Maria's Thoughts Con Cafe- Holiday Contest! 🎅🏻🎄

It’s holiday season which means it’s time for Susanna Hill’s legendary Holiday Contest! This was the very first writing contest I entered last year and I have been hooked on contests ever since! Each time I decide to push the envelope a little bit more and inevitably learn something new about writing, myself, or both.

For this contest, I decided to write two short stories. The first is a story in rhyme for our younger audience. It features our beloved Olive from last year’s Olive the Accidental Villain. She’s naughtier than ever but this time there’s someone other than just Santa watching! This story was particularly challenging because I am still learning about rhyme and meter. Special thanks to Ryann Jones and Bri Lawyer for having the never ending patience to teach me! After many revisions, I think I have finally got it! (Can you hear the collective sigh from Bri and Ryann?!) In the end, I had a lot of fun with this one and I think fans of Olive will enjoy it!

My second entry started out as another story meant for a younger audience, but as it evolved, I couldn’t help but follow where it was taking me. I ended up writing this for the higher end of the audience, and I am now hoping to turn it into a middle grade novel. So once again, writing for these contest has taught me more than I ever expected. I’ve learned rhyme and I’ve discovered that I want to write in more than one genre! I’m very excited to see where this journey will lead me and cannot wait to start learning all about writing for middle grade.

Without further ado, here are my stories for this year’s holiday contest! Special thanks to my amazing CPs for always pushing me to make my stories better! Couldn't do it without you! Mine can be read here or on Susanna Hill’s blog!

Happy reading!