Poetry Challenge #5 Winner

Well, another challenge is done and gone. It was a tie for quite a while there, but today one poem pulled into the lead. Some very interesting poems this time around, some that I very much loved though a few were heartbreaking.

But enough with that. I'm sure you're dying to know who the winners are and who wrote which poem, so here you go!

Our first place winner was for Emotional Amnesia written by your very own challenge sponsor, me! Karen Hoover! :D Thanks for the votes, everyone. It was fun, as always.

And now, here is a listing of our poems and we'll finally reveal who wrote what. The poems will stay posted until Monday, so you've got a day or so to read them still if you missed it.

POEMS:

Emotional Amnesia by Karen E. Hoover (4 votes)

Freedom Bound by Nisa Swineford (3 Votes)

Unforgiveness by anonymous (the author chooses to remain unknown) (2 Votes)

Freedom for the Forgotten by Logan Adams (1 Vote)

Bound by Karen E. Hoover (1 Vote)

Thanks for playing, everyone!

Flash Fiction Challenge #6

I just realized it is Friday and I haven't posted the flash fiction prompts. Shame on me! I'm taking care of that right now. My apologies to all!

Flash Fiction Challenge #5 Winners!

Well, folks, it turns out we have a tie! And not only do we have a tie, but the man and woman whose flash fiction stories tied are actually husband and wife! How random is that?

Congratulations to James Blevins (The Organ Grinder) and Rebecca Blevins (A Brother's Love)!!! Your trophy widgets are on their way!

Now, I'm going to start doing something a little different because people have asked me to. Everyone seems to want to know who wrote what, so I'm going to list it out here. I also attached names to the stories for those of you who haven't read them yet. They'll stay up for a few more days. :)

And here's the list!

Untitled #1: Melissa J.Cunningham

Weather, Fear, and Music: Laura Hales

Vassil: Lizzy Hughes

Alisa's Orchestra: Emlee M

Untitled #2: Donna Weaver

Untitled #3: Julie Alverson

Unforgettable: John Ferguson

The Organ Grinder: James Blevins (WINNER!)

A Brother's Love: Rebecca Blevins (WINNER!)

Thank you, Everyone, for participating. You are ALL winners in my book!

The Poetry Challenge #5 Voting is open!

Voting is now open for the Poetry Challenge, and also a reminder, there is only one day left to vote for the Flash Fiction Challenge. The boxes sit next to one another, so make sure you're voting in the right box! :)

Thank you!

Flash Fiction Challenge #5 Voting is Open

It's time to vote! Wow, lots of last minute entries this time around. You guys had me worried, but you came through in the end. I should have known you would. Somehow you always do. Please read all the entries before you vote, and those of you who entered, remember the rules: Don't tell anyone which story is yours until after you vote and please don't vote for yourself. That's it. Now go have fun reading!

Poetry Challenge #5

Poetry Challenge #5 begins today! Go check out the prompts under the poetry challenge tab. Poems are due by Wednesday at midnight. Can't wait to see what you've got for me this time!

Flash Fiction Challenge #4

It's the start of a new Flash Fiction Challenge! The prompts are up in the Flash Fiction Tab. Remember to time yourself. Flash Fiction needs to be 1,000 words or less written in no more than one hour using all the prompts.

And please check out the two rules in the sidebar. They are very important.

I can't wait to see what you guys come up with this time! Now go have fun!

Running out of Time!

Only ten days left to get The Sapphire Flute with it's beautiful new cover as a free e-book. Take advantage of it while you can!

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/66328

Now, everyone keeps asking when book 2 will be released and I finally have an answer! I'm shooting for August 6th in memory of my mother's Angel Day, but if I can't quite make that, I promise you it will be released in August no matter what, in both e-book and print form, and by September both books will be available as a downloadable audiobook. I'll let you know more specifics as soon as I have them, but in the meantime, go get your free e-book and spread the word!

Quote of the Day: " Words done right are better than chocolate. They feed something deep within."

--Rebecca Blevins

Poetry Challenge #4 Winner

And we have a winner! Things were neck and neck there for a while, but the voters finally chose a definite winner. And that is . . .

Raine Gillespie for "The Day I Wanted to Die."

I'm guessing that one came from the Most Embarrassing Moment category. lol

Second place was "A Special Night" by Kaitlyn Binns

Third place went to "Mexican Mouth Dance" by, yours truly, Karen Hoover.

And for those of you who didn't get to vote, here's a second chance to read the winning poem.

The Day I wanted to Die by Raine Gillespie

Always a tomboy

A woman's body, so young

I played football

with the guys

and tried to ignore the changes

that made me grow up

One day I played in a shirt too tight

I thrust my arms into the air

waiting for the ball to sail my way

and as the ball flew

I felt my buttons go

pop, pop, pop

until my shirt hung open

exposing my womanly fo

rm to any who looked

The ball hit the ground and bounced

a pass failed but I no longer cared

Panicked, I turned away and buttoned up

But never again

did I play football

with the guys

Need a Path

I've been coming across this theme that really speaks to me lately. One that I've considered many times before but haven't really known how to implement. It's the theme of forgetting ones self and serving others.

For a really long time now I've had this draw to help teens, in particular, learn how to write. I have been astounded by how many teenagers write and want to do it well. When I was a kid it was just my little brother and I who did any kind of writing for fun, and now teen writers are everywhere. I know of at least seven kids within a few blocks of me who write.

The problem has been, how do I reach them? Do I have workshops in my little community? Do I set up online critique groups? How do I do it?

So here I am coming to all of you for words of advice. What would you do? If you felt you had a calling to do something like this, how would you approach it--make it personal, but reach as many people as possible? I am completely open to suggestions, and if you are a teen looking for help, I'm especially interested in knowing what your needs are.

It's time to take this need to serve the youth and do something about it. I'm ready. I just need a path.

Blog Hop Flash Fiction Story

I'm a little late in the day getting this up. I apologize. One of those days, you know? Hope it's not too late! Anyway, here's my blog hop flash fiction for the challenge.

Fourth of July Surprise

Every year, ever since I can remember, we lay out on the roof of the garage to watch the fireworks on the fourth of July. The reds and greens merging with the purples and whistling whites are but a stocatto to the chest thumping booms that set off the car alarms throughout the neighborhood.

None of us could hardly wait to see what they came up with for the finale. Every year it was something new. We watched with baited breath as the show commenced, getting ever more complex and loud until the final series of non-stop explosions hammered at us until we felt flattened to the garage.

And that was when I heard it. A high pitched scream that at first sounded like a whistler rocket, but it didn't stop. The scream just went on and on. I looked at my brother and he looked at me, then we looked back at the sky just in time to see a man falling toward us, a huge parachute billowing behind him. The guy was dressed like he came from World War II, and when he thumped onto the roof and started to skid we grabbed him and held on tight. He squatted down and pulled a gun around to the front of him, looking at the sky with absolute terror. "Where are they? Where's my troop? Oh, my, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!"

Time travel in the midst of a fireworks show. Who would have thought? Best. Show. Ever!

Blog Hop Flash Fiction

Ali Cross is hosting a blog hop over at her blog and I signed up, partially because I absolutely adore Ali and it sounded like a fun idea, and partially because she asked us to write flash fiction. Now, most people don't know this about me, but I adore flash fiction. I was first introduced to it by a group of online writers called "Liberty Hall," of which Mary Robinette Kowall was a member of long before she became a famous author. (I probably spelled her name wrong. Sorry Mary!)

Anyway, what I love about flash fiction is that it forced me to stop thinking my way through a story and feel my way through it instead. It made me stop trying to fix the words and instead to slap as many on the page as possible. I think it's an excellent exercise for all writers, and it's a heck of a lot of fun! So, I signed up for the blog hop and will post my story on the 15th in hopes of winning Possession by Elayna Johnson. :D I already have Hazzardous Universe. lol But if not, at least I've had a chance to write again and participate with some lovely people. I hope you'll be one of them.

If you want to join us, go to Ali's blog above and sign up!

Poetry Challenge Extension

Hello my friends. I apologize for not addressing this sooner, but with the holidays and all, we had a distinct lack of submissions this time around, so I'm extending the Poetry Challenge for one more week. We'd love to have more participation and you've got some great choices for prompts. So, if you plan to participate, have your poems to me by Friday at midnight at poetrychallenge@hotmail.com. And remember, it's all in fun! Hope to have you join us!

Poetry Challenge #4

And it's time for another poetry challenge! I'm sorry I'm a day late getting this posted, but better late than not at all, right?

Just a quick reminder of the rules. Please don't share your poem with anyone until AFTER they vote, and that includes on your blogs. We want this to remain anonymous so it is fair for all involved.

Thank you so much to all of you who are participating. The more people we have, the more fun the challenge is. Now go read the prompt so you can get started! Poems are due to me no later than Friday night, midnight. Please e-mail them as an attachment to

poetrychallenge@hotmail.com

Flash Fiction Challenge #3 Winner!

I must admit I am late in posting our winner this week. Things kind of got ahead of me and I didn't just have a mental health day, I've had a mental health week! Craziness!

Anyway, we have a winner of the Flash Fiction Challenge and that would be . . .

Emlee M. for the story "GLOW!"

Congratulations, Emlee! So glad you were able to join us this round and hope you'll do so again!

Flash Fiction Challenge #3 Voting!

And the voting begins! As always, if you submitted a story, don't tell anyone which one is yours to keep it fair. Just click on the button next to the name of the story you like, and your vote is cast! Have fun!