Susanna Leonard Hill's Halloweensie Writing Contest

It's that time of year again to enter Susanna's Halloweensie writing contest. I have been working on several stories to enter this year. Each entry has to be 100 words or less and include the words cobweb, trick and potion. You can also use other forms of these three words too. It's an interesting and challenging thing to write a story using such a small amount of words. Here are my two entries so far. I will most likely change things a bit before midnight on October 31st. Good luck to all those entering.

Ken

                                                                                 Word Count: 100                    

I WANT MY MUMMY

By Ken Major

“I found this mummy at a tag sale,” said Mom.

“It looks real,” said Max.

Max cleaned cobwebs off it, found a button labeled

“magic potion” and pushed it.

Liquid dripped down the mummy onto the porch.

Max’s friends came over for trick or treating.

A strange kid joined in.

Later on Max saw his sister trick or treating.

“Our mummy’s missing,” said Sarah.

“Where’s the strange kid in the mummy costume?’ asked

Max.

Sarah and Max walked home together.

“The mummy’s back on the porch,” said Sarah.

“Someone left candy near it too.”

“Want some candy?” moaned the mummy.

                                                                        Word Count: 100

TRICK OR TREAT, SPIDER HIDER

By Ken Major

Guess what? Spiders like Halloween too!

I used cobwebs to reach Jordan’s candy bucket.

I hid in there because you can’t beat free rides and candy.

The trick was to beat Jordan to our favorite candy, chocolate.

 

Houses 1-4 didn’t give out chocolate.

Houses 5 and 6 did, but Jordan ate it.

House 7 gave out apples.

House 8 gave out sodas marked “Potion”.

House 9 gave out chocolate-less cupcakes.

House 10 came through with chocolate-covered pretzels.

Long before we reached House 20, I fell asleep, totally full.

I woke up back home surrounded by chocolate candies. What a night! 

The 21st Annual New York SCBWI Winter Conference-February 7-9, 2020

 

I just registered for the 21st Annual New York SCBWI Winter Conference. The schedule looks great. I can't wait to attend. I plan to attend sessions that focus on picture books. I have signed up to attend sessions with Lesa Cline, Connie Hsu, Alexandra Penfold, Ann Whitford Paul, Jane Yolen and Heidi Y. Stemple.

Ken

Dementia and Coping with the Disease

I have been away from this blog for quite a while. I have continued to work on my writing though despite some difficult challenges. I was preoccupied during this period trying to deal with my mom's dementia. Below is a brief summary of this difficult journey for me and my family.

In October of 2018, my mom passed away after a fairly rapid decline from dementia over an eleven month period. However, the signs of the disease had surfaced long before that period . It started when she was having problems taking her medications. She used to keep a forensic list of her daily doses with the exact times taken down to the minute. That process developed holes in it back in 2017 to a point that I was in regular arguments with her about the need to take her meds properly. She kept telling me to mind my own business and accusing me of implying she was stupid. She refused to accept the fact that this was happening to her.

My mom was still driving in 2017, which was a major concern for my family. She was living in a senior apartment by herself, but needed help with getting groceries and managing her bills. One afternoon her heart stopped beating for thirteen seconds and she felt faint and called 911. This incident lead to her getting a pacemaker shortly thereafter. She wasn't allowed to drive during the recovery and that's when things got really ugly. She had lost a lot of  her independence and was super upset about it. She had to rely on family and friends for rides and that wasn't enough. Her anger often bubbled up and made it very difficult for me and my sister. My dad died in 2016 so he wasn't around to help. The dementia had progressed to a point where she lost her license to drive permanently.

We ended up placing my mom in a local nursing home and on October 25, 2018, she passed away. At the end, she stopped eating and talking almost completely and didn't have any idea where she was. This whole process was extremely sad and taxing on us. We felt so helpless as we watched our mom rapidly deteriorate. We did have a good support system of family and friends that helped during this period though.

Ken

2018 Susanna Hill's Valentiny Writing Contest

Susanna is at it again sponsoring yet another contest to help writers improve their writing and possibly win some very cool prizes. The rules are pretty simple, write a 214 word or less story related to Valentine's Day where someone in the story is hopeful about something. It can be a good or bad thing that one of the characters wishes for. Please see my entry below and wish me good luck.

Thanks, Ken





                                                                                                            Word Count: 213        

A Valentine’s Day Surprise

                                   

"Why did my first day at my new school have to be on Valentine's Day?" asked Rachel.

"Don't worry, "said Michelle."Our teacher, Miss Hart, is super nice. You’re the 23rd student in our class. We have a special Valentine's Day party planned for the end of the day with pink cupcakes and decorations too.”

Rachel's hands were sweaty. She thought ...I hope something nice happens to me today.
   
Math and Reading were hard. At recess, Rachel fell and skinned her knee.

When the party started, everyone was handing valentines to each other. Rachel's stomach felt funny. "I think I may need to go to the nurse again, Miss Hart.”

"Oh," said Michelle. "Here's your Valentine's Day box, Rachel."

Rachel's eyebrows raised. "What's in here?"

"It's a surprise. Take a look," said Michelle.

Inside the box, Rachel found 23 valentines welcoming her. But there were only 22 students in the class, not including her.

"Are you okay, Rachel?” asked Miss Hart. “We didn’t want you to feel left out so the class made you a special Valentine’s Day box.”

“Yes, I’m feeling much better, but I think there’s a mistake. I got 23 valentines, one more than everyone else.”

“That’s because I gave you one too," said Miss Hart. “Welcome and Happy Valentine’s Day.”


 

Developing Great Story Titles

My research into writing publishable picture book stories lead me to purchasing Ann Whitford Paul's Writing Picture Books. In particular, Chapter 16 of the book entitled Grabbing The Reader with a Great Title takes you on a journey on the different approaches to devising a great title for your book.

Here are the names of the sections that Ann strongly recommends you consider when titling your story:

1) Brief, 2) Catchy, 3) Unique, 4) Straightforward, 4) Expresses the Mood of the Book, 5) Hints at What the Book is About, 6) Doesn't give away the Ending, 7) Creates Suspense, 8) Gives the Artist an Idea for the Cover Illustration, 9) A Child Can Easily Say it Out Loud, 10) Includes the Main Character's Name, 11) Use a Catchy Line From Your Manuscript, 12) Free Association, and 13) Turn to Outsiders.

Even before I had purchased Ann's book, I had been using some of these same ideas while developing stories and titles based on my research. For instance, I often tried to come up with catchy titles using some of my poetic background. My poem, The Skunk That Never Stunk, which was published in the magazine,  Advocate, PKA's Publication, is an example of rhyme and alliteration, (e.g. skunk and stunk).

I particularly enjoy titles that create suspense. My poem, Odd Animal Friends, which was published in Ladybug magazine, begs the question, what's so odd about these animal friends?

I encourage picture book writers to check out Ann's book to help them come up with a great book or poem title.

Ken



                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Susanna Leonard Hill's 2017 Halloweensie Contest

Every year I look forward to participating in Susanna's writing contests. I especially enjoy the Halloweensie contest because I'm a big fan of Halloween. This year we were tasked with writing a story with 100 words or less about Halloween, which contains the words, candy-corn, monster, and shadow. I just came up with my story this morning after jotting down some notes last night. Please let me know what you think about my entry for this year's contest. Thanks, Ken

                         

                                                            CANDY-CORN CAPER            Word Count: 99

Here’s the scenario:

Mom couldn’t find the bag of…

CANDY-CORN.

It was on the…

KITCHEN TABLE.

On Halloween night…

IT VANISHED!

Dressed as a detective for…

HALLOWEEN,

I had to solve this mystery and…

GO TRICK-OR-TREATING.

My two-year-old sister was…

TOO SHORT TO REACH THEM.

My dad was…

ON A BUSINESS TRIP.

I needed clues, then…

I SAW THEM!

A trail of little white, yellow, and orange candies…

LEADING ME TO THE MONSTER!

From the kitchen,

To the hallway,

I followed these…

COLORFUL SWEET CLUES;

Into the basement,

Where a SHADOWY figure appeared.

“CALVIN!!! BAD DOG!!!”

My Valentiny Story Entry: 2nd Annual Susanna Leonard Hill Contest

Here's my entry into Susanna Leonard Hill's Valentiny Writing Contest. I hope you like it.

                       

                                                                                                            Word Count: 210                                          

My Valentine

My teacher asked each student in my class to pick someone to be their valentine this year, make a card, and write about them. I picked my Grandpa.

When Grandpa was younger, he used to play dollhouse and tea party with me. But he is sick now. He has Alzheimer’s disease, which makes it hard to remember who people are and other important things.

I remember the first time we visited Grandpa at the nursing home and he didn’t know who I was. It hurt my feelings.

“What a pretty little girl,” said Grandpa. He asked the nurse who was pushing him in a wheelchair, “Is that your daughter? Why is she crying now?”

Mommy explained that he couldn’t help it. I understand that now.

Anyway, I think my Grandpa is the best because he still tries to play games with me even though Mommy has to explain to him that I’m his granddaughter every time we visit him. I can’t imagine how scary it must be for him to not remember his family. That’s why I decided to visit him on Valentine’s Day to tell him that he’s my valentine this year.

“Thank you for picking me,” said Grandpa. He gave me a big hug.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Grandpa.” 

Respectfully submitted,

Ken Major