Susanna Leonard Hill's 7th Annual Holiday Contest!!!

My brain had just barely returned to normal after the Halloweensie contest when the 7th Annual Holiday Contest was announced. I began brainstorming idea's and came up with nothing. After several glasses of eggnog and brandy, I came up with this story which is loosely based on actual events. I hope you enjoy it.

Santa in the Side Pocket245 words

Ah…Christmas Eve. The longest day in any present-loving kid’s life. One more obstacle to hurdle before Santa arrives with gifts.

My family went to my uncle’s house for Christmas Eve. The evening consisted of playing with cousins, dinner and the highlight of the evening: opening a few gifts.

I was greeted by the usual kaleidoscope of M & M’s. I grabbed a large handful and walked into the living room where I discovered a new piece of furniture… a pool table.

My cousins and I played pool all night long. I had so much fun that I wished I asked Santa for a pool table instead of LEGOs.

On the drive home, a bright streak in the sky caught my eye. SANTA!

“Can you bring me a pool table please, Santa?”

“I don’t think Santa will have time to fly all the way back up to the North Pole to get you a pool table, honey,” my mom responded.

I went to bed a little disheartened.

The morning sun hit my face and I sprang into gift opening mode.

I rounded the corner into the living room and…

KABLAMEY!

I ran smack into a kid-sized pool table.

“Thanks Santa!” I shouted. I unwrapped my other gifts so quickly that I had no idea what I received.

I played pool all day long until it was time for bed.

The next day, I woke up and played with LEGOs. I never touched the pool table again.

Thanks for reading. Check out the other great entries here.

Happy Holidays!

Vivian Kirkfield's Perfect Picture Book Friday

I'm honored to have The Bath of Least Resistance featured on Vivian Kirkfields Perfect Picture Book Friday. I'm so honored that I'm giving away a copy. Just leave a comment on her blog to be eligible to win.

And the winner's are....

Congratulations to the winner's in Susanna Leonard Hill's Halloweensie Contest! My story wasn't one of the top 15. But I did get an honorable mention for Great Kid Appeal. The results are posted here.

Time to vote...

...for your favorite story in Susanna Leonard Hill's 7th Annual Halloweensie contest. As always, there are many great stories to choose from. 

https://susannahill.com/2017/11/13/the-2017-halloweensie-contest-finalists-at-long-last/

Goodreads giveaway stats

My Goodreads giveaway for 3 copies of The Bath of Least Resistance ended early Sunday morning after running for a week. 1286 people entered and 461 of them marked it as to-read. Congratulations to the winners. The books will be in the mail Wednesday this week.

The 7th Annual Halloweensie Contest

It's that time of year again... time for pumpkin lattes! But the thing I look forward to the most this time of year is Susanna Leonard Hill's Halloweensie contest. This is the 7th year for the contest and my 3rd time entering.  

The Contest: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (children here defined as 12 and under) (title not included in the 100 words), using the words candy corn, monster, and shadow. (Candy corn will be counted as 1 word.)  

I got out my thinking cap, added dust and cobwebs, and came up with the following story. I hope you enjoy it. 

Killer Candy Corn Costume

80 words
(78 with candy corn as 1 word) 

King sized pillow case? Check! 
Flash Light? Check! 
Monster costume? Check! 
I’m all set to trick or treat! 
First block done. I’m a little hungry. I’d better eat some candy. 
My whole pillow case is filled with candy corns. My favorite! I could eat them all day long. 
What’s this large shadow looming over me? 
Oh a candy corn costume. 
“Nice costume kid. That’s my favorite candy.” 
Oh cool! The mouth opens really wide. 
YOMP! 
“Humans, my favorite candy. BURP!”

Check out the other great entries into the contest here. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy Halloween!

The Bath of Least Resistance Goodreads Giveaway

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Bath of Least Resistance

by Gregory E. Bray

Giveaway ends October 28, 2017.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Great Valley Bookfest

This past weekend I spent a very short time at the MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing booth at the Great Valley Bookfest. I didn't get to sign any books. But I did have this special visitor drop in while there.

2017 Orange County Children's Book Festival

Sadly I couldn't attend the Orange County Children's Book Festival. But thanks to my publisher, my book did.

Awesomegang Interview

There's a quick short interview with me here. Thanks to everyone at awesomegang for the interview opportunity.

Book birthday!

Today is the day! My latest book, THE BATH oF LEAST RESISTANCE, is out today! You can find a copy at the following websites:

https://www.amazon.com/Bath-Least-Resistance-Gregory-Bray/dp/1365861244/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1504628293&sr=8-3&keywords=the+bath+of+least+resistance

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bath-of-least-resistance-gregory-bray/1127048784?ean=9781365861246

http://mcpstore.biz/coming-soon-pre-orders/19-the-bath-of-least-resistance/

NaPiBoWriWee? That's a mouthful!

I just found out about National Picture Book Writing Week and decided to partake in the challenge. It's the third day and I have one and a half stories written. It will be hard to write seven stories in seven days. But I'll see what I can come up with. More information here: http://napibowriwee.com/

50 Precious Words Winners!

Vivian has announced the winners of her 50 Precious Words writing contest. Out of 251 entries, I came in 32. You can see all the great stories here.

2nd Annual #50PRECIOUSWORDS Writing Challenge - Meowcus Welby, D.V.M.

Vivian Kirkfield has brought back her 50 Precious Words writing challenge, and boy is it a challenge! The rules are as follows: Write a story appropriate for kids ages 12 or under, using only 50 words…they can all be different words, or you can use some of them over and over…just as long as the total word count of the story is 50 or less. The title does not count towards the word limit. When I heard about this year's contest, I just happen to see a picture of a cat dressed as a doctor immediately afterwards. From there, this little story came to life. I hope you enjoy it.

Meowcus Welby, D.V.M.
(47 words)

“Mr. Furrypants, I have the results of your cat scan and it shows hairballs in your tummy.”

“You’ve got to be kitten me, Doc. What can I do?”

“I’ll give you a purrscription for catnip.”

“Will I need to see a purrgeon?”

“No. You’ll be feline.”

“Pawsome!”

Check out the other great 50 Precious Word entries here.

Voting has begun....

The stories are great and it was hard for me to choose one. Check out all the great Valentiny stories here and vote for your favorite.

The 2nd Annual Valentiny Writing Contest!!!

Susanna Leonard Hill is back with her 2nd Annual Valentiny Writing Contest. This time the story must be a maximum 214 words in which someone is confused. Below is my entry. I hope you enjoy it.

The Little Brown-Haired Pig-Tailed Girl
197 words

Charlie Brown had his little red-haired girl and Eddie had his little brown-haired pig-tailed girl.

They met almost every day on their walk home from school. They would walk and talk until they reached her house. Yet Eddie never asked her name.

He had become quite fond of her. Today he would ask her to be his Valentine and learn her name.

He walked up to her door with flowers and a heart shaped box full of candy in hand. He took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell. “Ding dang dong,” it chimed.

His heart pounded in his chest in sync with the footsteps that rapidly approached the door.

The door swung open to reveal the little brown-haired pig-tailed girl and her twin sister. Or vice versa.

Confused, he reached out with the candy and flowers and asked with a crack in his voice, “Will you be my Valentine?”

The girls smiled and responded in unison, “Yes!”

His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped.

The girls took the flowers and candy and giggled as they closed the door.

Eddie trudged home both happy and puzzled. He still didn’t know the little brown-haired pig-tailed girls name.

The Storystorm has passed.

It's over. I got 31 ideas in 30 days with 1 idea about 1/2 way written. Thanks to Tara Lazar for helping out the writing community.

Journey Into Blog Contest Winners Announced

I'm a little late getting to this but my story Journey Into Gopher Madness from this post came in 3rd in the 2016 Journey Into Blog writing contest. The official announcement is here, you can skip to 4:30 to hear my name announced. The story will be read on his blog in the future, I'll post the link as soon as I have it.

Happy New Year!

I know I'm late wishing everyone a happy new year as we are now a few days into the new year. But at least I'm not a month late. ;) STORYSTORM month has begun! It was Picture Book Idea Month but has been expanded and renamed to incorporate more genre's. More info here.