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 Art by Vicky Fang Picture book author extraordinaire Vivian Kirkfield writes: "In 2016, I had an idea for a contest that would exercise our writing muscles and force us to make every work count. Over the years, several entries have become books, many participants have signed with agents…but what I love the most is the enthusiasm and the positive energy that this contest generates." And thus was born the 50 Precious Words challenge. This is my fourth year participating. My entry is below--it's only 50 words, but was OODLES and BOODLES of fun to write! You can check out all the fun-tastic entries on Vivian's blog here.
 Handprints from Cueva de las Manos (Cave of Hands), Spain. Most of us have seen photographs of the Paleolithic paintings on the walls of France's Grotte Chauvet. Some of the pictures are 32,000 years old.
While the horses, owls, and rhinoceros are exquisite, what I find haunting are the hands. Hundreds of outlined hands cover the walls, some imprinting the animal paintings with a kind of artist's signature, some all on their own or in groupings. Not limited to the famous European caves, similar handprints are found worldwide, in places as diverse as South America and Australia. Their makers pressed their hands onto stone walls throughout the centuries and millennium, forming 'a great crowd of witnesses' to humanity's unwritten history. While the words of men seem to dominate much of our written history, prehistory was more egalitarian. Modern analysis and measurements show that many, if not most, of the Grotte Chauvet's handprints, belonged to women. What were these women saying? What were their stories? I believe their stories are essentially the same as ours: I was here. I lived. I loved. For just a moment, I was. And so they were. And so we are. Let us whisper our adventures into our daughters' ears. Let's laugh with our friends, and write our hopes and dreams in our journals, letters, and blogs. Tell your story. Leave a handprint on the Wall.  Today has been an exciting day! Received the news this morning that my little 'trash bandit' poem for the 10th annual #Halloweensie contest received an honorable mention! Check out all the other winners and prizes here on Susanna Hill's blog.  Results are in and I'm thrilled to learn my take on the Little Red Riding Hood story was among the winners.
A big, big thank you to both organizers Kaitlyn Sanchez and Lydia Lukidis as well as guest judge Donna Barbra Higuera. Read more about the contest, as well as all the fabulous writers and their prizes here on Lydia Lukidis' blog. Though the contest is over, the Fall Writing Frenzy fun isn't! Kaitlyn found a way to keep the writing energy going--check it out here. 2020 Halloweensie Contest It's time once again for Susanna Hill's Halloweensie contest. (10 years and going strong!) The challenge: write a kid-friendly story of 100 words or fewer, incorporating the prompt words. This year's words are: skeleton, creep, mask. So, naturally my thoughts turned to these cute little bandits:  THE TRASH BANDIT by Carrie Karnes-Fannin Under a thin, dark moon, the masked bandit creeps (hand over hand) along a thieves’ highway strung above dented and dusty trashcans filled with skeletons of meals past. Gripping the humming, thrumming wires, she stops, (swaying so slightly) and peeks through frosted panes into the (strange, still) wood and stone dens of furless two-legged beasts. A silent shadow, she takes what’s needed, and washes her bandit’s hands of the rest. Then, (unseen by the tame, yawning tomcat), the masked thief shakes her striped tail and steals back into the (singing, thriving) oh-so-wild night. (96 words) |
