Winners of the REACH FOR YOUR DREAMS Contest!

Allison Bottke has returned from her speaking engagement and judged the entries for REACH FOR YOUR DREAMS. She sent me the following information, and I've contacted the winners for their bios, but I wanted to share with you Allison's list and letter. Check back shortly to learn more about our winners!

First Place = Patty Wysong – Daring to Dream

Patty Wysong is a wife, a home school mom of five, book-keeper for their remodeling business, an active member of Faithwriters.com. She's a teacher in the children's ministry at church--and she loves all the hats she wears. You can also find her on Shoutlife at http://www.shoutlife.com/Peej4me


Second Place = Lauralee Bliss – A Trail of a Dream

Besides her adventure of hiking the Appalachian Trail,Lauralee Bliss also loves the adventure of writing agood Christian romance. To date she's had over a dozenbooks published. Lauralee enjoys books that arereminiscent of a roller coaster ride for the reader.Her desire is that readers will come away with both anentertaining story and a lesson that ministers to theheart. Besides her love of the outdoors and writing,Lauralee also enjoys traveling, gardening, and roaminga good yard sale. Lauralee resides with her familynear Charlottesville, Virginia.For more information about her hike and her books,visit her website: http://www.lauraleebliss.com


Honorable Mentions:
Debbie Roome – Dreams of a Hope and a Future
Angela Meuser – Chasing my Dreams Without Leaving my Family Behind
Jonathan Bolton – Let the Dream Live (Poetry Entry)
Carolyn M. Kenney – In His Time

From Allison Bottke:
I was thoroughly impressed with all of the entries in your REACH FOR YOUR DREAMS contest. Wow! It’s amazing how God works in our life—orchestrating the desires of our heart. When we get in tune with His plan for us…things just seem to fall into place! Thank you for your thought-provoking and truly inspiring entries.

Tracy mentioned some “Promo Perks” in her “Call for Entries” and I’m excited to share that along with autographed books from me, the top two winners will have their stories published in both of our online publications for baby boomer women (even though the writers may not be baby boomers.) Daring to Dream by First Place winner Patty Wysong and A Trail of a Dream by Second Place winner Lauralee Bliss will appear as blog entries on the acclaimed blog: Boomer Babes Rock, as well as published in a future edition of our monthly Dream Zine called: Boomer Babes with Brilliant Dreams. Congratulations to our winners!

(From Tracy: Christina Berry's name was chosen from the commenters during the week, so she too will receive some autographed books!)

Visit our blog at www.BoomerBabesRock.com/blog

Saturday, October 20
Patty Wysong – Daring to Dream

Saturday, October 27
Lauralee Bliss – A Trail of a Dream

Sign up to receive our monthly Dream Zine at:
http://www.boomerbabesrock.com/dreamzine.html

Thanks again for sharing your dreams and thanks to Pix-n-Pens Founder, Tracy Ruckman, for following her dream to bring us this fabulous blog and online community. You inspire all of us, Tracy!

God bless and keep you,

Allison Bottke, Author/Speaker
http://www.allisonbottke.com/
http://www.boomerbabesrock.com/
http://www.sanitysupport.com/
http://www.godallowsuturns.com/

Special thanks to Allison for being our guest for this fun contest, and for awarding such great prizes!

Entry: Christmas FLASH FICTION

The Christmas Painting
By Carolyn Kenney

Christine and her mother sat side by side looking carefully through the museum catalog. “I love this Monet print,” said Christine.

“Wonderful! I’ll buy you that for Christmas,” her mother replied. The painting was of a woman seated amidst an array of flowers while a child played happily nearby.

Christine thought to herself, “This painting represents our relationship and all the times we spent together.”

Christine’s mother died of cancer a few years later. Years passed; whenever Christine glanced at the painting, she thought of her mother and joyful memories touched her heart.

Submitted by
Carolyn Kenney

Entry: Christmas FLASH FICTION

My Christmas Swarm
By Patty Wysong

They arrived like a swarm of bees, all 22 this year. Each year there were more as kids married and had babies, and I marveled that they still insisted on coming.

“It wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't come, Aunt Julie! Did you make fudge for me?” I didn't have time to answer before the next one pushed through the door.

“Forget the fudge, man! You made muffins, didn't you?” That one was elbowed out of the way, too.

“Baby coming through.” After a bear hug I found our newest family member in my arms.

Christmas had finally arrived.

Submitted by
Patty Wysong

Entry: Christmas FLASH FICTION

Christmas Coffee
By Debbie Roome

It was a snap decision. He spotted the man gazing hungrily into the coffee shop and for a moment, time stood still. The biting cold as snow swirled down the street. The warmth of cinnamon and coffee spilling from the doorway. The glittering lights of the tree and harmonious carols.

The man was a tramp. A stained mess of whiskers and tattered clothes. He touched him on the shoulder. “Come in with me. We’ll share some coffee and cake.” The tramp’s eyes glistened as he remembered family, love, acceptance. He stood a little taller.


“Thank you. I’d like that.”


Submitted by
Debbie Roome

New Theme: CHRISTMAS IN OCTOBER FLASH FICTION

We're celebrating Christmas in OCTOBER this week on Pix-N-Pens, because we're excited about the release of a new book by four authors.



Vasthi Reyes Acosta, Gail Sattler, Lynette Sowell, and Carrie Turansky teamed up to coauthor the novella anthology, A Big Apple Christmas, a contemporary romance collection that captures the sights and sounds of Christmas in the Big Apple:

Moonlight and Mistletoe (Carrie Turansky) -- Christmas plans are set askew when schedule-bound professional organizer Sarah Montgomery meets free-spirited poet Justin Latimer. As they work together on a project for her neighbor, romantic sparks fly - but will new revelations douse them?

Shopping for Love (Gail Sattler) -- Holiday bustle is the means two tourists try to use to get lost in the crowds. But when Bryan Evans literally knocks Emily Jones off her feet, her heart's secrets are spun even more off balance.

Where the Love Light Gleams (Lynette Sowell) -- Christmas in Rockefeller Center puts a widow's spruce tree on center stage. Professor Theophilus Stellakis volunteers to host Gwynn Michaud, and they both find new dreams in the glow of the holiday lights.

Gifts of the Magi (Vasthi Reyes Acosta) -- The gift of the Magi comes full circle for two lonely Latinos when Cecilia Montes takes time out of her busy schedule to help an old friend with youth group activities. But can she trust her heart to Elias Perez?


Sounds like a GREAT book, doesn't it? Well, you can win an autographed copy of A BIG APPLE CHRISTMAS this week with our FLASH FICTION contest. Submit your best 99-word or less FLASH FICTION piece, with a Christmas theme, to tracyruckman @ gmail. com (please delete the spaces in the address) by Friday, October 5th for your chance to WIN!!


Lynette Sowell, and some of the others if she twists enough arms, will be our guest judge this week, so get your entry in soon!


Along with an autographed copy of the book, the winner will also receive 5 entries into the Grand Prize Drawing in December (includes a $300 gift card and MORE), and all the regular promo perks to promote your books, websites, business, etc. (And don't forget, if you sign up for the newsletter, or refer people to sign up, you'll also be entered in that Grand Prize Drawing!)