Category Archives: 1

Finding a Way to Spread the Word with Cheerios

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I could have said “Finding a Way to Spread the Word with Jon Scieszka” but I’m not gonna lie. Jon has been hanging about here at Finders and Keepers so much, I’m thinking of renaming the blog.

BUT, the man has been busy. Now he’s teamed up with Cheerios and First Book to distribute 100,000 books to kids in need around this great country. And on this day before Thanksgiving, I thought it might be nice to lend a hand and spread the word.

I’m so grateful that I always had books in my house when I was growing up. I remember that my mother ordered an entire set of children’s books for me when I was a wee, little girl. My favorite book was A Pickle for a Nickel. I’m not sure that book could be found now, but it was definitely a keeper. My mom didn’t keep those childhood books of mine, but I’ve kept several  (okay, TONS) of kid’s books, including quite a few of Jon Scieszka’s. There will always be children’s books in my house, even if the children are all grown up.

And I’d love to see children in Georgia get tons of books, too. But honestly, I’m happy for any state to get these books. So get over to the Cheerios 100,000 Books Giveaway and play the trivia game to determine which five states will get the books. I played my fingers off, and I’m not gonna lie. I scored pretty high!

Keeping up with a Contest: Abilene Writers Guild

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I like to participate in contests. It ties in nicely with my need for immediate gratification. Not that I always win. But at least I find out the contest results in a semi-timely manner. (When you freelance, sending out articles and stories that float around for MONTHS, sometimes YEARS, immediate gratification becomes an issue.)

The Abilene Writers Guild sponsors an annual contest with a very reasonable entry fee ($5.00 for shorts, $10.00 for novel entries) and lots of categories. But the one that will interest readers here at F & K  is the “Children’s Stories for readers ages 3 to 8.” You have 1,000 words to wow the judges (though you may not need that many at all) and postmark that brilliant entry by November 30th.

And you might have another story hanging about that would be pefect for other categories. So, go to their site here or peruse abilenewritersguild.org for other interesting writing bits you’ll want to keep.

Oh, and by the end of March, you’ll know whether you won or not. Which is a lot better than waiting a year, right?