Shake Off the Winter Blahs with a Contest & Giveaway!

Writerly Friends, it has been exactly six weeks since Punxsutawney Phil correctly predicted more winter in our forecast. Last night and this morning, eight inches of fresh snow fell on central Maryland. How's that for accuracy?

She got it right. Sigh.

It can be a challenge to write when you have the blues, the winter blahs, the seasonal doldrums -- especially during this extra-long winter we've had on the East Coast.

Last month, we shook off the blahs by writing about color every day. All those lovely hues, plus a daily writing practice, motivated me and Author Amok readers to write 116 new poems.

This month, how about a writing contest to keep your creative juices pushing up through the snow-laden soil?

Last fall, I had a great time participating in one of Susanna Leonard Hill's online poetry contests (I even won a Halloweensie prize!) Susanna -- author of Punxsutawney Phyllis -- has another kid's lit contest coming up  this week for March Madness. She's stopping by to tell us all about it. And Susanna's been kind enough to donate a book to one lucky reader.

Welcome, Susanna!

A Fun Twist On Writing

Hi, Everyone! Laura very kindly invited me to guest post today because we have something fun to share with you.

If you're a writer, you're probably very familiar with the waiting game.

Write.

Wait (while you think and give your manuscript time to rest.)

Revise.

Wait (as above.)

Revise some more.

Wait (as above.)

Submit.

Wait (for an agent or editor to read...)

Wait some more (...because they're very busy...)

Wait some more (...and sometimes you eventually hear back from them, but sometimes you never do...)

It's tough isn't it?

Even if you're lucky enough to have a manuscript picked up, there will still be more waiting... for the contract... for the illustrator... for the galleys and proofs and F&Gs...  In the picture book world, 2 years from purchase to publication is considered speedy.

So much waiting!

This is just one of the reasons why I run writing contests on my blog a few times a year.  It's a chance for writers to practice their craft and share their work for immediate, positive, supportive feedback - no waiting :)  You get guidelines and a deadline. You get to write to specifications -- just as if you were targeting your story to a publishing house or magazine. You get to read lots of other writers' work. And there are prizes :) not the least of which is that you might end up with a great new story to submit.

The March Madness Contest that is about to run will begin on March 20 and run through March 31.  It is to be a fractured fairy tale for children, in poetry of prose, maximum length 400 words.  You can read full details here (http://susannahill.blogspot.com/2014/02/perfect-picture-book-friday-girl-who.html)  

First prize is a read and critique by well-known children's literary agent Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary!

I usually run another contest sometime in the summer, and I have annual contests at Halloween and during the Holidays. They're lots of fun, a respite from the waiting :) and I hope you'll all come and join in, either as contestants or as supportive readers for your fellow writers.

As you can see, two of the contests always revolve around holidays. I have two picture books that are holiday-related as well: PUNXSUTAWNEY PHYLLIS (Groundhog Day) and APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS! (April Fools Day), and Laura was interested in discussing how one finds a new twist on something as familiar as a holiday.  (This holds true for finding new twists on fairy tales too :))

I think it's all about changing things up in some way.

For example, PUNXSUTAWNEY PHYLLIS is about Groundhog Day, yes, but not the way one typically thinks about it.  Instead of having Punxsutawney Phil predict the coming of spring, I added a girl character who wanted to be Punxsutawney Phil but no one would take her seriously because she was a girl.  It was adding a feminist twist to Groundhog Day.

In APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS! I took advantage of Phyllis's weather predicting job and had her forecast a blizzard on April Fools Day.  Do you think anyone believed her? :)  I also added in a spring treasure hunt, which was something not necessarily typical of April Fools Day, and used it to heighten the tension - what would happen if all the little groundhogs were out on the treasure hunt and there really was a blizzard?

After today's storm, I believe
we COULD have snow on April 1.

Take something familiar and change the main character, the supporting characters, or the setting - place and/or time. Make up a plot that's unexpected for that holiday or fairy tale. Combine the holiday or fairy tale with a common childhood challenge.  Before you know it, you'll have something new and fresh!

I hope you'll all want to try your hand at it.  Come on over on March 20 and bring your stories :) [Note: Visit Susanna's blog for full contest info.]

Thank you so much for having me here today, Laura!  I hope I'll get to read an entry from you!

Thank you, Susanna. And thanks for giving away a copy of APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS! to one of our readers. If you'd like to be entered in the giveaway, please leave a comment. I will announce the winner this week on Poetry Friday.

Susanna is the award winning author of nearly a dozen books for children, including Punxsutawney Phyllis (A Book List Children's Pick and Amelia Bloomer Project choice), No Sword Fighting In The House (a Junior Library Guild selection), Can't Sleep Without Sheep (a Children's Book of The Month), and Not Yet, Rose (a Gold Mom's Choice Award Winner.)  Her books have been translated into French, Dutch, German, and Japanese, with one hopefully forthcoming in Korean.  Her newest book, Alphabedtime!, is forthcoming from Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Books, in Fall 2015.  She lives in New York's Mid-Hudson Valley with her husband, children, and two rescue dogs.

Socializing with other writers is another great way to fight the "a snow day again?" blues. Susanna does a great job of staying engaged with the kids' lit community. You can find and follow her all over the mediasphere:

Website: http://www.susannahill.com/home.html

Blog: http://susannahill.blogspot.com/

FaceBook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/SusannaLeonardHill

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusannaLHill

Making Picture Book Magic (online writing course): http://www.susannahill.com/MAKING_PICTURE_BOOK_MAGIC.html

Let's close with the book trailer for April Fool, Phyllis!

Poetry Postcard 31

Remember my abandoned sonnet (Poetry Postcard 22)? Like a gun flashed on page one of a mystery novel, it had to show up again before the end of the 44 Postcard Project.

It was Groundhog Day, February 2. Baltimore poet Rosalind Heid had just sent me the perfect postcard for the occasion.

But occasional poems? Ugh. Aren’t they the job of poets laureate in countries like Great Britain, where they are required to write poems about coronations and royal births?

E. A. Poe says occasional poems give him nightmares.

I had to put my snark and occasional snobbery aside and give the groundhog some thought. How does he feel about Groundhog Day? What does he think of all the fuss? Does he even like his personified name, Phil?

Children's author Pamela Curtis Swallow explores
these questions in GROUNDHOG GETS A SAY.

I began thinking about other animals that the media hypes because of their purported ability to prognosticate things like the weather, sports scores, and political elections.

This time I was able to complete the sonnet. The poem has a rhyme scheme, but it is not Shakespearean, Spenserian, or Italian. It’s not written in strict iambic pentameter, but there are about ten beats per line. You'll find an explanation of the three standard sonnet forms here.

Today, some say, a poem only needs fourteen lines to be considered a sonnet. See the last paragraph of Poets.org's sonnet article for more on the modern sonnet form.

Groundhog

Phil squats on the doormat of his burrow
and people gather, peering at his shadow.
It is a burden, forecasting the weather.

No one understands that problem better

than Paul, who foretold sports scores and elections

from his aquatic tank. His predilection
for mussels painted with the would-be winner’s
flag or face, for Paul, was merely dinner.

Even the names−Phil, Paul, Oscar the cat
who pads a nursing home, feet halting at
the beds of patients just before they die−

are humanized, as if Phil could say why
his shadow followed him outside today
and why these humans will not go away.

Laura Shovan

Call it serendipity, but after I posted this poem on Facebook, I heard from Linda Baie of Teacher Dance. Her son-in-law was editor on a documentary about Paul the Octopus. Here is a trailer for "The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus" from YouTube.

Cat lovers, here is an article about Oscar the cat.

Oscar was also the subject of  a book.

Postcard Info:

"Punxsutawney, Pa. a community of 10,000, where, every February 2 the Groundhog appears and forecasts the weather for the succeeding six weeks. A shadow means six more weeks of winter. No sunshine, and hence no shadow, means spring is just around the corner."

MWM Color-Litho “Bursheen” Finished, Made Only By WM Co., Aurora, Mo. 194,218

On 2/2/13, Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring. East-coasters who experienced last week's record blizzard may disagree.

Groundhog's Day

Edgar Allan Poe wishes you a happy February 2. The Raven and his crew are storming New Orleans tomorrow. 

If we do have six more weeks of winter, let's hope our ebony birds will beguile our sad fancies into smiling on Sunday night.

Do I have a postcard for the occasion? But of course.