|
News
And The Winners Are... |
| The Marauders Map was a very exciting Challenge as our 14 judges can attest to. Half the stories shot out of the starting block and never looked back. It was neck to neck for some of the categories. Switching places only when the last two or three judges narrowed the field at the end. All 12 stories are winners in their own right. I was glad to see some new author’s names in the line-up. To write a story is fairly easy. To write a Challenge story with requirements and a deadline is, well…Challenging to say the least. A “Hardy Well Done” to all. And now the results… The award for Best Overall goes to: ”Never Sniff A Gift Hippogriff” by Spenser Hemmingway The award for Best Adventure goes to: ”Festively Besieged” by Torak with Fett dFacto The award for Best Secrets, a tie, goes to: ”No Matter How Improbable” by Tom NotRiddle and ”Never Sniff A Gift Hippogriff” by Spenser Hemmingway The award for Best Drama goes to: ”Vulnerability” by Amour Honorable Mention is given to the one story that had the most votes but not in any one category to win: ”I Solemnly Swear” by M_And The winning stories are now prominently listed in our Featured Stories section. Those of you that have multiple chapters or need to do some editing may continue at this time. The Challenge category is back open. If your story is completed, please ensure it is edited and YES, as completed. The 2009-1 Challenge is coming very soon. Start breaking out your investigative skills. I would like to thank my many judges who worked hard for this Challenge: AP, AS, BP, CQ, DL, GC, IV, JM, MG, NSL, RS, SH, WC, and ZA. You know who you are. Thank you very much for all that reading and judging. The Challenge would not exist if nobody judged them. Some authors have asked if I would tell them how well they did in the judging. If you wish, e-mail me and I will tell you your results. PS: The, map, Ginny, black, dog, and remember how book #3 went? |
| Sir Ollivander on 2009.01.15 - 10:58AM () |
Comments
Torak came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.15 - 11:10AM to say:
Oh, and that should be "by Torak and Fett dFacto". :-)
Spenser Hemmingway came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.15 - 05:22PM to say:
I included and alluded to the bonus phrase Never Sniff A Gift Fish / Hippogriff The former belongs to the American Humorist Patrick F. McManus. In additional to all else that I may say about him, the man is an absolute gentleman. I met him at a book signing several years ago, and I was so flustered I could only say "You are exactly what I expected." I know he will never see this posting, but he is a hero of mine now. Torak will hopefully support me in lauding the man's turn of phrase...albeit American.
Thank you for supporting my story, and thank you for your interest in the next great Challenge. I'm sure that it has something to do with either Jimmy Hoffa or those pastry chefs who gave me a jelly donut mention them in this. Eric B.
Torak came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.15 - 06:25PM to say:
Yes, McManus is very good. And as for his turn of phrase, there's something about it that feels very British; the spelling and so on is American, of course, but the way he writes...
AriesGirl came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.15 - 08:09PM to say:
Torak, You missed the (i) in reading, and the (c) in black. Which would make it. 'Royal Academy Magic' . Now, if you put that together with the last clue, Stick, Stone Cloth you get.......... I don't know. Rebuilding the castle?
AriesGirl came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.15 - 08:14PM to say:
Darn! I forgot about the P.S. so rebuilding the castle wouldn't work.
sanidad came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.15 - 11:04PM to say:
First of all, congrats to all of the winners.
And second... AriesGirl, it couldn't be rebuilding the castle. We already did that challenge over a year ago shortly after DH came out.
M_And came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.15 - 11:20PM to say:
Wow! I'm totally agog! Thanks again to all the judges for their hard work. Couldn't have been easy. A shout out to the authors who submitted - good job all! Congratulations to the winners! And again a big thanks to Sir Ollivander for another great challenge! - Mike
M_And came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.16 - 12:00AM to say:
Ok, so it took me awhile to get the "hidden letters bit. Sorry for being slow on the uptake. No idea about the "Stick Stone Cloth"clue, but what about something to do with Half Blood Prince for the "Royal Academy Magic" clue? Just tossing it out there. - M
Spenser Hemmingway came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.16 - 09:58AM to say:
I almost always take a guess, albeit usually a tongue-in-cheek one. This has me stumped...cackling stumped. Maybe after another five or six pots of coffee something will occur to me.
ginny_lola came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.16 - 10:06AM to say:
Ugh....this is annoying me! There's something in my head which is trying to tell me something but I really can't catch what it is....it's like I understand it but I don't know it! Ugh I am frustrating myself here.
irollam came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.16 - 07:45PM to say:
Hmmmm. Royal Academy Magic. Well, Royal was Kingsley's codename on Potterwatch, could it be an Auror Academy?
nwsgrl032190 came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.23 - 03:50PM to say:
I always thought that the "stick, stone cloth" clue was about the deathly hallows and everything, but maybe if it has to do with the 3rd book I might be way off. But either way a BIG congrats goes out to all participant and especially the winners.
quinn came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.26 - 05:31PM to say:
Come on guys, this one is easy. It's clearly going to be a challenge to write a story about the Stick Stone Cloth tournament at the Royal Academy Magic. Stick Stone Cloth is the wizard version of Rock Paper Scissors, based on the Hallows... Stick (the wand, one finger) severs the cloth, stone smashes the stick, and the cloth covers the stone. Simple, really. Of course, there are variations that add a Salamander and Merlin... But that's too complex to explain here. The academy used to be the Royal Academy OF Magic, but the name was changed in the Royal Wizards' Preposition Ban [of] 1421. This one was too obvious...
Spenser Hemmingway came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.27 - 10:46AM to say:
Ah, I see that you've been reading Sir Aaron D. Ryerlint's treatise on the medicinal uses of platypus teeth. Fascinating reading actually. The game you mentioned became quite popular after the tragic accident involving that visiting Russian prince and the full-contact croquet game (which was thereafter banned in the British Isles).
If any of that made any sense to you, back up, pour yourself a cup of coffee and stay out of the cooking sherry. I still think that the Challenge is going to be a Three Stooges parody starring Harry, Ginny and Dobby.
Torak came out of the woodwork on 2009.01.15 - 11:10AM to say:
Royal academy magi?