2015 Halloweensie Contest WINNERS!!!

As you all know, I do not normally post on Thursdays.

That is because Thursday is my day for lying on the couch eating bonbons.

I am making an exception today because I have something VERY important to discuss with you.

Something that I know has been weighing as heavily on your minds as it has on mine.

Something very crucial!

Something so earth-shatteringly important that it probably kept you up all night!

So let's just lay it out on the table, shall we?

What is the deal with nuts in dessert items?

I'm serious!  Whose idea was that???

Obviously a dessert like pecan pie requires nuts.  I'm okay with that.

But brownies, cookies, and ice cream were made to be fudgy, chewy, and creamy respectively.  I'm sure you can see how adding hard, crunchy nuts is totally counter to the texture experience and therefore to the true enjoyment of said desserts!  Such appalling effrontery!

I think it's high time we take a stand, don't you?

NO MORE NUTS!  NO MORE NUTS!

What?

You think I'M nuts???

I won't lie.  I'm a little hurt.

Sad face.

Sniffle-sniffle.

Were you expecting a discussion on another topic?

I'm not sure anything needs our attention as much as the ongoing nuts/no nuts debate...

...except maybe...

THE WINNERS OF

The 5th Annual HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST!!!!!

WA-HOOOOOOO!!!!!

(But wait!  Before I announce, do you want to state your opinion on whether nuts belong in dessert items?

No?  You're sure?

Alrighty then.  Don't say I never gave you a chance to be heard :))

As you are all aware by now, we had a record turnout for the Halloweensie Contest - 145 entries! (Plus 2 that came in after the deadline!)  Holy Halloweensie!  Who'd-a-thunk it?

I was thrilled beyond measure to see so many wonderful stories and meet so many new writers!

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 (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:
     Mishka Jaeger for The Little Trick-or-Treater
     Vivian Kirkfield for Halloween Fever
     Sandy Jones for Frank-N-Stein's Store      
     Gabi Snyder for Jack's First Night (which could also have placed in Best Original POV for being told from a pumpkin's viewpoint!)

2.  For Best Entry For Teen Readers:
     Lori Dubbin for Indelible! (beautifully done!!!)
  
3.  For Great Kid Appeal: (not already in the finals)
     Charlotte Dixon for Arabella's Web
     Stacy Jensen for Gilda's Zombie Fix
     Julie Rowan-Zoch for Creeeaak....
     Shaelyn Berg for Scaredy House
     Saundra Jones for Halloween Countdown (youngest readers)

4.  For Best Descriptive/Mood Piece:
     Rosi Hollinbeck for The Halloweensie Party
     Becky Shillington for Monster Bash

5.  For Best Use of Poetic Language:
     Randi Sonenshine for March Of The Gargoyles
     Suzy Levinson for Trick For Treats

6. For Spookiest Entry: (not already in the finals)
     Bradin Farnworth for Buddy
     Amanda Sincavage for The Haunted Dash

7. For Funniest Entry: (not already in the finals)
     Stephanie Salkin for Mummy Unveiled (which also had great poetic language!)
     Mike Allegra for Night Ninja
   
8. For being Judge #3's Favorite Entry :)
     Lynne Pisano for Boo Who?
   
9.  For Best Written Original Point of View:
     Johnell DeWitt for Dark's Knight (POV of the dark!)
     Marlaina Gray for YIPE! (POV of a terrier :))
   
10.  For Originality/Creativity:
     Carrie Burrows for Sophie And The Teal Pumpkin (because we learned about the Teal Pumpkin for allergy-sensitive trick-or-treaters!)
   
11.  For Favorite Character:
       Lisa Riddiough for Mo, The Ghost Who Said Moo

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

Rhyming Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard, 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

In paperback:
Show & Tell In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions From Telling To Showing by Jessica Bell, OR

Creating Extraordinary Characters by Angela Hunt, OR

Evoking Emotion by Angela Hunt, OR

Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard, OR

Rhyming Picture Books: The Write Way by Laura Salas and Lisa Bullard

Now then.  A word about the prizes before I announce the winners.

We have 9 fabulous prizes, generously donated by authors and various professionals in the writing field.  My policy is to let the first place winner have first pick of all the prizes, the second place winner have second choice, etc.  That way hopefully nobody gets something they already have, and hopefully everyone gets something that's valuable to them.  All prizes are listed at the bottom of this post for your convenience in perusing the goodies :)

Now.

Finally!

Onto the moment you've all been waiting for. . . 

. . . the reason you got out of bed this morning. . . 

. . . to tell the world once and for all how you feel about nuts in your dessert!

. . . THE WINNERS OF THE 2014 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...

Shelley Kinder

for

A Meaty Trick-or-Treat

Congratulations, Shelley, on a delightful entry that was all around well done and clearly very popular!!!

In Second Place,

Sam Steinfels

for

Spooky Spies

Congratulations, Sam, on an exceptionally clever premise beautifully executed! You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Shelley chooses!

In Third Place, a tie!!! between

Marla Lesage                         Polly (sorry I don't know your last name!)

                   for                                                                    for

 Pirate Prepares For Halloween                                   Nothing To Wear

Congratulations, Marla and Polly, on entertaining, well written entries that we all loved!  You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Shelley and Sam choose!

In Fifth Place, a three-way tie!!!

      Buffy Silverman                    Cathy Mealy                           Jana Locke

               for                                       for                                           for

Spider's Halloween Debut       Goodnight Halloween     The Unicorn Ate My Candy Corn:

                                                                                                  A Halloween Tall Tale

Congratulations, Buffy, Cathy and Jana, on your wonderful entries!  You get to pick your prizes after Shelley, Sam, Marla and Polly!

In Eighth Place,

Patricia Nozell

for

Leila's First Halloween

Congratulations, Patricia, on a standout entry that was markedly different from the others with its unique theme!  You get to pick your prize after Shelley, Sam, Marla, Polly, Buffy, Cathy, and Jana!

In Ninth Place, Julie Abery for The Teensy-Weensy Witch!  Congratulations, Julie!  What a determined little witch!  You get the idea of the prize picking by now I'm sure :)

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!  Not just anyone can say that :)

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 10 (Stephanie, Jacqueline, Jean, and Chrystal) 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 5th Annual Holiday Writing Contest will be coming up sometime in the neighborhood of December 7-11 so we can all fully enjoy it and still have time for last minute holiday things.  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! :)

The Prizes:  we've got some seriously amazing prizes! (words in color are links to more info)

 - a read and comments on a PB ms by fabulous agent Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary Agency!!!

 - a picture book manuscript critique by picture book author Diana Murray!  website

 - a query critique from Heather Ayris Burnell, founder of the Sub It Club

- a 6 month subscription to One Stop For Writers (value $50)

 - an e-pub or PDF copy (winner's choice) of Linda Ashman's Nuts And Bolts Guide To Writing Picture Books

  - personalized signed copies of Sarah Frances Hardy's Dress Me! and Paint Me! (Reviewed HERE for PPBF)

 - a personalized signed copy of Amy Dixon's Sophie's Animal Parade (Reviewed HERE for PPBF)

- a personalized signed copy of Corey Rosen Schwartz and Rebecca Gomez's What About Moose?(Reviewed HERE for PPBF)

 - a personalized signed copy of Penny Parker Klostermann's There Was An Old Dragon Who Swallowed A Knight (Reviewed HERE for PPBF)

Please join me again 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, or supporting them in any other way you can dream up :)