Contest for Middle Grade and YA

Note: This contest is now closed.

Calling all writer friends. If you have a complete book-length middle grade or YA manuscript written, I have some exciting news. I read about the “Dear Lucky Agent” Contest on the Guide to Literary Agents blog. You can check out all the details here.

I am entering a YA submission. It is my first contest, and it looks like a good one. The GLA blog has articles covering a range of topics and interviews with people in the writing business.

Open Spaces and Hiding Places

One of my favorite pastimes is taking a photo walk. My husband and I will steal away on a Saturday afternoon to see what kind of exciting sites there are waiting to be encapsulated and deposited into our memory banks. Whether revisiting our regular spots or traveling to a new place, there is always something to discover.

A few weeks ago we went to our city’s botanical gardens. I took lots of pictures of what I call the winter hush. The bare forest looked like a minimalist masterpiece. Long lines drew my eye up to a twiggy canopy painted across a blue-gray canvas.

As the sun peeked out from behind the clouds highlighting patterns in the tree bark, I thought of Tudor houses and diamond leaded glass windows. The once overlooked and overgrown was on display, everything made beautiful in its time.

I followed a sound up a stone path to an area dense with fallen leaves. The closer I got the more rustling I heard, like someone or something could see me coming and wanted to keep a close distance. My eyes finally focused in on a group of doves sitting quietly on the ground. I had never seen anything like it.

My husband and I watched motionless as they moved further away from us. They were well camouflaged, but I managed to count about thirteen before they disappeared under a bush.

When I went home I did some research to see why they clustered together like that. I found out they were Mourning Doves and were either foraging or nesting. Once again the photo walk revealed something new and added another page to my story.