Susanna Hill’s 8th Annual Holiday Contest Entry

Posted on December 6, 2018 by viviankirkfield

I often mention how important it is to be writing and be submitting. Writing hones our craft and submitting…well…without submitting, your work will sit in a drawer or folder or computer file and never help a child deal with a problem or make someone smile.

One of the least stressful ways of submitting is to enter a writing challenge or contest. That’s why I host #50PreciousWords every March. If you win, that’s great! If you don’t, no worries. You exercised your writing muscle and connected with the kidlit community. A win-win situation!

I’ve been participating in Susanna Hill’s writing contests for EIGHT years. That’s right, folks…EIGHT! She is a fabulous mentor to all writers and the Holiday Contest is only one of the many ways she reaches out. This year I’m honored to be one of the prizes.

super-santa

The contest rules: A story, 250 words or less, appropriate for children ages 12 and under about a Holiday Hero.

And here is my entry. Continue reading →

Giveaway Winner Catchup and a NEW LOOK

Posted on November 24, 2018 by viviankirkfield

I’m back from Chicago, dear friends, and the extra pounds were unfortunately not in my luggage. It’s really difficult to refrain from eating all the yummy foods during this holiday season…I do try not to take seconds, but I don’t always succeed. If any of you have a great plan to keep unwanted weight off, please share. (the tips…not the weight!)

It turned out to be a working vacation…for my daughter-in-law, that is. She’s so thrilled about my picture books that will be launching next year. “You are a picture book writer,” she said. “You are full of fun and your website needs to reflect that!” And so she made the magic happen and the new banner is the result – featuring characters from two of my 2019 debut picture books, PIPPA’S PASSOVER PLATE illustrated by the fabulous Jill Weber and FOUR OTTERS TOBOGGAN: AN ANIMAL COUNTING BOOK illustrated by the talented Mirka Hokkanen, are frolicking around me! Continue reading →

#50PreciousWords Writing Challenge WINNERS

Posted on March 11, 2018 by viviankirkfield

CONGRATULATIONS!

The #50PreciousWords 2018 Writing Challenge was a HUGE success! You all made it so with your fabulous participation: 298 awesome stories and a comment thread that contained almost 1900 positive comments!

The guidelines were simple:

Write a story appropriate for kids ages 12 or under, using only 50 words…they can all be different words, or you can use some of them over and over…just as long as the total word count of the story is 50 or less.
It can be prose, rhyme, free verse, silly or serious…whatever works for you.
Title is not included in the word count.
No illustration notes please.
Please post your story in the comment section below. If you have your own blog and want to post your story there also, please do. And let us know your post link. I ask for the link so that people will visit each other and find new friends in the kid lit community. Please make sure you put your name in the post. If you have any trouble at all posting the story, please email me and I will be happy to do it for you: viviankirkfield@gmail.com.
Deadline for posting the story in the comments is Tuesday, March 6, at 11:59pm.
Winners will be announced in a special blog post on Sunday, March 11.

Here are the prizes: Continue reading →