Thank you so much for entering the contest and spreading the word. Thank you for sharing your hearts. Every entry submitted was amazing! I have thought long and hard about who would win the scholarship and today is the day to announce the winner.

Whether you love children and want to instill a love for reading in them, you teach writing classes, or you are ready to get back to that novel you started long ago, we all love language and words and stories. We all have something to say and we know running (or walking or hiking) will help us find the right words.

Congratulations! Pack your bags, you're coming to North Carolina this August! These ladies were all so passionate, I couldn't stop with just one! For HALF the cost, two MORE winners will also be able to join us. Please share your happy congratulations to this year's winners!

Full tuition scholarship is awarded to...

     1. Hillery Rubens of Riverside, California

Half tuition scholarships are awarded to...

     2. Tracy Cotton of Hendersonville, North Carolina 
     3. Jackie Hoermann of Fort Worth, Texas

Congratulations! See you in 3 months!

We are happy to announce that Writers Who Run is now offering a scholarship opportunity! One lucky winner will be awarded free tuition for attendance to the August 2016 Writers Who Run (or Walk) Retreat.

Space is limited! So... if you have already paid to attend, you can still enter the contest and if you win, we'll reimburse you. 

The scholarship contest will run from April 1, 2016 to April 30, 2016. The winner will be chosen based on sincerity, creativity, and financial need. The winner will be announced on Friday, May 6. Good luck! 

RULES

Make a short video, no more than 2 minutes long, of yourself telling the world why you love to write. Include the following:

1. Who you are and why you write.
2. What type of writing you do and how you hope it can change the world. 
3. Why you're excited about the 2016 Writers Who Run (or Walk) Retreat and this scholarship opportunity.

Post the video on YouTube with the following:

• TITLE: WRITERS WHO RUN RETREAT 2016 W/ CHRISTIE WILD VID BY [your own name] 
• DESCRIPTION: Join the #WritersWhoRun revolution at writerswhorun.com/scholarship.html Writers Who Run Retreat with Christie Wild - retreat getaway for active writers
• TAGS: #WWRclwwRSWW and #WritersWhoRun

Sample Twitter post:
Pick me @ChristieWild I really want to win a scholarship to the Writers Who Run (or Walk) Retreat! writerswhorun.com/scholarship.html #WritersWhoRun

Sample Facebook post:
Check out my new #WritersWhoRun scholarship video. @ChristieWild pick me! I really want to win and come to the retreat this August 2016! writerswhorun.com/scholarship.html

All Twitter and Facebook posts must contain the following: #WritersWhoRun,  @ChristieWild, writerswhorun.com/scholarship.html. Share on social media to gain more chances to win.

Children's agent, Jodell Sadler, sadly had to bow out of the retreat to focus on current projects. We're sad to see her leave the faculty lineup, but Laura Whitaker, editor of "all things written," has accepted the challenge to step in and run with it. We are excited to have Laura join us for this inaugural year! Here's a greeting from her:

Hello new friends! Formerly an Associate Editor at Bloomsbury Children's Books, I edit all manner and ages of children's and YA books and am available to do developmental and copy edits, as well as coaching services across all areas of the acquisitions process.

A few things about me:

I grew up in Northern Virginia and once spent a summer in high school reading the entire children's book section (picture books through YA) from A to Z. I then traded DC for Wisconsin to attend Marquette University where I not only double majored in English literature and Broadcast Journalism, but also quickly learned that long johns and thermal underwear in general are NOT just for people who live in Alaska. After graduation, I moved to NYC where I worked in marketing at HarperCollins Children's Books, edited several award winning children's books at Bloomsbury Children's Books, and received my masters in publishing from NYU. However, I will always first and foremost consider myself a Southerner at heart . . . as my best friend of several decades is Southern, and therefore I must be southern as well. (That's how that works, right?!)

Included in the many projects I worked on while at Bloomsbury are literary YA thrillers The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman, Insanity by Susan Vaught, and Hold Me Like a Breath and Break Me Like A Promise by Tiffany Schmidt. I also edited the Jim Henson Company's Enchanted Sisters chapter book series and several titles in the Bloomsbury If Only romance line, including Red Girl, Blue Boy by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, Not in the Script by Amy Finnegan, andEverything But The Truth by Mandy Hubbard. Other titles I worked on include contemporary coming-of-age novels When Mr. Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan and This Side of Home by Renee Watson, as well as picture book titles Ruthie and the (Not So) Very Busy Day by Laura Rankin, Time for Bed, Fred by Yasmeen Ismail, and the Penguin series by Salina Yoon.

When I'm not reading, editing, or talking about children's books, I can be found trying to teach myself how to cook (and failing miserably, even though my friends kindly say my food tastes delicious), dreaming about someday owning a miniature schnauzer, avidly trying to catch up on my favorite TV shows, and training for her first Tough Mudder race.

​You can follow me on twitter @laura_gemma.