Writers for Kids Work and Other Endeavors

Things have been going fairly well for my critique group, Writers for Kids, which I started several years ago. There have been some membership changes, but we are back to full strength with 6 active members. One of our former members just got an agent and has a picture book under contract. It's scheduled to be published in 2018, which is very exciting.

Group members continue to enter contests and participate in writing activities like 12 x12, StoryStorm (formerly PiBoIdMo) and things we read about through our SCBWI contacts. One of our new members just won a free one year scholarship to the Rate Your Story (RYS) Program. She was one of only two writers to be selected to receive this scholarship. The manuscript that won her the scholarship had been critiqued by the group prior to her winning so that was good news too.

Anyway, I continue to work on ideas for new picture book manuscripts and to tweak some of my existing picture book manuscripts, several chapter books and a middle grade novel. I also have been working on a manuscript and some illustrations for a graphic novel with an environmental theme.

That's all for now.

Ken

StoryStorm 2017 Formerly Known as PiBoIdMo

It's that time of the year to have some fun with Tara Lazar's annual event meant to motivate children's writers. I believe this is the fourth time I participated in the recently renamed event. As long as you register, follow the instructions and sign the completion acknowledgement form, each participate could win any one of a number of interesting prizes. Check out Tara's website by going to the below link. Happy writing and good luck to all those that register.

 http://taralazar.com/2016/12/26/storystorm-registration-will-open-tomorrow-december-27th/

Ken

Susanna Leonard Hill's Halloweensie Writing Contest

Thanks to one of my critique members, I found out about Susanna's interesting and challenging Halloweensie writing contest. The conditions of this year's contest are: 1) Write a Halloween themed story, 2) keep the word count under 101, and 3) include the words spider, ghost and moon in the story (any form of these three words is okay too). So here is my entry into the contest. I wasn't sure if I was going to have time to revise or even submit a different story so I submitted this one.Unfortunately, once I filed an entry there's no going back. So for your reading pleasure, see my other entry below entitled Halloween Fears.

 

What Should I Wear For Halloween? (99 words)

It’s Halloween and I don’t have a costume yet!

I could be a scary ghost with rattling chains, but…

We don’t have any white sheets or chains.

Perhaps a creepy spider with webs, but…

Where can I find six more legs?

YES, I’ll dress up like a big old black cat, but …

No one will be able to see me!

OH, NO! I forgot about the full moon tonight.

My costume, “HOOOOWL”, has picked me.

It’s one of the only good things about being

Born into a family of …werewolves.

“HOOOOWL …HOOOOWL.”

That’ll do. Don’t run into me tonight!

Halloween Fears (99 words)

You probably think that I’m being silly,

But Halloween nights just gives me the willies.

The ghosts and the goblins look rather scary.

Now don’t get me started. MONSTERS ARE HAIRY!

I really don’t care about eating candy.

But treats, it appears, can be very handy.

The spiders are friendly when you give them snacks

And ghosts really like the moon marshmallow packs.

A witch and a warlock thanked me for the chews.

They used all that candy to brew two new stews.

Now wait just one minute. I’m feeling better.

Next Halloween night, I’ll be a go-getter!

Thanks for reading my stories! 

Ken

PiBoIdMo, Day 12 and Other Events

So far this year's PiBoIdMo has been very interesting. I was lagging behind on several days, but was able to catch up today. The daily posts from the published writers have been very inspirational and filled with an abundance of great ideas and advice. This event is Tara Lazar's brainchild and I have participated three times counting this year. I'm going to try and actually make it to the end this year. I was unable to finish the other years.

I also participated in the #KidPit today on Twitter set up by Heidi Norrod. Writers for kids tweet 140 character tweets about their respective books in an attempt  to get an agent or editor to favor your tweet or "Twitch" as they call it. This can lead to getting one of your manuscripts critiqued by editors or agents. The event lasted six hours.

The week of Halloween, I entered Suzanne Hill's Halloweenie Writing Contest too. The theme was to write a story related to Halloween and include the words costume, dark and haunt (or any form of these words) in it with a word count of no more than 100. It was challenging, especially with such a small word count.

I'm now preparing my entry for the NE-SCBWI's  Peg Davol Picture Book Critique Scholarship Program. Marguerite (Peg) was a long time member of SCBWI and the author of a number of children's books including "The Paper Dragon". The deadline for this event is December 10, 2015. There are two categories,
published and unpublished book writers.

That's all for now.

Ken

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 

Storyboards/Dummies

I recently purchased a large whiteboard to help with my writing. The first thing I used the board for was a picture book manuscript I wrote as part of last year's PiBoIdMo. I enjoyed the process of drafting a 32 page dummy for this story. I found it most helpful in editing the manuscript. As stated in Ann Whitford Paul's "Writing Picture Books", I was able to see some of the weaknesses in my manuscript and come up with changes that seemed to flow better. This is only the second time I have tried something like this, but it was well worth it.

I took a picture of a portion of it to illustrate the result. I plan on doing this a lot more.

Ken