Lulu Junior Author of the Month - Kara Miller
A new month means a new featured author! Kara Miller wrote “A Tale of Two Bunnies” which won first place for the 15-18 age group of Rainbow Resource’s writing contest! Her story tells us what consequences one may face when they tell a lie and let’s just say we're glad we're not in the main character’s shoes!
Kara’s story introduces us to our two main characters: Fluff and Bluff who live in cottages opposite each other on the meadow. They each have their own garden but they are polar opposites. Bluff’s plot tends to be empty while Fluff always makes sure to keep his garden in tip-top shape.
Bluff didn’t grow any of his own vegetables. Instead he chose the deceitful route of hopping from garden to garden taking produce from his neighbor’s gardens. The missing vegetables became such an issue that there were regular town meetings to discuss it. Nobody played a better actor than Bluff who showed up to these meetings and who played into his lie that someone was stealing from his garden too!
Everyone believed Bluff and went as far as bringing him goodies from their gardens because they felt sorry for him. When they showed up, they would see a garden that was quite sad in nature. Bluff made no effort to grow his own produce when he could just take from his neighbors.
On the other side of the meadow, we have Fluff who is the complete opposite of Bluff. He is joyful, friendly, and earnest in his intentions and he puts great effort and care into the vegetables he grows and the appearance of his garden. In early fall, there is the Produce Carnival and Fluff’s carrots always win first prize.
Who wouldn’t want to try the carrots that won first prize? They must be the best! This created a craving and curiosity for Bluff and he just had to try them.
Bluff went over to visit his friend and while Fluff was brewing some tea...Bluff took the opportunity to sneak away and check out the garden. He could not believe what he was seeing! The garden was in a perfectly maintained pattern with carrots of vibrant violet, orange, and yellow. He knew he had to have all the carrots and quickly came up with a sneaky plan!
He started eating the carrots only leaving the top of the carrot along with the leaves and putting it back in the ground. From far away, it looked like the carrots had not even been touched...but little would Fluff know that Bluff had been in the garden. Bluff went hopping along in the garden and before he even realized it...he had eaten all the carrots in the garden. Every. Single. One.
Fluff called out to his friend to come in for some tea. But after eating all those carrots, Bluff couldn’t stomach drinking a cup of tea. All the while, Bluff could barely concentrate from the constant and painful stomach pains. All he heard Fluff saying was that he wished that he could pick his carrots now, three weeks before the contest but couldn’t because if they don’t sit…..but his point was interrupted as Bluff groaned and clutched his stomach and tried to leave but had to stay at Fluff’s as Fluff called Doctor Carrot to come figure out what was wrong with Bluff.
Doctor Carrot diagnosed Bluff with Carrot Bloat, caused by eating too many carrots. The doctor gave Bluff some medicine and Fluff kept a watchful eye on his sick friend. But Bluff could no longer contain his secret! He cried as he revealed to Fluff what he had done to everyone’s gardens.
Later, another town meeting was called where Bluff admitted to everyone what he had done. He decided that he would repay his kind neighbors by planting his very own garden and actually take care of it to give them his own homegrown carrots.
Remember how we mentioned Bluff and Fluff were the complete opposites of each other? After Bluff’s incident, he had completely transformed and found his passion in tending to his beautiful garden, just as Fluff had.
You can now find Bluff hopping from cottage to cottage dropping off the produce that he worked so hard to grow. He had learned that deceitfulness eventually leads to misfortune. No more stomach aches for Bluff!
Thank you to Kara for being February’s author of the month and continue reading to see what Kara had to share with us in her interview!
Read the Full Interview:
My mother actually discovered the contest first. Since I have always been fond of writing and art. She purchased it for me from Rainbow Resource.
Indeed, I have. Writing has been a very good friend to me. Ever since I was very young, I enjoyed writing poetry (which I still do to this day) and drawing sketches amongst my schoolwork. I also have written countless stories, ever since I could write, which my mother has kept for me to read.
My twin sister, Maria, has been the motivation for my writing passion. Since Maria was young, she has been continually nicknamed "thumper" for her rhythmic way of tapping her feet in tune to a piece of music. And as for the story itself, I could not help indulging myself in a narrative which would provoke the imagination.
My favorite part was most definitely the illustrations. After writing my script, which took only a day, I poured my time into the illustrating process. I have always found detail to be essential when drawing.
Perhaps the most gratifying moment in this process was the finished product. I was overjoyed with the result and could not deprive myself from flipping through the book at least once a day.
I dedicated the book to my twin sister who is the most influential person I know. Obviously, my mother has been a significant encouragement, and I am indebted to her. The last person I must give credit to is my art teacher, Gigi, for her guidance and advice. And of course, I must not forget Grace Biss, a good family friend, for her reputation as "The Snuggle Bunny." She was pictured as Fluff in the story.
I want them to remember 1 Peter 3:10, which says, "For, 'Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.'"
I cannot tell you how many times I have dreamt of being a writer. When it all comes down to it, write. Don't fight the call, write in response to the call. When you are writing for your own enjoyment, it will show through to the readers. My encouragement to you, young writers, is to write. Do what you can do best!
Nature is definitely a subject I cannot deny a taste for. Children's books are delightful, and I adore illustrating them. However, I do readily enjoy writing fiction containing real-life scenarios. Perhaps this will be my next subject as I am passionate about writing a novel in the future.
I enjoy classic authors. A few are: Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Walter Scott, and Kenneth Grahame. Each of these authors possess the ability to enrapture an audience by not only their word choice but also by luscious descriptions.
The classics are by far my favorite as well as diverse types of fiction. Both genres provide rich word choice and plot.
