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Sunday, October 2, 2022

#FallWritingFrenzy 2022 Contest!

 



STAGE FRIGHT

                                        By Suzanne Cordatos    (198 words)

 

Half-dead leaves hung over weathered plywood walls. Paint created cacti and rocks from mere Styrofoam. Red lighting cast a western glow over the school’s on-stage desert.

              “Kudos to the tech crew.” I winked at my best friend, Nick, whose creativity inspired the fall musical transformation. “Nice tub, too.”

              “Thanks, Chloe. Perfect for the final number of Act I.”

Nick grinned, but I growled. “Emma can’t sing to save her life. I should be lead.”

After not getting the role, I had bowed out of the cast to manage odd jobs. Curtain. Props. Ticket sales. Yawn.

Hours later, the opening act went off without a hitch. By the square-dance number, Emma twirled arm-in-arm with each cast member, singing off-key, until she tumbled into the tub.

At laughter and rousing applause, I dropped the curtain. The stage darkened and House lights brightened.

During Intermission, nobody heard the backstage scuffle. On cue, I pulled the curtain open.

Cast, crew and audience gasped at bleached bones filling the tub in Emma’s place, the skeleton’s mouth wide open as if life had drained away with the final, off-key song.

The Biology teacher leaped onto the stage. “This is no prop . . .”

             

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Mood Board for WIP novel Wishes Over Thunder Bridge

 


Thunder Bridge is a Middle Grade novel about a community that suffers under a witch's curse and the families who live there. It is about a girl who wishes for a new sister and the star fairy who slides down the moonbeam to grant her wish--and grant her own secret wish. It is also about twin sisters who think the other is a royal pain. Can the star fairy Glade bring healing and hope to this kingdom, even after she breaks WISH school rules and loses her wings and magic?


Monday, April 8, 2019

Storytime at Storyteller's Cottage April 27, in Simsbury, CT


Come to Camp Dragon-Fire!

What do dragons do at summer camp?  Find out on Saturday, April 27 at noon.

Visit Storyteller's Cottage in Simsbury, CT and hear two stories about dragon friends. You can meet local author, Suzanne Cordatos, and make a Camp Dragon-Fire craft, too!




 


To register, contact Lana Bennett:











Saturday, September 30, 2017

Fun and Affordable Author Visits for your group

Interactive, fun and educational Author Visits for your group! Library, Sunday School, Book Club or Classroom visits with an author can be affordable -- even free. Let's talk! 





I'm the kind of writer who jumps into projects with both feet -often literally! If you have a group that would like to meet an author AND have some interactive fun they can jump into, too, please contact me at cordatos@sbcglobal.net.

I offer the following Author Visits:

A) Free Skype Time
I would be happy to meet your group over Skype after they have read a Willard the Dragon picture book or section of my middle grade novel, The Lost Crown of Apollo.

This works well for groups who not located near southern New England.


B) Story Time with Willard the Dragon PUPPETS and CRAFT TIME
Get your students engaged with a reading of Willard the Dragon followed by their enactment of the story using PUPPETS. It's easy, fun and memorable! No prior experience necessary!
CRAFT TIME includes a dragon-y fun craft or book-related COLORING page.

This program includes a signed book for your library collection for $125 up to two hours.

C) Author-Led Discussion of Writing, with age-appropriate CRAFT or WRITING ACTIVITY
For GROUPS OF ANY SIZE, this can be a PowerPoint on Writing for Publication, engaging students in writing new verses of poetry, an individualized MOSAIC CRAFT to accompany a GREEK CULTURE AND HISTORY talk, or Sunday School group with a CROSS MOSAIC CRAFT.

This program could be free if 10 or more students purchases books ahead of the visit!

Friday, June 2, 2017


School's out and summer camp is HOT! Especially hot if you are a dragon heading for fiery skill-building games at Camp Dragon-Fire. When Willard and his friends go to camp, mysterious things happen -- will their trap catch the chaos-causing creatures? Find out here!

Camp Dragon-Fire is patterned after one of my favorite places, a real camp! Camp Mission Meadows is located on the shores of beautiful Lake Chautauqua in western New York, where I made new friends, played archery and other camp games, learned to canoe and sail, and crawled out of my sleeping bag early every morning to watch the flag hoisted up the flagpole. We didn't have any fire-breathing contests, but my favorite candy at the canteen was also the favorite of Willard the Dragon: Atomic Fireballs!

What do YOU do at camp? Do you have a favorite camp activity or food?

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Found! Ancient Greek Gold Wreath Crown

Truth can be stranger than fiction sometimes, but the news surprisingly mirrored my fiction this week. The Daily Mail in the UK posted a story about how a gold leaf crown was recently found in England. Take a look at this beautiful object from over 2000 years ago, just like the gold leaf crown in THE LOST CROWN OF APOLLO. Exquisite!



This real McCoy was found in a cardboard box under an old guy's bed, not hidden under a marble bench like the one found by my main character, Elias Tantalos in THE LOST CROWN OF APOLLO. This amazing, very real discovery just a few days ago underscores the character's timeless, human dilemma: What should he do with such a priceless object? Finders, Keepers? Sell it and get rich? Tuck it back where you found it?

Elias feels like a bad luck magnet. Finding such an object was his lucky day--or was it?

  • What would YOU do if you found such an object? 
  • What would it feel like to put a solid gold crown on your head? A king? A Greek god? 
  • Are you going to volunteer to clean under your grandparents' bed?
Here's a link to the full story.


Wednesday, April 6, 2016

SNEEZE-FIRE Dragon book is flying in Bologna, Italy!


Willard the Dragon's first picture book in a new series, SNEEZE-FIRE, is making a big debut in Bologna, Italy this week at the International Children's Book Fair. 

The fantastic, appealing cover artwork by Luisa Gioffre-Suzuki is sure to attract attention. At bookstores, library story times and book signings this winter, kids have enjoyed meeting 
Willard and his friends--and his big, hot fiery sneezes!


 

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators gave 
Willard prime spots on their beautiful displays!



A very happy writer, living her dream!