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This week's prompt asked us to choose a main character, a secondary character, and an emotion. I chose Maisie, a babysitter, and betrayal. Date Night Betrayal Dad jabbered all day about the fun night ahead.
Then I caught the scent of betrayal: Mom’s perfume. Date night equals fun for my parents, and a new babysitter for me.
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The fifth week of the Mix and Match challenge was all about concept books and setting! I chose to write a piece set in the city using "location" as a concept--up/down, over/under, etc. The actual story has been on my idea list for a long time, ever since I didn't properly set the brake on our double stroller when walking away from it for a moment. We very nearly had a... Runaway Stroller! Baby and Mommy are out for a walk,
Rocking and rolling til Mom stops to talk. Babe sees his chance and pulls out his controller. Lookout, everybody! A… RUNAWAY STROLLER! ------------end excerpt------------------ I took a break from illustrating my Mix and Match challenge entries to take part in the #SunWriteFun contest. You can check out all the details and other entries here. The challenge: Write a non-fiction of informational fiction piece centered around the theme of "sports(-)ship". Word Limit: 200 words I had an entry all ready about how Pickleball got its name, but when I went to post it, I saw that someone else had already submitted an entry about the same story. So I decided to write something new. Two topics near and dear to my heart instantly came to mind. 1) Volleyball. I've played since I was in 5th grade, and my husband John and I met in a league here in Seattle. 2) Epilepsy. Our son Leo has a form of epilepsy called Doose Syndrome. He's doing well on medication, luckily, but I'd love to see more epileptic characters represented in the kid lit world. So I thought: maybe there was some famous volleyball player who has epilepsy? Imagine my surprise when I saw that there is a volleyball tournament that raises funds for epilepsy research. Oh, and it's played in the mud. Ding-ding-ding! We had a winning topic. Since my niece Opal has been spending a lot of time with us this summer, I decided to have her take a starring role in my entry, along with Leo (of course). Here it is, along with a quick Procreate illustration I did.  Mud Angels199 words
The Dirty Thirty Mud Volleyball for Epilepsy tournament was about to begin. All 35 courts were ready: nets stretched tight, boundary lines marked, field freshly flooded. Opal watched from the sideline: ponytail braided, shoes duct taped to feet, nails freshly purpled to match her event t-shirt. She was finally old enough to play, but wasn’t going out there until absolutely necessary. ---------end excerpt----------- The Mix & Match Week 4 challenge: tell a story based on a classic kids' song, adding a lesson from a given list. My song: The Bear Went Over the Mountain My theme: of 'Even when you're bad, you're still loved'  Bear's Fresh Start100 words
------ Sob. I blew it. I ate Rabbit’s strawberries. “Bear!!!” Hey, hunger called. Stomped through Fox’s ceiling. “Help!!” Ooops. I’m a growing bear! And left a pile of you-know-what under Bluebird’s tree. “P. U!” When you gotta go, you gotta go. So over the mountain I go. What will I see? New friends. Or maybe no one at all to annoy. A fresh start! Sniffle. Just a few... more.... steps! And I see.... Rabbit! “Where are you off to, Bear?” Fox! “You weren’t leaving without us, were you?” Bluebird! “It’s beautiful here!” It is, isn’t it? Sigh. A fresh start...together. The Week Three mix and match challenge was a fun one--we were given a picture prompt of a sad-looking rabbit being approached by two squirrels carrying acorns. Then we had to choose three words from a list provided. And finally, one of the characters had to have a secret. Here is my entry (which I finally kept to 100 words!) And, below, you'll see that I turned the whole story into my very first comic strip! Rabbit'th Thee-cret (Rabbit's Secret) “Rabbit!” called Tilly. “Happy spring potluck day! Rabbit smiled, tight-lipped. “Hmm-hmmph." “Cucumber? Carrots? Hummus?” Taffy offered. “Eat, eat!” -------------end excerpt------------   Week 2 of the Mix and Match challenge was the hardest for me: write a story with cumulative structure. (You know--'The House that Jack Built' or 'There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...') Check out Susanna L. Hill's post for all the details of the Week 2 Challenge, and read through the other entries in the comments. Here's my entry and illustration! The Hungriest Python The hungriest python turned into a boat
to capture some lunch down his long winding throat. I hope he’ll float! He called to a bee, “Come sailing with me! There’s a valley of flowers across the wide sea.” He swallowed the bee down his long winding throat. I hope he’ll float! --------end excerpt----------- Starting in May, I participated in a seven-week writing challenge hosted by Susanna Leonard Hill, author of many picture books such as Moon's First Friends and Can't Sleep Without Sheep. Each week, she posted a selection of writing prompts and challenged writers to craft a 100-word story. Those who completed all seven weeks were entered into a prize drawing. I managed to complete all seven weeks' prompts, and won a set of story brainstorming cards in the process. Since I also have a new iPad and am learning to use Procreate for illustrations, I thought I'd start my own personal challenge: Make an illustration for each of my seven entries, and post them here! Week One: Character Needs. We were given several characters, a list of needs, and a list of random objects to work into our stories. (I chose 'Henry' 'hug' and 'hockey stick'.) Here's a snippet, and the illustration I created! Henry Needs Some Luck
Martha's BEESiness Trip
140 words
Mud Bath Aftermath 47 words Storm is stopping. Puddle hopping! Splishy, sploshy Oozy, squashy. --------end excerpt---------
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