under the wire if you havenât written yet. Feel free to spread the word to your writing friends as well. And your reading friends â parents, teachers, etc. The more people who read and enjoy your stories, the better!!!
Contest Entrants, remember to add your post-specific link to the google form below so we can all come read your awesome stories! (Post-specific means not your main blog url, but the actual url of the post that has your story in it â otherwise if you post again before the contest ends, your link will take readers⌠and judges!⌠to the wrong place!)
Eager Readers â just go along the list of links, click on them, and enjoy the stories! And donât miss the fabulous entries that are posted in the comments below! The titles are listed and linked just below the link list at the bottom of the post and will take you directly to the stories!
Happy Writing and Happy Holidays!!!đâď¸ âĄď¸âď¸âď¸đ
Donât miss the 119!!! fabulous entries that are posted in the comments below!  The titles are linked and will take you directly to the stories!
     đ       âď¸Â       âĄď¸Â       âď¸Â       đ       âď¸Â       đ
Well, hello there, my little cupcakes!
It’s Thursday, so you know what that means!
For starters, it means you’re a little confused!
This is the second time this week you’ve come to visit on a day I don’t post!
But that is delightful in every way because I am ALWAYS glad to see you!
And as it turns out, I kind of thought you might wander in, so I made you something.
Yes! I really did!
All by myself!
It IS the holiday baking season after all . . .
. . . which got me to thinking, wouldn’t we all like to know what kind of holiday cookie we are?
I mean, I know wondering about that keeps me up at night. . . !đ
The rest of the world may be busy figuring out their elf names or their reindeer names, but that is so last year.
You are so special that you are the ONLY people IN THE WOLRD who get to discover what kind of cookie you are! Check it out!
And now you know how I spend my time – thinking up cookie flavors and types, randomizing the lists, and employing canva to make festive charts. No wonder I haven’t vacuumedđ
Allow me to introduce myself: Chocolate ChipCrinkleCookie!!! (which I think describes me to a T since I love chocolate and I am quite crinkly-looking now that I’m more than half a century old!đ)
So now that you all know what kind of cookie you are (please feel free to share in the comments!) you can all go off happily to your holiday whirlwind of shopping and wrapping and cooking and baking and traveling or tidying depending whether your visiting or hosting and etc, etc, etc!
Bon voyage!
See you next year!
                         âď¸
                                                                  âď¸
            âď¸Â                               âď¸
                           âď¸
                                                âď¸
             âď¸Â                      âď¸
                                                          âď¸
Tra-la-la…
Oh!
You’re still here?
Not that I mind, but . . .
. . . was there something you wanted?
Besides your cookie name?
It’s almost as if you’re hanging around . . .
. . . waiting for something . . .
. . . like . . .
. . . maybe . . .
. . . to find out who won
THE9THANNUALHOLIDAYCONTEST!!!
~forchildren’swriters~
As always, I was thrilled to see so many wonderful stories! Â Really! Â It is amazing and inspiring, not to mention VERY entertaining! Â There is just so much talent out there amongst you all!
But as you well know by now, with large entry numbers, all of high quality, come hard choices. Â 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, a few entries that barely missed being finalists, and many other entries that were outstanding in certain areas even though they might not have qualified all-around for one reason or another, or that the judges couldn’t reach a consensus on.
So my assistant judges and I would like to award recognition and a small prize to the following authors for the following merits:
1.  For Honorable Mention In The Competition As A Whole: (entries we truly wrestled with not including in the finalists!)
Carmen Castillo Gilbert for Andres SAVES la Navidad (beautifully written with a natural interweaving of Spanish vocabulary and a lovely depiction of a grandmother/grandson relationship)
Colleen Murphy for The Recipe (beautifully written and poignant – a tug-on-the-heartstrings story with a hopeful ending)
Janet Smart for Ho! Ho! Ho! Yum! (fun and kid-friendly with a delightfully conscientious mouse đ )
Sarah Meade for Claire’s Big Christmas Trip (we could imagine her special outing to New York City perfectly!)
Maria Antonia for Last Christmas Cookie (great portrayal of sibling interaction and a nicely executed twist ending!)
Lori Sheroan for Watch And Learn (an entry we loved for its beautiful setting and wonderful characterization done in very few words as well as its Appalachian folk tale flavor)
Deb Sullivan for A Great Treat (energetic, kid-friendly and fun!)
Kathy Halsey for Likin’ Lichen . . . Or Marshmallows? (fun and believably kid – favorite line: “Their eyes â how they twinkled. Their noses â So hairy. Their antlers â so tall and a teensy bit scary.” đ )
Katrina Swenson for The Great Cookie Escape (original, creative and entertaining Point of View (the cookies!) very well written!)
Kelly Pope Adamson for Recipe For A Snowman (very creative – who knew you could make a snowman without snow?!)
2. For Fun, Well-Written Twists on Familiar Tales:
Brenda Covert for A Surprise For General Gingerbread (well written and fun, not exactly based on the tale, but the main character is technically a Gingerbread Man đ )
Jill Lambert for Even Trolls Deserve A Treat (a kind-hearted twist on The Three Billy Goats Gruff)
Angela Verges for Cora’s Christmas Cookies (a cute twist on The Little Red Hen)
Stacey Miller for A Fairy Tale Treat (a twist on Hansel And Gretel with a touch of the The Three Little Pigs thrown in – favorite line: “A book of 101 Things To Make With A Turnip” đ )
3. For Top Of The Naughty List:
Sarah Hetu-Radny for A Trickster’s Treat (that Ellery was up to every kind of no-good! – good job with character!)
4. For Poetic Writing and Original Format:
Tracy Curran for The Choice Of A Tree (lovely language, poignant story which she somehow wrote in the shape of a Christmas tree!)
5. For Excellence In Representing A Different Holiday Tradition:Â (not already in the Finals or All-Around HM)
Jyoti Rajan Gopal for Luscious Laddoos: A Sweet Story (wonderfully descriptive and mouth-watering!)
6. For Best Entry Based On A True Story:
Pat Finnegan for A Taste Of Peace (based on the Christmas Eve truce in hostilities on the Western Front)
Congratulations to all of you for fantastic elements of your stories!  You may all email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com subject line Prize Winner to collect your award badge and prize, which is five dollars in a format that can be emailed for you to put toward something you’d like at a large online store (and I’m being cryptic because when I did this for Halloweensie I got a ton of problematic spam mail because of the way I worded the post, but hopefully you can figure it out. The store starts with the letter A đ )
And now…
…the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
The announcement of the WINNERS OF THE 2019 HOLIDAY CONTEST as voted on by you, our esteemed readers!!!
rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat
DDDRRRUUUMMM RRROOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!
In First Place…
Winner of the whole shebang…
who gets first choice of all the prizes…
Rebecca Gardyn Levington for The Greatest Latke Topping!!!
Congratulations, Rebecca, on a fun, kid-friendly story written in spot-on rhyme with a delightfully humorous ending that was clearly very popular with a LOT of readers!!! It ain’t over til Ketchup comes to the table! đ
In Second Place
Laurie Carmody for All I Want For Christmas
Congratulations, Laurie, on a fun, kid-friendly entry that made us laugh at yet another use for the poor. much-maligned fruit cake đ You get to pick your prize after Rebecca.
In Third Place
Kelly Kandra Hughes for Christmas Peach Pie
Congratulations, Kelly, on an entry that made us long for peach pie and admire your little main character for being willing to embrace the naughty list to get that pie! đ You get to pick your prize after Rebecca and Laurie.
In Fourth Place
Sue Lancaster for Grandpa Ted’s Garden Shed
Congratulations, Sue, on a fun story about a holiday treat that wasn’t food!!! with a great ending that left us wondering what exactly Grandpa gets up to in his spare time… đ You get to pick your prize after Rebecca, Laurie, and Kelly!
In Fifth Place… a tie! between
Kailei Pew                                           Anne Lipton for                                                    for     A Christmas Treat For Mama                             Vinarterta With Amma
Congratulations, Kelly, on a sweet story that embraced the true spirit of the season, and Congratulations, Anne, on a beautifully-written story full of lovely language that introduced us to a different holiday tradition! Great job both of you! You get to pick your prizes after Rebecca, Laurie, Kelly, and Sue… and we may have to negotiate a little (which is why I try to avoid ties, but when they happen they happen!)
In Seventh Place…
Lara Elliot for Gingerbread Family
Congratulations, Lara!  We loved how Isabel found a way to make the best of things, not only saving the cookies but celebrating each member of the family for their uniqueness! I’m sure you get the idea of how the prize picking goes by now đ
In Eighth Place…
Gabrielle Cardwell for Biscuit’s Christmas Treat
Congratulations, Gabrielle!  We loved that your story celebrated a dog’s POV of a Christmas walk through the neighborhood, and we felt like we knew Biscuit! You get to pick after Lara đ
In Ninth Place
Tracy Curran for The Gingerbread Sleigh
Congratulations, Tracy, on your mouth-watering entry written in excellent rhyme with a wonderful ending! You get to pick after Gabrielle đ
In Tenth Place
Brenda Whitehead for Christmas Eve Treats
Congratulations, Brenda, on a lovely entry that celebrated the love between a grandmother and granddaughter and came around to such a sweet ending where their roles were reversed. You get to pick your prize after Tracy!
In Eleventh Place
Deborah Bence Boerema for Christmas Kitchen Chaos
Congratulations, Deborah, on an entry that perfectly portrayed the way things seem to go in the kitchen this time of year with a lovely ending that showed it’s the who not the what that matters! You get to pick after Brenda!
All the winners should email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com with the subject heading Prize Winner so we can work out details for you to receive your prizes! (The sooner the better!) And for your convenience, the whole prize list is included at the bottom of this post.
Congratulations again to all our winners – it was a stiff competition!! – and congratulations to EVERYONE who wrote and entered a story in the contest.  You all deserve a huge round of applause and a Holiday Treat (see what I did there? đ )
Thank you to everyone who helped make this contest SO MUCH FUN, whether by writing an entry, reading people’s stories, leaving comments for the authors, and/or voting in the finals, or by donating a prize. Â It’s because of all of you that this contest was such a success, so many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart!
As I… hmm… maybe didn’t mention…? but seem to do every year so you’re probably not surprised, I’m taking a little blogging break so I can spend time with my family – I’ve got children to fetch, cookies to bake, Christmas presents to shop for and wrap, and my sister and her family arriving from Georgia! đ So I will see you all in a couple weeks – most probably the first week of January đ
So now, I want to wish you all a happy and healthy holiday filled with love, laughter, joy, and family, and a happy, healthy and successful new year! Â It is a pleasure and a privilege to get to spend time with you all, and I’m happy and grateful to know each and every one of you!
Looking forward to all the things we’ll do in 2020!
Happy Holidays, and all best wishes for a wonderful New Year!!!
The Prizes!: Â OMG! So much awesomeness!!!
Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Children’s Literary AgentMelissa Richeson of Apokedak Literary!!! Melissa will read and give a written critique of your picture book manuscript plus a 10 minute phone call to talk!!!
MG/YA First 1500 Words Critique from Children’s Literary AgentMelissa Richeson of Apokedak Literary!!! Melissa will read and give a written critique of the first 1500 words of your MG or YA manuscript!!!
Literary Agent Melissa Richeson
Melissa is currently looking to build her client list and is focusing on childrenâs book authorsâpicture books through young adult. Sheâs drawn to witty wording and whimsical design for picture books, humor and quick pacing for chapter books, charming mysteries or magic in middle grade, and fresh, character-driven stories in young adult. Sheâs not the best fit for horror, high fantasy, or graphic violence of any kind
Art of Arc is an independent-study picture book writing course. Most stories have some sort of arc. Many successful picture books are built around an arc. Understanding story and character arcs will help give your story order and the tension that will energize it from the beginning to the end. This energy will not only drive your protagonist forward â it will also drive readers to turn pages and keep reading.
The purpose of this course is to deepen your understanding of picture books written with a classic arc and to introduce you to many other picture books structures. The course also addresses a number of common issues that weaken a story and common writing mistakes that authors make.
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazone, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! đ
âď¸Deck the Halls! âď¸ Light the menorah! âď¸ Fill the Kikombe cha Umoja! âď¸
It’s time for . . .
THE9THANNUALHOLIDAYCONTEST!!!
~forchildren’swriters~
The Contest:  Write a children’s holiday story (children here defined as age 12 and under) about A Holiday TREAT!
Your treat can be any kind of treat – a delectable holiday food specialty – Grandma’s Sugar Cookie Reindeer, or the Brown Family Gingerbread House; an event or experience that is a treat – the town Holiday Parade, attending the Nutcracker Ballet, or getting to light a candle on the menorah; making a treat for someone else – baking peppermint crunch brownies for the residents of a local shelter, or doing something special for a favorite teacher or neighbor – sky’s the limit đ
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 250 words (I know! So much freedom after the Halloweensie Contest đ )  (It can be as short as you like (the judges will be grateful đ , you are welcome and encouraged to write shorter, but no more than 250!  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 Wednesday December 11 at 11:59 PM EST, and your post-specific link should be added to the link list below.  This post will remain up for your reading pleasure until I post the finalists. There will be no regular posts (Tuesday Debuts, Perfect Picture Book, or Would You Read It) for the duration of the contest so the links will stay up for everyone to visit and enjoy. If you donât have a blog and would like to enter, you can simply copy and paste your entry in the comments section below (please include your byline! If your posting handle is something like MamaWritesByNightlight I canât identify you.) If you have difficulty posting in the comments, which unfortunately sometimes happens, you may email your entry to me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com and Iâll post it for you. Please place your entry in the body of the email including your title and byline at the top â NO ATTACHMENTS! Please do not submit entries before the start of the contest! Please submit your entry only ONCE! If you add it to the blog link list, and the comments, and email me to post it, things get very confusing! I try to stay as glued to my desk as possible, but sometimes I have to get up so if I donât respond to your email or approve your post immediately, donât panic! Iâll get to it as soon as I can!
The Judging: Â My lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to approximately 10 finalists (depending on the number of entries – if we get a lower turnout we’ll post fewer finalists, a higher turnout possibly one or two more.) Â In the interest of finishing up the contest in a timely fashion so everyone can go about their holidays, we will do our best to post the finalists here by Monday December 16 for you to vote on for a winner. Â The vote will be closed on Wednesday December 18 at 5 PM EST. Â Whoever gets the most votes will be first and so on down to tenth place (or wherever we place to), and the winners will be announced on Thursday December 19.
Judging criteria will be as follows:
1. Kid-appeal! – These stories are intended for a young audience (ages 12 and under), so we’re looking for stories that children will enjoy and relate to.
2.  Holiday Treat! – the rules state a Holiday Treat story, so it must be crystal clear that the story is about a treat of some kind that is specific to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate. The story must center on the treat – the treat must not be just an offhand mention/reference in a story about something else.
3. Quality of story – entries must tell a story, including a main character of some kind and a true story arc even if it’s tiny đ Â Entries must not be merely descriptions or mood pieces.
4. Quality of Writing: check your spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. Â If you’re going to rhyme, give us your best đ Â Overall writing quality and use of language are also important.
5. Originality and creativity – because that is often what sets one story above another.
The Prizes!: Â OMG! So much awesomeness!!!
Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Children’s Literary AgentMelissa Richeson of Apokedak Literary!!! Melissa will read and give a written critique of your picture book manuscript plus a 10 minute phone call to talk!!!
MG/YA First 1500 Words Critique from Children’s Literary AgentMelissa Richeson of Apokedak Literary!!! Melissa will read and give a written critique of the first 1500 words of your MG or YA manuscript!!!
Literary Agent Melissa Richeson
Melissa is currently looking to build her client list and is focusing on childrenâs book authorsâpicture books through young adult. Sheâs drawn to witty wording and whimsical design for picture books, humor and quick pacing for chapter books, charming mysteries or magic in middle grade, and fresh, character-driven stories in young adult. Sheâs not the best fit for horror, high fantasy, or graphic violence of any kind
Art of Arc is an independent-study picture book writing course. Most stories have some sort of arc. Many successful picture books are built around an arc. Understanding story and character arcs will help give your story order and the tension that will energize it from the beginning to the end. This energy will not only drive your protagonist forward â it will also drive readers to turn pages and keep reading.
The purpose of this course is to deepen your understanding of picture books written with a classic arc and to introduce you to many other picture books structures. The course also addresses a number of common issues that weaken a story and common writing mistakes that authors make.
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazone, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! đ
This is the part in the proceedings where I would normally post my sample to entertain and encourage you, but I’m afraid today, without burdening you with the details, my heart just can’t be in it.  Bad timing, I’m sorry đŚ
But I know you guys are going to come up with great stories, and I’m so looking forward to reading them all. Â I know they will lift my spirits! đ
I canât wait to read all of your entries! Â With so many great prizes up for grabs I hope there will be a lot â the more the merrier! Â And you’ve still got a couple days to write, so you can squeeze in under the wire if you havenât written yet. Â Feel free to spread the word to your writing friends as well. Â And your reading friends â parents, teachers, etc. Â The more people who read and enjoy your stories, the better!!!
Contest Entrants, remember to add your post-specific link to the google form below so we can all come read your awesome stories!  (Post-specific means not your main blog url, but the actual url of the post that has your story in it â otherwise if you post again before the contest ends, your link will take readers⌠and judges!⌠to the wrong place!)
Eager Readers â just go along the list of links, click on them, and enjoy the stories!
Happy Writing and Happy Holidays!!!đâď¸Â âĄď¸âď¸âď¸đ
And donât miss the 77!!! fabulous entries that are posted in the comments below!  The titles are linked and will take you directly to the stories!
I don’t know who has been monkeying with the time-space continuum (and I am sorry to say that is definite Naughty List behavior!!!), but somehow we’ve gotten into THIS week when I need us to still be in LAST week.
I’m going to have to put things back to normal so all my posts and contests etc. work out right, because what we’ve got here is a snowball rolling out of control that’s going to bowl us right over. (We are not even going to discuss that I’m still working my way through prize distribution for the Halloweensie Contest which should have been finished 3 weeks ago! đ )
Just hang on a sec while I hitch this sleigh flown by 8 tiny reindeer, with menorah running lights, a New Year’s blowout horn, and a Solstice candy holding Kikombe cha Umoja on the dash, to 21 gigawatts of electricity and take us. . .
. . . Back to Last Week!
Ah, that’s better!
Lucky I’m good at such a variety of tasks, isn’t it? Not just anyone could have turned a fancy-schmancy variety holiday sleigh into a time machine and solved this knotty little problem!
No need to thank me. It’s the least I can do.
Now when this post goes up you’ll have more time to write your entries!
Because it’s time to put on your Elf Thinking Cap, fire up your writing implements, and write your way to fame and fortune in . . .
THE9THANNUALHOLIDAYCONTEST!!!
~forchildren’swriters~
The Contest:  Write a children’s holiday story (children here defined as age 12 and under) about A Holiday TREAT!
Your treat can be any kind of treat – a delectable holiday food specialty – Grandma’s Sugar Cookie Reindeer, or the Brown Family Gingerbread House; an event or experience that is a treat – the town Holiday Parade, attending the Nutcracker Ballet, or getting to light a candle on the menorah; making a treat for someone else – baking peppermint crunch brownies for the residents of a local shelter, or doing something special for a favorite teacher or neighbor – sky’s the limit đ
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 250 words (I know! So much freedom after the Halloweensie Contest đ )  (It can be as short as you like (the judges will be grateful đ , you are welcome and encouraged to write shorter, but no more than 250!  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 12:01 AM EST Monday December 9 and Wednesday December 11 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 Monday December 9 and remain up for your reading pleasure until I post the finalists. There will be no regular posts (Tuesday Debuts, Perfect Picture Book, or Would You Read It) for the duration of the contest so the links will stay up for everyone to visit and enjoy. If you would like to enter but don’t have a blog you are welcome to paste your entry in the comment section of my December 9th post when it goes up. If you have trouble commenting, you can email me. (We’ll go over this part in more detail on the December 9th post! đ )
The Judging: Â My lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to approximately 10 finalists (depending on the number of entries – if we get a lower turnout we’ll post fewer finalists, a higher turnout possibly one or two more.) Â In the interest of finishing up the contest in a timely fashion so everyone can go about their holidays, we will do our best to post the finalists here by Monday December 16 for you to vote on for a winner. Â The vote will be closed on Wednesday December 18 at 5 PM EST. Â Whoever gets the most votes will be first and so on down to tenth place (or wherever we place to), and the winners will be announced on Thursday December 19.
Judging criteria will be as follows:
1. Kid-appeal! – These stories are intended for a young audience (ages 12 and under), so we’re looking for stories that children will enjoy and relate to.
2.  Holiday Treat! – the rules state a Holiday Treat story, so it must be crystal clear that the story is about a treat of some kind that is specific to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate. The story must center on the treat – the treat must not be just an offhand mention/reference in a story about something else.
3. Quality of story – entries must tell a story, including a main character of some kind and a true story arc even if it’s tiny đ Â Entries must not be merely descriptions or mood pieces.
4. Quality of Writing: check your spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. Â If you’re going to rhyme, give us your best đ Â Overall writing quality and use of language are also important.
5. Originality and creativity – because that is often what sets one story above another.
The Prizes!: Â The prize list is not quite complete. . . Â But I wanted to get the guidelines up so you guys would have as much time as possible to work on your stories! Â Stay tuned for an updated list at some point đ
Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Children’s Literary AgentMelissa Richeson of Apokedak Literary!!! Melissa will read and give a written critique of your picture book manuscript plus a 10 minute phone call to talk!!!
MG/YA First 1500 Words Critique from Children’s Literary AgentMelissa Richeson of Apokedak Literary!!! Melissa will read and give a written critique of the first 1500 words of your MG or YA manuscript!!!
Literary Agent Melissa Richeson
Melissa is currently looking to build her client list and is focusing on childrenâs book authorsâpicture books through young adult. Sheâs drawn to witty wording and whimsical design for picture books, humor and quick pacing for chapter books, charming mysteries or magic in middle grade, and fresh, character-driven stories in young adult. Sheâs not the best fit for horror, high fantasy, or graphic violence of any kind.
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazone, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! đ
So there you have it! Fire up those brain cells!  Grab a cup of hot chocolate, plonk your tiny hiney into a comfy chair, and get to writing your potentially prize-winning Holiday Treat story!!! You have 10 full days! (Sorry it isn’t more – blame it on the joker who tinkered with the space-time continuum đ – but look at the bright side – deadlines are great for creativity and productivity! Your house doesn’t need to be cleaned this week, your children can eat raisin bran for dinner for a few days, and let’s be honest – no one’s concentrating on getting homework done or practicing their trombone at this time of year anyway, so you’ll have plenty of time to write! đ )
On your mark…
…get set…
…GO!
I am SO looking forward to getting to read all your stories!!!
So lovely of you to drop by to visit on a Thursday when I don’t usually post!
Latte?
You must have heard about my irresistible new offering and stampeded over to avail yourself of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Yes! The hype is all true!
Today, you can broaden your horizons with
for the low, low price of $0!!!
Learn how to:
start ten tasks at once. . . without the burden of actually finishing any of them!
work for 10 minutes and get distracted with online holiday shopping!
realize you’ve been online shopping for one hour and 73 minutes and remind yourself sternly that you’re supposed to be working!
check all your social media accounts, work for 10 minutes, then sharpen your mental skills with a rigorous round of Sporcle! (Can you name the 10 US State Capitals you can’t fly to?)
travel to another continent in the middle of hosting a writing contest!
fall asleep on your computer and get keyboard checkers on your cheek!
work for 10 minutes and decide to make tiramisu!
. . . and so much more!
What is that?
You DIDN’T come to absorb my freely-given wisdom on productivity when I have clearly taken it to new heights? (I did say it was unprecedented. . . đ)
Fine.
I will do my best not to take it personally that you doubt my fitness as a model of organization, efficiency, and productivity just because the Halloweensie Winners haven’t been posted yet, and we’ll move on to how I can help you with choosing the right burlap sack for any social occasion which must be why you’re here if you don’t want to improve your productivity.
Wait, what?
You’re here because you want to know who won Halloweensie?
Well why didn’t you just say so?!
Because it just so happens that I know! đ
As you are all aware by now, we had an amazing turnout for Halloweensie 2019 – 324!!! entries! Â Golly gee willikers!!!
I was thrilled beyond measure to see so many wonderful stories and meet so many new writers!  And I don’t know about you guys, but for me Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without Halloweensie! What’s better than a candy-filled dark and spooky night? A candy-filled dark and spooky night with 324 fabulous stories to read! đ
With large entry numbers come hard choices, though. Â 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 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-around well-written stories we loved that just missed the finals for one small reason or another!)
Lindsay Leslie for The Scurry Treat (well written, great use of language, great ending!)
Cassy Ciarq for Trick Or Treat (well written, great job evoking the delicious fear and excitement of a child trick-or-treating in the dark!)
Marta Magellan for Scary Things (well written, great job showing the spookiness of Halloween and the back-to-normal morning after – good kid appeal)
Linda Hofke for What Witch Whips Up (so cleverly written with the body parts subtly woven in to lead up to the ending of “body lotion”!)
David McMullin for Billy And Buddy’s Epic Halloween (fun and kid-friendly, very believably “kid” and sibling!)
Tracy Curran for My Mummy’s A Witch (fun and kid-friendly with a great twist ending!)
Mary Vander Plas for Some Arachnid (well written fun story – great twist on Charlotte’s Web!)
Chelsea Tornetto for Booty And A Beat (clever, fun to read aloud, irresistible rhythm)
Roo Parkin for The Road To Grimly Gore (well written, great use of language, fun ending!)
Pat Finnegan forSave-This-Night (a kid-friendly witchy change-of-attitude story)
2. For Best Endings: (not already in the finals)
Stephanie Williams for The Contest
Lauri Meyers for Haunted Halloween Hop
Lauren Neil for Witch 101
Shelley Kinder for Fishy Witchy
Sue Lancaster for The Halloween Hop
3.  For Great Use of Language: (not already in the finals)
Sue Heavenrich for Spider Parade
Jenna Waldman for All Hallows Poetry Reading
Sarah Meade for The Goblin And The Girl
Deborah Boerema for Monster-Matopoeia
4. For Spookiest/Creepy Entry: (not already in the finals)
Christina Dendy for The Bone House
Unidentified author for Matilda’s Treat
Paul Kurtz for Cobwebs
Mary C. Thorpe for What Had They Found?
Vashti Verbowski for Cecil The Beetle (And The Web Of Wishes)
5. For Funniest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Kael Tudor for Hubble, Bubble, Toil And . . . Muddle?
Greg Bray for The Ultimate Spider-Man Costume
Susan Summers for The Witch’s Dilemma
6. For Sweetest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Melissa Miles for Just One Child
Lisa Zaccaria for Halloween Surprise
7. Â For Unique Character: (not already in the finals)
Cathy Murphy for A Cure For Cobweb (Spider turns into a Unitoad – like a unicorn but a toad!)
Lori Himmel for The Very Haunted House (MC is the house)
8. For Great Read For Younger Readers: (not already in the finals)
Brenda Whitehead for Halloween Countdown
Avana Lily for The Little Witch Helps Out
JoAnn DiVerdi for Boo-Boo! A Little Ghost Story
9. For Creative Format:
Jenna Waldman for Ghost Store (written like a commercial)
Michelle Henrie for Halloween Treat (written as a crossword puzzle)
10. For Good Kid Voice:
Lindsey Hobson for Little Brother
11. For Good Depiction of Siblings: (not already in the finals)
Tara Cerven for A Silken Surprise
12: For Cleverness: (not already in the finals)
Mary Rudzinski for Halloween Forever
Erin Kerger Duffett for Three Cauldrons Full
13. For Contestants Who Entered Multiple Strong Entries:
Sarah Meade
Paul Kurtz
Donna Kurtz
Michelle Kennedy
14. Last But Not Least A Very Special Mention:
Joyce Schriebman for The Good Witch – a tribute to our sweet friend, Robyn Campbell, who always went out of her way to help others and whom we miss dearly.
Congratulations to all of you for fantastic elements of your stories!  You may all email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com subject line Prize Winner to collect your prize, which is a $5 Amazon Email Gift Certificate (which you may spend on one of the many Kindle choices listed in previous contests here, or add to your Amazon bucks for a gift for yourself or someone else, or whatever else you might choose to do!) as well as a beautiful certificate of achievement that you may display on your blog or print out and frame or turn into a flag to carry with you everywhere and wave out the window of your car đ
A word about the prizes before I announce the winners.
We have 12 fabulous prizes, generously donated by authors and various professionals in the writing field. Â My policy is to let the first place winner have first pick of all the prizes, the second place winner have second choice, etc. Â That way hopefully nobody gets something they already have, and hopefully everyone gets something that’s valuable to them. Â All prizes are listed at the bottom of this post for your convenience in perusing the goodies đ
Now.
Finally!
Onto the moment you’ve all been waiting for. . .
. . . the reason you got out of bed this morning. . .
. . . Â in spite of shadows under your bleary eyes. . .
. . . and the candy corn that is stuck in your hair!!!
. . . THE WINNERS OF THE 2019 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…
Jocelyn Watkinson
for
Vampire Stains
Congratulations, Jocelyn, on a fabulously written, entertaining entry that was all around well done and clearly very popular with judges and voters alike!!!
In Second Place,
Keatley Eastman
for
Sneaky Sister
Congratulations, Keatley, on a cute, well written, kid friendly entry with a great ending! (and for coming in 2nd two years in a row!) You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Jocelyn chooses!
In Third Place,
Paul Kurtz  for A Halloween Visit
Congratulations, Paul, on a well written, clever entry that masterfully combined elements of Halloween and Christmas into Spider Claws! You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Jocelyn and Keatley choose!
In Fourth Place,
Leslie Goodman
for The Nickname Cure
Congratulations, Leslie, on a fun story with funny twist of an ending! Â You get to pick a prize after Jocelyn, Keatley, and Paul!
In Fifth Place,
Katrina Swenson for Itchy Witchy Underwear
Congratulations, Katrina, on your delightfully well written entry that made us laugh out loud! Â You get to pick your prize after Jocelyn, Keatley, Paul, and Leslie!
In Sixth Place,
Maryna Doughty
for
Ghost’s Pest Problem
Congratulations, Maryna, on your clever, fun and creative entry! You get to pick your prize after Jocelyn, Keatley, Paul, Leslie, and Katrina!
In Seventh Place,
Mary Ann Cortez
for Let’s Go Scarecrow
Congratulations, Mary Ann, on your fun, Going On A Bear Hunt-esque twist on Halloween! You get to pick your prize after Maryna!
In Eighth Place,
Colleen Murphy for Broom Or Bust
Congratulations, Colleen, for a beautifully written, fun, entertaining kid-friendly entry! You get to pick your prize after Mary Ann!
In Ninth Place,
Jill Lambert
for Tacky Trick
Congratulations, Jill! What is a spider to do if his silk has no stick’em?! đ You get to pick a prize after Colleen…!
In Tenth Place
Debbie Day
for Gloona The Grinchy Witch
Congratulations, Debbie, on making us laugh at your Grinchy Witch! Â You get to prize pick after Jill.
In Eleventh Place
Sandy Perlic
for
Boo Quiet To Spook?
Congratulations, Sandy, we loved your timid little witch who was given a little boost by her giant sneeze đ You get to pick a prize after Debbie.
In Twelfth Place
Ingrid Boydston
for
Tricky Witch Test
Congratulations, Ingrid, on a fun story! Nothing like turning into a pumpkin! đ You get to pick your prize after Sandy!
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! Â Not just anyone can say that đ
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! If you choose a prize that requires snail mailing, PLEASE include your snail mail address so we don’t have to email back and forth too many times đ If you would like a beautiful certificate to celebrate your accomplishment, you are most welcome to one!
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 truckloads of leftover fun-sized chocolate. . . if there is any đ
Thank you to everyone who helped make this contest SO MUCH FUN, whether by writing an entry, reading people’s stories, leaving comments for the authors, and/or voting in the finals, or by donating a prize! It’s because of all of you that this contest was such a success, so many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart!
And before we go, I will give you all advance warning so you can start planning a little time into your December schedule…
Assuming you guys are up for it – and you’d better let me know in the comments!!! – the 9th Annual Holiday Writing Contest will be coming up sometime in the neighborhood of December 7 so we can all fully enjoy it and still have time for last minute holiday things. Â I will do my best to post the rules well in advance (maybe the Saturday after Thanksgiving, good lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise! đ ) so you all have time to work on your stories! Â But please let me know if you feel like it’s too much and you’d rather not do it!
Have a terrific Thursday everyone, and thanks again for making the Halloweensie Contest such a wonderful time for all! đ
The Prizes:Â SO AMAZING! What a generous community we have to donate so much awesomeness!!! đ
Go Directly To Go! Skip The Slushpile at Blue Whale Press and Get Your PB Manuscript Directly On The Editor’s Desk!!!
Submit your picture book manuscript directly to editor Alayne Christian for her consideration and critique. Helpful feedback is a certainty, publication could be a possibility!
 Â
Blue Whale Press is an SCBWI PAL publisher of children’s books that focuses on stories involving themes of friendship and/or personal challenge. Most often, stories are selected for publishing due to their inherent educational or moral value. But as a general rule, a good dose of humor or a tug at the heart doesnât hurt their chances of being published either. While a few chapter books and a middle grade are on their list, their focus is picture books. As a boutique publisher who doesnât mind taking risks, Blue Whale Press considers itself to be a launch pad for authors and illustrators hoping to establish themselves.
Hone Your Skills with the Lyrical Language Lab Rhyme & Meter Self Study Crash Course (11 Lessons) from accomplished writer and poet Renee LaTulippe
INTENSIVE RHYME AND METER CRASH COURSE
This option contains all the same lessons as Module 1 of Renee’s fully guided course, including all supplemental materials, downloads, and audio/video components. This is the option to choose if you need to build a strong foundation in the mechanics of rhyming picture books and poetry. The major focus is on the four main types of meter and how to use mixed and varied meter. Other topics include rhythm, cadence, breath, scansion, rhyme, sound devices, figurative language, imagery, and diction.
.
You also have the opportunity to submit two of your assignments to Renee for feedback, and have email access to ask questions about the lessons as you complete them. Although lessons will arrive every other day, you are free to complete them at your own pace.
See the course description above for more information.
Rhyming Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Carrie Finison, author of DOZENS OF DOUGHNUTS and DON’T HUG DOUG, forthcoming from Putnam in August 2020 and Spring 2021.
Fiction OR Nonfiction Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming please) from Darshana Khiani, author of HOW TO WEAR A SARI forthcoming from HMH/Versify, Spring 2021
Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming please) from Gabi Snyder, author of TWO DOGS ON A TRIKE, forthcoming from Abrams Appleseed, May 2020 and LISTEN, forthcoming from S&S/Wiseman, Spring 2021
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N or anywhere else if you like them, recommending them for school visits, or supporting them in any other way you can dream up đ
I apologize for the fact that I am behind schedule posting the finalists. I know you are all waiting. I did not anticipate 324 entries or I would have given myself and the other judges more time. We will do our best to have the finalists posted by tomorrow or Saturday.
Lizard toes and dragon scales! It’s time for . . .
The 9THAnnualHALLOWEENSIECONTEST!!!
~ for children’s writers ~
The Contest: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (children here defined as 12 and under) (title not included in the 100 words), using the words potion, cobweb, and trick.  Your story can be scary, funny, sweet, or anything in between, poetry or prose, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!) Get it? Halloweensie – because it’s not very long and it’s for little people đ (And yes, I know 100 words is short, but that’s part of the fun and the challenge! We got over 235 fantastic entries last year, so I know you can do it!) Also, you may use the words in any form – e.g. potions, cobwebbed, trickery, whathaveyou đ NO ILLUSTRATION NOTES PLEASE! (And yes, you may submit more than one entry if you’re so inclined đ )
Post: your story on your blog between right now this very second and Thursday October 31st by 11:59 PM EDT and add your post-specific link to the list below (not your blog’s main url because if you post again after your entry during the dates of the contest, the judges will find the wrong post!) There will be no Tuesday Debut, Perfect Picture Book or Would You Read It posts for the duration of the contest so the links will stay up for everyone to visit and enjoy. If you don’t have a blog and would like to enter, you can simply copy and paste your entry in the comments section below (please include your byline! If your posting handle is something like MamaWritesByNightlight I can’t identify you.) If you have difficulty posting in the comments, which unfortunately sometimes happens, you may email your entry to me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com and I’ll post it for you. Please place your entry in the body of the email including your title and byline at the top – NO ATTACHMENTS! And please do not submit entries before the start of the contest! Please submit your entry only ONCE! If you add it to the blog link list, and the comments, and email me to post it, things get very confusing! I try to stay as glued to my desk as possible, but sometimes I have to get up so if I don’t respond to your email or approve your post immediately, don’t panic! I’ll get to it as soon as I can!
The Judging: in a grueling marathon over the coming days, my devoted assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to 3Â 6Â 9Â 12? top choices (hee hee hee – you know how much trouble I have with winnowing, so we’ll see!) which will be posted here and voted on for a winner on Monday November 4th (if the judging takes longer than we expect if could be later…but we will do our best!)Â The winner will be announced on Thursday November 7th (good lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise đ )
Judging criteria will be as follows:
1. Kid-appeal! – These stories are intended for a young audience (ages 12 and under), so we’re looking for stories that children will enjoy and relate to.
2. Â Halloweeniness – the rules state a Halloween story, so it must be crystal clear that the story is about Halloween, not just some random spooky night.
3. Quality of story – entries must tell a story, including a main character of some kind and a true story arc even if it’s tiny đ Â Entries must not be merely descriptions or mood pieces.
4. Quality of Writing: check your spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. Â If you’re going to rhyme, give us your best đ Â Overall writing quality and use of language are also important.
5. Originality and creativity – because that is often what sets one story above another.
6. PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS! Large numbers of entries make it easy to cut entries that haven’t been entered as we asked.
The Prizes:Â SO AMAZING! What a generous community we have to donate so much awesomeness!!! đ
Go Directly To Go! Skip The Slushpile at Blue Whale Press and Get Your PB Manuscript Directly On The Editor’s Desk!!!
Submit your picture book manuscript directly to editor Alayne Christian for her consideration and critique. Helpful feedback is a certainty, publication could be a possibility!
 Â
Blue Whale Press is an SCBWI PAL publisher of children’s books that focuses on stories involving themes of friendship and/or personal challenge. Most often, stories are selected for publishing due to their inherent educational or moral value. But as a general rule, a good dose of humor or a tug at the heart doesnât hurt their chances of being published either. While a few chapter books and a middle grade are on their list, their focus is picture books. As a boutique publisher who doesnât mind taking risks, Blue Whale Press considers itself to be a launch pad for authors and illustrators hoping to establish themselves.
Hone Your Skills with the Lyrical Language Lab Rhyme & Meter Self Study Crash Course (11 Lessons) from accomplished writer and poet Renee LaTulippe
INTENSIVE RHYME AND METER CRASH COURSE
This option contains all the same lessons as Module 1 of Renee’s fully guided course, including all supplemental materials, downloads, and audio/video components. This is the option to choose if you need to build a strong foundation in the mechanics of rhyming picture books and poetry. The major focus is on the four main types of meter and how to use mixed and varied meter. Other topics include rhythm, cadence, breath, scansion, rhyme, sound devices, figurative language, imagery, and diction.
.
You also have the opportunity to submit two of your assignments to Renee for feedback, and have email access to ask questions about the lessons as you complete them. Although lessons will arrive every other day, you are free to complete them at your own pace.
See the course description above for more information.
Rhyming Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Carrie Finison, author of DOZENS OF DOUGHNUTS and DON’T HUG DOUG, forthcoming from Putnam in August 2020 and Spring 2021.
Fiction OR Nonfiction Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming please) from Darshana Khiani, author of HOW TO WEAR A SARI forthcoming from HMH/Versify, Spring 2021
Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming please) from Gabi Snyder, author of TWO DOGS ON A TRIKE, forthcoming from Abrams Appleseed, May 2020 and LISTEN, forthcoming from S&S/Wiseman, Spring 2021
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N or anywhere else if you like them, recommending them for school visits, or supporting them in any other way you can dream up đ
Now then, my pretties! It’s past the witching hour in the dead of night – very appropriate for a Halloween story, don’t you think? – and the time has come for my sample entry (which I seriously almost did not get done!) I seem to have developed a bad habit of having editorial deadlines that land in the middle of these contests, so I freely own up to the fact that I way exceeded the word count because I simply didn’t have time to make it shorter. My apologies for totally cheating! It’s not even like it’s any good as a result… but it does come to a sort of an endingđ If nothing else, it should fill you with confidence in your own MUCH MUCH better efforts!!!
Runaway Imagination
(so many words I’m not even writing it down!đ)
Costumes, make-up, pounding feet
Rushing out to trick-or-treat.
Almost at the farmyard gate
Witch Lucinda hollers, âWait!
In this Halloween commotion
I forgot my poison potion!â
Sets her plastic pumpkin down.
âGo ahead! Weâll meet in town!â
Grabs her potion. Comes back quick.
But someoneâs played an awful trick!
Her pumpkin pail, left on the ground,
Has disappeared and can’t be found!
Nevermind. A bag will do.
The witch zooms off to join her crew.
But halfway down the old farm road
She sees a sight that stops her cold.
In the shadows of the night
Glides a shape of ghostly white
Issuing an eerie moan
That makes Lucinda RUN for home!
Ghost flies past her fleeing faster
Surely this will be disaster!
Stops short at the barnyard fence.
Suddenly it all makes sense.
Head stuck in her pumpkin pail
Covered in a cobweb veil,
This is not a scary ghost!
Just a foolish baby goat!
Never say I’m not willing to embarrass myself for you! đđđ That is true love!đ
I can’t wait to read all of your entries! Â I’m so looking forward to them! Â I hope there will be a lot – the more the merrier! Â And there are still nearly 4 days to write, so you have time if you haven’t written yet. Â Feel free to spread the word to your writing friends as well. Â And your reading friends – parents, teachers, etc. Â The more people who read and enjoy your stories, the better!!!
Contest Entrants, remember to add your post-specific link to the google form below so we can all come read your awesome stories! Â (Post-specific means not your main blog url, but the actual url of the post that has your story in it – otherwise if you post again before the contest ends, your link will take readers… and judges!… to the wrong place!)
Eager Readers – just go along the list of links, click on them, and enjoy the stories!
Happy Writing and Happy Halloween!!! đ  đ
And don’t miss the 197!!! fabulous entries that are posted in the comments below! (And HURRAY! I FINALLY figured out how to make links (THANK YOU AMY!) so you can click directly through to each story to read and comment for the talented authors!!!)
(Where authors’ first names were the same/same spelling I tried to add last names)
Welcome to another exciting installment of Tuesday Debut!
I realize of course that it’s the 22nd of October – 9 Nights Before Halloween, and 64 Nights Before Christmas – but if it’s okay for the local Stop & Shop to be putting out their holiday items already then it’s okay for us to share and enjoy today’s debut picture book!
I’m thrilled to introduce Tuesday Debut-ess Dawn Young and her fabulously fun picture book, The Night Baafore Christmas!
The Night Baafore Christmas
Written by Dawn Young
Illustrated by Pablo Pino
published by WorthyKids, Hachette Book Group
October 2019
fiction, ages 4-8
It’s Christmas Eve and Bo can’t sleep, so he starts counting sheep. But when the sheep get a glimpse of the Christmas goodies, they scatter, wreaking holiday mayhem all over the house. With a house full of sheep and a mess to clean, will Bo get to sleep before Santa comes? Find out in this hilarious story of a night before Christmas gone baa-dly wrong.
SUSANNA: Welcome, Dawn! And thank you so much for stopping by to chat with us today and share your journey to publication! Where did the idea for this book come from?
DAWN: The idea for The Night Baafore Christmas began a long time ago, when one of my daughters was having trouble falling asleep because she kept worrying about bad things after watching the movie Barnyard. Every night Iâd tell her to think good thoughts and imagine herself at fun, happy places like the circus or the zoo.
With that in mind, I wrote about a child who, struggling to fall asleep due to bad thoughts, went to those same fun, happy places. But a story about a child going from adventure to adventure felt flat and needed something more, so I had the child attempt to count sheep to fall asleep. Soon, those mischievous sheep were tagging along on the adventures. At that point, the story had some spark but things went from flat to frenzied and I knew I needed to tighten the story.
Also, I wanted the story to start on a more positive note, so instead of having the child worry about bad things, I had the excitement over an upcoming event, like the eve of a birthday or a holiday, be the reason the child couldnât fall sleep. I played around with both, but found myself heading down the birthday path. Then, after seeing the holiday mishap contest on Susannaâs blog, I shifted to Christmas, and wrote a draft of what is now The Night Baafore Christmas.
[And now a brief message from our sponsors – enter theHalloweensie Contest (which opens in a week)! You too could write a new story or find a new angle on a work-in-progress that might be worthy of publication just like Dawn!
…aaand back to our regularly scheduled programming…! đ ]
SUSANNA:Â How long did it take you to write this book?
DAWN:Â Years! I began writing the story in 2008. Getting feedback from my critique partners and creating dummies were a big part of getting the book to where it is today. I love to write in rhyme, and I wanted this story to be in rhyme. Knowing that most publishers prefer prose because too often (they say) they see rhyme that is subpar, I worked on my perfecting my rhyming skills. Also, I wanted this story to be fun and funny, so I focused on wordplay and humor.
SUSANNA:Â Did you go through many revisions?
DAWN:Â This story went through many, many, many revisions. Even after adding the sheep, the story went through rounds and rounds of revisions. Early drafts were written in first person, and now the story is in third person. Playing around with POV is a great exercise.
Also, originally, the sheep appeared by number randomly to mirror the craziness of the story. Then, I received feedback suggesting I number the sheep in ascending order when the action escalates and in descending order when the momentum slows down. I revised accordingly, and it worked great and gave the story a smoother flow. Iâm grateful for the feedback!
For me, critique groups/partners are key to the process. We look to our critique partners for feedback to help us revise our stories, and their suggestions are invaluable. I find that I make a great deal of progress with my manuscripts when I, not only consider the feedback I get, but also the feedback I give. When I do a critique, I think my inner self is trying to speak to me through someone elseâs work. Often, I find myself saying, Wait I just did that same thing! Â A critique youâre doing for someone can act as a mirror, enabling you to reflect on your own writing as well.
SUSANNA:Â When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission?
DAWN:Â When that nagging, unsettling, âsomethingâs missing,â âif you stop now youâre cheating,â âyou can do better than that,â feeling, the one that keeps me up at night, is gone, then I know the manuscript is ready for submission.
SUSANNA:Â When and how did you submit?
DAWN:Â Unagented at the time, I read on Kathy Temeanâs blog that WorthyKids was seeking submissions for holiday stories, so I subbed the old-school way, via snail mail! Shortly after the submission, I assigned with my (now) agent and she handled the contract.
SUSANNA: When did you get “the call”? (Best moment ever! đ )
DAWN:Â Four months after I submitted, I got an email from the editor asking if the story was still available. I was ecstatic! Then around ten months later I got the offer.
SUSANNA:Â How did you celebrate signing your contract?
DAWN: I cried, the happiest of tears, and eventually I went out to dinner with my very supportive husband.
SUSANNA:Â Was the contract what you expected in terms of advance, royalty percentage, publication timeline, author copies etc.?
DAWN:Â At the time I submitted to WorthyKids, they were a smaller publisher so I figured the advance might be on the lower side. I really liked the publisher and the timeline for publication was unreal. I signed the contract in Nov 2018 and they gave me a Fall 2019 pub date. I felt so fortunate. In the meantime, WorthyKids became part of Hachette Book Group, so my small publisher isnât so small anymore.
SUSANNA:Â What was the editorial process like for you?
DAWN:Â They requested two minor changes and that was it.
SUSANNA:Â What can you tell us about your experience of the illustration process?
DAWN:Â The illustration process was unlike most Iâve read about. The editor suggested that I send her names of illustrators that had a style similar to what I was envisioning for the book. One of the names I gave her was Pablo Pino. Since they had Pablo in mind as well, they asked him and he said yes. His illustrations went beyond what I could have ever hoped for. Theyâre are beautiful, fun and funny. I feel so fortunate that Pablo Pino is the illustrator. The Night Baafore Christmas couldnât have been in better hands!
One way in which illustrator’s vision departed from mine was that I envisioned the sheepâs numbers to be on their bodies, but Pablo put their numbers on tags around their necks, and Iâm so glad he did because theyâre visible but subtle. Having big ole numbers on their backs may have overpowered the page.
I saw digital files of the entire book before it went to print and I was blown away! The editor asked for feedback. Other than saying Wow more times than I can count, I think I had only two (minor) comments.
I did have art notes. Looking back I can see that they werenât necessary.
text copyright Dawn Young 2019, illustration copyright Pablo Pino 2019 WorthyKids/Hachette
SUSANNA: Did you get to see advance reviews from Kirkus, SLJ, etc? What was that like?
DAWN:Â No, not yet.
SUSANNA:Â How long did it take from offer to having the first copy in your hand?
DAWN:Â Ten months.
SUSANNA:Â If your book has been out for at least one statement cycle, has it earned out yet?
DAWN:Â It just released on Oct 1st.
SUSANNA:Â What kind of marketing and promotion has your publisher done for this book?
DAWN:Â My publisher has been amazing. They made the most lively, fun, festive trailer, and theyâre contacting book reviewers, making memes, and doing a great deal of promotion.
SUSANNA:Â Describe any marketing/promotion you did for this book.
DAWN:Â I had flyers, bookmarks, stickers and a banner made. I reached out to bloggers asking them I could be featured on their blogs to share my journey and the bookâs journey. I will be featured at bookstores in November and December and Iâm booking other events as well.
SUSANNA:Â How long was it between the time you started writing seriously and the time you sold your first picture book?
DAWN:Â I started writing in 2007, but at the time, my kids were small, and I was busy with toddlers and very involved at their school, so Iâd say I was more of a part-time writer. Around 2010, I got really serious about writing and began attending conferences and writing retreats, taking classes, joining critique groups and writing ALL the time. Strictly a rhymer, I thought it would be best to branch out and be more diverse with my style, so around that time, I started writing in prose as well. In 2018, I sold my first picture book, Counting Elephants, which releases in March 2020 and sold The Night Baafore Christmas shortly after.
SUSANNA:Â Anything else you’d like to share about your book’s journey from inspiration to publication?
DAWN:Â Way back when, I submitted the very early versions of this story and they got their share of rejections, as they should have. Those versions were nowhere near ready and should not have been out in the world â much like a 13 year old behind the wheel of a car! The rejections I received were a blessing. As much as I dreaded them and resented them, they made me work harder, thinker deeper and get more ingenious. I learned to welcome them. I have a quote I like to remember when things arenât going as expected: âRemember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.â â Dalai Lama XIV
I learned that getting published requires more patience and persistence than I ever thought I had.
I also learned to celebrate the positive things. Back in 2013, I submitted this story to an editor who spoke at a conference I attended. Shortly after I received a rejection letter from her, but this time, I also got positive feedback. The editor called the story âfun and engagingâ and she called my writing âfreshâ and had other nice things to say. Even though it was a rejection, I celebrated her encouraging feedback, and to this day I still have her letter on my desk.
I feel very fortunate to be a part of such a fabulously generous and thoughtful kidlit community. The support and encouragement is incredible. No one knows a writerâs life like a writer does.
SUSANNA: Wow, Dawn! Such a lot of wonderful, helpful insights you shared with us today! I especially enjoyed your thoughts on critique groups/partners, when you know your manuscript is ready, and what it’s like to be a writer and part of the writing community. I’m sure our readers will all have their favorite parts as well đ Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in this series and paying it forward to other writers!
Author Dawn Young
Dawn Young bio:
Dawn graduated with a Bachelorâs degree in Mechanical Engineering, and later with an MBA. For years, Dawn worked as an engineer and, later, manager at a large aerospace company, until her creative side called her to pursue her dream of writing childrenâs books. After reading and writing hundreds of corporate documents, none of which were titled The Little Engineer Who Could or Don’t Let the Pigeon Fly the Airbus, Dawn is thrilled to now be reading and writing picture books instead.
Dawn is also a math enthusiast. When sheâs not busy writing and reading, she can be found doing math problems, sometimes just because… In high school, Dawnâs dream was to have a math equation named after her, but now, she believes having her name on the cover of books is a million times better! Dawn lives with her husband, three children and golden retriever in sunny Arizona.
We can help our debut authors successfully launch their careers by:
– purchasing their books
– recommending their books to friends and family
– recommending their books to our children’s teachers and librarians
– recommending their books to our local libraries and bookstores
– suggesting them as visiting authors at our children’s schools and our local libraries
– sharing their books on social media
– reviewing their books on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and other sites where people go to learn about books.
Thank you all for stopping by to read today! Â Have a lovely, inspiration-filled Tuesday! Â Maybe today is the day you’ll write your debut picture book đ
Missed any previous Tuesday Debuts? Â Check them out!
Art of Arc is an independent-study picture book writing course. Most stories have some sort of arc. Many successful picture books are built around an arc. Understanding story and character arcs will help give your story order and the tension that will energize it from the beginning to the end. This energy will not only drive your protagonist forward â it will also drive readers to turn pages and keep reading.
 
  
  
 
  
     
       
