Writing Contests

It's a new year and our One Little Word is Faith.
So I want you to have Faith in yourself and your writing!


Here are some contests you may want to consider entering:

• Institute for Children's Literature is having a poetry contest enter here for details.
• WOW Women on Writing Quarterly contest is one of my favorites. It is inexpensive and you can pay a little extra to get feedback on contest entry.
• Another great contest to enter is the Writer's Weekly 24 hour contest. These are held every quarter and you are given a topic and have 24 hours to write and submit.

And last but not least, enter to win one of the two books I'm giving away!
See you next week,
Sheila

Every Thing That Makes You by Moriah McStay

Today I'm doing a book review on Moriah McStay's debut novel, Everything That Makes You. This is also one of the books I will be giving away this month. This is a Young Adult novel. Published by Harper Collins Publishers a Katherine Tegen Books.
Fiona
It was a terrible accident that left one side of her face horribly scarred. Fiona looks perfectly normal from one side of her face, but the other side she hides the best she can with her long, blond hair.
Being scarred, Fiona hides from other people and dreams of the life she could have had if the accident never happened. One day she and her parents have the opportunity to explore a skin transplant. The only problem is that someone will have to die to make her whole. Fiona doesn't know how she would feel wearing a dead persons skin. She can hardly wrap her mind around this medical miracle. She would be able to do more than dream about Trent, the boy she has had a crush on since the fourth grade.
Fiona turns to writing music and lyrics, but they are too personal to share with anyone. It would be like baring her soul to a complete stranger. Her best friend Lucy, encourages her to go for it. She gets a scholarship for music and meets another Memphian and they become more than friends. Jackson's brother, Marcus, died at a young age due to a bad heart. He wanted to live more than anything and donated his organs when he died. When Jackson finds out Fiona had a skin transplant about the time his brother died, he can no longer stand to look at her.


Fi
Fi has Trent in her life as her best friend. She is a superb Lacrosse player, but gets hurt in a game at a crucial time. She has to fight her way back to the team. Trent is by her side coaching and training her. While she is still hobbling around on crutches she falls in love with Marcus, a boy that is terminal. When he dies, her passion dies too. She loses interest in Lacrosse. Marcus made her promise that she would try out for the Lacrosse team At Northwestern. She agrees, but then backs out at the last minute. Marcus's brother, Jackson, resents the time Fi has with Marcus. After Marcus dies, Jackson and Fi console each other.
In the meantime, Trent wants to be more than friends.
This is a great read. Life is hard, but it is what makes us and Moriah did a very good job weaving these two stories together.


I'll be interviewing Moriah, so if you have a question for her please comment here. Also don't forget to enter the rafflecoptor for her book or the 2016 Children's Writer's and Illustrators Market Book.

2016 One Little Word

My mother, Vera Brazil and me in 1985 in California visiting my mom's sister Faye Redding
I have two friends that blog and each year they choose OLW(one little word) to define, inspire and guide them for the year. Irene Latham's OLW is DELIGHT. Visit her blog to read about all things that delight and are delightful
Patricia Weaver's OLW is INSPIRE. For inspiration throughout the year, visit her blog.


So what is my OLW for 2016? It is FAITH! Why? Because we have to have faith in our work to send it out to be read by others. There were other words I thought about like courage, perseverance or persistence, but I'm being sentimental today.
I said goodbye to Mom on December 28th. She had faith in her six children, but more important she had faith in GOD and shared this with us. Her sweet smile and laughter will be missed. Her joy in spite of a stroke that left her paralyzed on the right side, did not stop her from learning to write with her left hand and send out Birthday cards. She doubled up on reading God's word.
She loved reading my short essays and stories.
So for you Mom, this year is a year of Faith for me.

Please share your OLW or books you have been reading. What craft books would you like to see reviewed this year?

Don't forget to sign up in the rafflecoptor to win one of the two books for January's book giveaway.

See you next week when hopefully I will be less sentimental.

December Winners Are ...

And the winners of the December books are as follows:


The Odd Squad by Michael Fry is Shannon Minner! I have already heard from Shannon and this book will be on it's way to you soon.


The winner of A Writer's Reference by Diana Hacker is Sean! Sean please send me an email where to send your book. Sheila_renfro@cox. net


As a reminder of new books for this year, the first one is Everything That Makes you by Moriah McStay


Ant the second book I'll be giving away is the 2016 Children's Writer's & Illustrators by Writer's Digest.


What are you doing this year to move toward your writing goal?
I'm pursuing getting published. Wish me luck and see you next week!