The results – children!
February 24th, 2012
First, my apologies for taking so long to post the results of the Keepers competition. The trouble was – apart from the fact that I’m busy writing the new book – people sent in such good entries! I think this was one of the hardest things I have ever judged. So many of the entries could have been winners.
So the first thing I decided to do was break the entries into three categories instead of two. That is, adults, older children and younger children. Which means of course that there are now three prizes instead of two! 😀 And the second thing is, next week I’ll put up the entries that didn’t win, so you can see how brilliant they were.
But for now – yes yes, I know. You want me to tell you who won!
I’ll start with the younger children: the prize goes Maeve Timms for her drawing of a quignog.
Maeve's picture of a quignog
The reason I liked this one so much was because it really does look mad (which was the only bit of description we had). The wild staring eye, the dribbling, the strange tail which is almost like a many-fingered hand …
Congratulations, Maeve, I’ll send your prize next week.
Now, the older children: once again the entries were very hard to choose between. But the prize goes to Esther Perry for her written description, as follows:
Dear humans, a guignong is a mutated human, these things happen, we cannot control them. They have chosen us! We cannot go up to someone and say mutate me, we don’t get this choice. If we had a choice then we would stay normal. We have hidden ourselves because you are not ready for us. You are afraid of what you do not understand, so you call us mad.
Let me explain, to help you understand. There are ones of us that can read minds. I believe that is why you call us mad. Some of us have more mutations than others. We can be pink, blue, green, purple, gold, brown, yellow, red, or white. Scaly, fuzzy, slimy, slinky, stinky, sticky, or spiky. And we can
* read minds
* go through walls
* teleport
* turn into animals
* make ice
* have lasers in our eyes
* or just be plain weird
If you would just understand we are just the same as you on the inside maybe we would get along better. Remember, it could happen to you! Here are some stories:
to: The Human Race
from: Tasha
subject: ME!
This is my story. When I was born my parents were freaked out! I had scales all over my body. My parents left me in the woods to die, but the quipnogs found me. They told me that I was one of them. They are normal like me. I did not choose it, I did not want it, but I got it.
Tasha, 13 years old and normal
to: The Human Race
from: George
subject: my story
I was normal until I turned 20 then I started teleporting. Here now, gone a moment later. I ran away from everything, now I am a guignong .
George, 40 bye…
from: Ruby
to: you
subject: what happened to me
Okay so some get born this way, some develop this. Not me! I was created. I was stolen from my family when I was little. They did something to me so that now I have metal bones and muscles. My blood is gold and when I am angry my eyes go gold too. People forced this on me I never had the slightest choice in this matter. I am a child, A CHILD, but did they care, no, they still did this to me! I just want to be normal again.
Ruby, 13 (5 years a human, 8 years a quignog), human made guignog, a child that is not
So you see we don’t want this but we got it anyway. We just want to be normal again
from a fellow human and quignog
The thing I liked so much about Esther’s entry was its originality. It made me think of quignogs in a completely different way – maybe they are not what I thought they were! It also gave a very good reason why they are called mad.
So congratulations, Esther, I’ll be sending your prize next week too.
This is turning into a very long post, so I’ll start a new one for the adults.
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About Lian
Lian Tanner has been dynamited while scuba diving and arrested while busking. She once spent a week in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, hunting for a Japanese soldier left over from the Second World War. Nowadays she lives by the beach in southern Tasmania.
More about Lian
Congradulations Mauve! (did i spell that right??)
i read the comment she wrote about checking every day, so i thought i had to say that.
It’s Maeve, not Mauve. But perhaps she will turn mauve with excitement when she discovers that she has won. 🙂
Omg, hopefully! No doubt she will, though! i liked the description too, it was very interesting, and i laughed a little when i read it.
Thank you Lian i am so exited and happy.
My friend Sofia (who also sent in a picture) tried to tell me at school but i didn’t let her i kept saying i’ll trough a chair at you as a joke to stop her from telling me but instead we just craked up laughing.
I practically ran home so i can see the winners and i went mad as a quignog when i found out i got the prize.
i really like Esther’s description and never thought about it that way so i want to congratulate her aswell.
Bye and thank you again,
Maeve
Congratulations Maeve!!!!! Your drawing is awesome!
Congratulations Maeve and Esther!!! i LOOOOVEDD your drawing Maeve, its really awesome and mad!! i really liked your description Esther because its different and interesting!!
Wow that was amazing, I loved it and it made me feel like I had seen one as I read.
Wow ,I can not wait to read the Path of Beasts to see what the quignog looks like !!!
Alas, Lilli, you won’t get to see a quignog in Path of Beasts! It gets mentioned, but it has been extinct for a long time, so never appears. Maybe when I go back and do the prequels about when Herro Dan and Olga Ciavolga were children, a quignog will put in an appearance.
It would be awesome if we could have another competition as my friends checked the website too late and could not enter !!
Hi Lilli, I’m sure I’ll have another competition some time. Not sure when though. Keep an occasional eye on the website, and I’ll make sure that next time I leave more time for entries.
Thank you Lian
This will mean a lot to my friends and I!
Every single day after homework I always check your blog before I go and do Mathletics !
I just love reading your books and getting tips of the website for writing as I love writing books .
It is a big hobby of mine and I lets you use your imagination to n o limit.
Love Lilli 😉
Lilli, I’m so glad you are finding the writing tips useful. I’ll keep updating them whenever I get the chance – and I agree about writing. Using ones imagination is such a pleasure.
Hi Lian,
Do you know when Path of Beast will come out.
I can’t wait!
Hi Jordie, Path of Beasts will be out at the end of September. I can’t wait either. 😀
Omg Lian your doing a prequel??? *faint*…cant wait!!!…even though it wont probably be till next year
Oh, that’s a nice reaction! 😀 But it’ll be more than a year, Georgia. I’m writing another book first, set in Antarctica – well, sort of – so haven’t even started the prequels yet, and the lead time between writing and publication date is enormous. So it’ll be several years before you get to read about how the museum started.
What’s the book called Lian?
The one I’m writing at the moment? It’s called Frozen. At least that’s the working title. But I rather like it, so it’ll probably stay.
When is it coming out?
Sorry that was a bit of a silly question 🙂
No idea! Depends if the publishers want it, once it’s finished.
I sure hope they want it, just by the title it sounds awsome:))
Sorry I made a typo(I don’t know how to spell typo either) in the last bit 🙂
Well that’s good to know, Jordie. I had no idea if people would like the title or not – so you are the first to comment.
You should definatly keep the title because I love those ones with just one word they’re so suspenceful, if you know what I mean:)
I totally agree, Jordie. I like one-word titles too. There’s something sharp and exciting about them. I think that’s why I went for Frozen.
It’s okay – I just wish I knew the answer. 🙂
Hi Lian I luv your book the keepers
I was wondering where you got the idea from?
Hi Charlotte, I’m glad you like the book. The idea for Museum of Thieves came from two places. One was an article that I read years ago about the Hermitage Museum in Russia, which is enormous (though I don’t think the rooms move around). The other was a kid who used to live in my street, who was very overprotected by his parents, and hardly allowed to do anything. At some stage, those two ideas sort of bumped up against each other, and turned into the book.
So that’s where you got it from. 😉