Crossing the Veil Story Contest -- 200k in prizes! *CLOSED*

What is your favorite kind of spirit?

Elves/Fairies/Elementals	18.5%	[ 10 ]
Extraterrestrials	3.7%	[ 2 ]
Dragons	5.6%	[ 3 ]
Ghosts/Poltergeists	3.7%	[ 2 ]
Deities	7.4%	[ 4 ]
Angels/Spirit Guides	29.6%	[ 16 ]
Vampires/Werewolves	9.3%	[ 5 ]
Thought Forms/Mythical Entities	3.7%	[ 2 ]
Demons	14.8%	[ 8 ]
Animal Totems	3.7%	[ 2 ]
Total Votes:			[ 54 ]

[Whispers of Wonderland]

superrbebe

This sounds interesting. You shall be receiving my PM. biggrin

I look forward to it. smile Either PMing or posting in the thread is just fine with me.

[Whispers of Wonderland]

Akira Cullen 21

~~~I don't want to go to sleep. I have dreams.~~~

Belle Kinglsey, daughter of Rose and Adam Kingsley, has terrible nightmares about something in the woods. It's lurking and it's alive.

Belle came down for breakfast and was on the verge of collapsing. Her sister, Maryam Kingsley did not seem concerned one bit. Instead, she teased her. 'Have nightmares?" Belle nodded. "You know monsters and ghouls do not exist. They are in Heaven or Hell." Belle retorted, "You don't know that. Purgatory may still exist." Maryam Kingsley just huffed.

Rose Kingsley was too concerned with public appearance to have time to listen or even acknowledge Belle. All Rose said was" 'Shape up, look beautiful, and know of your status, Belle.' " No help here. Adam Kingsley did not care one bit. " 'Belle, what women dream of isn't important. Now if I were to have the dreams, well. It would be alarming.' "

Was anyone even going to listen to Belle Kingsley?

Is this an entry? It has a good sound, but is way too short to be considered. The minimum requirement is 1,500 words ((not characters)). Feel free to post your entry again. You can edit your entries until the close date and it won't hurt your chances of winning, just make sure your entries follow the rules so they can be counted, okay? smile

[Whispers of Wonderland]

Night Kunoichi

Hey. I plan to try to write something for this but I have a few questions: 1) how do you feel about swearing? now i don't plan to make every other word a curse but I would like to know whether i should cut out swearing entirely or not. (My characters have the tendency to swear which is why I'm asking. ^^; ) 2) do the facts about the ghouls, spirits and demons have to be accurate? Or do we have complete creative freedom on our interpretation of them and how they work?

Thanks! biggrin

In answer to your questions: 1. Yes, swearing is okay, but keep it on a PG-13 level as per the Gaia ToS. We don't want anyone being unable to read this simply because the curse level is too high.

2. Brownie points if the spirit facts in your stories are accurate, but there's no requirement, and making stuff up won't hurt your chance of winning. Just be consistent with your own rules, and you'll have an equal chance of winning as someone who followed the rules.

In short, just let your muse run wild within the rules of the competition. If I haven't made something against the rules, it probably isn't, so have fun! smile

I look forward to reading your entry.

[Darkstarzz]

What an interesting prompt, if I may say so myself!

Reading through the comments (and the posted stories) has woken up my creativity!

If you would be so kind, may I participate in this contest? And if you don't mind my asking, what made you decide to use this particular idea? smile

[Whispers of Wonderland]

Darkstarzz

What an interesting prompt, if I may say so myself!

Reading through the comments (and the posted stories) has woken up my creativity!

If you would be so kind, may I participate in this contest? And if you don't mind my asking, what made you decide to use this particular idea? smile

Lol, of course you may participate in this contest! Everyone is welcome. smile As to what made us decide to use this particular idea... well... we just started a metaphysical business that caters to this sort of thing. I guess you could say it's a sort of... promotional celebration of the business starting? *snickers* Let people know we exist while celebrating how the spirit world and writing and people who are passionate enough to write about the spirit world exist. It's very exciting to me and AdventureAddict, but maybe that's just us. *laughs*

Anyway, I'm glad you found your way here, and I look forward to reading your entry. smile

[Darkstarzz]

Reincarnated_Alphonse

Lol, of course you may participate in this contest! Everyone is welcome. smile As to what made us decide to use this particular idea... well... we just started a metaphysical business that caters to this sort of thing. I guess you could say it's a sort of... promotional celebration of the business starting? *snickers* Let people know we exist while celebrating how the spirit world and writing and people who are passionate enough to write about the spirit world exist. It's very exciting to me and AdventureAddict, but maybe that's just us. *laughs*

Anyway, I'm glad you found your way here, and I look forward to reading your entry. smile

Thanks!

That sounds like fun! New business huh? Sounds awesome! And, it's great that you and AdventureAddict enjoy this so much! I'll try my hardest to write well, as I am sure everyone else will (and already has!) for the contest.

I can truly say that I enjoy this subject as well, spiritual world and all (is it weird that I thought of Avatar: The Last Airbender when I first read this?)

[Whispers of Wonderland]

Darkstarzz

Reincarnated_Alphonse

Lol, of course you may participate in this contest! Everyone is welcome. smile As to what made us decide to use this particular idea... well... we just started a metaphysical business that caters to this sort of thing. I guess you could say it's a sort of... promotional celebration of the business starting? *snickers* Let people know we exist while celebrating how the spirit world and writing and people who are passionate enough to write about the spirit world exist. It's very exciting to me and AdventureAddict, but maybe that's just us. *laughs*

Anyway, I'm glad you found your way here, and I look forward to reading your entry. smile

Thanks!

That sounds like fun! New business huh? Sounds awesome! And, it's great that you and AdventureAddict enjoy this so much! I'll try my hardest to write well, as I am sure everyone else will (and already has!) for the contest.

I can truly say that I enjoy this subject as well, spiritual world and all (is it weird that I thought of Avatar: The Last Airbender when I first read this?)

Haha, I suppose it's natural to think of something you like with a similar association when you first read something like this. If I'd stumbled upon this thread rather than creating it, I'd have thought first of my Fullmetal Alchemist fan fiction, which I tend to write with a lot of supernatural elements in it more often than not. wink

And thanks for the support! We really appreciate it.

[Tixa Love Heart]

Reincarnated_Alphonse

Akira Cullen 21

~~~I don't want to go to sleep. I have dreams.~~~

Belle Kinglsey, daughter of Rose and Adam Kingsley, has terrible nightmares about something in the woods. It's lurking and it's alive.

Belle came down for breakfast and was on the verge of collapsing. Her sister, Maryam Kingsley did not seem concerned one bit. Instead, she teased her. 'Have nightmares?" Belle nodded. "You know monsters and ghouls do not exist. They are in Heaven or Hell." Belle retorted, "You don't know that. Purgatory may still exist." Maryam Kingsley just huffed.

Rose Kingsley was too concerned with public appearance to have time to listen or even acknowledge Belle. All Rose said was" 'Shape up, look beautiful, and know of your status, Belle.' " No help here. Adam Kingsley did not care one bit. " 'Belle, what women dream of isn't important. Now if I were to have the dreams, well. It would be alarming.' "

Was anyone even going to listen to Belle Kingsley?

Is this an entry? It has a good sound, but is way too short to be considered. The minimum requirement is 1,500 words ((not characters)). Feel free to post your entry again. You can edit your entries until the close date and it won't hurt your chances of winning, just make sure your entries follow the rules so they can be counted, okay? smile

Opps. I'll edit after I check on my contest.

[w o n d e r l a n d beat]

Reincarnated_Alphonse

Hey there, I would try out but I have this thing against using my own writing for a contest like this. Reason being that I believe my story may be taken, edited and then used. Therefore I will not be entering as a contestant due to that.

Granted I do love writing but I love reading just as much. There is a possible novel I am working on, randomly got the inspiration for it and the details just come flowing from my imagination. Best work ever so far and hella fast progress. I am already on to chapter four, about to start it, which has my totally excited to continue on. Of course it won't be readable unless it get published someday. That's just the way I work.

Moving on. I would love to be a judge for the contest if you'll have me for one. Just quote me or shoot me a message when you have your answer.

[Whispers of Wonderland]

w o n d e r l a n d beat

Reincarnated_Alphonse

Hey there, I would try out but I have this thing against using my own writing for a contest like this. Reason being that I believe my story may be taken, edited and then used. Therefore I will not be entering as a contestant due to that.

Granted I do love writing but I love reading just as much. There is a possible novel I am working on, randomly got the inspiration for it and the details just come flowing from my imagination. Best work ever so far and hella fast progress. I am already on to chapter four, about to start it, which has my totally excited to continue on. Of course it won't be readable unless it get published someday. That's just the way I work.

Moving on. I would love to be a judge for the contest if you'll have me for one. Just quote me or shoot me a message when you have your answer.

Hmmm... well, we don't really take on judges who we don't know personally. It would likely take too long for you to get to know us for this contest to be an option, but feel free to stick around, since we will have more contests in the near future. We need to know what kind of person you are and what kind of writing skill you have.

And as far as your writing being edited and used if you post, that's honestly against the law. If you can see that someone did that to you, you can report them for plagiarism. Heck, if you have enough information, you can even sue for that. Plagiarism is against the law, and copyright holders are protected from it. You own a copyright ((at least in the United States)) as soon as you put your work into a tangible form. So if you've actually written a book, it's copyrighted, nothing else needs to be done. But some sort of date would help prove it to the court.

I understand a bit about not wanting to give your best work to a contest if you're actively planning on publishing it later elsewhere, since submitting a work anywhere is giving that place first publishing rights, and that's almost always what a publisher wants. We're going to be publishing the winners of this contest in our newsletter, as we said on the front page, so even we want first publishing rights, but it's still your story after that.

All in all, it's up to you what you do, just know your rights and how to work with them, and don't worry so much about what people are going to do to you. It slows down creativity. I hate to see someone not be creative out of fear. Reminds me too much of my several year writer's block which I'm finally getting out of. razz Don't ever let something like that happen to you because you're afraid of theft of your work. It's not worth it.

Anyway, thanks for dropping by, and feel free to socialize and get to know us. Feel free to comment on others' works too and help them improve ((if they wish it)). It would let us know what kind of skill you have, and we might be able to make a decision a little bit easier. smile

Take care, and have a nice day!

Melissa

[Whispers of Wonderland]

Okay, peeps, just have an issue to bring up with all interested. We'd originally planned to give out a Memphis the Mermaid as First Prize in addition to 50k in gold. However, we've just noticed that Memphis has mysteriously disappeared from the store and is now inflating in the marketplace at an alarmingly fast rate, making First Prize start to appear that it's getting a better deal than the Grand Prize!

Obviously, if this keeps up, we'll have to do something about this, because that would not be fair at all to the contestants.

So, this is where you come in.What would you advise we give for First Place instead of Memphis if this doesn't go back to normal? What do you advise we *do* with Memphis? Should she become part of the Grand Prize? If so, what should we do about the Rune Set/Psychic Reading promised to the Grand Prize winner?

We really value your opinions on this matter, Thank you so much for your patience and your participation. If this goes back to normal, the prizes will too, but if not, your suggestions will really help.

Thanks again,

Melissa

[Undercover Yuuki]

I may do this once I'm done revamping my thread

[Whispers of Wonderland]

Undercover Yuuki

I may do this once I'm done revamping my thread

That would certainly be awesome! smile

[Reed Meroe]

Oooh, a fun contest. I think I shall enter... But don't quote me on that. Very nicely organized, too.

As far as your question about Memphis, I know that Phin Phang is down for 'repairs' at the moment, so she might come back. If she doesn't, though, and the price is still inflated, I'd say sell her and divide the gold amongst the four prizes to increase all of them a bit (but keep them equally tiered, of course). Or sell her, put her original value into first prize, and save the rest of the gold for a future contest. That's what I'd do, anyway.

Now I guess I'd better go brainstorm...

[Whispers of Wonderland]

Reed Meroe

Oooh, a fun contest. I think I shall enter... But don't quote me on that. Very nicely organized, too.

As far as your question about Memphis, I know that Phin Phang is down for 'repairs' at the moment, so she might come back. If she doesn't, though, and the price is still inflated, I'd say sell her and divide the gold amongst the four prizes to increase all of them a bit (but keep them equally tiered, of course). Or sell her, put her original value into first prize, and save the rest of the gold for a future contest. That's what I'd do, anyway.

Now I guess I'd better go brainstorm...

Those are valid suggestions. Thank you for your comments. It does at least get me thinking a bit. I'll keep my fingers crossed that she comes back properly though so I don't have to tweak the prize at all. Good thing I bought her BEFORE I started the contest, heh heh...