Lauri Meyers .

Spring has sprung! (At least so says my tulips and the kids' Spring Break schedule.) To celebrate the season, Ciara O'Neal and Kaitlyn Sanchez are hosting the Spring Fling Kidlit challenge. Enter here.   The basics: Choose a kid-appropriate gif to inspire a 150-word of less story for kids 12 and under.  The Spring Fling contest officially begins on Saturday  April 1st  and closes April 3rd.  I was inspired by this gif of a whale mom and baby migrating, a journey that starts in April.  Aww! So cute! (Gif Link) Are We There Yet?  By Lauri C. Meyers   The ocean warms with spring. Gulls have taken wing.   The current’s pull is strong And hums migration’s song.   Mama whale conveys  The change of coming days,                      “Northern waters call!” But baby tries to stall.    I like this seaweed reef  That tickles me beneath.   ...

In life things aren't always exactly the way you want them. Like possibly one day your kids want to do "something fun" and you want to do "the four hundred things on your to-do list." When those situations arise, I try to find some sort of compromise. Perhaps this means the kids help move piles of rocks in the backyard and I give them wheelbarrow rides. Or we clean a closet and then play with the toys we found.  Maybe your husband wants to "hike up the side of a mountain so we can look down at the ground below" and you want to remind him you can see the ground right here without your thighs burning. So it begrudgingly agrees to a 2 mile walk with a waterfall (because I'm a sucker for a waterfall.) Friendship often means meeting halfway, too. This is the theme I chose for my 50 Precious Words Contest entry this year which won an HONORABLE MENTION FOR FRIENDSHIP! Yay! [Note: It's completely appropriate for you to tear up some paper and throw it i...

 February means being misled by a groundhog, tricked by the crocuses, and bamboozled by the weather. And that's before you add in general Valentine's uncertainty of whether He loves me or He loves me not. Of course, that would leave anyone feeling SKEPTICAL... which brings us to this year's Valentiny contest! The contest is hosted by Susanna Leonard Hill (who is author friends with a very nice groundhog who wouldn't mislead anyone) and the rules are:  write a  Valentines story appropriate for children  (children here defined as ages 12 and under)  maximum 214 words  in which  someone feels   skeptical !      Now I initially thought "skeptical" was a big feeling for little kids, but then I remembered my kids don't believe a single thing I say.            "Carrots are healthy"                              ...

Forget the trick-or-treating and candy and costumes and watching your jack-o-lantern slowly collapse into a gooey mess... Halloween means it's Halloweensie time!  This is my 11th year writing for this contest, and thanks to Susanna Leonard Hill it just gets more fun every year. If you want to play along, the rules are to write a story or poem for kids in 100 words or under about Halloween with this year's contest words (treat, slither, scare.) Entries must be posted in the comments of the contest blog post .  After we decorated the house for Halloween this year, I noticed the dog looking at the decorations (and us) like we were very weird. That inspired this story about the surprise the creatures of the house might feel when they creep out at night.  Here is my entry:  The House Creatures’ Halloween (100 words)   By Lauri C. Meyers   When night falls, the house creatures wake. But things look spookier. Mouse snuffles for crumbs, but… “Squeak!...

 One of the most beautiful parts of writing Kidlit is critiquing.      "Um, hearing why your story sucks doesn't sound beautiful," you say.  But that feedback, no matter how devastatingly true, even if it causes you to painfully rewrite a rhyming stanza or throw a character off a plane without a parachute, is critical to getting your story read.  And that's what we all want...our lovely story babies in the hands of others as smiles spread on their faces at the fun in our words.      "Remember that time they suggested your story about a tree was actually about the process of grieving and then you cried for like two days?" you say like a wickedly popular 17-year-old. That was amazing. A critique partner able to identify an emotion I didn't even realize I had infused into that story. Understanding my story's layers made writing a query letter easier too. The flipside is also true, a critiquer (just like any reader) may see a meaning be...

Well, my Spring was wild with school activities, my Summer frolicked with fun, and I've rolled right into back to school! Fall is always a productive season with lots of revisions to chew on and many contests to inspire new pieces.  One of those contests is Fall Frenzy hosted by Lydia Lukidis and Kaitlyn Sanchez. To join in, just pick one of the images from Lydia's site for inspiration and write a story in 200 words or less.  This picture gave me all the feels and inspired a little 200 word ditty about Cowboy Bob.  Halloween- Credit: Brian Wangenheim for Unsplash Cowboy Bob's Candy By Lauri C. Meyers Cowboy Bob hugged his candy. “I’m not sharing my sweet vittles with those rascally trick-or-treaters this year!”    “I’ll hand out beans!” Cowboy Bob laughed. But he loved his beans. “I’ll fill their bags with oats!” Cowboy Bob hop-skipped. But Horsiepoo needed her feed. Cowboy Bob slapped his knee. “I’ve got a gravy idea!” He got busy lickety-split spook...

It's snowing one day and hot the next, so it must be Spring! The Spring Fling Kidlit contest is open for entries through 4/3/22. This contest hosted by Ciara O'neal and Kaitlyn Sanchez is for stories under 150 words for kids under 12 inspired by a gif. You can enter here . (I don't know the original source for this meme... but thank you for breaking my brain mystery photographer) My entry is based on a gif that has been bothering me since I saw it last year...it exposes the truth of owls long legs. It's makes me laugh thinking about it! "Excuse Me" on Giphy Why Owls By Lauri C. Meyers   I know why owls have giant eyes: For super sight at night, Tapered tips on powered wings For stealthy gliding flight, Heads that swivel all around Extending what they hear With feathered ears to funnel sounds Of rodents creeping near, Offset ears triangulate The spot to grab the prey, Talons spread to stun a mouse And carry it away. Sharpened beak ...