Fury of the Phoenix arc winner!
hi everyone!! i had some really fantastic entries
from readers for this arc contest. confession: i literally
sat there for a minute before clicking publish on my arc
post. why? i was afraid i wouldn't get any entries. it's true!
like having a big party and no one comes. but i really really
wanted this first contest to be for Silver Phoenix fans, and
you guys amazed me in so many ways.
thanks to everyone who took the time to blog or
comment in the contest post with your thoughts--it
really means a lot. now i'd like to share some of the
great entries i received!! WARNING! this post contains
a whole lot of Silver Phoenix SPOILERS!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MawgoUwOq8g
alison, a teen reader from the east coast, submitted this
fantastic vlog of why she loves Silver Phoenix. how cute is it?
i received three art entries--and what's so fantastic
about them is that they are all from readers abroad!
by adam in thailand (using watercolor pencils)
this is the scene where chen yong saves ai ling
from his dopplegangar. adam mentioned
especially liking the terraced rice fields. me, too. here
is the passage from Silver Phoenix:
The sun descended, streaking the sky with ribbons of
vermilion. There was no farmstead in sight. Lush terraced
fields reflected the light. The fields had collected recent rains,
and the crops grew from pools tinted rose, gold, and green.
my comments: other than the terraced fields that i love,
this scene is where chen yong and ai ling join
one another again. i especially love the sword
wielding action from chen yong. he looks fierce!
by annie in calgary, canada (using .7 lead and pencil crayons)
my comments: annie is also a teen reader! and i think this portrait
of ai ling is just lovely. i love the colors and i love that she's holding
a calligraphy brush in one hand!
by haricha in the uk (using coloring pencils, ink, Photoshop
Elements and Imagine FX brushes)
my comments: i love the surrealism of this piece! how
ai ling holding her jade pendant is blending into the
chinese dragon behind her. gorgeous!
i also received some great written entries!
lauren from ottawa, canada submitted a fan fiction piece
titled "A Smile from Ear to Ear" based on a japanese monster.
she said she enjoyed the monsters from Silver Phoenix the most.
below is an excerpt, shared with permission:
When I woke up I was not sure where I was. At first I believed I was in the gardens of heaven. An angry wasp stinging me made me realize this was not the case. I was lying on the edge of a river, my clothes ripped and covered in blood. I struggled to stand up and crawled to the water to clean myself. Then I saw what my lord had done. He had taken his sword and split my mouth from ear to ear, giving me a grotesque smile. I was a monster. I remember feeling an unholy anger that sustained me when I could not find food or drink. My wounds became infected and I wandered the countryside in a delirious fever. I wanted to hurt and kill someone as my lord had to done to me. I did not know what to do, until the man found me.
He called himself Zhong Ye. He offered to help me get revenge, for a price. He offered to give me power to destroy my lord and any man who stood in my path. The power to hurt any man who threatened his wife the way mine did. My lord and husband had taken Xiu Ying from me. He had beaten me and scarred my body daily, then had the nerve to insist I had been betrayed him for another man. He did not even have the honour to kill me, only the cowardice to scar me. I readily agreed, not caring about what it might cost me. Zhong Ye filled me with spells and powers with only one command: I must find the girl named Ai Ling.
First I had to see to my own desires. I went to the grand palace. My lord was there feasting with his friends. He had remarried a young nubile girl half my age. I doubted that she had even begun her moon time. An angry feeling twisted within my heart. I waited until the night fell and snuck into the castle. He was sleeping on the pallet, his arm curled around his naked bride.
my comments: whoa! right? the entire peace is dark,
creepy and horrifying. but lauren ends the story on a hopeful
note, with ai ling's help. i really enjoyed this story.
heather zundel wrote a wonderful Silver Phoenix
haiku sequence. here, i share the first stanzas. to read
the poem in it's entirety, click over to heather's blog.
Mere daughter
Unworthy of esteem by most
but cherished by a father still
One day, a letter
a summons from the emperor
leaves -- but does not come home
A journey begins
the step beyond the light is dark
but time -- too short
Courage, a medallion
gifts of her father, but to take hold of another's spirit
a gift of her own
The world is wide
unknown dangers always lurk
a reflection of life
The pool seems safe
cool water, soft lilies bloom
but the monster's hands are strong
my comments: i really enjoyed this poem. i was
especially impressed because heather had written it
same day and without much revising, which she lamented.
i think that's why it read so true and so organic.
and finally, LT uses her craft skills and beyond to
bring a scene from the immortals gardens to life!
this is a scene in which ai ling, chen yong
and li rong enter the immortals gardens of the
golden palace. unusual trees such as the Love Lost
Tree greet the three friends.
Ai Ling stopped at the first tree, its trunk as thick as
three men, the roots gnarled and spread wide, drinking
deep from the ground. Its ivory leaves were shaped like
the palms of hands, and it bore fruit--glistening human
hearts that beat rhythmically on white stems. A jade placard
set into the ground had the words LOVE LOST TREE etched in
gold upon it.
my comments: um. amazing? you really must click over to
LT's site to read about how she made the entire scene. she
mentioned some details she missed, but truly, what she has
is so wonderful. and it isn't about getting the exact details right,
when she brought the feel of the entire scene to life. i love it.
the winner: so truly, how fabulous are Silver Phoenix
fans? i wish i had more Fury arcs to share! the grand
prize goes to LT for her fantastic hand crafted recreation of
the immortals gardens in the golden palace. i'd like to give a
second Fury arc to haricha for the wonderful mixed-media piece
of ai ling and the red dragon. congratulations to both winners!
and for everyone else mentioned in this entry, i'd love to share
some Fury swag if you're willing to email your posting address. i
truly was so impressed and touched by the creativity, time and
thought all of you put into these entries.
everyone! i hope you enjoyed these entries as much as i did!
