Giveaway!

I am hosting a giveaway to celebrate the upcoming release of my debut YA novel, The Best Week That Never Happened. I hope you will take two seconds to enter this contest because it could not be easier, and I have lots of fun prizes to send your way!

TO ENTER: Simply mark The Best Week That Never Happened as “Want to Read” in Goodreads. That’s it! 

Bonus entry: ⇓ share this giveaway on social media and tag me ⇓

• IG: @dallaswoodburnauthor 
• FB: @writerdallas 
• Twitter: @dallaswoodburn 

On December 31st, I’ll be randomly choosing 30+ winners for the following prizes:

Hand-carved wooden snowflake ornaments 

Why wooden snowflake ornaments? Here is a sneak-peek passage from The Best Week That Never Happened to explain how these beauties tie into the novel:

Crowded against the front window is a fake Christmas tree decorated top to bottom with wooden ornaments—“HAND-CRAFTED,” a sign proclaims. Trying to distract myself, I walk over and study the display. Some ornaments are smooth wooden globes, surprisingly light in my hand. Most of the globes are painted with images of Hawaii: surfers, dolphins, ocean waves.

My favorite ornaments are the wooden snowflakes, paper-thin, so delicately carved it is impossible to imagine an actual person crafting them. Maybe, despite the sign’s promise, these are machine produced. I take one in each hand and compare them. It’s clear they are different: one has six narrow points while the other is broader, like a starfish. Could it be possible each ornament is unique, like real snowflakes? That would definitely mean they are hand carved.

The bell jingles.  

I glance over.  

There he is. Kai. 

A few of my favorite YA books 

I wrote about some of these fantastic reads in my post for the “31 days of #quietYA” blog; others are perennial faves that I find myself returning to again and again. I will be giving away new copies of all of these books!

• Emerge by Tobie Easton 
• We Speak in Storms by Natalie Lund 
• All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven 
• When The Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore 
• Unclaimed Baggage by Jen Doll 
• Merged by Jim & Stephanie Kroepfl 

So what are you waiting for?? Enter and share with your friends!

TO ENTER: Simply mark The Best Week That Never Happened as “Want to Read” in Goodreads. That’s it! 

Bonus entry: ⇓ share this giveaway on social media and tag me ⇓

• IG: @dallaswoodburnauthor 
• FB: @writerdallas 
• Twitter: @dallaswoodburn

Winners of the Write On! Fiction & Poetry Prizes!

I am so proud to announce the winners of our Write On! Fiction and Poetry Prizes! This was a highly competitive submissions period and we received so many excellent pieces from young writers all around the world. It was a tough decision for our judges! Congratulations to all of our winners and many thanks to everyone who entered. It was a pleasure to read your work!

You can read a selection of the winning entries published on Word Smorgasbord literary journal.

More exciting news: the Write On! Youth Drama Prizes for short plays are currently underway! Learn more and submit your work here!

And now, without further ado...

Write On! Fiction Prize

Ages 12 & under

Gold: Suntali Donahue, “The Dream Portal”
Silver: Alex Zhong, “Hawk and Willow”
Bronze: Ada Sheeran, “Survivors”

Honorable Mention:

• Logan Chan, “The Fox and The Owl: A Tale of Cleverness” 
• Benjamin Webb, “The Three Little Figs: A Fairytale Adaptation"

Ages 13-18

Gold: Victoria Saltz, “Escape”
Silver: Anjali Zyla, “The Merry-Go-Round”
Bronze: Andrew Huang, “The Crash”

Honorable Mention:

• Sydney Anderson, “The Little Blue Dragon” 
• Aidan Chisholm, “Steps” 
• Vichar Lochan, “You” 
• Kanchan Naik, “To Mourn a Flower” 
• Daisy Wang, “Five Years Later: Bitter Is The Night”

Write On! Poetry Prize

Ages 12 & under

Gold: Macy Li, “One in a Million”
Silver: Elisabeth Baer, “Purple Moon”
Bronze: Samitha Nemirajaiah, “Whisper, Trees”

Honorable Mention:

• Rosalie Chiang, “Dear Mom” 
• Anika Johnson, “Take Care, Take Care” 
• Luca Pasquini, “I am from…” 

Ages 13-18

Gold: Cameron Moore, “Teach Your Kids to Swim”
Silver: Kanchan Naik, “Summer Angel”
Bronze: Cara Levicoff, “An Exposé on Time”

Honorable Mention:

• Marina Baker, “Growing Pains” 
• Michelle Bless, “Falling Down” 
• Sam Jacovitz, “Butterfly Effect” 
• Sameed Sayeed, “Tomorrow Never Came"

Congratulations again to all of our winners -- it is my extreme pleasure and delight to share your work with the world! And thank you again to everyone who entered our contest and opened your minds, hearts and imaginations to our judges. We hope you go forth and create more marvelous writing to share with the world!

"Write with passion. Write with love." -Ray Bradbury

Write On! Youth Fiction and Poetry Prizes

Ten years ago, I held the first Write On! Summer Writing Camp for young writers. In the years since: 

• Summer Writing Camp has expanded to two summer weekends with sessions in both the morning and afternoon. 
• I now also offer a Winter Writing Camp. 
• Dozens of students are enrolled in my yearlong Guided Mentorship program. 
• I have been honored to teach hundreds of young writers. 

Many of my students have gone on to publish their work and win writing contests; many have become editors for their high school newspapers and literary magazines; some have even gone on to study Creative Writing and Journalism in college! I am so proud of every single one of the young writers I have had the privilege to meet and teach in the past decade. All these years, one thing has remained the same: my belief in the magic of unleashing your creativity through writing.

Exciting news! In celebration of the 10th Annual Summer Writing Camp—held this year in Ventura, California, on August 15, 16, 19, and 20—I am holding the first ever Write On! Youth Fiction and Poetry Prizes for young writers ages 18 and under!

You can win prize money, books, a free coaching call with me… and you might even become a published writer! Read below for the rules and submission procedures. I can’t wait to read your work!

Prizes in all categories are: 

• First place: $50, a free 30-minute coaching call with me, a signed copy of my book of short stories 3 a.m., and publication of your work on Word Smorgasbord online literary magazine
• Second place: $25, a signed copy of 3 a.m., and publication of your work 
• Third place: a signed copy of 3 a.m. and publication of your work 
• Finalists: publication of your work 

Contest Rules: 

1. This contest is judged BLIND, which means no identifying information should be on your entry. You will submit your name, age and contact information through the submission form. If your name is included on your entry, it will be disqualified. 
2. Word limit: fiction should be 1,000 words or less. Poetry should be 2 pages or less. 
3. There is a $10 entry fee for each piece, or you can submit 3 entries for $25. This helps fund the prizes and the administration costs of Submittable. You also have the option to purchase a copy of Dancing With The Pen II: a collection of today’s best youth writing at the special discounted price of $15, rather than its cover price of $25. 
4. You may submit as many entries as you would like, as long as you pay the entry fee for each piece you submit. 
5. The contest deadline is midnight Pacific Standard Time on Sunday, August 20, 2017 (the final day of this year’s Summer Writing Camp). 

 –> Click here to submit your work now! <–

I can't wait to read your wonderful, beautiful, amazing, brilliant, scary, funny, thrilling, heart-wrenching, goosebump-inducing, magical, lovely stories and poems! :)

High School Film Competition

The Heartland High School Film Competition was established to encourage tomorrow's filmmakers to create films that explore the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for positive values of life and educate them about Heartland's mission.

The competition is open to all currently enrolled high school students who have not yet graduated. Film submissions will be judged on criteria similar to that of the Heartland Film Festival, including artistic excellence, technical merit and representation of Heartland's organizational values.

The 2010 High School Film Competition's theme is "hope." Click here for award details.

Submissions are being accepted now until May 15.

Four finalists and one Grand Prize winner will be awarded. Winners receive a cash prize, Heartland Film Festival tickets, recognition and much more!

Writer Advice Flash Fiction Contest

WriterAdvice is a wonderful resource for writers and a great supporter of Write On!

The editors seek flash fiction, memoir, and creative non-fiction that mesmerizes the reader in 750 words or less.

DEADLINE: April 15, 2010.

Entry fee: $10 per submission.

First prize: $150.

Former prizewinners are the judges.

You can find complete guidelines, mailing address, and prizes listed at www.writeradvice.com.

Annual "Let's Write!" Literary Contest Now Accepting Entries!

Contest opens -- January 15, 2010
Entries must be postmarked no later than -- April 15, 2010

All categories--Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction are open to all writers, published or unpublished. We will accept most genres, except pornography, erotica, graphic violence/horror, or anything racial or biased toward any religious or moral preference.

LITERARY RULES:

* Maximum entry length: 36 lines (poetry), 2500 words (fiction and non-fiction).
* All entries must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication during this competition, (this includes submissions to our Magnolia Quarterly Magazine) and submission must not have been a winner of a previous "Let's Write" Literary Contest.
* All entries must be typewritten, 12 pt. Times New Roman font, double-spaced, poetry may be single-spaced, on one side only of 81/2" x 11" white paper.
* For each entry, include a COVER PAGE. (See Cover Page requirements below)
* On each entry, put title only on the first page, then title and page # in the upper right hand corner of each additional page. Please put No Other identification on your entry.
* Keep your originals. Send only copies. Entries will not be returned. GCWA cannot be responsible for entries lost in the mail or damaged due to natural catastrophe.
* GCWA retains the rights to publish the winning entries in the Magnolia Quarterly and on the web site.
* Multiple entries in all categories are welcome and may be mailed in one envelope.

ENTRY FEE:
Include $8.00 for each Fiction or Nonfiction entry
Include $5.00 for each Poetry entry
Include $8.00 for each Photo entry

PRIZES (for each category):
First place: $80.00
Second place: $50.00
Third place: $20.00

Visit http://gcwriters.org/contest.html for more information and to enter online!