Knock, knock!
Who’s there?
Boo!
Boo, who?
Don’t cry! It’s time for Susanna Hill’s 5th Annual Halloweensie Contest!
Courtesy Google Images
That’s right—the contest runs from today till Friday…so there is still plenty of time to participate. Here are some of the rules from Susanna’s post.
The Contest: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (title not included in the 100 words), using the words costume, dark, and haunt. Your story can be scary, funny or anything in between, poetry or prose, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!) Get it? Halloweensie – because it’s not very long and it’s for little people. 🙂 (And yes, I know 100 words is short but that’s part of the fun and the challenge! We got over 130 fantastic entries last year so I know you can do it!) Also, you may use the words in any form – e.g. haunt, haunts, haunted, darkness, darkening, costumed, whathaveyou 🙂 No illustration notes please!
For more details, please click here: http://susannahill.blogspot.com/2015/10/its-about-that-time.html
I love this contest—all of my previous entries have been rhyming, so I thought I would change it up a bit this year. I hope you enjoy my story. And when you finish reading it, please hop over to Susanna’s website where you will find many more Halloween tales.
Halloween Fever (99 words)
Philpot blew his nose. His eyes watered. His throat tickled. His skin flushed red with fever.
“Oh no!” he moaned. “Whoever heard of a red ghost?”
Never had Philpot missed going a-haunting on Halloween. Opening Wanda Witchner’s spell-book, he flipped to the ‘C’s’. Exploding CAKES. Flying CATS. Disappearing COLDS.
“Hocus Pocus Mucus Phlegm!”
Blink. No more watering.
Swallow. No more tickle.
Sniff. No more dripping snot. But his skin still glowed red.
“If magic won’t do the trick, I can use my imagination!”
And grabbing a white sheet as his costume, Philpot floated out into the dark night.
I hope you enjoy my little Halloween tale…for many more incredible stories, please visit Susanna’s Halloweensie Contest page: http://susannahill.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-5th-annual-halloweensie-writing.html
MORE GOOD STUFF – Please keep reading!
On Friday, I mentioned that November is a great month because of the PiBoIdMo Challenge. Well, there is another awesome picture book event coming up…Picture Book Month. Organized by author and literacy advocate Dianne de las Casas, this event is supported by everyone who loves picture books. Visit her website http://picturebookmonth.com every day during November and be prepared to be inspired and informed with posts by: Sudipta Bardan-Quallen, David Biedrzycki, Paulette Bogan, Mike Curato, Matthew Gollub, Julie Gribble, Julie Hedlund, Carter Highins, Molly Idle, Joe Kulka, Jennifer Gray Olson, Kathryn Otoshi, Anne Marie Pace, Rukhsana Khan, Robin Newman, Penny Parker Klostermann, Eric Litwin, Loren Long, Deb Lund, LeUyen Pham, Matt Phelan, Stephen Shaskan, Trisha Speed Shaskan, TJ Shay, Whitney Stewart, Holly Stone-Barker, Mo Willems, Natasha Wing, Matthew Winner, and Paula Yoo.
How lucky are we to have these incredible mentors sharing their love of picture books with us!
Thank you for stopping by. Your visit is much appreciated!
VIVIAN KIRKFIELD - Writer for Children 
Way to go! A ghost with a cold is a very creative approach 🙂 Good luck.
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Thank you, Christie…I’m glad he figured his way out of the mess. 😉
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Love the mix of magic and imagination!
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Thanks so much, Joanna! I’m almost afraid to visit Susanna’s contest page…I know there will be dozens and dozens more entries…it’s kind of a love/hate relationship…I want to read them ALL…but don’t know if that means I won’t get to bed tonight. 😉
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“Hocus Pocus Mucus Phlegm!” – ha! I’m going to try that when I catch a cold this winter. GREAT story Vivian!
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Who knows, Cathy, maybe it will work. 😉 Just drink plenty of tea with honey all night long as you say it. 😉
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Very cool! I especially like the spell! Good job.
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Glad you liked it, Linda! Isn’t Halloweensie fun? 😉 😉
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Clever with a capital “C”, Vivian. Yes . . . so much cleverness in your 100 words. Loved this—Exploding CAKES. Flying CATS. Disappearing COLDS.
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And you are Sweet, with a capital “S”, Penny. 😉 😉 Thank you so much…from a wordsmith like you, that is high praise!
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Cute Halloweensie Story!
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Thank you, Maria…and thanks for getting in touch again about the book. 😉
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Vivian, I loved your ending and how Philpot solved his problem. And there’s nothing like a sheet to wipe your runny nose as you go from house to house in the cold, dark night! 🙂 Great use of 3’s in under 100 words!
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Oh, good call on using the sheet to wipe his nose, Lori…I didn’t even think of that. 😉 And you know me with the element of three…it’s engraved on my brain, I think. 😉
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Lovely sweet story really enjoyed this, and thanks so much for popping over to Kyrosmagica and reading my entry too!
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That’s the best part of these writing challenges, Marje…we get to meet totally cool people and make new friends. 😉 Glad you enjoyed mine…I loved yours. 😉
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Thank you Vivian yes it is a way to meet new people and make friends. Great fun!
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Hey, Vivian, so great to see you and to read your clever story. Awesome job. Your story is complete. So proud of you. Genius. I do Picture Book Month every November right along with PiBoIdMo. I love that you added that in. You rock. Big squeezes.
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There is so much awesomeness going on right now, Robyn…it is hard to keep up with it…I’m barely holding my head above water with PiBoIdMo…but will look in on Picture Book Month also…Dianne has put together a fantastic lineup of guest posters. 😉
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That Philpot is a clever one! “Hocus Pocus Mucus Phlegm” is now my favorite spell.
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May all your wishes come true, Buffy. 😉 Thanks for hopping over!
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Love the name, Philpot. Great imagination and fun in your story, Vivian. Thank you for visiting me. Wishing you good luck and a Happy Halloweensie!
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Thank you so much, Charlotte…and you shouldn’t thank me for stopping by your blog…you are such a loyal reader of mine…I should be at yours every week!
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Very Cute! I’ve needed that spell that last couple weeks to battle the never ending cold!
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