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About Miranda Hawley

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My name is Miranda and I am a married empty nester. I met my husband in April of 1998 and married him on June 6, 1999. We met at Andrews University where neither one of were students at.

I grew up in Norwalk Ohio and am a product of the public schools they had. I was never "Miss Popular" or anything, but rather the kid everyone bullied. I am class of 1995.

My husband just got his CDL class A. He has been a box truck driver since like 2011. Driving 18 wheels came with a pay raise. It is my dream "job" to sit beside my husband in the truck when he drives all over the country. That won't happen with his current job because he delivers local. My job is a bus monitor for special needs students. The school I am a monitor for only does special needs students. You have to qualify to go to the school with an IQ of 50 or less. I have 7 children on my bus 3 are in wheelchairs and I have 4 walkers. 5 of the kids on my bus are non-verbal, and one of my talkers has a very limited vocabulary. No matter, those kids have worked their way into my heart. My job is by far the most fullfilling job I could imagine, and it is really easy.

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My Last contest and regret

Blog Posted by Miranda Hawley: 3/29/2025 11:29:00 AM

So I have read basically zero of the entries in my contest and I see that this contest is now full. When I judge contest one of the first things I look for is did the person follow the line count. I in this case regret not setting the line count at 16 because so few people had a 10 line or less poem. I think there might be a winner or two in the longer poems as I am not sure if 10 lines or less was enough to cover the topic. I am thinking hard if I should relax that rule because I had so many of everyone who choose a longer poem to enter for this contest.

Miranda

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CayCay
Jennings

Date: 4/4/2025 3:22:00 PM

I'm late to this party, but I think rules should be followed, keep everyone from willy-nilly-doings and such. That being said, I am one of the problem children who didn't REGISTER the line max, but that's on me. A reader kindly pointed out my mistake and I just had to pick 2 stanzas to submit to the contest, but did keep the original because it is a personal write. Still, though, my personal belief is to do what you say and say what you do because people might begin to feel they can always get sponsors to change their minds, then we'll have chaos, and everyone will stop wearing socks ... CayCay

Andrea
Dietrich

Date: 3/30/2025 9:59:00 AM

It is so hard to know what to do in these situations once you state rules because a really good one may have only broken the rule a wee bit. And a worse poem didn't. I fear people thinking I am going against my own rules if I place rule breakers so it is such a conundrum to be in! I did see a few poets with more than ten lines and told them about it. Actually I didn't notice it myself at first. We get so used to what judges usually expect and don't notice when they make a change!! I think in this case just use your instincts, Miranda

Miranda Hawley
Date: 3/30/2025 5:54:00 PM

I agree with you fully. I avoid contest that contain a style of poems I haven't at least tried. It is better to learn a style before presenting it in a contest, I feel. If I would have gone with my usual 16 lines or sonnet then I think choosing some winners would be harder, because far less would be ruled out.

Rob
Carmack

Date: 3/29/2025 8:55:00 PM

I find rule breakers to be blessings. They speed up the judging process because they are immediately eliminated. The only problem I have with them is that they waste a spot, but this can be mitigated by increasing the entry limit. Don't regret just learn to love them.

CayCay Jennings
Date: 4/4/2025 3:24:00 PM

This view made me laugh, so honest, so true ... CayCay

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 3/30/2025 10:01:00 AM

I think that way too, Rob

Miranda Hawley
Date: 3/30/2025 5:55:00 AM

Yes, I normally love the rule breakers. They make it super easy to weed out a few entries. In this case I think I am left with 7 or 8 entries.

Margaret
Foster

Date: 3/29/2025 7:13:00 PM

Apologies Miranda. I missed 10 line limit, sorry.

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 3/30/2025 10:01:00 AM

I too only want to read with ease, so my length requirements are a must.

Miranda Hawley
Date: 3/30/2025 5:56:00 AM

I don't often give types of poems requirements because I'd be the wrong person judge how "correct" they are, so the length requirement is so that I can read with ease.

Tom
Woody

Date: 3/29/2025 12:07:00 PM

Fascinating. Thank you for this. Confirms so many things ..

Tom Woody
Date: 3/30/2025 6:21:00 AM

Thx for honest admission

Miranda Hawley
Date: 3/30/2025 5:58:00 AM

I don't often give types of poems requirements because I'd be the wrong person to judge how "correct" they are. The requirement on the length is for ease of reading.

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My Last contest and regret Date Posted: 3/29/2025 11:29:00 AM
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My contest Date Posted: 5/20/2023 2:37:00 PM

My Last contest and regret

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