Lauri Meyers .

Forget the trick-or-treating and candy and costumes and watching your jack-o-lantern slowly collapse into a gooey mess... Halloween means it's Halloweensie time!  This is my 11th year writing for this contest, and thanks to Susanna Leonard Hill it just gets more fun every year. If you want to play along, the rules are to write a story or poem for kids in 100 words or under about Halloween with this year's contest words (treat, slither, scare.) Entries must be posted in the comments of the contest blog post .  After we decorated the house for Halloween this year, I noticed the dog looking at the decorations (and us) like we were very weird. That inspired this story about the surprise the creatures of the house might feel when they creep out at night.  Here is my entry:  The House Creatures’ Halloween (100 words)   By Lauri C. Meyers   When night falls, the house creatures wake. But things look spookier. Mouse snuffles for crumbs, but… “Squeak!...

 One of the most beautiful parts of writing Kidlit is critiquing.      "Um, hearing why your story sucks doesn't sound beautiful," you say.  But that feedback, no matter how devastatingly true, even if it causes you to painfully rewrite a rhyming stanza or throw a character off a plane without a parachute, is critical to getting your story read.  And that's what we all want...our lovely story babies in the hands of others as smiles spread on their faces at the fun in our words.      "Remember that time they suggested your story about a tree was actually about the process of grieving and then you cried for like two days?" you say like a wickedly popular 17-year-old. That was amazing. A critique partner able to identify an emotion I didn't even realize I had infused into that story. Understanding my story's layers made writing a query letter easier too. The flipside is also true, a critiquer (just like any reader) may see a meaning be...

Well, my Spring was wild with school activities, my Summer frolicked with fun, and I've rolled right into back to school! Fall is always a productive season with lots of revisions to chew on and many contests to inspire new pieces.  One of those contests is Fall Frenzy hosted by Lydia Lukidis and Kaitlyn Sanchez. To join in, just pick one of the images from Lydia's site for inspiration and write a story in 200 words or less.  This picture gave me all the feels and inspired a little 200 word ditty about Cowboy Bob.  Halloween- Credit: Brian Wangenheim for Unsplash Cowboy Bob's Candy By Lauri C. Meyers Cowboy Bob hugged his candy. “I’m not sharing my sweet vittles with those rascally trick-or-treaters this year!”    “I’ll hand out beans!” Cowboy Bob laughed. But he loved his beans. “I’ll fill their bags with oats!” Cowboy Bob hop-skipped. But Horsiepoo needed her feed. Cowboy Bob slapped his knee. “I’ve got a gravy idea!” He got busy lickety-split spook...

It's snowing one day and hot the next, so it must be Spring! The Spring Fling Kidlit contest is open for entries through 4/3/22. This contest hosted by Ciara O'neal and Kaitlyn Sanchez is for stories under 150 words for kids under 12 inspired by a gif. You can enter here . (I don't know the original source for this meme... but thank you for breaking my brain mystery photographer) My entry is based on a gif that has been bothering me since I saw it last year...it exposes the truth of owls long legs. It's makes me laugh thinking about it! "Excuse Me" on Giphy Why Owls By Lauri C. Meyers   I know why owls have giant eyes: For super sight at night, Tapered tips on powered wings For stealthy gliding flight, Heads that swivel all around Extending what they hear With feathered ears to funnel sounds Of rodents creeping near, Offset ears triangulate The spot to grab the prey, Talons spread to stun a mouse And carry it away. Sharpened beak ...

Vivian Kirkfield hosts an annual #50PreciousWords contest in March which challenges writers to pen a story under 50 words. Please read a few of the wonderful entries in the comments of her post.  I had one of those waking dreams where the muse floats in and prods you with a piece of poetry. She left me with the feeling that morning is so full of hope and possibilities for the day and also fraught with doubt and the weight of expectations. Each day we have to push through the challenges to bloom. Thought it is snowing outside my window, it's hard not to feel the power of Spring approaching.  Here is my entry in 45 words.    crocus in snow taken by Lauri 2017 Bloom By Lauri C. Meyers Sunshine warms my bed. Breaks my hibernation. Hope awakens. Rise. Peel away the covers. Stretch toward the sky. Dare to grow. Sprout. Shake in chilly breezes. Drip with springtime rain. Miss my bed. Pause. Sunshine smiles brightly. Robin calls, “It’s time!” Believe I can. Bloom. ...

      Ten years ago today I wrote my first blogpost. That day I claimed to be Committing to be a Writer.   Posting that on the interwebs for the whole wide world (or really a few writing friends and some spammers) to see must have done the trick, because here I am a decade later still grinding away at this keyboard. (Well, actually it's a new mechanical keyboard that makes a clicky sound like a typewriter, and I love it.) The question "Am I a writer?" still skips by on the sidewalk of my brain on occasion. But now I am wise enough to know the only proof I need is that my pencils have become dull again, so I must be a writer. So what does the next decade hold? Win a contest? Publish a poem in a magazine? Get an agent? Sell a picture book? I sure as sugar hope so , but that's for the stars to decide. All I can control is how many pencils I go through.  I hope it's a lot.  Happy Ten Years! Photo credit: Probably my Mom Giving knife to 3 year old credit: Pro...

Monday is Valentine's Day, and the best way to celebrate is writing a story for kids! Enter Susanna Hill's Valentiny contest. Stories must be 214 words or less, about Valentines Day, and about someone feeling proud .  Read all the great entries here.   **UPDATE! My Gummy Love won an Honorable Mention for the contest as a hole!** My Gummy Love By Lauri C Meyers 214 Words   Joey crafted a Valentine for Grammy and wrote, “I love you THIS much!” He added a gummy heart. But the gummy was little, and he loved Grammy a lot. Joey grabbed a pot and a box of cherry gelatin. He mixed it and poured out a big gummy heart. But he loved Grammy more than that. Joey grabbed a bigger pot and three boxes of cherry gelatin. He mixed it and poured out a bigger gummy heart. But he loved Grammy more than that. Joey grabbed the biggest pot and twenty boxes of cherry gelatin. He mixed it and poured out a gummy heart as big as the table. “I did it! Joey said. “That’s how much...

Update: Quiet as a Butterfly Fart won an Honorable Mention! Thank you Kailei for the fun contest. See the other winners here.  How fun is this? Kailei Pew is hosting a kids choice contest with 100 kid judges. Stories can be all kidlit ages, must be under 200 words and posted on her site by the day of twos... 2/2/22.  So I looked through some unfinished pieces to see if anything spoke to me for this contest. I needed a laugh, and kids need laughs so I give you Quiet as a Butterfly Fart . It's honestly nearly memoir, because me trying to tell quiet bedtime stories almost always devolved to an unfortunate word choice which failed to create sleepiness.  Did I throw Dad under the bus? Maybe. Does Mommy sometimes make body noises? No. Absolutely not. MOMMY IS A PERFECT LADY!   I hope you get a laugh and visit Kailei's site for more stories.  Quiet as a Butterfly Fart By Lauri C. Meyers Genre: PB Rest your sleepy head. Let your sweet dreams start. The n...

 A Year of Gratitude Julie Hedlund’s 12 Days of Christmas renewal process has been a great way to start the year. Even though I’ve done it several years, there are always new learnings. This year when I got to day 7, Practicing Gratitude, I realized the list of authors who had supported me this year was very lengthy. Very. Lengthy.   Thanks are in order! Susanna Hill – Thank you for your contests which get me writing fresh material and provide so many fabulous awards. Thank you for your Making Picture Book Magic class which I won and LOVED. I also won a PB critique from Rebecca Rector, who gives amazing critiques – thank you Rebecca! Marcie Colleen – Thank you for your Study Hall program and instilling in me the habit of Daily Intention. That month and your critiques pushed me to a new level. Thank you to my study hall colleagues Judy Sobanski, Lisa Perron, and Anne Reilly for the helpful critiques. (via free images, by kikashi) My “Fine Grind” support group for findi...