What are you all doing here?
Don't you know it's Thursday?
I don't post on Thursdays.
Go home.
I'll see you tomorrow for Perfect Picture Books.
Oh!
You're here for a reason?
Well, I'll be darned!
You must have all come over to hear about my hangnail!
Aren't you just the sweetest to be so concerned!
Let me tell you, it's a doozy. It started on Monday when I was washing the dishes. It was just that little tiny painful beginning, you know? And I noticed it when I went to dry my hands and that painful little poinky end got caught on the dish towel and I was like, "Oh, man! Not a hangnail!"....
Wait a minute.
You're all managing to look very patient.
But I heard yawning...
...and I see some eye-rolling in the back over there....
You didn't really come over to hear about my hangnail, DID you!
I KNEW it!
So why are you here on a Thursday?
Go home, I tell you!
Jeez Louise! You'd think I had nothing better to do than to entertain you lot with the
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST WINNERS!!!!!
Heeheehee! I'm sorry! I just can't help myself. Heeheehee. I don't even HAVE a hangnail! Heeheeheeheehee!
Okay, really. I'm sorry for tormenting you with my juvenile behavior. Let's start with a few surprises, shall we?
As you are all aware by now, we had a record turnout for the Halloweensie Contest - 79 entries!
I was thrilled beyond measure to see so many wonderful stories!
But with large entry numbers come hard choices. My assistant judges and I worked hard to winnow the total down to a manageable number of finalists that we felt were truly all-around deserving of that distinction, and those were the ones we presented to you on Monday for your vote.
There were, however, many other entries that were outstanding in certain areas even though they might not have qualified all-around for one reason or another.
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:
Vivian Kirkfield for Halloween Dance Party Countdown
Carrie Finison for Callie's Prize-Winning Potion
Lauri Meyers for White Cat's Halloween
Suzy Levinson for Black Cat Goes To Spooky School
2. For Best Use of Poetic Language:
Kathy Moncrief for Halloween Night!
Heather Greene for Untitled (Hallowed Eve)
Julie Rowan-Zoch for Halloween Comes To The Farm
Bradin Farnworth for The Witches' Song
Kimberley Moran for Black Glass Cat
3. For Spookiest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Teresa M.I. Schaefer for Grim Concoction
Laura Shovan for The Old Hotel
Jackie Wellington for A Disappearing Act
Deirdre Sheridan Englehart for The Spookiest Night!
4. For Funniest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Mike Allegra for Spooky Piggy
Janet Johnson for Brewster's Trick
Sheila Renfro for Helga's Black Cat Search
5. For Sweetest/Cutest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Deb for Boo: The Scaredy Halloweenie Cat
6. For Great Kid Appeal: (not already in the finals)
Michelle Barnes for The Witching Hour
Meg Miller for The Halloween CAW Ball
Kirsten Bock for Scare D-Cat
7. For Most Original Format:
Nancy Hatch for Cackle... The Spooky Black Cat - in rap! :)
8. For Best All-Around Entry By A Newcomer To The Blog: (not already in the finals)
Juliana Lee for Sleepless Hallow's Eve
Doris K. Stone for The Fat Black Cat Sat
9. For Favorite Character:
Stacy Couch for her Ninja Ballerina in Olivia vs. The Witch :)
Congratulations to all of you for fantastic elements of your stories! You may all email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com to collect your prize, which is your choice of one of the following: (the titles are all links so you can go see what they're about)
For Kindle:
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Expression by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi , OR
The Postitive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Attributes by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, OR
The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Flaws by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, OR
In paperback:
Show & Tell In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions From Telling To Showing by Jessica Bell
And now...
...the moment you've all been waiting for...
... THE WINNERS OF THE 2013 HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST ACCORDING TO THE POPULAR VOTE!!! (which did not have the consideration to work out very neatly as you will see...)
In First Place, winner of a picture book manuscript critique from Corey Rosen Schwartz (celebrated author of The Three Ninja Pigs and other wonderful picture books) AND a copy of Linda Ashman's brand new Nuts & Bolts Guide To Writing Picture Books...
DDDDDRRRRRUUUUUMMMMMRRRRROOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!
Nata Romeo
for Drusella, The Black Spooky Cat
Congratulations, Nata!!!
In Second Place, winner of a picture book manuscript critique AND a query letter critique from Heather Ayris Burnell, author of Bedtime Monster,
Marcie Rinka Wessels
for Miss Sadie
Congratulations, Marcie!!!
In Third Place, we have a tie between
Eric Weibel and Margaret Greenias
for The Dare for One Ghostly Halloween
Congratulations, Erik and Margaret!!!
In Fifth Place, we have another tie! between
Laura Renauld and Cheryl Secomb
for Foe or Friend? for On Halloween
Congratulations, Laura and Cheryl!!!
All the winners should email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com with the subject heading Prize Winner so we can work out details for you to receive your prizes! Finalists who did not finish in the top 6 (Joanna, Nancy, Katie, Donna and Buffy) may also contact me for their choice of the Kindle or paperback prizes listed above.
Congratulations again to all our winners - it was a stiff competition!! - and congratulations to EVERYONE who wrote and entered a story in the contest. You all deserve a huge round of applause, a confetti parade, and a large amount of chocolate cake :)
Thank you to everyone who helped make this contest SO MUCH FUN, whether by writing an entry, reading people's stories, leaving comments for the authors, and/or voting in the finals. It's because of all of you that this contest was such a success, so many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart!
And before we go, I will give you all advance warning so you can start planning a little time into your December schedule...
The 3rd Annual Holiday Writing Contest will be coming up sometime in the neighborhood of December 11-18. I'm running it a little bit earlier this year so we can all fully enjoy it and still have time for last minute holiday things. And to whet your appetites and get your thinking caps on, I will tell you that first prize is something AWESOME! A picture book manuscript read and critique by an actual editor at an actual highly regarded publishing house!!! But that is all I'm saying for now :) You will just have to stay tuned for more details as the Holiday Contest approaches. And I will do my best to post the rules well in advance so you all have time to work on your stories!
Have a terrific Thursday everyone, and thanks again for making the Halloweensie Contest such a wonderful time for all! :)
