Maria's Thoughts Con Cafe- Halloweensie Contest!🎃

It’s contest season again so that means it’s time for a new blog post! One of the best things I’ve done as a writer, is enter every writing contest that I could find. This has elevated my writing in so many ways and with every contest, I have seen new growth. In the last contest I participated in (Kidlit Vibes), I pushed myself to write a character using a theme I had never explored. This story has now turned into a character driven series with three polished PBs and ideas for four more. You never know what could happen!

Susanna Hill's contests hold a special place in my heart. The very first contest I ever entered was the Holiday Contest in 2022. This contest helped me make so many connections in the writing community, including some that turned into my future critique partners! I am so excited to be able to enter another Susanna Hill contest that I have never participated in, the Halloweensie Contest! Now on it's 13th year, this Halloweensie Contest challenged us to write a 100-word story with three target words: werewolf, superstitious, fright.

Since it was such a short word count, I thought this would be a fun time to explore rhyme! I’ve always shied away from it in the past. Not because I couldn’t figure out how to make words rhyme, but because I couldn’t figure out meter. It was like a foreign language to me. Luckily, one of my CPs is a meter expert and one of my agent siblings is a rhyme and meter pro! So, with their help, I was able to write my first rhyming poem as one of my Halloweensie entries. This one was an ode to Wednesday Addams who dislikes all cutesy things.

But I didn’t want to stop there! I was obsessed with a Halloween story I wrote for Little Thoughts Press magazine's Fantastical Fall edition. While it didn’t make the cut for the magazine, I still loved the story, and it already included werewolf and fright. So I just had to add superstitious… and cut about 300 words. But I did it, and I think it still worked!

I hope that if you haven’t taken the plunge yet, you challenge yourself by entering every contest that you come across. You never know what will lead to new connections or inspire ideas that could help you develop your next picture book. Thank you so much to Susanna Hill, and all of the members of the writing community for making this such a fun, happy and positive place to be a part of! Let me know if you wrote a Halloweensie story!

Mine can be read here or on Susanna Hill’s blog!

Woosh, and a Swoosh and a Gurgly Goop

by Maria Piñero Pope

(100 Words)

The time has arrived for what witches must do.

To stir up a fright with a Halloween Stew.

I’ve gathered some tails and the zombified juice.

I even plucked hair off a werewolf’s caboose.

But one thing is missing, call me superstitious.

One teaspoon of teardrops from children… delicious!

A woosh, and a swoosh and a gurgly goop.

A flash, and a splash and a flubbery floop!

I flicker my wand and then out comes the creature.

A colorful horn, its most fabulous feature!

I sit back and cackle and munch candy corn.

So ghastly!

So scary!

My pink CAT-A-CORN!

Werewolf, Monster and Witch

by Maria Piñero Pope

(100 Words)

Howling winds lifted leaves, carrying smoke from glowing jack-o-lanterns.

Three figures slipped in amongst costume-clad children.

Werewolf,

Monster,

and Witch.

“Are you readyyy?” sneered Witch, scanning the superstitious crowds.

“AWOOOOOOOO!!!”

“ROOOOOOOARRRR!!!”

“EEEE-HEEE-HEEE-HEEE-HEEE-HEEE!!!”

Alarmed faces screamed, dashing indoors.

A long crooked finger rang the doorbell.

DIIING-DOOONG!

“No point in resisting! Hand them over or we’ll get upset!” screeched Witch.

“You can’t have us!” yelled the children.

“YOU?! We want TREATS!”

“Oh! Why cause a fright?” they frowned. "Just say ‘Trick-or-Treat!’”

“Really? OOPS!!” cackled Witch as they mumbled sorry.

All ventured out to collect treats very nicely, especially…

Werewolf ,

Monster,

and Witch.