Comment from Ida T. Johnson

Exceptional

I didn't vote in this contest, but as I looked over the results your title caught my attention so I decided to read it. So glad I did! This is so wonderful, cute, and VERY well-written! I had expected to read a few boring paragraphs & then go back to my housework, but I couldn't stop reading! It was engaging & exciting- I kept wondering what would happen next so I kept reading faster! In far too many of these voting booth contests, the writing quality of the winning entry (& some of the others as well) is mediocre at best (I have NOT read the winner of this contest). But your story has a creative plot & story line, as well as HIGH QUALITY writing that makes for easy reading & an engaging tone. FYI: there are 2 sentences where you apparently left out a word (pronoun or article, can't remember which), but those mistakes in NO way diminished the flow of the story or my enjoyment of it. So, instead of giving 4 stars, I'm giving you 6 for a job well-done! I REALLY enjoyed it! CONGRATULATIONS on your 2nd place win!

 Comment Written 09-Mar-2023

---

reply by the author on 09-Mar-2023

Well, Ida, bless your heart! and thank you very much. I am so pleased you liked it and said so many lovely things. Thank you, also for the 6!!!! It is most appreciated!
Katharine

Comment from Carol Hillebrenner

Exceptional

This is a really special story. If it was a burglary instead of a murder, could sell this as a children's story. The spider and the bird were good citizens who reported a crime. The cops believed the spider. Great story for 8 to 10 year olds. Only problem I noticed was you changed the spiders's sex, but it should be a female. A he gets eaten when he gets the female pregnant. She could have filled her egg sac and still be able to make more silk.

 Comment Written 02-Mar-2023

---

reply by the author on 02-Mar-2023

well, Miss Carol, bless you, you are too scientific for me, although I do vaguely remember that about a certain spider - yuk. Fortunately this story won't reach kids or any dyed-in-the-wool fact checkers,
but I'm glad you liked my story. I still think, if I remember correctly, ( I guess I should look it up) that male spiders do have a short life span. Anyway, many thanks for the lovely 6!
And maybe I'll switch to a female spider and to a burglary and submit it to a children's magazine. Or I have a collection of children's stories. Might try for a book. (ha)

reply by Carol Hillebrenner on 02-Mar-2023

If you can get a few children's stories in magazine, you have a lot better chance getting a publisher to look at a book proposal.

reply by the author on 02-Mar-2023

I have one in Cricket, one in Spider, one in Highlights, and my pre-teen book. I still send short stories to them, periodically, but nothing accepted lately.

reply by Carol Hillebrenner on 02-Mar-2023

Those are good references. I've only sold one to Spider, but I made good money off it. They sold it to testing companies and I got half of what they got.

reply by the author on 03-Mar-2023

wow. that's wondereful!
I didn't get much, a small amount plus the fun of being published.

Comment from Mary Shifman

Exceptional

This is a great story and one that kids would love. I'm not a kid, but I sure like it. What a spider! I always knew that there is a good reason not to kill them when they're in the house. (I aways put them out.) They make great witnesses.
I noticed one item that I think is a typo: "...be out of site." I think you mean sight.

 Comment Written 02-Mar-2023

---

reply by the author on 02-Mar-2023

oops. right, you are. thanks.
and thanks for your most welcome comments. and for the wonderful 6!

reply by the author on 02-Mar-2023

I wanted to add that there is a tiny spider with eyes up on little stems - tiny! and I (so far) have been able to catch them in a jar or glass or something and put them outside. I don't know what kind of spider they are but I think they're cute.

reply by Mary Shifman on 03-Mar-2023

I don't know what they are either, but they seem like fantasy creatures, don't they?

reply by Mary Shifman on 03-Mar-2023

Again, I loved the story. You're welcome!

Comment from T B Botts

Excellent

Hello Katharine,
wow, that's quite the tale you've woven. It has traces of Charlottes Web, with some crime solving worked in. Nicely done. I'm afraid that I wouldn't have stayed around long enough to read the web. I hate spiders, they give me the creeps. Good luck in the contest gal.
Have a blessed day.
Tom

 Comment Written 02-Mar-2023

---

reply by the author on 02-Mar-2023

thanks, Tom, for wading through the whole thing and for your always lovely comments.
So you read Charlotte's Web. You always amaze me (being a man) (and that is really tacky of me) to have read all the wonderful books and the variety of books that you have read. It's been my experience that lots of men wouldn't take the time or have the interest to read a lot of the books you have read. Good for You!!!
and Thanks again!!
Katharine
PS
sometimes I find these tiny little spiders (in the house) whose eyes are out on teeny little stalks, they are smaller than a dime, and I usually catch them in a cup or something and put them back outside. I haven't seen many big ones. Sometimes get little green lizards in the house, too - boy are they fast, but I catch some (in a glass or jar) and let them go outside. Some, sadly, I don't catch and just hope they don't jump on my face in the midde of the night. That would make a great epitaph.

reply by T B Botts on 02-Mar-2023

Hello Katharine,
In all honesty, I didn't read Charlotte's Web, I watched the show with the kids, so I'm familiar with it. I do like a diverse selection of books. At different junctures in my life I've read various authors. When I was young I liked Robert Heinlein, science fiction. When I was a little older but still a teen I ran across a paper back series that was action and frankly some pretty steamy stuff that appealed to my adolescent mind by John Whitlatch. In the navy I got caught up in the Hobbit series, but also The Man From Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. After I left the farm I came across Christian author Max Lucado, who happens to live in your town, also books by Robert Fulghum. I think I've read almost all of Sue Grafton's books- she wrote the whole alphabet until she died. I think she might have made it to Y. Somewhere down the pike I picked up Dean Koontz and have read a lot of his works. The book I'm reading now is by Pulitzer prize winning author, Paul Harding. It's titled-This Other Eden. He has really long sentences, that many on this site would point out, perhaps rightfully. He also hasn't used any quotation marks. The story he's written is fascinating though. My friend Buffalo Bob reads primarily non-fiction books and on occasion sends me what he's read. One book was called Truck, about a guy's truck. He finds all kinds of interesting stuff. I read every night, or almost every night, and I actually wish I would read more. Two of my favorite books are written by an Australian author named Graeme Simsion. His first book, The Rosie Project, won him international acclaim. Sony pictures is supposed to make a movie from it. His second book, The Rosie Effect is equally entertaining. At age fifty he decided to write a novel. How great is that? And to be so successful. If you can get the Rosie Project from the library, you might really enjoy it. It's hilarious. My fourth book, I'm apparently writing to you right now, so I'll stop. Have a blessed evening gal.
Tom

Comment from jessizero

Excellent

Your story was captivating and entertaining. It captured my interest at the beginning and held it until the end. I never would have thought the spider would be an important witness. Thank you for sharing, and best wishes to you.

 Comment Written 02-Mar-2023

---

reply by the author on 02-Mar-2023

thanks, Jessi. I'm glad you liked it,crazy as it was. :)