Steampunk writing competition : Beholder Robot Short Story Contest

See the Winning Entries here : http://steampunkrings.blogspot.com/2010/08/steampunk-writing-competition-beholder.html

Check out the new writing competition , Deadline 10 October : Stolen Jewelry

Steampunk writing competition : Beholder Robot Short Story Contest

I am holding a competition to write the back story that will accompany my Steampunk Beholder Robot Descriptions . I am looking for an original and creative tale in the steampunk genre . I'm giving flexibility on how you want to bring the Beholder to life into the story .Use you imagination , The possibilities are endless .

This Sculpture was featured on BoingBoing.com and was also displayed at the Musuem of the History of science Oxford UK During the Steampunk Exhibition : 'Contraptions + Devices Extraordinaire' .

Sculpture Inspiration :
When i made this creature i was inspired by the Dungeon and Dragon's Beholder which is described as being a very intelligent and Evil Tyrant : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beholder

There are many differences from the conventional Beholder :
It is part organic and robot .
It has only a central eye and a pair of claws .
It moves around using a magnetic well .
It has a raygun on one arm : The Wikipedia description of raygun suggest different kind of powers : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raygun
It has an arm with a triple saw .
The upper Arm has a mysterious glowing orb that can produce a yellow light when activated .

Contest Details :
The story has to be within the Steampunk Genre : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

Minimum word count : 500 words
Maximum word count : 2000 words.
Closes : 15 July 2010

Prizes :
First Place : 200$ of my steampunk Jewelry
Second Place : 100$ of my steampunk Jewelry
Third Place : 50$ of my steampunk Jewelry

The winning story will be used to promote the Beholder Sculpture .
It will be seen on :

Etsy : www.CatherinetteRings.com
Artfire : http://www.artfire.com/users/CatherinetteRings
Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielproulx/
DeviantArt : http://catherinetterings.deviantart.com/
Blogs : http://steampunkrings.blogspot.com/
Website : www.SteampunkJewelry.ca
Twitter : http://twitter.com/steampunkrings
facebook : http://www.facebook.com/SteampunkJewellery
and more ...

Leave a comment here and get a chance to win a 14 x 20 inch poster of the Beholder Robot .

If you have any questions just leave a comment here ,
For your finished entry please email them here : catherinetterings@gmail.com

Have fun and start writing!
Daniel Proulx

Q&A :

Q: Would you have us refer to the being in the story as 'Beholder' Or might we call it whatever we please (such as a name or otherwise)? I ask only to know whether the term is important to you or the sculpture's appearances.

A : It doesn't have to be called the beholder . I call it a beholder because of it's appearance in a modern world . In a steampunk world it could have a different name or none . The sculpture appearance is important to me .

Q : Do you have a relative size for the robot that we should stick to?

A : There is no size limit to how big you can imagine the creature to be.
I always imagined the creature to be about 2 times larger than a human .
Here's one of my favorite beholder illustrations : http://www.candlekeep.com/images/gallery/beholder.jpg


Q : Is there a set origin of the Beholder?

A : The Beholder doesn't have a set origin , the writers have the freedom to develop their own twist. I had too many ideas for it's origin but i never can make my mind . I'm looking forward to see different versions .