Announcing The Winners Of The In Just Spring Contest!!!

It's finally here!

The day you've all been waiting for!

Monday!

No, seriously, I know you've been on pins and needles all weekend, wondering who the winner of a picture book manuscript read and comments by editor Laura Galvin of Kidsbooks was going to be.

And I fully intend to tell you, right after I recite Moby Dick.

"Moby Dick: Or The Whale, by Herman Melville.  Chapter 1.  Loomings.
Call me Ishmael.  Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no  money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world...."

Hang on.  This is a really long book.  I think I need a drink of water.

Also, it's really heavy.

And I'm already bored.

Now.  Where was I?

Oh yes.  You were wondering about who won the In Just Spring Contest.

Which reminds me that when I was little, one of my favorite things about spring was that it was finally warm enough to take my pogo stick outside and jump.  I was (and still AM if I may say so) an extremely good pogo sticker.  If only pogo sticking were an Olympic Sport....  Anyway, I grew up in a fourth floor apartment in New York City, and though my mom would let us do many things in the kitchen (roller skate, skate board, climb the walls in the back hall... well, okay, maybe she didn't exactly let us, but we did it :)) she was very firm about the pogo stick.  It was an outdoor toy.  And our downstairs neighbors had enough trouble dealing with the sound of roller skates and skateboards, and the water damage from the bathtub flooding we perpetrated every night... but that's another story...  But anyway, technically, a pogo stick is a big spring.  In a way.  So you can see how relevant this story is.  About springing in spring.

Okay.  I'm sorry.  I'll stop fooling around :)

We had the best turnout of writers we've ever had for this contest - 42 - a record we'll have to aim to beat next time :) - and the best turnout of voters for the finalists.  After 4 days of voting (which I know from the comments caused everyone trouble - all the entries were SO GOOD!) the results are in.

AND THE 1st Place WINNER IS:  (DDDRRRUUUMMM RRROOOOOOLLL PLEASE!)

TERESA ROBESON for her story WHAT HENRY KNEW!!!

Congratulations, Teresa!  Winning this contest was no mean feat!  And now, in addition to the fame of winning a Pretty Much World Famous Susanna Hill Contest, you have the opportunity to send one of your picture book manuscripts to editor Laura Galvin at Kidsbooks!  Please email me for details, or, if for some reason you want the alternate prize, please let me know!

2nd Place, and winner of a $25 Amazon gift certificate as well as her choice of the books listed below (unless Teresa for some reason doesn't want the first place prize in which case they'll swap) is:

WENDY LAWRENCE for her story LITTLE FOX'S SPRINGS!!!

Congratulations, Wendy!  Fame for you too! :)  Please email me with your choice :)

3rd place, and winner of her choice of the craft books listed below is:

JILL PROCTOR for her story BREAKFAST TIME FOR A HUNGRY BEAR!!!

Congratulations, Jill!  And there's plenty of fame to go around :)  Please email me with your choice :)

Book choice: Writing Picture Books: A Hands On Guide From Story Creation To Publication by Ann Whitford Paul, Writing With Pictures: How To Write And Illustrate Children's Books by Uri Shulevitz, How To Write A Children's Book And Get It Published by Barbara Seuling, The Writer's Guide To Crafting Stories For Children by Nancy Lamb, or 2013 Children's Writers And Illustrators Market by Chuck Sambuchino.

Congratulations again, not only to the winners and other finalists, but to ALL the writers who worked hard, polished stories, bravely posted them for all of us to read, and provided us all with wonderful entertainment.

Thank you to all the writers who entered, all the readers who read and commented, and all the voters who agonized and chose.

The contests couldn't happen without you all! :)

Sigh.  So now it's back to normal blogging life.  I have such fun with the contests that I'm always sorry when they're over.  But we still have great things to look forward to: a new Would You Read It on Wednesday, new Perfect Picture Books on Friday, Easter candy... although that's not technically limited to my blog... :)

So have a happy and productive Monday, everyone!

Now.  I'm off to hunt down a certain small brown marmot who has some explaining to do about why it's SNOWING! :)