I have recovered from my flu fugue state mostly. Ugh. So tired of hacking up a lung.
But at least while I was lying around, I had the joy of going through all of your entries. Huzzah! And I did go through them. Every. Single. Last. One. And, oh my stars and whiskers, you people are just so incredibly creative and talented. Truly, I am awed. This was such a tough decision.
Here’s how I went about it: First, I went through and made notes. Then I cut it down to about forty entries, which felt like being asked to choose between moist chocolate cake and supreme coffee ice cream. Then I had to cut those down. Ack! No! Too hard!
You can see why it took a while. You guys made me laugh, gave me chills, inspired me, took me somewhere else, moved me. Such good stuff. Thanks for your tales of broken cameras, your American Idol spoofs, video battles of the books, commentaries, hilarious fake news shows, corset and Karma art, Rakshana texting comics, songs, sonnets, backyard movie trailers, posters, icons, banners, accessories and clothing, t-shirts, amazing photographs, and all of the hard work, creativity, and joy that went into these. I felt every bit of the love.
Please know that I was absolutely gobsmacked by all of your entries, and I wished I could have chosen about fifty winners—you guys were that good. (I also wished I could put some of you on staff to help me with video, etc. I could use some talent like that.) But ultimately, I could only choose a few winners, and, in fact, I vowed to find creative ways to use names just so I could pick a few extra.
So, without further delay, here are the contest winners, starting with the very deserving honorable mentions.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
UndeathlyHallow for the gorgeous icons. I especially like the “Eternity” “To Each His Own Magic” and the last one.
sfmdraw for her wonderful Ann collage.
reader_meg for the 74 ICONS!!!! Holy cow. I particularly liked the Circe, Tree of All Souls, and Pippa’s Castle ones. Well done.
ellish_writer for a very cool modern photographic take on the books.
Lacrymosa Queen for that stunning photo of The Borderlands. Creepy good.
Vintage Tuscany for the wonderfully evocative (and creepy) video of Mary Dowd’s diary. Love the distressed quality of the film.
Xxglassyxx for the outrageous zombie love book cover featuring my ideal cast. *snicker*
Charfilm for the experimental film. I love the quiet, haunting simplicity and just that flash of color in an otherwise dark scheme. The music was well-chosen, too. Great. Really effective—and bonus points for shooting your own footage.
Tinie1223 for that amazing text illustration. How clever. I loved it.
Aroa nehring for the beautiful Maxfield Parrish-inspired photograph. It really made me think of the Realms.
Kayleeboo for those absolutely stunning collages. (I’m a secret scrapbooking nut so I loved these.)
Iam4evertonks for creating the first Facebook community and running a nice show.
CrabbyGabby for the giggle-inducing video, “Life After the Series.” Who knew you were a redhead? ☺
Rachel, Nicole, Maile, Maggie, and, um, Tyler, for the inspired AGATB parody trailer. Extra points for having an Ann in drag.
Cerulean_apples for the lovely TSFT poster. Love the placement of the text and the way the colors pop.
Xxfaxxie for the poem “The Damaged.” Well done.
Sirenabella for her poem, “Pippa’s Cross.” That last line is a killer.
Charm harm love for the sonnets. Sonnets? You slay me!
Cyanidesunshine for her stunning photo display, “Gemma Goes into the Winterlands.”
Ryus-fire for the super cool icon illustration, “rebel.” I love the feel of this.
Mooneystar for the video “My Grandchildren…” I found this very moving and creative. And I love that we get a glimpse of what might happen to Gemma down the road.
Ganlynde for the crazy hot Kartik bookmark. Oh…my. *fans self*
THE WINNERS
Special award: Eeglfether — Being a Nice Guy
Thanks so much for making every link…linky. You saved us all. There is definitely an Eagle Feather place happening in this story. But I know you mentioned you had done this on behalf of your fiancé (more good guy points), so if you let me know her name, I’ll be sure to include her. You rock.
6th place — DeepAzulaEyes t-shirt designs
http://deepazulaeyes.deviantart.com/gallery/
WANT!!!! I can’t decide which is my favorite, “I Survived the Winterlands Boat Tour,” “Homework,” “Spence Motto,” “Gorgon,” Poppy Warriors” or “Attendance.” These are pure genius, and I will be ordering a few. Congrats—you’re the first member of the vampire short story team.
5th place — frankly_scarlet video: Ann Bradshaw: “My Body Is a Cage”
I think I’ve watched this about five times now, and it gives me goose pimples every time. I love the emotional progression of a character who often doesn’t get the attention. Very effective use of existing clips to tell a new story. And it doesn’t hurt that it makes use of one of my favorite bands. ☺ And now, your name will live on (or die early) in fang fiction.
4th place — lisaspieces Steampunk clothing
I love steampunk, and I love the reimagining of Gemma and Co. as kick-ass steampunk characters. The costume pieces are great, and I really, really, really want that raygun in my personal collection. Rock on, my friend. You’ve earned yourself a role in my silly vampire story.
3rd place — shawnalenore Poetry
http://Feore2.deviantart.com/art/Gemma-Remembers-111030009
Wow. I think I need to take a poetry workshop with you. What a way with words. It’s absolutely beautiful, and the imagery shimmers. Thanks so much for sharing your words with us. You, too, will have a role in the bloodsucker story.
2nd place — Dana_Benedict Songwriting
Have you guys heard this woman sing? Have you listened to her music? Man, I’d give my left earring (hey, it’s my favorite earring!) to sing and write songs like that. I really liked all the songs, but I think my favorite is “Broken.” At any rate, you’re a talented lady, Ms. B. Rock on with your bad self, and we’ll see you getting stake-y with it in the story.
1st place — 6 Harbours Parody video: “The Gemma Doyle Trilogy in Five Minutes, Barbie Style”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wyafqke09BU&feature=email
Okay. The first time I saw this, I laughed so hard I thought I’d hack up a lung. Then I called my husband in to watch and we giggled and snorted. Then I sent it to some writer friends who all cracked up. You get points for having the cajones to use DOLLS in a video for a documented DOLL-PHOBIC person. (Although, for some reason, I have never been afraid of Barbies. I think it’s the feet. How could dolls with such ridiculously shaped feet come after me? Also, fabulous clothes. Fashion > Fear.) Thanks to your hilariously clever video, I have been walking around with several new catch phrases:
“Yes, I am.” “Oh. (pause) Okay.” “Now let me go be sullen in peace.” “Grrrrrr.” “I know you’re sad but we can’t all be beautiful.”
Enough. Just watch it. Anytime I have a bad day, that is going to be my go-to happy place. Thanks.
Winners, if you’d be so kind as to let me know your names. If you don’t want to leave it here, you can send it to me care of my LJ inbox. Just be sure you tell me what your screen name is, too, so I’ll know who you are.
Thanks again to everyone for making this such a fun experience. More contests to come!