Susanna Leonard Hill's 5th Annual Halloweensie Writing Contest

Thanks to one of my critique members, I found out about an interesting and challenging Halloween writing contest. The conditions of the contest are: 1) Write a Halloween themed story, 2) keep the word count under 101, and 3) include the words costume, dark and haunt in the story (any forms of these three words is okay too). So here is my entry into the contest. Wish me luck.



                                            

A Costume Party at the Dark, Haunted House

By Ken Major

A Costume Party at the Dark, Haunted House,

Read the invitation from my friend, the Mouse.

Rabbit, Fox, Cat and Dog were invited too,

Along with some others from the local zoo.

Cat went as a dog and Dog went as a cat.

Rabbit went as a fox, Fox went as a rat.

Monkey as a lion, Lion as a fowl.

Zebra went as a bear, Bear went as an owl.

Giraffe went as a horse, Horse went as a goat.

And I, Owl, went as an old howling coyote…

To the costume party at the dark, haunted house.

Writers For Kids Ride Again!

Over the past five years, I have participated in a number of critique groups, both large and small. Those groups all disbanded for various reasons.  A year and a half ago,  I started a new critique group using Yahoo groups called Writers for Kids (WFK). We had six members in the beginning, but the usual things began to happen. One person lost interest, while another was too busy with her regular job to continue. By the end of last year, the group was down to three members.

Since that time, the remaining members except me, the moderator, decided to leave the group. However, thanks to the SCBWI website, I was able to recruit five new members. I had forgotten how much fun it was to actively participate in such a group. Writers for Kids is back in business and I just completed my first critique for the group. Each new member brings good energy and some unique skills to the table and that should bode well for the group.

Ken