March Madness?
Yes, it is the time of year for that kind of March Madness, college basketball…and boy do I love college basketball! I’ve already filled out my brackets…with Virginia winning the whole shebang! While it’s true I’ll be glued to the television watching all of the barn burners and buzzer beaters, there is a different kind of March Madness that has my attention as well!
Yep, I’ve done it again! I’ve written a children’s story for another of Susanna Leonard Hill’s writing Contests! She calls it March Madness! It’s a fantastic writing contest, you’ll remember my entry NOEL from the Holiday contest (I won best entry for a first time author), and this time around the theme is Fractured Fairy Tales!
Why keep entering these Competitions?
Well they are fun first of all, and secondly, they are way out of my comfort zone! I usually write about ideas that float around in my head and I have plenty of time to mull them over, make changes, rewrite etc. With these competitions I am given a general idea and time frame, which is a true challenge, and then I must hit the submit button….always nerve-racking! Moving outside of your comfort zone is supposed to be good for you right? Not sure it’s good for my diet though, I anxiously ate my way through a box of brown sugar Pop Tarts…don’t judge! Thirdly, receiving feedback on anything I’ve written, I feel, is extremely beneficial for my writing career, and from my past experience the feedback from other writers and readers has been terrific! The fact that one of the prizes is a critique by a well known literary agent isn’t bad either!
So…..
What to write, what to write?
I first thought of The Prince and the Peanut….it was a good story, but not quite right.
Then I thought of Little Miss Muffet sitting on a cactus eating her warm sopapilla….. I really like this idea and might just turn this one into a manuscript for another time.
So what would I write for THIS contest?
Why not combine several Fairy Tales into one? Fairy Tale Land is just that…a Fairy Tale, make-believe, so anything goes right?
Want to read what I came up with?
Alrighty then….
Here ya go….
Hope you enjoy it!
My entry is for a Children’s Picture Book, (270 Word Count).
MARY, GEORGIE, AND THE LOST FLOWERS
(The Never Before Heard Tale Of Fairy-Tale Land’s Most Colorful Couple!)
Mary, Mary quite contrary planted a garden of flowers galore,
She watered, she sang, (but was it all in vain?), for today the flowers were no more.
Simple Simon tried to cheer her up by bringing Mary a pie,
In between bites of scrumptious cherry, Mary wondered where the flowers went and why?
Polly put the kettle on and offered Mary tea,
As Mary sipped she thought very hard, about where those flowers might be.
Jack and Jill offered their help and looked around the well,
But all they found were rocks and stones, and one sadly broken pail.
The little Crooked Man and his little crooked cat,
Promised to help with Mary’s search, and find just where those blooms were at!
Trying to cheer up Mary, said little Boy Blue upon blowing his horn, “let’s go round the Mulberry Bush!” to a Mary quite forlorn.
Little Bo Peep knew very well, just how Mary was feeling,
She gave her advice then promptly fetched, her sheep that clung to the ceiling!
Sitting up high on the tall stone wall, a balancing Humpty could see,
That Mary would soon be happy again, and find herself filled with glee!
It was then Georgie Porgie professed his love for Mary, and to her he would devote,
Declaring from a most familiar, blooming flower covered float!
Mary feeling most relieved, her flowers they were found,
Thought a bit and decided, Mary Porgie was a most remarkable sound!
Together newfangled gardens they would plant, standing hand in hand,
And that’s just how Mary and Georgie, became the finest flower gardeners, in all of Fairy-Tell Land!
THE END
If you’re so inclined, click on the comment tab and let me know what you think! I love feedback! Also, be sure to head over to Susanna’s blog at http://susannahill.blogspot.com/ to read all of the entries. Susanna will narrow it down to 5 or so finalists and then YOU, the readers, vote on your favorites! Voting will begin on Thursday March 27-March 30th. Winners will be announced on Monday March 31st! Wish me luck!
this little birdie 
I loved how you brought all those wonderful characters into your story – nice job!
Thanks for reading Pat!
Wow, Angie! You wove all kinds of nursery rhymes together for that one and so cleverly! I love that Georgie had gathered the flowers to profess his love and that he and Mary ended up living happily ever after surrounded by blooms 🙂 Very fun! Thanks so much for joining in the madness, and good luck with your team for the other madness. (P.S. Brown sugar pop tarts are my favorite :))
Thanks so much for hosting these competitions Susanna! Great fun and great people…March Madness is simply wonderful!
Thanks to Susanna, I found the comment link! lol. I was so impressed with your story, Angie. Very, very clever. Great job!
I’m glad you found it Cheryl! Thanks again for your praises! 🙂
What a fun story. Great combinations. And you really stumped me about where the flowers had gone!
Thanks for reading Joanne!
I am always impressed by those who can rhyme. Fun story!
Thanks for stopping by Wendy!
The gang’s all here!! I like the style of intro to the different characters.
And Fairy-Tell land… that’s just awesome!
Thanks for the kind words Erika!
I loved how you interweaved all those nursery rhymes together. Very fun to read!
Thank You Linda!
This was a lot of fun, Angie! And a lot of work getting all those nursery rhyme characters in there so that it made a story. Great job…I love to write in rhyme…but it’s darn hard to get it to cooperate, right? And yours in pretty darn good.:)
I’m glad you liked it Vivian! I don’t normally write in rhyme, but for some reason this just felt right! Thanks for reading and commenting!
It was fun to read and fun to finally find out where Mary’s flowers had disappeared to. I hope she won’t be so contrary as Mrs. Porgie!
Thanks for reading Juliana!
I like how you were able to incorporate all of the nursery rhyme characters so seamlessly. And I admire anyone that can write in rhyme.
Thank You Alena! It was fun to write!
It is fun to incorporate lots of nursery characters into a story. I can see you had a lot of fun playing around with this. good job
I did enjoy writing this one! Thanks for reading!
I love the image of a “blooming flower float”. : )
I think I could be wooed by a blooming flower covered float! Thanks for reading Elliah!
I love how you managed such a cool story arc combining so many tales together!
Thank You Joanna!
I’m picturing Mary and Georgie getting married atop their float as it glides through the Rose Bowl parade.
HaHa! That would be a hoot! Thanks for reading Laura!
Thanks for the fun read. I enjoyed your cleverness. AND…I was happy to see that somebody finally got Georgie to settle down. Great story. Thanks for writing it. 😀
Thank You for reading Jackie! I suppose Georgie just hadn’t found the right girl until Mary! 🙂
Awesome! I love your rhyme! 🙂
Glad you liked it! Your entry is fantastic..very fun read! Thanks for stopping by!
Love me some mashup fun! 😉