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Sunday, March 14, 2010

The BASKET OF LUCK Contest


BASKET OF LUCK is the one on the right.

Isn't it pretty?

I won it from Jackee's site and it was filled with wonderful things.

But then good things started happening to me, the best being that an agent loved my book. And I had to come to the realization that it was because of the basket.

It is a lucky basket.

I should keep it, right? I mean, so it could continue to bring me luck?

No way!!

(Don't your read your folktales? Don't you know what happens when you try to hold on to that which you SHOULD pass on? I'll tell you what happens. The Evil Twist is what happens. Like if you wish that someone would love your manuscript and they love your manuscript...they love to line their bird cage with it!)

So, before the faeries think I am being greedy and all with the lucky basket, I shall fill it and pass it on.

HOWEVER,

since it is currently in my possession, I get to make the rules about who gets it, which are as follows:

1. You must have a blog to enter (see rule 2)

2. By entering, you agree to fill the basket and eventually pass the luck on to another blogger.

3. Inside the basket there will be various cool stuffs (including a dragon finger puppet, just so you know...it may or may not contain delicious, yummy things..) AND 2 of my books. Only 1 is for you. The other must be given to....

4. A teacher! Yes, you must give one of my books to a teacher. Which brings us to how you win.....

To win, you must leave (in the comments, of course) the reason why the teacher you are thinking of is worthy. How fabulous are they? What do they do that is so awesome they should win a signed book?

Okay....so I'm controlling. But the BASKET OF LUCK is worth it.

Contest closes March 17th. If there is a tie, I will use the sugar bowl of despair to break it. The decision of the sugar bowl of despair is final and binding.

hrh

15 comments:

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Oh, no, not the sugar bowl of dispair!
I drool--delicately, of course--thinking of your Basket of Luck.
You so deserved it and used it most well, indeed!
And to think you picked March 17 for some lucky duck to find a little luck. This is a contest shimmering with good fortune.
#1: Done
#2: I promise
#3: A dragon puppet! A dragon puppet! One of my novels has a most awesome dragon. Storyqueen books! Yay!
#4: A teacher! Yes, I know a teacher who loves her kids despite their wavering attention spans. She brings them writers, who show them how to tell stories. One time they put the students' stories into a compilation to take home. She reads them many books and talks about the stories. She writes her own tales and belongs to SCBWI. She has an awesome red ponytail, can cook an Italian Feast of Seven Fishes and she's in my crit group!

Wendy Sparrow said...

Wow... I'm so glad that I caught this on my blog roll.

That is awesome that an agent loved your book. The contest aside... luck is always to be celebrated. That's fantastic.

I think your recognition of wonderful teachers is awesome too. With two Special Needs children... the role of teachers and all educators is doubly important in our lives. Each moment is twice as valuable. It's been a struggle to find teachers with the right balance for my daughter. She's had great teachers who weren't great teachers for her. In fact, my daughter's current teacher isn't right for her... even though she is wonderful.

My son's teacher this year, though... is perfect for him and perfect for me. I've been able to explain his violent episodes at home from overworking his sensory system, and she understands that he isn't a bad kid, and she is trying to minimize the impact on his system at school. She is helping us with modifications to his school environment whenever needed. She "gets" him... and it's wonderful.

Anyway... with all the stress we've had lately at home, I've been especially grateful for my son's teacher these last few weeks. The right teachers... change lives.

Congrats again on all your wonderful luck.

Jackee said...

I can't tell you how happy I am that the basket has been put to such a wonderful use.

I'll bow out because the basket has already crossed my hands, though. The luck dust is already gracing my life.

Hayley Lovell said...

Wow, okay well
#1, done,
#2, Swear I will,
#3, dragons, I love dragons!
#4, I know the perfect person. So she is worthy of this because to this day she is the BEST teacher I have ever had. Without her I would have no love of reading, no love of writing and no drive. She's a great teacher, I've never met one of her students who didn't love her and who weren't changed by her teaching style. For me when I started her class I couldn't read, simple sentences were a struggle and I couldn't have cared less about reading or writing. But she got me to fall in love with reading, and writing, by the end of the year I'd won the highest writing honor at my school and was awaiting the fourth Harry Potter book. Her ciriculum involves each student writing their own poetry notebooks, at least one poem a week, and she reads to her class every day. They also write a lot of creative writing prompts. All and all to this day, in my junior year of high school, she is still the best teacher I've ever had.

Dawn Simon said...

Congrats on having an agent love your book! That's huge! I hope the interest leads to more good stuff in your future! (The bird cage/folktales comment cracked me up, btw.)

I want to enter and have good luck, too!

1. Yep, have the blog.
2. I promise.
3. Great stuff!
4. The teacher I would give the book to teaches second grade. She taught both my kids, and I was her room mom one year. She loved penguins before penguins were "in", just like my son, so we knew it was going to be a magical year when he got her. She does an amazing job with her students. Why is she worthy? Because she gives so much of herself to the kids year after year, and she makes school a fun place to be. She understands kids and is great at teaching them. My kids loved her and still remember her fondly. In fact, she always says hi and asks about them when I bump into her. :)

I think it's awesome that you're passing the lucky basket and your books. Even if you don't pick me/my selected teacher, some deserving teacher will get a really special surprise--and that's so cool. Yay, Shelley! :)

PJ Hoover said...

I love the basket of luck idea! it's beyond awesome! Even if I don't win, I may steal the idea. In fact, I will.
I would give the book to my daughter's teacher next year when she enters Kindergarten because my daughter is going to have to sweeten her up :)

Jessie Oliveros said...

My mom is a special education teacher for inner city kids. She is always reminding us that it is after losing yourself in service that you truly can forget your own problems.

Sherrie Petersen said...

What a great idea, Shelley!

Well, you know my blog very well, I love passing things on to other bloggers, I love dragons (and yummy things to eat!) and I have a teacher in mind...the kindergarten teacher at Ballard. Both my kids had her and she is still their favorite teacher ever.

Mrs. Carlson teaches her students so much, but they have so much fun learning that they are willing to do anything for her. Each child graduates knowing how to read, write complete sentences and do basic math. They work in the garden, learn to be respectful of each other and put on a play each year. But she also likes to have fun. On St. Patrick's Day she goes to the house of every student and leaves gold chocolate, green footprints and shamrocks for the kids to find. Every child at Ballard thinks we really have leprechauns living in this valley! She is just wonderful.

Myrna Foster said...

" . . .they love to line their bird cage with it!" LOL!

I would give your book to a second grade teacher. My son has really struggled with getting his work done in class until this year. Last year, we spent hours doing homework after school almost every day. His teacher this year has changed all of that. Instead of being frustrated with his short attention span, she's given him cute little award certificates every time he completes his work in class. He very rarely brings home work now. She doesn't believe in assigning extra homework because she thinks it's more important that the spend time reading. She also lets him choose what he wants to read instead of making that choice for him, and his reading has improved so much! Her big emphasis is poetry (which he loves), and he's memorized over fifty poems this year. This has been great for his self-esteem. She even had a children's poet come in to talk to the the class and answer their questions.

Okay, now I'm thinking I need to give her some kind of thank you gift whether or not I win. :)

Thanks, Shelley!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

I would give it to a first grade teacher - she was my son's teacher last year and will be my daughter's teacher next year. This woman is the best I have ever seen, and since I am a teacher myself, I've seen a lot. In fact, I have nominated her for the reading teacher of the year award at next fall's Northwest Montana Conference.

My son was over 1/2 a year below his reading level last year and hated the idea of reading. Mrs. Miller worked with him all year, relentlessly trying to help him discover the fun of books and the joy of being a "reader". By the end of the year, Scott hit EVERY benchmark and had above average fluency! Mrs. Miller is AMAZING!

(and she loves to read aloud to her classes) Ha ha. :-)

Casey Something said...

I have a friend who teaches inner-city kids that's pretty amazing, but I'm going to go ahead and sit out of the contest. I've had quite a bit of luck lately and I'd hate for Lady Luck to think I'm bringing greedy, too. Good LUCK to everyone else!!!!

Elana Johnson said...

Very cool! I'm all in on this luck thing. And I would give the book to a teacher at my school. They are amazing. I would choose Mrs. Scott, because she's just made of win and has a hard class this year and loves them anyway.

Stasia said...

Just discovered your delightful blog. And who wouldn't enjoy winning and then sharing a basket of luck?
I would deliver your book to one Ms. Schoenack, who currently teaches my third-grader and who, several years back, taught another son in fourth grade after he'd had a rough third grade year. The great thing about this teacher is the way she tries to meet each child at his or her level of ability and interest, be they shy and anxious or a passionate learner who wants to write all day, and then helps them move forward. Her enthusiasm for teaching and for trying new things (like letting me run a literary magazine in her classroom), and her support of the kids outside the class (I see her at school plays and sporting events) makes her very special.

Unknown said...

'Tis too late to join, but this post was just fantabulous. I love the idea of passing something on from contest to contest.

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh the baskets are so awesome!!! I'm participating in her May Scramble Challenge and now I have even more motivation to continue up with my progress!!! I think I would certainly make her proud!!!!