Abilene Writers Guild in Abilene, Texas
March, 2016 - Annual Writing Contest in Children's Literature
First Place - "Boogie Man Jam"
March, 2014 - Annual Writing Contest in Unrhymed Poetry
First Place - "Barking and Clawing Against a Sensible Leash"
in Novels
Second Place - "The Art of Christmas"
March, 2013 - Annual Writing Contest in Unrhymed Poetry
Honorable Mention - "Rear View Mirror"
in Children's Stories:
First Place - "Snooping Stanley"
March, 2012 - Annual Writing Contest in Unrhymed Poetry:
First Place - "She Leaves Us, A Little at a Time"
August, 2010 - Members only monthly contest, Unrhymed Poetry:
First Place - "Westward Sail"
June, 2010 - Members only monthly contest, Unrhymed Poetry:
Second Place - "Stalker"
Honorable Mention - "Cyber Ghoul"
May, 2010 - Members only monthly contest, Unrhymed Poetry:
Honorable Mention - " Quick Silver"
April, 2010 - Members only monthly contest, Rhymed Poetry:
First Place - "Streamlined Credit"
March, 2010 - Annual Writing Contest, Inspirational
Third Place - "Choose Your Struggles"
Feb., 2010 - Members only monthly contest, Unrhymped Poetry:
First Place - "Bits-o-Honey"
Second Place - "Raspberry Gummies"
Honorable Mention - "Popcorn"
Sept., 2009 - Members only monthly contest, Rhymed Poetry:
Third Place - "Pink Noise"
July, 2009 - Members only monthly contest , Unrhymed Poetry:
Honorable Mention - "Westward Sail"
June, 2009 - Members Only Monthly Contest, Rhymed Poetry:
First Place - "Roadrunner Rhyme"
March, 2009 - Annual Writing Contest,
Inspirational, Second Place - "Mercy Waits"
Poetry, Honorable Mention - "Ella Rose Sees The Moon"
October, 2007 - Annual Writing Contest,
Children's ages 3-8, First Place - "Three Wishes"
Inspirational, Second Place - "Valentine's Day"
October, 2006 - Annual Writing Contest,
Children's ages 3-8, First Place - "Busy Day"
Alabama State Poetry Society in Montgomery, Alabama
April, 2010, Spring Poetry Contest,
Haiku Series Award - First Place for "gray clouds dull the sky"
April, 2017 , Spring Poetry Contest
Second Place - "Dormant Volcano"
3rd Honorable Mention - "A View of Concrete Ribbons"
Alabama Writers' Conclave Writing Competition in Huntsville, Alabama
July, 2013 - in Juvenile Fiction, First Place for "The Twelve Gifts of Christmas"
July, 2013 - in Free Verse Poetry,
Honorable Mention for "Rear View Mirror"
June, 2010 - in Free Verse Poetry
Honorable Mention for " My Grandmother's House"
Albert Anthony Foundation's Word and Sound Creative Writing Contest in Columbus, Mississippi
in November, 2011, in Short Story -
Second Place for "The Second Christmas"
in October, 2010, in Poetry, Spiritual, Uplifting, Religious -
Fifth Place for "Panic"
October, 2009, in Poetry
First Place Award of Distinction for "Earth"
Fourth Place Award of Valor for "Cactus"
Fourth Place Award of Valor for "Heaven"
Fourth Place Award of Valor for "Jazz Band"
November, 2010
in "A Poem About Your Favorite Movie Star" category
Third Place for "Johnny Weissmueller as Tarzan"
in "The Life Goes On: Birth & Death" category
Second Honorable Mention for "Love Does the Hard Things"
Arkansas Writers Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas
June, 2017 - in the Poetry category,
First Place for "Farmers Market"
June, 2011 -
in the Christian Poetry category,
Second Honorable Mention for "Sweet Fellowship"
for the Mildred McKinney Award,
Third Honorable Mention for "Render Unto Caesar"
Art Affair Poetry Contest, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
January, 2017
Third Place for "Crop Rotation"
Honorable Mention for "Los Compadres"
January, 2011
First Place for "Love Does the Hard Things"
February, 2010
Honorable Mention for "My Grandmother's House"
Bay Area Writers League in Houston, Texas
August, 2010 - Poetry,
Third Place - "My Grandmother's House"
June, 2009 - Poetry,
Second Place - "Dickey"
Beginnings Magazine
July, 2003 - Poetry Contest,
Second Place - "Secrets"
Blue Mountain Arts Biannual Poetry Contests
February, 2012
First Place for "A View of Concrete Ribbons"
April, 2004 -
Haiku Contest, Honorable Mention - "Blue Jeans"
August, 2003 -
Humorous Poetry, Honorable Mention - "Me"
California State Poetry Society
Monthly Contest – 2017 – March – Open Topic
First Place – “One Loose Screw”
Chaparral Poet's Contest in Ontario, California
April, 2012, Any Subject, Any Style
Second Place for "Diamondback"
Cisco Writers Club, in Cisco, Texas
Third Place in Short Stories and
Viola Payne Children's Stories Award Highest Rank for Children Under 12 for Boogie Man Jam.
October, 2016, Summer Poetry Contest
First Place for "A View of Concrete Ribbons"
April, 2016 in the Adult Poetry category
Second Place for "Rear View Mirror"
Grandmother Earth 2009 Nat'l Writing Awards in Cordova, Tennessee
October, 2009,
In the Humor story category - Honorable Mention for "Skinny Munchies"
August, 2011,
In the Fiction category - First Place for "The Letter"
Green River Writers in Louisville, Kentucky
in January, 2017
in the Green River Lean category,
First Place for "I Can Never Move"
in the Flaunt Your Images category,
First Place for "Toes"
in the Green river Grande category,
Third Place for "Los Compadres"
in the The Thing Under the Bed category,
1st Honorable Mention for "It Must Have Been a Full Moon"
in the Strange Duck category,
3rd Honorable Mention for "How to Make it Rain"
In December, 2013
in the More Than Meets the Eye Poetry category,
Third Place for "Crosswinds"
in the Strange Duck, In Honor of Sue Bayes Poetry category,
Third Place for "DNA Model"
in the Green River Grande Poetry category,
First Honorable Mention for "Summer Fruit"
in November, 2012
in the Clear River Writers Poetry About Pets category,
First Place for "Watch Where You Step"
in the Suzanne Suddeth Memorial Prize, Prose or Poetry, for Children 12 Years and Younger
First Place for "Lilah Belle's Busy Day"
in the Green River Grande, Open Poetry category,
Third Place for "Barking and Clawing Against a Sensible Leash."
in November, 2011in the Short Attention Span category,
First Place for "Prayer in Pubic School"
in the Breath of Merton category,
Third Place for "If Brother Lawrence Had Been Married"
in the Poems Written After Midnight category,
Third Honorable Mention for "Secrets"
in the Poems Written After Midnight category,
Second Honorable Mention for "Blackbird"
in the Persona Poem category,
First Honorable Mention for "Widow's Walk"
in December, 2010
in the Persona Poem category
Second Place for "The Widow's Mite"
in the Clear Creek Writers
Honorable Mention for "Watch Where You Step"
Gulf Coast Writers Association in Gulfport, Mississippi
in May, 2011
in the annual "Let's Write" Literary Contest, Poetry division,
First Place for "Diamondback"
High Prairie Poets New Mexico State Poetry Society Bi-Monthly Contest in Roswell, New Mexico
June, 2009 -
First Place - "Dickey"
Illinois State Poetry Society
December, 2016 -
2nd Honorable Mention in the Haiku contest for "cat bats at the moth"
Inspirit Literary Journal Poetry Contest in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania
December, 2006 -
First Runner-Up - "New Tricks"
Kentucky State Poetry Society Annual Contest in Lexington, Kentucky
September, 2010,
in the Foothill Writers Award
First Place for "Open Heart Surgery"
September, 2009,
in the God's Love contest
Second Place for "Breeze"
September, 2009, -
in the Moving On contest
Third Place for "Who Will I Be?"
March, 2013 -
Adult Division, Free Verse Poetry
Third Place for "Rear View Mirror"
Lucidity Poetry Journal in Houston, Texas
June, 2010 -
Honorable Mention - "My Grandmother's House"
February, 2007 -
Honorable Mention - "Reunion"
League of Minnesota Poets in Minneapolis, Minnesota
November, 2010,
in the Stepping Off A Cliff Award
Third Place for "Westward Sail"
in the Lilian Osborn Memorial Award
Award of Merit for "Open Heart Surgery"
October, 2009,
in the Woodtick Poets Award -
Award of Merit for "The Kitchen Door"
Massachusetts State Poetry Society in Lynn, MA
November, 2011, Annual Poet's Choice Contest
First Place for "What Calls Me Back"
October, 2010, National Poetry Day Contest
in the Celebration of Life
Second Place for "Watch Where You Step"
in the Andy & Solie Award Contest
Third Place for "Today We Plant"
in the Gertrude Callis Award
Third Place for "It Takes a Big Man"
March, 2010, Of Thee I Sing Contest
Sixth Honorable Mention for "In Praise of Shade"
December, 2009, Arthur (Skip) Potter Memorial Contest
Second Honorable Mention for "Secrets"
December, 2009, Annual Poet's Choice Contest
First Honorable Mention for "Sail to California"
Sixth Honorable Mention for "My Grandmother's House"
Mississippi State Poetry Society in Madison, Mississippi
November, 2010,
in the Patricia Farvis Green Memorial Award
Third Place for "Showtime!"
in the Myrtle Rae Davis Jones Mem. Award
Honorable Mention for "My Crazy Sister"
Missouri Poets and Friends in Fair Grove, Missouri
December, 2011, in the Free Verse Category,
Second Place for "Widow's Walk"
Missouri State Poetry Society in Bolivar, Missouri
October, 2018, the Summer Contest,
in the Summer subject category,
First Place for "Summer Fruit"
October, 2017, the Summer contest,
in the Summer subject category,
First Place for "The End of Summer Garden"
April, 2016, the Winter contest,
in the Winter Subject category,
Second Place for "Hibernation"
October, 2011, the Summer contest,
in the Summer Poem category,
Second Place for "Texas Drought"
April, 2011, the Winter contest,
in the Free Verse category,
Third Honorable Mention for "Open Heart Surgery"
in the Humorous category,
First Place for "Watch Where You Step."
in the Winter Subject category,
Third Place for "Texas Hill Country Winters."
March, 2017 - in the Humorous Verse category,
First Place for "How to Make it Rain"
in the Free Verse category,
Second Place for "Rear View Mirror"
December, 2011, Dr. Doris Mueller Poetry & Prose Contest
First Place for "Widow's Walk"
Moonbeam Children's Book Awards
October, 2015, Board/Cloth Book Category
Second Place for Where's My Hug?
Northern Colorado Writers in Ft. Collins, Colorado
August, 2011, Annual Poetry Contest
First Place for "Diamondback"
Ohio Poetry Association - in Marion, Ohio
August, 2010, Poetry Day Contest
in the Greater Cincinnati Writers League
First Place for "Spring Lovers"
in the Welcome Aboard Award
Co-First Place for "Fresh Baked Bread"
in Memory of Eileen A. Kelly Award
Honorable Mention for "My Crazy Sister"
in the Seasonings Award
Honorable Mention for "A Well Seasoned Life"
Poetry Matters Celebration - in Martinez, Georgia
April, 2012 , 2012 Poetry Contest, Adult Category, Outside CSRA
First Place for "Room 232"
June, 2016 - 85th Weekly Competition
First Place for "A View of Concrete Ribbons"
Poetry Society of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
March, 2013 - Howard Starks-Dennis Letts Memorial Award
First Place for "Rear View Mirror'
March, 2012 - Howard Starks-Dennis Letts Memorial Award
Second Place for "She Leave us a Little at a Time,..."
March, 2011 - Howard Starks-Dennis Letts Memorial Award
First Honorable Mention for "Open Heart Surgery"
March, 2010 - in the Bell Award
First Place for "an owl is heard" (haiku)
March, 2010 - David Personette Memorial Fund
Second Honorable Mention for "My Grandmother's House"
March, 2010 - Howard Starks-Dennis Letts Memorial Award
Citation for "Watch Where You Step"
Poetry Society of Texas - in Dallas, Texas
in November, 2011
in the Mahan Award category,
Eigth Place for "My Grandmother's House"
in the Monica Elliott Murphy Remembrance Award category,
Fifth Place for "Room 232"
in the Frances Ramsay Holcombe Award category,
Fifth Place for "Love Does the Hard Things"
Poetry Society of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia
April, 2011 - Brodie Herndon Memorial Award
First Place - "Widow's Walk"
Poets & Patrons Chicagoland Poetry Contest
October, 2012
in the Free Verse category
Second Place for "Rear View Mirror"
October, 2011
in the Miniature Poem category
Second Honorable Mention for "Go Away and Come Back"
in the Religious Poem category
Third Honorable Mention for "The Widow's Mite"
October, 2016
in the Humor category
Second Place for "How to Make it Rain"
in the Miniature Poem category
Second Place for "Saxophone"
in the Speculative category
Third Honorable Mention for "When Real Estate Falls From the Sky"
Poets' Roundtable of Arkansas in Hot Springs, Arkansas
October, 2012, Poetry Day Awards
in the Sharp Award First
Honorable Mention for "Barking and Clawing Against a Sensible Leash"
October, 2010, Poetry Day Awards
in the Florence M. Gibbs Memorial Award
Second Place for "The Grandchild"
in the Ann Talley Kinnaird Memorial Award
Second Place for "Teacher in the Wild"
in the L.C. and Pat Bridges Award
Third Place for "The Widow's Mite"
in the Vanishing Newspaper Award
Second Honorable Mention for "The Daily Beagle"
Professional Writers of Prescott in Prescott, Arizona
October, 2012 - Annual Writing Contest
Second Place - 5 poem collection: "She Leave Us, a Little at a Time"
"Rear View Mirror"
"Bed Check"
"She Had it Coming"
"Yellow Glads"
October, 2011 - Annual Writing Contest
Second Place - 5 poem collection: "Neighborhood Dogs"
"Widow's Walk"
"The Widow's Mite"
"Room 232"
"Love Does the Hard Things"
Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation Prize for Poetry
in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
May, 2016 - Honorable Mention - "Summer Fruit"
San Antonio Writer's Guild in San Antonio, Texas
April, 2017 - Poetry,
First Place - "Los Compadres"
December, 2011 - Poetry,
Third Place - "Room 232"
December, 2006 - Poetry,
First Place - "Fall"
Poetry,
Third Place - "Rainbow's End"
"Judy Award" for most rejections this year - 106 -
First Place
December, 2005 - Children's Nonfiction,
First Place - "Alaskan Adventure"
"Judy Award" for most rejections this year - 88 -
First Place
December, 2004 - Adult Poetry,
First Place - "Dickey"
Juvenile Poetry,
First Place - "Giggles"
Adult Nonfiction,
Third Place - "Mercy Waits"
in the "Judy Award" for most rejections this year - 106 -
First Place
Saturday Writers: Chapter of Missouri Writers Guild in St. Peters, Missouri
December, 2011, Short Story Contest
Fifth Place for "The Second Christmas"
May, 2011, One-page Poem Contest
Second Place for "Room 232"
SouthWest Writers "Anything Goes" Poetry Contest in Albuquerque, New Mexico
August, 2012,
First Place for "Rear View Mirror"
Tennessee Mountain Writers Annual Writing Contest in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
April, 2016,
First Place in Children's Literature for "Boogie Man Jam"
Second Place in Poetry for "Cow Jumps Over the Moon"
Honorable Mention in Poetry for "Crop Rotation"
April, 2014,
First Place in Children's Literature for "Lilah Belle's Busy Day"
April, 2013,
Second Place for "Barking and Clawing Against a Sensible Leash"
The Write Helper in Old Monroe, Missouri
December, 2010, Burning the Midnight Oil Poetry Contest
First Place for "The Lord Gives and ..."
December, 2009, Burning the Midnight Oil Poetry Contest
Notable Entry for "Jacky"
Utah State Poetry Society in Salt Lake City, Utah
April, 2014
in the David F. and Robert Balph Memorial contest
First Place for "Antarctica in July"
in the Haiku contest
Special Recognition for "buffalo at rest"
April, 2010 Spring Festival, Lea Deloris Monson Memorial
Third Honorable Mention for "Roadrunner Rhyme"
West Texas Writers Short Story Contest in Midland, Texas
June, 2011 -
Third Place for "The Second Christmas"
White County Creative Writers in Searcy, Arkansas
September, 2010, in the Bob and Fay Williams Jones Award -
First Honorable Mention for "My Crazy Sister"
September, 2009, in the Love Bytes poetry contest -
First Honorable Mention for "Spirit Lake, Iowa"
Williamette Writers in Portland, Oregon
July, 2012, Kay Snow Poetry Contest -
First Place for "Barking and Clawing Against a Sensible Leash"
Writers-Editors International Writing Competition
May, 2017 - Poetry Contest -
Second Place - "Los Compadres"
Judges comments: "The irony and levity of a restaurant crew piling out of their work place into someone else's restaurant where one can find "laughter shaking the air like maracas" is the fresh stuff of which a well-written poem can bring readers into the experience."
May, 2016 - Poetry Contest -
Second Place - "Crop Rotation"
Judges comments: "With fresh phrasing and strong visuals,
this free verse poems will speak to most readers – and all of us who have
had to adapt to changing lifestyles."
4th Honorable Mention - "Barking & Clawing Against a Sensible Leash"
Judges comments: "This story in free verse has a conversational tone, situations people can identify with, and insightful phrasing."
Most Promising - "How to Make it Rain"
Judges comments: " This free verse has strong reader identification and humor to deal with a common frustration."
May, 2013 - Poetry Contest -
6th Honorable Mention for "She Leaves Us a Little at a Time"
Judges comment: Creates an emotional impact from the first verse (actually, from the title) yet avoids sentimentality.
April, 2003 - Poetry Contest, Honorable Mention - "Dickey"
April, 2017 -
First Place – “Crop Rotation”
Honorable Mention – “One Loose Screw”
Honorable Mention – “Los Compadres”