The 2015 Holiday Contest WINNERS!!!

Hi there!

I'm so glad you're here!

I have something of great import to discuss with you, and it really cannot wait another minute.

No, not the questionable decision to place Holiday Inflatables in your front yard... although if you do that we should probably talk... :)

And no, not the age old question of what that stuff in fruit cake really is... because darn tootin' it's no kind of fruit I could identify!

I think you can guess what it is. . .

. . . the thing that is first and foremost on all of our minds today. . .

. . . and that is. . .

. . .

. . .what our Official Holiday Elf Names should be!!!

Seriously!  We're running out of time to decide!

Apparently I've got a choice of 5:

Cupcake Gingersocks
(generated by http://christmas.namegeneratorfun.com/ - random)

Cinnamon Embercrystals
(generated by http://christmas.namegeneratorfun.com/  - based on first and last name)

Elvis McJingle
(generated by http://mix108.com/if-you-were-an-elf-what-would-your-name-be-find-out-now/ 

Candy Sparklepants
(generated by http://965kvki.com/whats-your-elf-name-generator/ 

or

Sugar Candykirk
(generated by http://www.elfontheshelf.com/content/elf-name-generator 

I'm torn!

I really am!

I think I have to go with either Cupcake Gingersocks or Candy Sparklepants, though... although Elvis McJingle is very appealing too!  Which one do you think I should pick?

And you should go get yours!  Right now!  And share it in the comments!  You know you want to... :)  I'm all about the giving over here - I went and researched these helpful links just for you, so that you could waste a little time spend the holidays being called by your official Elf Name :)  Think of it as my little holiday gift to you :)

So now, happy holidays!  See you in 2016!  May the force be with you etc.!


What?


You were expecting to discuss something else?


Something more important than official Elf Names? (as if there could be anything more important...!)

Oh!

Right!

I knew there was something else. . .

:)


                    The 5th Annual Holiday Contest!!!!

WINNERS!!!

As always, I was thrilled to see so many wonderful stories!  Really!  It is amazing and inspiring, not to mention VERY entertaining!  There is just so much talent out there amongst you all!

But with large entry numbers, all of high quality, 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 Tuesday 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:
     David McMullin for Christmas In Discomfort (also so original and creative)
     Jaclyn Kruzie for A Rockin' Christmas Wish
     Sam Steinfels for Unsilent Night
     Melissa Bulls for Santa's Stain (also a fun-for-kids mystery)
     Heather ??? for A Real Christmas Tree

2. For Great Kid Appeal: (not already mentioned in the finals or other categories)
     Wendy Greenley for Cookin' Up The Holiday Kid-Style
     Kirsten Bock Mel The Marshmallow's Cocoa Catastrophe (also great ending!)
     Gabi Snyder Christmas With Kevin The Nanny Bot

3. For Excellence In Evoking Mood And Holiday Spirit And Tradition:
     Joni Klein-Higger for Happy Festival Of Lights
     Shelly Bond for Christmas Story Time!
     Tracey Cox for Zippin' Around On Christmas Eve

4. For Beautiful Rendition Of The Christmas Story:
     Kristi Veitenheimer for A Christmas Birth
     Aileen Stewart for Huddled Around The Stable Door

5. For Most Original Setting:
     Anne Sawan for The Outback Christmas Hop
     Lorraine Nelson for A Very Spacey Christmas

6. For Favorite Character:
     Marla LeSage for spunky, resourceful, entertaining Sheila in Holiday Heist

7. For Best-Written Original Point Of View:
     Julie Bergman for The Little Burnt Latke (POV of a latke!)
     Joanne Sher for Precious Cargo (POV of the donkey who carried Mary)

8. For Fun Story In Fewest Words:
     Miranda Ireland for Christmas Party Hop (4 lines, 44 words - the overworked judges love you :))

9. For Best Entry For Parents :)
     Shari Schwarz for Rocking Beside The Christmas Tree (so sweet :))

10. For Best Entry For Writers :)
     Debbie Austin for What Happened When I First Sat Down To Write This Story (so clever and entertainingly done! - writers you will not want to miss this one!)

11. For Fun Well-Written Animal Entries:
     Ashley Franklin for Picture Perfect (dog)
     Catherine Flynn for Pouncing Around The Christmas Tree (cat)
     Carol Lescinski for Rockin' Reindeer
     Jo Hart for Jungle Bell Rock (a whole menagerie :))

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) (and if you request a paperback, please include your snail mail address!)

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 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 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


And now...

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

The announcement of the WINNERS OF THE 2015 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...

Jennifer Reinharz

for The Hanukkah Elf!!!

Congratulations, Jennifer, on a fabulous entry that was clearly very popular!!! :)

In Second Place...

Vivian Kirkfield

for The Christmas Seed

Congratulations, Vivian!!  You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Jennifer makes her choice.

In Third Place...

Suzy Levinson

for City Critter Christmas

Congratulations, Suzy!  You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Jennifer and Vivian choose theirs.

In Fourth Place...

Cindy Williams Schrauben

for Jugglin' High For Pumpkin Pie

Congratulations, Cindy!  You get to pick after Jennifer, Vivian, and Suzy.

In Fifth Place...

Kris Allen

for The Incident

Congratulations, Kris!  You get to pick after Jennifer, Vivian, Suzy, and Cindy.

In Sixth Place...

Lisa Connors

for The Gift Of The Magpie (And Friends)

Congratulations, Lisa!  I'm sure you get the idea of how the prize picking goes by now :)

In Seventh Place...

Sandy Jones

for Red Berries In The Snow

Congratulations, Sandy!  You get to pick next :)

In Eighth Place... a 4-way tie!

Linda Schueler

for Randolph, Not A Reindeer

Nancy Tandon

for No Peeking!

Sheila Lynch-Afryl

for Clucking Christmas

Jen Bagan

for Ned's Christmas Wish

Congratulations, Linda, Nancy, Sheila and Jen!  You get to pick after Sandy!  And we'll just have to sort it out between us since you tied!

And in Twelfth Place, rounding out the top dozen of these amazing finalists and the 97 Holiday Contest Entries for 2015...

Deborah Boerema

for A New Classic?

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!  And for your convenience, the whole prize list is included at the bottom of this post.

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 and a Holiday Treat which is not fruitcake! (unless you happen to like it :))

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... hmm... maybe didn't mention...?, I'm taking a little blogging break so I can spend time with my family - I've got children to fetch, cookies to bake, Christmas presents to shop for and wrap, and my sister and her family are arriving form Georgia on Monday! :) -  Oh, and we're going to see the new Star Wars movie on Wednesday!  So I will see you all in a couple weeks - most probably Wednesday January 6th for Would You Read It :)

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 2016!

Happy Holidays, and all best wishes for a wonderful New Year!!!

Love,

Susanna

The Prizes!!!  (items in color are links for more info!):

- A Picture Book Manuscript read and critique (winner's choice of in-person, on the phone, or via email) by Claire Dorsett, Editorial Assistant, Roaring Brook Press!!!
   A bibliophile and outdoor enthusiast, Claire spent her childhood summers road-tripping across the United States, reading constantly on the long car rides between parks and museums. Her love of literature led her to pursue a BA in English from Cornell University, where she was involved with campus publications The Daily Sun and Rainy Day literary magazine. Claire then completed the six-week intensive Columbia Publishing Course before finding a home at Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, assisting VP and Publisher Simon Boughton. She has worked on a range of projects during her time at Roaring Brook, including Lane Smith's middle-grade debut Return to Augie Hobble, Steve Sheinkin's National Book Award finalist Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War, and picture books The Skunk, There is a Tribe of Kids, and Ned The Knitting Pirate. 
- a brand new Picture Book Webinar Bundle including one webinar on Concept Books and the other on Rhyme, Verse and Lyricism in Picture Books, generously donated by Emma Walton Hamilton, author, editor, writing coach, and teacher of the fabulous Just Write For Kids courses.
- a 2016 Membership to Children's Book Insider, including their Children's Writing Knowledge Base, an absolutely fabulous resource for kid lit writers of all kinds, generously offered by Jon Bard and Laura Backes
 - A Picture Book Manuscript Critique by talented author/illustrator Iza Trapani, author of JINGLE BELLS, OLD KING COLE, ITSY BITSY SPIDER, and many, many more!
 - A Picture Book Manuscript Critique by the fabulous Lori Degman, author of 1 ZANY ZOO and COCK-A-DOODLE OOPS!
 - an e-copy of the fantastic How To Promote Your Children's Book generously donated by Katie Davis!

 - Enrollment in Making Picture Book Magic (my online picture book writing class - in January or a later month to be mutually agreed upon by the winner and me)
 - A 6-Month Membership to the new and fabulous One Stop For Writers Site!
 - 2016 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market  and a $25 Amazon Gift Card.
- another 2016 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market  and a $25 Amazon Gift Card.
- a pack of Susanna Leonard Hill's amazing What's The Story Cards (hitherto un-introduced to the world!) - writing prompts for every occasion :)
 - another pack of Susanna Leonard Hill's amazing What's The Story Cards

I can't thank these authors and other industry professionals enough for their incredible generosity!  Please visit their sites, buy and recommend their books and services to your writer friends and/or friends with kids, write them nice reviews on Amazon, GoodReads etc if you've read and liked their books, and show your appreciation to them in any way you can!

The Contest Winner gets first choice of the prizes.  2nd place gets next choice of what's left and so on.  I do it this way in the hopes that no one will get something they already have and also because I think all the prizes are fabulous and I wouldn't want to make anyone feel less valued by giving them as 6th place as opposed to 1st. :)

The 2014 Holiday Contest WINNERS!!!

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Yes, yes!  I know what day it is!

Normally, I would tease you for a while and pretend I didn't know what brought you to this neck of the woods or what you were after, but not today.

Nope.

Today I'm going to get straight to the point.

No beating around the bush.

Nosirree Bob!

I'm going to give you what you came for . . .

. . .  just as soon as we come up with an answer to that eternal burning question: whose idea was tinsel anyway and does anyone actually use it?

Because seriously, that stuff is as bad as Easter grass!  It gets everywhere!

In your hair!  In the carpet!  On the dogs...

And who has the patience to separate it out into single strands to drape artfully over the limbs of your Christmas tree?  (And let's face it, it does not have the same effect if you just glob it on in clumps...!)

And we're not even going to TALK about if you have cats!  By golly!  That's just a disaster waiting to happen!

You're all writers!  Let your imagination run amok with the idea of cats, tinsel, Christmas trees...

Yikes!  Truly, I shudder to think!

So anyway, where was I?

Oh, yes!

I was not beating around the bush.

I wonder what bush it is that I'm not beating around?

Is it the same as the bush in "Here we go 'round the mulberry bush?"

Or maybe the bush that a bird in the hand is worth two birds in?

I'm guessing if there are two birds they are turtle doves, because that's how the song goes.  You know, "On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two turtle doves..."  Yeah.  Like that.

Except not a partridge, because he was in a pear tree and we are certainly not beating around the pear tree!

Boy!  All this not beating around things is making me a little dizzy!

So maybe I'll stop and just tell you about

The 4th Annual Holiday Contest!!!

WINNERS!!!

:)

I was once again thrilled to see so many wonderful stories!  Really!  It is amazing and inspiring, not to mention VERY entertaining!  There is just so much talent out there amongst you all!

But with large entry numbers, all of high quality, 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 Tuesday 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:
     Leslie Tribble for The Perfect Christmas Tree
     Anne Bromley for Christmas Eve At Gate 25   
     Lauri Meyers for Jimmy Cantore Steals Christmas

2. For Fabulous Fun Kid-Friendly Stories (That Sadly Fell Short On The Weather Element But Were Too Good Not To Recognize!):
     Stacy Jensen for How Do I Fix This?
     Bridget Magee for Dear Santa
     Margaret Greanias for A Little Christmas Wish
     Pam Vaughan for My Snowman Is Sick
     Jim Jones for Snowflake...A Christmas Tail

3. For We-Loved-It-But-Thought-The Humor-Was-A-Little-Too-Grown-Up :)
      (and seriously, these were terrific entries, well written and funny!)
     Mike Allegra for Carbon Christmas
     Heather Preusser for Dreaming Of A White Christmas  
     Kristen Foote for Polar Warming
     Hilary (Swann?) for No Sweat Santa
     Kathy Halsey for Whether Or Not To Ho-Ho-Ho
  
4. For Sweet Stories That Exemplified Christmas Spirit:
     Sharon Wilson for A Little Christmas Miracle
     Patricia Corcoran for The Christmas Miracle
     Sally Suehler for Just Ice And Snow
   
5. For Fantastic Word Play:
     Amy Ozay for Rain, dear

6.  For Best First Line:
     James Lloyd for Pablo's First Christmas
   
7. For Best-Written Original Point Of View:
     Carol Lescinski for The Best Christmas (excellent stuffed dog POV!)
     Summer Hinderer for The Snow Miracle (POV of gingerbread people in Gingerbreadville!)

8. For Best Action Story:
     Caren Cantrell for Northern Exposure

and

9.  The Keep Up The Great Writing Award goes to:
     Ms. Leach's First Grade for Hopeful Christmas Eve
     And first graders, your special prize will be Happily Ever Madlibs and Once Upon A Madlibs, which we hope you will enjoy doing as a class on days when you can't go out for recess or something :) as well as 2 StoryWorld Create-A-Story Kits: Quests And Adventures and Fairy Magic which can be used in lots of fun ways to inspire writing and storytelling (and for even more fun you can pull cards from both decks to expand possibilities!)  Thank you for writing another wonderful story for all of us to enjoy!

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 OR

Creating Extraordinary Characters by Angela Hunt, OR

Evoking Emotion by Angela Hunt

And now...

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

The announcement of the WINNERS OF THE 2014 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...

Randi Sonenshine

for The Rumbledy Jumbledy Holiday Feast!!!

Congratulations, Randi, on a fabulous and fun entry that was clearly very popular!!! :)

In Second Place...

Elaine Kiely Kearns

for 'Twas The Stormy Night Before Christmas

Congratulations, Elaine!!  You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Randy makes her choice.

In Third Place...

Katey Howes

for Snow Swirls

Congratulations, Katey!  You get first choice of the prizes that are left after Randy and Elaine choose theirs.

In Fourth Place...

Julie Abery

for Santa's Satnav

Congratulations, Julie!  You get to pick after Randy, Elaine and Katey.

In Fifth Place...

Anika Denise

for Little Christmas, BIG SNOW

Congratulations, Anika!  You get to pick after Randy, Elaine, Katey, and Julie.

In Sixth Place...

Bronwyn Deaver

for Jack Quits

Congratulations, Bronwyn!  I'm sure you get the idea of how the prize picking goes by now :)

In Seventh Place...

Sylvia Liu

for Polar Woes

Congratulations, Sylvia!  You get to pick next :)

In Eighth Place...

Amelia Shearer

for The Night The Sun Stayed Up

Congratulations, Amelia!  You get to pick a prize after Sylvia!

In Ninth Place, we have a tie! between

Johnell DeWitt                      and                      Teresa Robeson

for A Djiboutian Christmas                              Sandstorm Santa

Congratulations, Johnell and Teresa!  You get to pick next!

In Eleventh Place...

Kirsten Bock

for Hurricane Coal

And in Twelfth Place, rounding out the top dozen of these amazing finalists and the 100 Holiday Contest Entries for 2014...

Carol Ann Martin

for Wish You'd Been Here

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!  And for your convenience, the whole prize list is included at the bottom of this post.

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 (clumpy or stringy, however you like it :)), and a large amount of Figgy Pudding (which truthfully I don't know what that is, but apparently it's something we all want some of :))

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... hmm... maybe didn't mention...?, 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 Monday! :) -  so I will see you all in a couple weeks - most probably Wednesday January 7th for Would You Read It unless I have something really important to impart on Monday the 5th... but I'm not really foreseeing that :)

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 2015!

Happy Holidays, and all best wishes for a wonderful New Year!!!

Love,

Susanna

The Prizes!!!

- A picture book manuscript read and critique by Shari Dash Greenspan, Editor of the multi-award winning Flashlight Press!  I encourage you to sign up for their newsletter HERE!

 - A picture book manuscript read and critique by Jennifer Mattson, Agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency!

 - Enrollment in Renee LaTulippe's highly praised and recommended Lyrical Language Lab Course (in a month to be mutually agreed upon by the winner and Renee) ($249 value!)

 - Enrollment in Jon Bard and Laura Backes's fantastic Kindle Kids Mastery Course ($197 value!)

 - A website or blog design or redesign by Arturo Alviar.  Arturo will design (or redesign if you already have one that needs updating or a new look) a website or blog for the winner of this prize. The site will be built on Wordpress so that after he is done designing it, the winner can manage it themselves with ease. Arturo will include a Home/Welcome page, an About Me/Bio page, a Works/Books/Gallery section, and a Contact section (4 pages total), as well as a blog section if the winner would like to have that integrated with the new site. Different organizations can also be made, for example if the winner would like a "Services" section with separate "School Visits" and "Critiques" pages, or a "Works" section divided into "Black and White" and "Color" illustration galleries. The winner can choose any of the Wordpress themes (if they choose one that isn't free, the cost of the theme will be covered by them), or have Arturo choose a theme based on their vision, and Arturo will modify it based on their color and layout preferences (some themes will have more constraints than others). Arturo can also design a personalized banner or header image to customize the website.  If you already have a website and/or blog and prefer a redesign to update, refresh, or just redecorate, Arturo is willing to work with Blogger, Wix, Drupal, and Wordpress.

 - Enrollment in Making Picture Book Magic (my online picture book writing class - in March or a later month to be mutually agreed upon by the winner and me)

 - A picture book manuscript critique by fabulous author Amy Dixon, author of MARATHON MOUSE and the forthcoming SOPHIE'S ANIMAL PARADE.

- A picture book manuscript critique from Katy Duffield, author of more than 20 books for children including Farmer McPeepers And His Missing Milk Cows (Cooper Square Publishing 2003) and upcoming titles Loud Lula (Two Lions) illustrated by Mike Boldt and Aliens Get the Sniffles, Too (Candlewick) illustrated by K.G. Campbell.

 - A picture book manuscript critique (rhyme or prose) from Penny Parker Klostermann who, after extensive experience critiquing for writing partners, members of various kid lit groups, and clients of Erin Murphy Literary Agency, is opening her own critique service!!!

Penny Parker Klostermann writes picture books and poetry. Her debut book, THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON WHO SWALLOWED A KNIGHT, is coming from Random House Children’s, August 2015. Penny is represented by Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary Agency. Click HERE to learn more about her critique service. 

 - 2015 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market, a signed copy of Boy And Poi Poi Puppy by Linda Boyden, and a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

 - a pack of Deb Lund's amazing Fiction Magic Cards

 - another pack of Deb Lund's amazing Fiction Magic Cards

Prize Winners AND Summer Plans!

Happy Monday Everyone!

I hope you all had lovely weekends and happy celebrations of Father's Day!

I am happy because I get to start off the week by giving out prizes to some of my favorite people :)

You will recall that on Friday, we celebrated the 100th posting of Perfect Picture Books, and by way of a little thank you, I had 9 highly acclaimed picture books to give away randomly to 9 lucky staunch supporters.

And here they are!!!

I will list their names, their fabulous blogs where they have faithfully posted tons of wonderful picture books, and the picture book they won:

Barbara Gruener at The Corner On Character wins: On A Beam Of Light: A Story Of Albert Einstein

Joanna Marple at Miss Marple's Musings wins: Warning: Do Not Open This Book

Julie Rowan-Zoch at Julie Rowan-Zoch - Writing Illustrating Reading Children's Books wins: Mitchell Goes Bowling

Stacy Jensen at Stacy S. Jensen - Writer & Designer wins: Gaston

Vivian Kirkfield at Picture Books Help Kids Soar wins: Mr. Wuffles

Joanne Roberts at Bookish Ambition wins: The Dark

Beth Stilborn at By Word Of Beth wins: Journey

Carrie Finison at Story Patch wins: This Is The Rope: A Story Of The Great Migration

Laura Miller at Laura Miller - Children's Book Writer/Illustrator wins: The Watermelon Seed

Winners, please email me with your snail mail addresses so I can get the books mailed out!  And if any of you want to exchange what you won for any reason, let me know and we'll see if we can work it out :)

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to the winners and to everyone else who has faithfully posted Perfect Picture Books, visited the many wonderful blogs each week to read and comment, and generally supported the whole Perfect Picture Book project!  You guys are what makes it all work! :)  Like I said on Friday, I wish I could give everyone a prize!

Alrighty!

Now that we have completed the happy task of giving out prizes, let's talk summer plans a bit, shall we?

I've got a busy summer ahead.

Full classes in Making Picture Book Magic for June, July, and August (for which I am exceedingly grateful!)

A full queue of picture book critiques to do through mid-July (for which I am also exceedingly grateful!)

A house full of family - my kids for the whole summer, my sister and her family for about 4 weeks (again - so happy :))

Another summer of college visits (tons of fun, but on the road again... :)  Ohio, Maine, etc... lots of driving and time away from home)

Life in general, and, oh yes, my own writing which I'm supposed to get around to from time to time :)

I am not one to take blog breaks lightly.  I like consistency, and I so value all of you and appreciate that you make time in your day for me and my blog.  I worry (a LOT) that if I drop off the grid for a while, you'll all find someone else's blog to go hang out at and I will miss you terribly!

But I think it's unrealistic of me to pretend that I'm going to manage blogging with any kind of regularity this summer.

So here's my plan (such as it is and subject to change because you know me and plans :)):

Would You Read It Wednesdays will continue uninterrupted through the end of July, because they are all already scheduled.  I do so hope that you'll continue to stop by and help our brave pitchers!

Perfect Picture Book Fridays are on hiatus until September 5 or 12 (depends when all my kids go back to school :))

I may post on sporadic Mondays if and when I have something to share.

But I will be completely on a blog break for the whole month of August.

I know.  Hard to imagine me shutting up for a whole month, but there you have it :)

I hope you guys won't mind.  I figured you all might actually like a break too - we all have things to do in the summer that involve being away from our computers, and I know a lot of people do step away from blogging.   I think a little break will help us all feel refreshed come September.

I had all kinds of plans... another season of Summer Short & Sweets (but Tracey Cox is running Summer Sparks which is kind of the same thing)... a writing contest in August... something new and different which I haven't thought up yet... but I think I've reached my limit for a bit and my family is going to disown me if I don't pay a little attention to them :)

So I hope you'll all continue to visit on Wednesdays through July, as well as on whatever other random days I happen to post, and I hope you'll forgive me for the sparse posting, and I hope you'll all have wonderful summers full of fun, family, time outdoors, productive writing, and enjoyable reading!

Please feel free to voice your thoughts on the matter below :)

Have a magnificent Monday, everyone! :)