So I have a bit of a confession today. 

I did not participate in Susanna Leonard Hill’s Fourth of July Contest just because I had to make my own fun. I did have fun–and you know how much I love a good contest–but there was another reason.

I had to distract myself.

I had this major dental appointment today, and really, it wasn’t so much having the work done as it was thinking about the work. Because a vivid imagination might be a wonderful thing when one is writing zany Once upon a times, but when one uses that same imagination to obsess over everything that can go wrong whilst sitting in a dentist’s chair, it’s kinda scary. I mean, I know that all my teeth are not going to fall out. I know that worms can’t possibly exist for 37 years beneath a crowned tooth. That my dentist is NOT going to accidentally cut off half my tongue. I know all that. But still.

Anyway, and happily, four plus hours later in the chair, nothing went wrong. But how was I to know that at T minus 5 days ago?

On the bonus side, the writing output for the last week has been sort of incredible. And I’ve read more books in the last week than you can shake a fist at. Even more happily, participating in the contest gave me the opportunity to find a ton of gifted writers who blog and I hope these writers will come back here again.

And best of all, (besides surviving the dental appointment with my tongue intact and no worms), I found myself as one of the finalists in the Fourth of July Contest! The voting has begun for the prizes and will continue till Thursday, July 11th.

Now of course, I can’t tell you who to vote for. This is America and a 4th of July contest, for cryin’ out loud. But I can tell you that you’ll find my entry, Guessing Game, over at the poll on this post. Also, if you write for children, or love books for children, I can tell you that Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog is lovely and chock full of writing information and her books are wonderful. You will want to follow her blog, and perhaps also follow many of the writers who participated in the contest.

Last confession: As totally fun and immensely distracting as this contest was, I also entered because…I want to win. I want to jump up and down holler, Yippee!

And hopefully, when that day comes, I will be able to feel my lips again. But until then, I’m going to need something else to distract my vivid imagination. Any contest will do.