Oh boy, it took a looong time to sort all of this out. Once more, many thanks to all those who made this competition possible: the prize donors, the judges, the people who helped promote it, and of course the entrants. This was a lot of fun, and spending all that time divvying up the prizes and reading people’s comments really brought home to me the fact that there’s always room for big-heartedness and good intentions among the deviantART community. Anyway, I should probably shut up and get on with announcing this. How exciting!

THE I SPY JUDGES




Winners were decided via each of the judges’ votes having a value on a numeric scale. These values were added together, and the winners were placed according to who had the lowest to highest score. All of those entries which appeared on one or more judge’s ballot and not another were awarded an arbitrary value of one higher than the number of entrants listed (6 for Visual, 11 for prose and Poetry) for the ‘missing’ vote, for fairness and expediency. I have no idea how my poor, tired, math-challenged brain thought of that system but it worked, by gum it worked, and here we are:


PROSE WINNERS:


FIRST PRIZE PROSE: *MsCellanea [link]

1 devwear t-shirt or cap PLUS a 20 x 20 print from $Moonbeam13 & `GunShyMartyr
A prose or poetry feature in READ THIS magazine from *TheObviousChild
A unique 250-page book, one of only 11 in existence and the last copy available -- bound, numbered and signed-- of the collected works of Todd Keisling featuring stories, novel extracts, illustrative artworks, designs from the lovely Erica, and more, from `alienhead
Picking his way into your house, winding your clocks, plucking your chickens, giving smelling salts to your dormice and carving your candles into angels & garden gnomes --OR-- a prose commission, from *NLY

SECOND PRIZE PROSE: ~Aladdin-Sane [link]

A year subscription OR a wishlist print from =WhoisAenna
Several issues of the lit 'zine LOCUS from ~skufti
A journal feature from =WineWriter
A poetry or prose commision, for you or about you, from =MaskedVengeance

THIRD PRIZE PROSE: ~a-morning-zephyr [link]

A 3-month subscription from ~skufti
A print from the gallery of *TheKingofFall
A poetry critique from *TheObviousChild
A devwear keychain: from *salshep

PROSE RUNNERS UP:

`Beccalicious [link] -- A journal stamp and a postcard from Wales with a real stamp on it, from =bewareofthesnowman
*SweatyToothedMadman [link] -- A piece of prose or poetry featured for a month on the READ THIS magazine website, from *TheObviousChild



POETRY WINNERS:



FIRST PRIZE POETRY: *NLY [link]

1 devwear t-shirt or cap PLUS a 20 x 20 print from $Moonbeam13 & `GunShyMartyr
Feature as a character in a 365Tomorrows story from *SRSmith
A subscription to Mimesis Poetry Journal from *Adeimantus
A short story commision, by ~TheGlome

SECOND PRIZE POETRY: `SparrowSong [link]

A year's subscription, from *SRSmith
A copy of "The Anatomy of Domestic Animals" by Barone, with notes, from ~LadyLouve
A journal feature, from =WineWriter
A poetry or prose commission, from =MaskedVengeance

THIRD PRIZE POETRY *SpokenAubade [link]

A 3-month subscription, from *rober2
A print or mug from the gallery of =MSJames
A poetry critique, from *TheObviousChild
A devwear keychain from `Beccalicious

POETRY RUNNERS UP:

*jonzoiplu [link] -- A postcard (with a limerick about the subject of the winners choice) from England, and a genuine London Tube Map - complete with the NEW Jan 08 design on the front, from ~Benji-man
~007-bewareofthesnowm [link] -- A year of poetry commissions, from ~malicedomestic



VISUAL WINNERS:



FIRST PRIZE VISUAL: devstephi-g: [link]

1 devwear t-shirt or cap PLUS a 20 x 20 print from $Moonbeam13 & `GunShyMartyr
A personalised mini-comic, mailed directly to YOU and starring YOU, along with a nice letter and maybe a chance to strike up correspondance, from *apocathary
A print to the value of $20, from ~skufti
A prose commission, topic of your choice, from *Zhinggibiis

SECOND PRIZE VISUAL: ~AngelofGod87 [link]

A year's subscription, from a mysteriously enigmatic, anonymous person or persons unknown.
Original drawings, sent in the mail, from both ~TheGlome and *salshep
A journal feature, from =WineWriter
Commission of narrative verse or prose from ~AubraPenner

THIRD PRIZE VISUAL: ~Gothamen [link]

A 3-month subscription, from ^JunkbyJen
A print from the gallery of *Cinepoet
A poetry critique, from *TheObviousChild
A devwear keychain from ^JunkbyJen

VISUAL RUNNERS UP:

~saphirefox [link] -- A 1-month subscription, from =Squarix
~blueAkemi [link] -- A 1-month subscription, from =Squarix



SPECIAL PRIZE CATEGORIES



007-PRIZE FOR BEST ENTRY BY A ~007-WriteOff MEMBER: ~007-bewareofthesnowm
A canvas print from *salshep and *Adeimantus

_{~007-WriteOff is a club I started a while back (now managed by ~007-BloodyAlaizabel ) that was designed to encourage people to write, through picking a month of the year in which to write every day. Membership requires the making of a special 007-account, the idea being not to spam up the watchers of your regular account with a pile of rough drafts for 30 or so days. It's a really worthwhile place and the regulars there are very fond of it. Drop by and take a look, or just give the monthly participants (listed on the club account journal) some well-deserved cheers.}

THE "SALSHEP LITERATURE ENCOURAGEMENT" PRIZE:
_{I made this category for two people who, though they didn’t get a place in the main comp, I think showed a great deal of talent and promise. I enjoyed both submissions very much.}

ximxanxillusion [link] -- Two in-depth critiques and a gallery overview from `Jon-Law
kcinm: [link] -- Two in-depth critiques and a gallery overview from *salshep



THE I SPY AWARDS

Bestowed entirely at the whim of *salshep



THE "I'M SO METAL THAT I DIDN'T EVEN ENTER THIS COMPETITION & WON SOMETHING ANYWAY" AWARD: ~Nesi
A photograph (original print) of members of blackmetal band Mayhem, with notes from Dead himself on the back, from *salshep

THE "WTFBBQ THAT'S SOME LONG-ASS POEM" AWARD: *NLY
The naming of a cute lil baby kitten, from `PoeticWar

THE "I BELONG IN A ZOO, AND ANYWAY I LIVE NEAR THERE" AWARD: *ordie
An exclusive postcard from the Lisbon Zoo with commemorative stamp from the 50 years of post services AND a family ticket (two adults and two children) to the said Zoo. This ticket includes access to all the facilities, Dolphin, Reptile and Bird show and a special tour to the "backstage" where you can meet personally all the keepers, trainers and even some animals, from ~LadyLouve

THE "I JUST SPENT 48 HOURS STRAIGHT SORTING OUT THESE PRIZES & I NEED A LAUGH, DAGNABBIT" AWARD: *salshep
A dirty limerick, from *batousaijin

THE "I'D GET IN TOUCH WITH MY INNER CHILD BUT A DINGO ATE IT" AWARD: *deZtornmind
A custom-made children's book, from ~ThorStrongStone

THE "OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY SPIRIT" AWARD: *GrimEden
_{The I Spy competition was created for two purposes. Firstly, to encourage people to write. Secondly, to drum up some community spirit. This wasn't just about getting prizes-- it was also about giving them, and the outpouring of generosity in both the desire to help promote literature and have some fun was, as you can see, enormous. In this spirit, *GrimEden wished nothing for himself (apart from one very small request) but asked for in-depth critique for all the people on the entrants' list who had requested it as a prize, as well as a couple of things clearly requested simply for the joy of them. So I decided to grant every one of his requests and threw in a special prize to say "thankyou for demonstrating so clearly where the heart of any good community is really at". So the following people, thanks to *GrimEden, will recieve:}

~Shuhadaku -- The naming of a cute lil baby kitten from !BebeShep

_{As the baby kitten prize had already been allocated, !BebeShep (my daughter) has donated the name of the new baby kitten she'll be getting in May. She said "I'd love to call it Muffin, that's a cute name. I hope that lady likes our kitten." Pics will of course be posted, as soon as Muffin arrives.}

*doverangel13 -- Critique from =WineWriter
*AmunDei -- Critique from =Negated
~AngelofGod87 -- Critique, from ~007-BloodyAlaizabel
~SkysongMA -- Critique, from =WineWriter
~yannay -- Critique, from *Cinepoet
~kadarian -- Critique, from =WineWriter
~BeeCrest -- Critique, from =Negated
*poisonedrose Critique from =Negated, and (in lieu of her requested pat on the back) a jar of internationally renowned home-made strawberry & pineapple jam, from ~thecoolbeane

*GrimEden himself will recieve:

The name of the anonymous subscription donator (his one request for himself) if humanly possible, via note.
A bottle of Porto Ferreira 1999 from ~LadyLouve



HONOURABLE MENTIONS


Why’d I put ’em all the way down here you ask? Well. There’s one prize package left, and it’s a pretty neat one, too. But I thought it’d be fun to let you guys decide who should get it. So I’m asking you all to vote for your favourite honourable mentions deviation.

Honourable mentions are those entries which were in the top 10 judges' selections but didn't recieve a major prize. Runners-up have been included here, just to be fair about things since there’s a bigger prize at stake.

TO VOTE: send me a note TITLED WITH THE NAME OF ONE person among the following.

--- if it's not in a note, with the name of the person in the subject line of that note, your vote will not be counted.

All votes will be kept entirely private and kept anonymous. Please do take the time to read/view these entries, rather than automatically voting for your friends. This is a chance for you to show what YOU think about these entries:


~sydnerella [link]
*lpowell [link]
~007-J-Jammer [link]
*IfrozenspiritI [link]
*SweatyToothedMadman [link]
`Beccalicious [link]
~SkysongMA [link]
*jonzoiplu [link]
*ordie [link]
~007-bewareofthesnowm [link]
~kcinm [link]
*poisonedrose [link]
~lady-shirakawa [link]
~seanyboyisgreat [link]
~sweetcapris [link]
*Fearwen [link]
~saphirefox [link]
~blueAkemi [link]

The dev with the most votes 48 hrs from the time of this article being posted will win:

A story turned into a fashion design piece by a last year fashion design student who has a guaranteed job with Storytailors Designs, from ~LadyLouve
A 1-month subscription from =Squarix
A black & white or colour art commission from =kelingking2
A poetry commission by ~DamirSoull
A journal feature from =decknine

Winner will be announced in my journal in 48 hours. Or so.


So, there we are. Congratulations to the winners, and thanks again to all. I hope this was as fun to be a part of as it was to run.

If I have forgotten anything or anyone or messed up a link or w/e, then…. I’ll be sleeping for the next 10- 15 hours or so. Prize donors will all be noted with the results as soon as it is that I wake up.



-- Sal