Susanna made me do it

As if my month wasn't busy enough, Susanna Hill decided to throw in an illustration contest. And because she is so danged sweet, I couldn't say no.

The rules of her "The First Ever Pretty Much World Famous Illustration Contest for Children's Illustrators!!!" say to illustrate a mock cover for one of the winning stories from her March Madness Fractured Fairy Tales Writing Contest.

I couldn't decide which story to choose to illustrate (and was too lazy to think deeply about it), so I went to my good buddy, Random.org, and had it choose a number for me...this number turned out to correspond to the story "The Jackrabbit Who Cried Gila Monster" by Elliah Terry (edited to note that I just realized I forgot to put her name on the cover art...sorry!).

Here's my rough for how I pictured the cover to look like:

And this is the final product:

I tried to make the lettering look like 2x4s nailed together...you'll have to click on the image to get a better view of that.

Since I'm posting this on Friday instead of Monday, I will be taking a blogging day off on Monday...to hopefully finish the writing I have to do. :)

Hope on over to Susanna's blog to see the other entries in this contest, and have a great weekend!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Susanna Hill's Spring Story Contest

If you have little ones who love picture books or are a picture book writer yourself and you've not been over to Susanna Hill's blog yet, you are missing out! Susanna is the author of some really fun picture books, like Punxsutawney Phyllis, and is an amazing teacher of writing children't lit too.

Plus, she runs these fabulous writing contest with great prizes! This time, the topic is Spring. The rules are in her blog post.

So today's post (which will be in lieu of Monday's post) is an entry for her contest. 

~~~~~

What Henry Knew (237 words) 

Henry spotted snowdrops unfurling their leaves and bobbing their little white heads.

“Look, Pappy,” he said to his grandfather. “Spring is here!”

Pappy scratched his white-as-snowdrops head. “I don’t know, Henry,” he said. “Sniff the air; does it smell like spring yet?”

Henry took a deep breath. “I smell snowy clouds and drippy icicles,” he said.

Pappy nodded. “Me, too.”

“Not spring yet,” said Henry.

The next morning, Henry awoke to a light snow covering everything, including the brave little snowdrops that had tried to bloom yesterday.

But the sun came out and melted the snow. Henry spied some pointy crocus leaves piercing the soil.

“Look, Pappy,” he said to his grandfather. “Spring is here!”

“I don’t know, Henry,” said Pappy. “Does it smell like spring yet?”

Henry took a deep breath. “I smell frosty air and frozen ponds.”

Pappy nodded. “Me, too.”

“Still not spring yet,” said Henry.

The next morning, Henry awoke to a frosted yard and icy plants. The crocus tips sparkled like glass.

But the sun came out and thawed the frost. Henry saw the golden glint of daffodils up by the house.

“Look, Pappy,” he said to his grandfather. “Spring is here!”

“I don’t know, Henry,” said Pappy. “Does it smell like spring yet?”

Henry took a deep breath. “I smell wriggly worms and muddy grass.”

Pappy smiled. “Me, too. And look, there’s a grape hyacinth!”

Henry knew Spring was really here!

~~~~~

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Dear Lucky Agent

No, I'm not full of myself. I am, however, full of pecan tassies and various kinds of teas.

"Dear Lucky Agent" is actually a contest that Writer's Digest Magazine runs every so often. This one is the lucky-13 run and issues a call for Young Adult and Sci-Fi works of fiction. How perfect, I thought, for entering my own piece, a YA-SF story!

If you've got a YA or SF work up your sleeves, or on your computer (my computer just tried to commit suicide right before I posted this, so maybe I'll keep my story up my sleeves in the future), go enter the
13th Free "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest.

Did you see the word "free?" Need I say more?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Lose weight, get creative, have fun…and win!

As I edge closer and closer to 50, I noticed that my once-super metabolism slipped from super to not bad to meh which has led my weight to creep up steadily. It’s not that I want to be sickly or unnaturally skinny, it’s just that everything I’ve read says that not only does weight gain slow you down physically as you age, but it also slows you down mentally…in addition to all the other nasty health problems associated with weight gain. So, yeah, I’m interested in exercising and losing some weight, as I suspect a good number of you are too.

The folks at SlimKicker - a healthy living/fitness app - probably suspects the same thing. SlimKicker encourages you to “stay healthy by turning your diet and fitness goals into a level-up, motivational game with points, rewards, and challenges.” As well, they have an online calorie counter for keeping track of the calories you consume. 

SlimKicker contacted me to see if my readers would like to participate in a fun little contest. All you have to do is to leave a short comment with your suggestion of a fun, creative fitness or diet challenge. The person who posts a suggestion that SlimKicker picks as its favorite will win a spiffy Ozeri Professional Digital Kitchen Scale (list price of $69.99)!

This contest is only open to people in the U.S. and will close Sunday, June 17^th, at noon, EST. If you have more than one idea, you may comment more than once. I’ll announce the winner on Monday, June 18^th.

So put on your thinking caps and tell us your ideas...and good luck!

Disclosure: I am not getting any compensation for this and am not allowed to enter the contest either. 

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Writing contest at The Pond!

The Blonde Duck is hosting a very fun writing contest for kids and kids-at-heart over on her blog!  Yes, Virginia, there are prizes too.  :)

While you're there, read some of her fantastic stories!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

I'm blushing

Diane (of the beautiful Much of a Muchness blog) has given me the following award: (created by Arte Y Pico)

I am not worthy! Really. :}

I am flattered by the compliments that have been paid to me by all you wonderful ladies who are much more accomplished and successful than I am. I very much appreciate the love because I was feeling a bit low about how little I've actually done with my life.

Speaking of making something of one's life, Martha Stewart has a Dreamers Into Doers contest that some of you may want to enter. I hope someone I know wins!

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)