Before I kind of hunker down into the core of this entry, I think I should clear a few things up beforehand. Massive apologies for not updating the club or even signing in for six months. I haven't given up on the club, I just lost interest in the chipmunks for a while and for a while there I was very shaky on whether or not I was still interested in DeviantART. However with both interests renewed at least to a high enough place right now, I think it's time that I kicked things into high gear rather than let this club suffer the fate as the others have in the past, with this club still being the only club out there that's even totally carried through with one contest.

All the people who asked to join the club over the last six months, which there were only two that outright asked were added to the members lists, so welcome ~skullz-head and ~ChipmunkFanatic! Glad to see you aboard. I have noticed however there was a large jump in watchers, and since the usual entry with instructions on how to join wasn't in plain sight, I can't help but feel that some people may have missed a step. If there's any of you that are currently watching us right now that isn't a member and would like to be, please leave a comment either with this entry, or on the profile, etc. Just be sure you ask, that will give me a clear cut sign that you'd like to be in on the fun.

And it's time to try to host a new contest! I know it's a little short notice, but I found with most of my other contests people would often wait until the last minute to do the entries anyways (trust me I'm the same way) two weeks is probably still a reasonable time frame to participate!

Contest Time!
So this month's contest is, you guessed it, Thanksgiving related! Last year Thanksgiving was one of those holidays that slipped the radar because of the Halloween and Christmas contests, but when I was still bonkers over the Chipmunks I wanted to do Thanksgiving this year so that the holiday wouldn't be left out at all!

I think I'm going to do this in the same way I did the Mother's Day and St. Patricks Day contests in terms of judging, both drawing and writing will be judged under the same pretences, meaning there's only one winner. However when the time comes to judging I have a much fairer points system so that there's a better chance that people will get tallied in.

Artists: Your objective is to draw something... well, Thanksgiving related! It could be anything, like costumes, being surrounded by family, or even the boys blowing up the kitchen. Just be as creative as you can with the idea and make it look nice. (I'm suspecting a lot of Theodore/Eleanor related drawings from this- foooooddddd. )

Rules
-Full color with the drawing please, unless you're really good at stylizing with a pen or black and white. Simple sketches are alright but I think more people would prefer color unless it's supposed to be that way so you might want to keep it so you have a fighting chance.
-Also, only one submission counts towards the final judging. You can do as many drawings as you feel you need to, but please only pick your best one as the one you will compete with. I don't want artists to have an unfair advantage against writers or even over other artists.

Writers: Your objective is to write a decent story having to do with Thanksgiving and the holiday weekend in general. Ironically enough this also includes Black Friday as well, which for those who don't know, it's the day after Thanksgiving where everyone stays up all night waiting for stores to stock Christmas stuff. Personally I'd prefer writing about Thanksgiving itself, but Black Friday is technically Thanksgiving weekend, so it'll actually count. Neat, eh?

Rules
-The story can be written in any style you want, comedy, drama, romance, trajedy- you name it! Just write it in a manner that you wouldn't mind handing in to say a teacher in school, or in other words, don't write anything too offensive.
-Two deviations is the limit. Two deviations is about forty-five pages give or take, and I think that's plenty of room for a nice short story. I don't want writers to have an unfair advantage over artsts or other writers by writing a novel that would even put my own warbling length to shame. [Cough180pagescough] [cough250pagescough]

And finally, a general rule for both contests is no plaigarism. It's kind of a no-brainer, and I'm sure you all are a respectable lot so I shouldn't have to worry, but it's got to be tacked in there somewhere.

What's in it for YOU!
I think it's time to up the stakes a little bit this time around! In the past there was only one prize that was given per contest to the winner, and the rest was for the sake of submitting good artwork and stories. Well I think I've settled on a better winning formula. With the new point system that's going to go into effect, it seems fair that a couple of people can win a nice little prize. Nice little incentive to get more of you to join in for the ride.

First Place gets either a free THREE MONTH SUBSCRIPTION! ($7.95 retail price) or a shoutout in a full color drawing.
Second Place gets a free ONE MONTH SUBSCRIPTION! ($2.95 retail price)
Third Place gets a request of a quick rough sketch or doodle of their choice.

I'm really, really bad with following through with request art, as some people may tell you, so I'm offering subscription prizes to those who win unless they are absolutely staunchly against it, and there are people here that have screamed at me for even thinking about giving them such a gift even though I really don't mind at all. Subscriptions are real cheap on this website, I spend more in membership on RuneScape a month than I do on this website in three months, so really, it's no problem. If you don't want the sub though I can give shoutouts in any drawings I make though. All courteousy of *narfeth.

And now before I forget... the deadline to the contest. The deadline for you to get your submission in is no later than Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 3:00 AM EST. (To convert times, just check the clock on your computer and it should do that for you.) Don't expect me to take submissions later than that.

Good luck all! And remember ya'll, it's not to win, it's the art of submitting fanart! Don't be like me, be a contributor. Cheers!
-*narfeth