Happy Thursday to you
Happy Thursday to you
Happy Thursday, Happy Thursdaaay...
Happy Thursday to you!
It was so nice of you all to come visit me on a non-posting day! Can I offer you some non-denominational holiday cookies?
And perhaps a nice cup of cocoa to go with them?
I like to be neighborly and provide snacks to anyone who comes all this way through the snow and cold to visit :)
Now that no one is in danger of fainting from caloric deficit, let's get right to the purpose of today's post, shall we?
Normally I'd string you along for awhile and tease you with something... anything... that had nothing to do with why you're really here.
But in the spirit of the holidays, I'm not going to do that today.
Nope!
I'm going to get right to the point.
Yes sirree!
No beating around the bush today!
We're going to get right to it...
...as soon as we have a rousing chorus of Adeste Fidelis!
Adeste fideles læti triumphantes,
Venite, venite in Bethlehem.Natum videte
Regem angelorum:
Venite adoremus (3x)
Dominum.
There's nothing like singing in Latin is there?
Want to do another verse?
Just kidding :) I know you don't :)
Okay, seriously, would you guys stop singing holiday songs so we can get down to the business at hand? Sheesh!
The 3rd Annual Holiday Contest!!!
WINNERS!!!
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:
Erik Weibel for Code Name: Kringle
Michelle Senters for Cookies For Papa Noel
Sue Heavenrich for Blue Latkes And Salsa
Hayley Barrett for Not-So-Merry Sickmas
2. For Best "Quiet"Story:
Kristine Poptanich for Silent Night
Leslie Colin Tribble for The Christmas Bird
Teresa Robeson for A Home For The Holidays
Debbie Austin for Home For Christmas
Patricia Tilton for Toby's Shopping Rush
Cindy Williams Schrauben for A Dark Night Before Christmas
3. For Best End-of-Story Twist:
Cathy Mealey for Festive Feeding Frenzy (CPR on a chipmunk :))
Rachel Stones for Fresh Frosting (toothpaste!)
Tracey Cox for Breaking News: Santa Is Real (Emergency Broadcast Test!)
4. For Best-Written Original Point Of View:
Kristen Fulton for Raisin's Christmas (excellent dog POV!)
Sue Frye for Christmas Trappings (great rat POV!)
5. For Best Job Reworking Familiar Rhymes/Songs/Stories:
Laura Renauld for This Is The Tree That Jill Trimmed
Marcy Pusey for Monty The Mudman
Buffy Silverman for The 3 Little Pigs Light The Chanukah Candles
Charlotte Gunnufson for Goldilocks's Night Before Christmas
6. For Funniest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Kathryn Cunningham for 'Twas The Stomach Flu Before Christmas
Suzy Levinson for Reindeer In The Eggnog
7. For Best Wicked Humor:
Julia Maisen for Catching Krampus
Julie Rowan-Zoch for It's A Wrap
8. For Great Kid Appeal: (not already in the finals)
Mandy Yates for One Squirrelly Christmas
Sharon Chriscoe for Hot Tub Santa
Anne Cavanaugh Sawan for The Gingerbread House Disaster
9. For Best Religious Entry:
Bonnie Ogle for The Sound And Smell Of Christmas
10. For Best Entry By A First-Time Writer:
Angie Hawkins for NOEL
Lucy Dixon for The Story Of An Elf (who didn't want to be on the shelf!)
11. For We-Loved-It-But-Thought-The Humor-Was-A-Little-Too-Grown-Up :)
Teresa M.I. Schaeffer for Always Ready Or Not
Kristen Foote for No Sleep For Santa
B. Lee Draper for 'Twas The Accident Before Christmas
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:
Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard OR
The Easy Way To Write Picture Books That Sell by Robyn Parnell OR
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
The Ultimate Fiction Thesaurus by Sam Stone OR
In paperback:
Show & Tell In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions From Telling To Showing by Jessica Bell OR
The Six Senses In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions From Bleak To Bold Narrative by Jessica Bell OR
Adverbs And Cliches In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Subversions Of Adverbs & Cliches Into Gourmet Imagery by Jessica Bell
And now...
...the moment you've all been waiting for...
The announcement of the WINNERS OF THE 2013 HOLIDAY CONTEST as voted on by you!!!
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...
DAWN YOUNG
for 'Twas The Night Baafore Christmas!!!
Congratulations, Dawn, on a fabulous and fun entry that was clearly very popular!!! :)
In Second Place...
Kristen Foote
for The Great Christmas Morning Mix-Up
Congratulations, Kristen!! You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Dawn makes her choice.
In Third Place...
Laura Wolfe
for The Gift Horse
Congratulations, Laura! You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Dawn and Kristen choose theirs.
In Fourth Place...
Heather Preusser
for Behind Schedule
Congratulations, Heather! You get to pick after Dawn, Kristen and Laura.
In Fifth Place...
Cecilia Clarke
for The School Concert
Congratulations, Cecilia! You get to pick after Dawn, Kristen, Laura and Heather.
In Sixth Place...
Ann Magee
for The Christmas Present
Congratulations, Ann! I'm sure you get the idea of how the prize picking goes by now :)
And I have to mention the tie for 7th Place, because they were both only 1 point out of 6th Place...
Tied for Seventh Place:
Deborah Holt Williams for Seriously Santa? and Angela Pena Dahle for Three Little Kings!
Congratulations, Deborah and Angela!
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 tinsel parade, and a large amount of Christmas Pudding (which truthfully I don't know what that is, but it sounds like the right thing for this time of year :))
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!
As I mentioned a while back, I'm taking a little blogging break so I can spend time with my family - I've got cookies to bake, Christmas presents to shop for and wrap, and my sister and her family are arriving form Georgia on Sunday! :) - so I will see you all in a couple weeks - most probably Wednesday January 8th for Would You Read It unless there's a hue and cry over missing another PPBF on January 3rd. If you're desperate for PPBF, please take it up with management :)
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! 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 2014!
Love,
Susanna
