CARRIE KARNES-FANNIN
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2nd Annual Kids' Choice Kidlit Contest

1/26/2023

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My first writing contest entry of 2023 is officially in the books! And it's such a fun contest, too. 200 words max, with picture book, middle grade, and young adult categories. I love that this kidlit contest has kids--our actual readers-- as the judges. How perfect is that?

​(Check out the details and entries here. https://www.kaileipewbooks.com/post/the-second-annual-kids-choice-kidlit-writing-contest-is-open)
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A quick note about my entry: this story idea was inspired by a quote I came across recently:

“Then may I tell you that the very next words I read were these – ‘Chloe liked Olivia…’ Do not start. Do not blush. Let us admit in the privacy of our own society that these things sometimes happen. Sometimes women do like women.” - Virginia Woolf, A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN)


The Trouble with Chloe and Olivia
by
Carrie Karnes-Fannin

Word Count
: 195

Age Group: YA

My secondhand sneakers are scuffed. A splotch over the left toe resembles that old mystery director, Alfred Hitchcock.

Or maybe my grandfather.

Grandpa loves Hitchcock movies. While I’d never tell him this, I think it’s because he looks like Hitchcock. I’ve had time to study the Grandpa/Hitchcock stain since I’ve spent all morning avoiding this school...avoiding these new kids.

Only that isn’t right. They aren’t new—I am.

Two sparkly white tennis shoes and a pair of cowboy boots are ahead of me in line. I notice mud clinging to worn boot heels. Then they’re both turning...turning...turning toward me.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

It’s Tennis Shoes. Unicorn socks show above her double-knotted shoelaces. Her voice is low and musical. A leading lady’s voice.

I try to look up...to reply, “Chloe.”

My fingers twitch, longing for my camera. Why was everything easier behind a lens? My red canvas-covered right foot covers Hitchcock as my stomach flips. The smell of burnt fries and spoiled milk wafting through the cafeteria isn’t helping.

Even Alfred Hitchcock couldn’t solve the mystery of making friends here.

“Come on, Olivia,” Cowboy Boots says. “She’s weird.”

They go away.
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And The Fall Writing Frenzy Winners Are...

11/2/2022

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Image credit: Daniele Colucci for Unsplash // Image description: A narrow street or alley, paved with stone and lined with attached houses. It appears to be twilight with a few clouds in the sky. There is a single red-orange light attached to the outside of one of houses in the mid-ground, on the right hand side of the street.
The day we've been waiting for...the winners of the 2022 Fall Writing Frenzy are in! And I'm happy to report my 'Dark Thirty' piece won a prize. (Read it here:www.carriekarnesfannin.com/the-end-pages/fall-writing-frenzy-2022) 

It's a great one, too! The fabulous author and kidlit coach ​Ebony Lynn Mudd will critique one of my stories. I can't wait to work with her to take it to the next level.

Thank you to all my critique partners who helped me prepare this poem for prime time. A big congratulations to all the other winners and honorable mentions. Also, I'd like to give the judges and prize donors a heartfelt thank you. You guys rock!

Read all the winners and prizes here on Lydia's blog.
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Fall Writing Frenzy 2022

10/1/2022

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The 4th year of the Fall Writing Frenzy is up and running! From today through October 3rd, kidlit writers can submit their 200-words-or-fewer pieces inspired by one of fourteen photo prompts given by the contest creators, agent Kaitlyn Sanchez and author Lydia Lukidis. 

(To see the rules and all the gorgeous prompt images, check them out here.)  ​
About this poem: I grew up in southern USA, where twilight is sometimes called "dark thirty." It's a magical time of day, with the sun glowing below the  horizon, bats squeaking overhead, and fireflies dancing all around. When I saw this photo, I immediately thought of dark thirty and all the magic that exists for a kid during the twilight of their childhood.  I hope it comes through at least a little bit in this piece.
​
​Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments.



​DARK THIRTY
​
by
​Carrie Karnes-Fannin
​

When the light
becomes a trick of your imagination,
and time
 
      stops
 
on the knife edge
separating day
and night,
it is

dark thirty.
 
And as the frost moon rises,
this moment of possibility and magic

is your doorway.
 
Your jumbled thoughts make you pause…
 
Alice with her time-challenged rabbit, Lucy climbing into a dusty wardrobe, or Dorothy
in her ill-gotten heels
--
 
they could tell you about doors.
​About portals.

 
How the one who goes through
 
        is not
 
the one who returns.
 
As you shiver
in your hand-me-down jacket
and smooth your ordinary hair,
 
you think
becoming someone else
wouldn’t be
bad.
 
So…
 
you
stretch,
grasp, search
for the way through.
 
But the knife edge dulls,
and clouds swallow the moon.
The light is lost,
 
and dark thirty
is merely
 
dark.
 
But now,
old stories blaze for you
in a new way.
 
Little Red loves the damp
mystery of the ancient black woods.
 
Rapunzel knows
her way down from the tower.
 
Wendy doesn’t mind growing up.
She just wants adventure.
 
And you…
 
you don’t need moonlight,

magic, or even
a door.
 
You only need
to reach.


(186 words)
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Image credit: Daniele Colucci for Unsplash // Image description: A narrow street or alley, paved with stone and lined with attached houses. It appears to be twilight with a few clouds in the sky. There is a single red-orange light attached to the outside of one of houses in the mid-ground, on the right hand side of the street.
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SUN WRITE FUN 2022 - We Have A Winner

9/15/2022

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One of the things I love best about this contest is its focus on nonfiction. Picture book biographies were my first love when I started on this writing journey, and they are still a big part of what keeps me coming back to the genre.

As author Nancy Churnin says, picture book biographies are poems about a dream. And now this particular poem of mine about an important but almost forgotten photographer has gotten a little love. Maybe one day we'll see her story out in the world as an actual book. That would be a dream come true!

p.s. Here is a link to the contest page. Many thanks for Karen Greenwald and her fellow judges for all the hard work they put in, as well as to the agents, editors, and authors who donate prizes.
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2022 Kidlit Vibes Contest Winners

6/25/2022

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As my mom used to say, one thing just leads to another. And in this case--that's a good thing!

Four picture book writers (Gennie Gorback, Lindsey Hobson, Jess Hinrichs, and Molly Ippolito) "met" in 2020 during the #FallWritingFrenzy contest. They hit it off and became a critique group, named (appropriately enough) The Frenzies.

Now that group has gone next level and started their own contest, #KidLitVibes. The Frenzies went all out in creating a fun contest--lots of cool graphics, fun "feeling" prompts, and great prizes

And I'm so pleased to see my story The Sometime House among the inaugural winners. Click here to read it and the other fantastic winning and honorably mentioned pieces. 

Thank you so much to the Fall Frenzies for making this contest happen! The. #kidlit world feels grateful to have you.
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Little Thoughts Press Interview

6/20/2022

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Little Thoughts Press is a literary magazine for and by kids. My poems “Once A House,” “The Trash Bandit,” and “The Moth,” are part of Little Thoughts Press recently released Issue 2: Natural Wonder.

In addition to the awesome experience of seeing my work appear in this beautiful new publication for kids, I also had the fun of sitting down for an interview with the editor, Claire Taylor. 

Read all about it here.

​This was my first interview as an author! Thank you, Claire, for having me and for all the you do to promote high quality children's literature.
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  • about
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