It’s well past time that we announce the winners of some recent contests. So without further ado … here we go!
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We ran two great contests for our two-week feature on The Curse Workers Series by Holly Black.
Up first, five winners were chosen at random to receive a copy of the new paperback edition of White Cat, the first book in the series. Here are the five winners:
Stephanie B.
Leola H.
Libby B.
Debbie P.
Amy P.
We also gave you a chance to win a White Cat/Red Glove prize pack, by answering this question: What kind of curse worker would you like to be and why?
We judged these entries based on quality … and, well, you guys never cease to impress us. In no particular order, here are the five winners & their entries:
Jessica S.
I would most definitely be a luck worker because, in many ways, I already am. My mother and I have a quirk that we refer to as “bad sports juju.” This means that, if we’re watching a sports game on television, and the team we cheer for starts to take a turn for the worse, we should leave the room in order for them to win. My mother has told me many times that this happened to her ever since the day before I was born, where she almost went into labor because she became too involved in a college football game. This continued through my childhood, culminating in a long-discussed event where she stayed up half the night watching an NBA basketball game that went into triple overtime. She always told me that she thought her BSJ was hereditary. However, I never believed her.
Until I saw it for myself.
Frankly, the Steelers should be thanking me for their 2006 Super Bowl win. My hometown team, the VCU Rams, should make me an honorary member for leaving the room for BOTH games last week in order for them to make it to the NCAA Final Four. The New York Yankees… well, they don’t really need my help, but I’d give them more good luck if I could.
In conclusion, my DNA already has the capability to give or take luck. Becoming a Luck Worker doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch.
Cydney L.
I would absolutely choose to be a memory worker. I would be right along side with Barron. The ability to alter one’s memory is nearly as potent as altering one’s entire reality. Once you’ve convinced them that a part of their life never existed at all, it’s a slippery slope to a sloppy form of mind control (Point one: yay for alliteration. Point two: can you say Inception?) Not to mention it’s almost too easy when the curse is instigated with just a touch. Hello? Diabolical genius much? Also, it wouldn’t hurt to erase a few assigned readings from my professors’ minds.
Victoria A.
I would like to be a luck worker. This is for two different reasons: the curse itself and the blowback. Luck working would be one of the most practical curses (at least for someone who’s not in the Mafia!), but it would also be fun. I could give myself or my friends a little extra luck when we need it. I could also give my enemies bad luck if I really wanted to. Also, the blowback is much less severe than it is with other types of curses. Death workers slowly kill themselves, memory workers lose their memories, and dream workers suffer from nightmares or insomnia. But with luck workers, working good luck gives you a good luck blowback and working bad luck gives you a bad luck blowback- whatever you do comes back to you. A luck worker who chooses to work only or mostly good luck could live their life in a constant cycle of good luck.
Vivien P.
I’d want to be a memory worker. The manipulation of memories is so powerful in my opinion. It’s a power that could be overwhelming. This aspect is terrifying. Yet, highly alluring. You can change a person for life. Whether it’s for good or evil, it’s irrevocably going to be different. The respect and commitment that is required for this ability is very high. I love a challenge and that’s why I’d want to be in control of memories.
Juliana B.
Unlike most people, who I am sure want to be the most special, I wouldn’t want to be a transormation worker. A transformation worker would have several crime bosses hunting them down (as Cassel did) and there would be tons of people trying to meet them. No, I wouldn’t like that. For one thing, crime bosses tends to get you dead and for another, I hate being the center of attention, which always happens when you are of a rare type.
I would prefer to be something a bit more plain, like a dream worker. I love to read because you can get lost in a book and feel like you are in a different world with this reality melting away. But seeing something in your mind’s eye can only go so far. You always miss some details, or don’t know what something would look like. In a dream, you can see everything, and what you don’t see, you usually forget once you wake up so it doesn’t bother you later.
I also love to write. It’s a lot of work trying to find the exact words to put down on paper, and sometimes I become so frustrated with my unability to find the symbols to write, I give up. Doing that ends with a lot of wasted ideas. If I were a dream worker, I could simply curse myself to see the end of story rattling in my head while I’m asleep.
Another benefit of being a dream worker would be that I could imagine experiencing something I can no longer experience or have not yet experienced. Would it be all an unhealthy lie? Yes, but it would make me feel better for a little while. I could also give that gift to someone else. A widowed wife could dream that she was walking with her late husband. A veteran could see his friends he left behind in the war. A dying person could visit their dream vacation. A poor man could dream of spending a million dollars.
Dream working would be a nice little specialty. You wouldn’t be able to do much harm unless you give someone insomnia for so long that they die from exhaustion, which I wouldn’t do. You wouldn’t be famous or much feared, but I’m okay with that. Ideas in my head could became an artificial reality, and longings could become real for a little while. I sort of like the sound of that.
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To celebrate the release of Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O’Roark Dowell, we asked you to tell us how many miles past normal are YOU? One winner will receive a copy of the book courtesy of S&S. Here is the winning entry from Elizabeth T.:
You better get out a road map, because it’s going to be one heck of a trip. I’m halfway across the country past normal – or at least that’s what it seems like sometimes. In an office full of pukey pastels, blacks, and browns, I’m rocking neon cardigans and necklaces featuring cephalapods and cupcakes. My music constantly flip-flops between classical to pop, from metal to Baliwood show tunes (most of which I make up words to, because I don’t know one word of Indian). I eat peanut butter and pickle sandwiches on a regular basis, with Pringles and cream cheese on the side. My reading tastes is all over the wall, from Dostoyevsky classics, to high fantasy, to fun romantic “romps in the hay”, or the latest young adult trend.
I wear crazy rings, and I do crazy things. But I think everything is just more fun a couple miles past “normal”.
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There’s always at least one contest going on here at Novel Novice. Check back regularly for the latest, and find our on-going contests in the sidebar on your right!
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