Starting this website has been an obstacle I have been avoiding for a very long time. But here we are – and for my first post I think it’s a good idea to start off with bang!
So I recently was up in Canada for six, yes six weeks….for some immigration related business. So there I am sitting in my mother’s living room where I grew up, way past my adult bedtime and starting to think about Susanna Hill Leonard’s Halloweensie contest.
This contest is no joke. As a beginner I wasn’t even going to bother to try; 100 words with specific halloween themed words! On top of that, everything I write is in rhyme (my fav is anapestic tetrameter, but I’m becoming fond of trochees too!). This year the words were cobweb, trick and potion.
But sitting there in the almost dark, it hit me – whatever I write will be in Transylvanian slang aka vampire accent. And within an hour, I had written my first draft of Vampire Stains. With some love from my critique partners, it was edited and submitted for the contest.
Here is the entry:
Vampire Stains
Curses! No! It can’t be so!
I need to get to my chateau!
Zis cloak is now adorned with stains
From zees night’s many spurting veins.
Vhere’s my blood removal lotion?
Bleh! I vill just make a potion.
To rid ze blood, resume abductions,
Follow zees precise instructions:
Curls of cobwebs, vings of bats
Vort of toad and tails of cats.
Zen a scoop of Oxyclean
To look my best on Halloveen.
Ah-ha! That vorked! A vondrous trick!
Now back to hunting very quick.
Bleh! I’m shiny as a spark!
I’m much too clean; glow-in-ze-dark!
I received so much support and positive comments (I LOVE THIS COMMUNITY!) and I made it into the top 12! I could not believe it!
Then it was up to the voters to decide who won and I really couldn’t believe it – I won the contest!
I won a pass the slush pile with Blue Whale Press which I am looking forward to hearing back from!
I’ve been on cloud nine ever since these results came through…I’m feeling the momentum, I’m feeling positive…now to start my 2020 goal of querying agents.
Wish me luck!
Jocelyn Watkinson 