- - - - - - - Valentine's Day and OTHER Themes - - - - - - -

Are you going to enter? Answer seriously.

Yes.	9.1%	[ 6 ]
No.	27.3%	[ 18 ]
I'm pretty sure I am . . .	9.1%	[ 6 ]
I'm hoping to . . .	37.9%	[ 25 ]
I'm not allowed to . . . (Why?!?)	16.7%	[ 11 ]
Total Votes:			[ 66 ]

[Christianne_015]

NEW NOTICE: The winners of my February contest have been announced. All trades have been sent. (15∙March∙2006)

OLD NOTICE: The winners of my January contest have been announced. I've already sent all the trades.

OLD NOTICE: The winners of the December Short Story Fiction Romance Writing Contest have been announced. (10∙January∙2006)

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I know, I know -- my first post sucks, but I haven't thought of anything better to say yet. So -- welcome to my third writing/poetry contest. Okay, so the first was a short story contest, but whatever. This contest goes on once a month, from the first day of the month to the last day of the month. Changes and notices may be made throughout the month, so check the front page every once in a while.

ALSO:

Visit:

Angelic Sin: Chronicle of Tears
. . . a comic. If you don't like the comic itself, then check out the artwork. I think it's great.

Writer's Beat
. . . another writing website! Please refer me, Christianne_015, if you join.

Gaia's Beta Guild
. . . to get a beta or become a beta. Check this guild out!

The Writing Contest Yellowbook
. . . to see all the contests that are going on now!

December Short Story Fiction Romance Writing Contest
. . . my first writing contest (ended December 31st, 2005).

A Final Fantasy song and clip
. . . this to watch a Final Fantasy clip and song.

Memberlist
. . . a link to the Memberlist! Yeah!!!

[Christianne_015]

THEMES FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2006:

Write a poem or story (can be happy or sad, good or bad; also can be guy/guy, girl/girl, guy/girl, etc.) that has one of these three themes:

• Valentine's Day!
  
  February means Valentine's Day. You may look on it with happiness or you may wish there never was a Valentine's Day. Well, here's a chance to write your OWN thing on it.
  
  It can be a personal experience. It could be completely made up. Maybe you want to write about a bad experience. Maybe the greatest experience in your life or someone else's. Go right on ahead and write what you want.
  
  As long as your entry involves Valentine's Day or remarks on Valentine's Day in it somewhere, go right on ahead and write it!
  
  
• Satisfied Staying Single Day
  
  February 11th is "Satisfied Staying Single Day." Since I can't think of anything else to write on it, write what you want.
  
  
• Single Awareness Day
  
  February 15th is "Single Awareness Day." Not much I need to explain here. Interpret as you wish. (And don't you think it's just . . . convenient that Satisfied Staying Single Day and Single Awareness Day are located RIGHT AROUND Valentine's Day? Just a thought.)
  
  
• Other (for those of you who want to write something else)
  
  Exactly what it says.

[Christianne_015]

RULES:

1 -- Follow the prompt(s) for the month.

2 -- Stories: must be at least 1,000 words, but there is no word limit. Poetry: no more than 2,000 words.

3 -- Entries must be sent directly to my e-mail at [e-mail]. You may also post them here as long as they're PG-13 or under. TV-14, NC-17, R, MA, or X-rated entries are not allowed to be posted here, but may still be sent to me; I don't want to get in any trouble.

4 -- Send trades to me with the subject title, "February Contest," and write what they're for (i.e. poetry, story, or both) and how many of each. Example: "February Contest, Stories: 2, Poetry: 1."

5 -- When sending your entry, write in the subject part of the e-mail, "_________ (fill in either 'Story' or 'Poetry') February Contest," and include in the overall e-mail:

Username on Gaia
Your Age (optional)
The Prompt You Used
Lowest Rating of Your Entry if You Know
Title of Your Entry
Your E-Mail (contacting purposes)

6 -- For the format of your stories, space once between paragraphs, and to signify a line break, use three *** or three ###.

7 -- Multiple entries will be accepted, but remember, you'll be competing against yourself in the long run. There will be no charge for extra story entries after you enter your first one. Multiple poetry entries are allowed, but an entry fee of 50g will be charged for each entry after the first (the first entry is 100g). You may also take back entries that you want to replace or get rid of; just tell me. A limit of __ (will fill this in later) poetry entries will be accepted, but there is no limit for story entries.

8 -- Entries for the month of February are due by 28-February-2006. I will start accepting entries starting 1-February-2006. Winners will be announced no later than 10-March-2006.

9 -- I reserve the right to edit, or change in any way, all stories to make them easier to read, but not the right to change the overall stories.

[Christianne_015]

JUDGING:

I will be judging this contest myself. However, if there is a lot of entries, I'll start having someone else help me judge.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Possible judges IF I need them:
Ryuu_Ken
Sylphi
Celestialisolde

[Christianne_015]

HELPING YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING:

In addition to writing a very compelling entry (as in, an entry I like), you will have way greater chances of winning if your entry is nearly free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, unless it's supposed to be that way. I am willing to help anyone who needs it to the best of my knowledge, but if you don't ask for someone's help, and your entry has many mistakes, you will have a lesser chance of winning, as these types of errors are like a pet peeve to me. I will judge and award the prizes for the contest based on these things. If you forgot what they were, they were: almost completely free from spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, unless they are supposed to be that way, and the entry/entries I like the most.

Use the correct form of "blond." I posted the correct form of "blond" in number eight of the rules. And spell "a lot" as two words, not one; "a lot" is two words.

[Christianne_015]

ENTRY FEE AND PRIZES:

Entry Fee:

Stories: 100g. Multiple entries accepted, and you do not have to pay for any but the first entry.

Poetry: 100g. For entries beyond the first, you must pay an additional 50g for each entry you want to send in.

If you want to enter poetry and a story, you must pay each entry fee (100g for the poetry plus 50g for each additional poetry entry and 100g for the story).

-------------------------------------------------------------------

If you pay the entry fee and do not submit an entry, I will assume you mean to enter a later contest, and will move the money over to the next contest, but I will refund your money if you tell me you wish it back after the contest is over. The money will be used to help with the cost of the prizes. If there's extra money after the end of the contest, it will be used toward another contest in the future.

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Prizes For February: (Subject to change).

Stories
3,000g each entrant

Poetry
Grand Prize Winner: 3,000g

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Special (To The Person(s) Whom I Think Deserve This/These Prize(s) The Most):

• Holly Jolly Boots
  
• Complete Set of New Year's Event Items (Curly Elf Shoes, S-Corp Labcoat, Elftech Gloves, Elftech Hat) (I actually have four sets, but I don't know how many I'm giving away)
  
• Old Newspaper Combover (donated by Lil_JaLs)
  
• Curly Elf Shoes (donated by Lil_JaLs)
  
• S-Corp Labcoat (donated by Lil_JaLs)
  
• Pine Peacoat (donated by Ryuu_Ken)
  
• Holly Jolly Poinsettia Earmuffs (donated by Ryuu_Ken)
  
• Santa's Giftbox 2K5 ( 8 of 8 ) (I actually have two sets, but I'm using only one for this)

[Christianne_015]

EXTRAS THAT I COULDN'T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE:

Money:

Donations:

• 10,000g! -- [ WW+CCF | DONATE or APPLY - GRANTS/LOANS ]

Entries (Money from entries): 1,200g
Me (Money raised by me): 14,000g

Total: 25,000g

Max of 25,000g (not including items) total to be used for the contest this month (February 2006). And I'm only using 1,000g from the entries so far to help with this contest. Everything else will be used in the next one.

This post updated as regularly as possible for me.

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If you would like a copy of the winning entry/entries or just all or some of the entries, just e-mail me about them, and with the permission of the authors, I will send you them.

If you have any questions, you may write to me at my Yahoo! account or on my Gaia account.

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Please:

Nothing yet that I can think of.

Thank you!

[Christianne_015]

ENTRANTS AND WINNERS:

Entrants:

Stories

1 -- MerwitchMarill -- paid (1), read
. . .."Things I'll Never Say"
2 -- HelterSkelterX -- paid (1), read
. . .."All Alone"
3 -- Kurumi_Yuto -- paid (1), read
. . .."Love in the Looking-Glass"
4 -- Foxiego -- paid (1), reading
. . .."(Untitled)"
5 -- Iano_Rujin -- paid (1), reading
. . .."A Valentine's Promise"
6 --

Poetry (limited space)

1 -- Kaiba_girl572 -- paid (1)

2 -- kijo13 -- paid (1), read
. . .."Love Hate"
3 --

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Transfers from Previous Contest(s):
TigerHeartt (100g)
kageneko114 (100g)
ookami_ketsueki (100g)
ATmac05 (100g)
Kendusyth Tenshin (100g)
TheErikaness (100g)
Sacrifice13 (Story: 100g)
Ralph_Keidolurgon (Poetry: 100g)

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Winners for February:

Stories
3,000g each:

MerwitchMarill || Things I'll Never Say

HelterSkelterX || All Alone

Kurumi_Yuto || Love in the Looking-Glass

Foxiego || (Untitled)

Iano_Rujin || A Valentine's Promise
Poetry
Grand Prize Winner: kijo13 || Love Hate

Winners for January:

Stories
Grand Prize Winner: Ralph_Keidolurgon || Birdie, My Byrd
1st Runner Up: days_night || Notebook
2nd Runner Up: welcometomyhell || Untitled

Poetry
Grand Prize Winner: savage_linx || Insanity of Love
1st Runner Up: Lil_JaLs || What is your answer?
2nd Runner Up: sohmarin || Untitled

Winners for December:

Grand Prize: Sera15 || Give You Wings
1st Runner Up: eLsWiFeY || Live, Laugh, and Love
2nd Runner Up: Sylphi || Orchids for Dinner

[Christianne_015]

Previous Donations:

• 296g (Saranil13 -- Thank you! You're the first one to donate ever!)
  
• 400g, Old Newspaper Combover, Curly Elf Shoes, S-Corp Labcoat (Lil_JaLs -- Thank you for all the donations! They are truly appreciated.)
  
• Pine Peacoat, Holly Jolly Poinsettia Earmuffs (Ryuu_Ken -- Very much appreciated and totally unexpected. Thank you very much!)
  
• 400g (Sylphi -- Thank you! I'll just put it here that its for Honorable Mentions.)

[Christianne_015]

Possible use.

[Christianne_015]

Possible use.

[Christianne_015]

Possible use.

[Christianne_015]

Totally forgot that it was almost February -- NEED PROMPTS FOR FEBRUARY!

[Christianne_015]

Got my theme -- Valentine's Day!

[Christianne_015]

Okay, there might be some errors in the front page posts, but I'll fix them when I get around to them.