Look at us! Half way through June and up to Week #6 in our Mix ‘n’ Match Mini Writing Challenge! Can you believe you’ve written at least 5 brand new stories so far (I know some of you are writing more than one per week!) with two weeks of inspiration still to go? Who knows how many new picture books might be getting their start during this challenge!

So let’s fire up the old brain cells and show Week #6 who’s boss!

Mix ‘n’ Match Mini is a 7 week writing challenge for anyone who needs a little boost, a little inspiration, or a little encouragement to get writing. . . or maybe just a little fun!

You get to write your own story, enjoy and be entertained by everyone else’s stories, and get yourself in the running for some awesome prizes (please see the end of the blog post for a list of all the prize goodies which continues to grow!)

To be eligible for the prize drawing you must enter all 7 weeks.

For a full description of the challenge, to read the Week #1 entries, or to add your Week #1 entry, please go HERE (Week #1)

To read the Week #2 entries or add your Week #2 entry, please go HERE (Week #2)

To read the Week #3 entries or add your Week #3 entry, please go HERE (Week #3)

To read the Week #4 entries or add your Week #4 entry, please go HERE (Week #4)

To read the Week #5 entries or add your Week #5 entry, please go HERE (Week #5)

Mix ‘n’ Match Mini Writing Prompt #6 for Week of June 14:

So far we’ve played with character needs/goals, writing a cumulative story, a picture prompt with random words and a secret, turning songs into stories with themes, and concept stories in particular settings! 😊 This week, we’re going to explore the importance of relationships and emotion!

Picture books are often about relationships – parent/child, sibling, friends/enemies, child/pet, grandparent/child, babysitter/child etc. and those relationships can cause emotions or be affected by emotions.

Choose a main character from Column A, a second character from Column B, and an emotion from Column C and write a 100-word story for kids where the story centers around the emotion between them.  (For example, 2 friends where one is jealous of the other, or a child who feels angry toward his beloved dog for chewing up his prized baseball glove, or a child who feels nervous about visiting her elderly grandmother who is wrinkly and smells like mothballs but whom she is supposed to love.)  Feel free to make “siblings” a dog and a cat, or “friends” a dinosaur and a goat, etc – you don’t have to stick with all human characters – write monsters, fairies, and aliens if you like 😊

I am ready to be bowled over by your creativity and talent! 

So come join the fun! Get some writing done! Encourage your kids (or students) to give it a try! Or just have a good time together reading what other folks have written!

Ready, set, WRITE! 😊

(And remember, for full details on the 7 week challenge you can check HERE)

Check out the Week #6 stories!

Gus – Robin Currie

My Sister’s For Sale – Rose Cappelli

Esme And Enzo, Aquatic Besties – Candice Marley Conner

Alice And Ollie – Joyce Uglow

Enzo The Pelican – Lyn Jekowsky

Tuck And Pops – Marty Findley

Anna And Granna – Marty Findley

Mighty Maisy – Jen Subra

Dance! Dance! – Leslie Degnan

Gus Gets A Pet Dragon – Isabel Cruz Rodriguez

Big Dog – Marty Findley

Chip Goes Blip – Laura Bower

My Grandpop Can Fix Anything – Susan Schipper

The Chosen One – Sue Lancaster

Fire Circle – Sarah Hawklyn

The Festival – Erika Romero

I Have A Poem For You – Padgy Soltis

A Fork In The Road – Jill Lambert

Birthday Surprise – Bevin Rolfs Spencer

How A Radio Flyer Brought Two Unlikely Friends Together – Erin Cleary

Maisie And Dana – Sarah Meade

Dylan Loves His Friend – Barbara Renner

The Tooth Fairy And The Dragon – Aly Kenna

Grammy’s Twinkles – Dawn Young

Date Night Betrayal – Allison Strick

Maise Marigold Mariah Munder Would Not Let Her Face Go Under – Sara Kruger

Maisie Astounds – Jeannette Suhr

Dear Tooth Fairy – Nicole Loos Miller

Creating Joy – Jeannette Suhr

I Don’t Need A Babysitter – Elizabeth Meyer zu Heringdorf

According To My Grandma – Marta Cutler

Bentley’s Bad Behavior – Susan Summers

A New Day – Mia Geiger

Rosie’s Great Gramma Mary Onion – Sally Yorke-Viney

Maisie’s Big Brother – Marty Bellis

The Fairy Godmother Problem – Ashley Sierra

The Most(ly) Boring Babysitter – Amy Leskowski

Love – Lauren Scott

Maisie’s Surprise – Deb Sullivan

Little Dragon Worries – Hannah Roy LaGrone

The Green Dragon – Marta Cutler

Betrayed – Colleen Owen Murphy

Hearts More Like Me – Elenore Byrne

Little Gus Giraffe Goes To Tokyo – Dianne Irving

I Hate Puppies – Deb Buschman

Not The Enzo But A Beginning – Bru Benson

The Great Escape – Katie Schwartz

Monster And Alien – Brenna Jeanneret

Late For School – Again – Michelle S. Kennedy

Xander And The Dinosaurs – Linda Schueler

Esme And Rex – JC Kelly

Enzo’s Fire – Ashley B. Pedigo

Untitled – Lauri Meyers

PRIZES & PRIZES OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES!

When it comes time for prizes, names of all those who complete the challenge will be drawn randomly and matched with prizes drawn randomly until we run out! 😊

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 gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazone, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, suggesting them for school visits, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! 😊

⭐️ Picture Book Critique from Penny Parker Klostermann, the lovely and talented author of THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON WHO SWALLOWED A KNIGHT (Random House 2015) and A COOKED-UP FAIRY TALE (Random House 2017)

⭐️ 30 Minute Q&A with Penny Klostermann

⭐️ Picture Book MS Critique OR Query Letter Critique (Winner’s Choice) from Jennifer Buchet, debut author of LITTLE MEDUSA’S HAIR DO-LEMMA (Clear Fork/Spork May 11, 2021)



⭐️ Picture Book MS Critique from Jen Raudenbush, agented writer of picture books, middle grade, and poetry. (Represented by Natascha Morris of The Tobias Literary Agency)

⭐️ Picture Book MS Critique OR Query Letter Critique (Winner’s Choice) from the lovely and talented Sara Kruger!

⭐️ 30 minute Zoom chat about anything industry related (manuscript, query letter, best practices for querying) with Becky Scharnhorst, amazing author of MY SCHOOL STINKS (Philomel Books, July 6, 2021)

⭐️Picture Book Manuscript Critique with Audio Recording by author and poet Sarah Meade Sarah will do a written critique of your manuscript and include an audio recording of her first read-through of the manuscript. The audio recording is to help the author hear how the story flows and/or where a new reader may stumble when reading aloud.

⭐️ Webinar: How To Write Powerful First Pages Like A Pro by author and editor Alayne Kay Christian

⭐️ A copy of Mary Kole’s Writing Irresistible Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Writers, donated by Nicole Loos Miller

⭐️ A personalized signed copy of SASSAFRAS AND HER TEENY TINY TAIL (MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing 2021) by Candice Marley Conner


⭐️ Making Picture Book Magic Self Study Class (any month)

⭐️A copy of A FLOOD OF KINDNESS by Ellen Leventhal

⭐️A copy of MAKING THEIR VOICES HEARD: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe by Vivian Kirkfield

⭐️A copy of THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON WHO SWALLOWED A KNIGHT by Penny Parker Klostermann

⭐️A copy of SLOTH AND SQUIRREL IN A PICKLE by Cathy Ballou Mealey

⭐️A copy of BINDU’S BINDIS by Supriya Kelkar

⭐️A copy of PHOEBE DUPREE IS COMING TO TEA! by Linda Ashman

⭐️ Magnetic Poetry – Little Box of Happiness

⭐️Picture Book Writers Rock! Mug for the writing fuel of your choice! 😊