Beloved and honored reader,
This short one comes with a bit of embarrassment attached. It turns out the old kellinkston.com didn’t disappear at all, but during its domain transfer to the new site, it decided to change the url to https://kellinkston.wordpress.com/!
That said, I’ll be skipping the audio version of this post today (too many technical pieces still causing uncertainty) but I can at least provide some high-groove listening:
With last month’s silence acknowledged, I have a fair amount of news for this month. Not many promises, more-so updates on promises kept.
We’ll start with the first and biggest: our seasonal event!
The Third Annual Holy Verses Art Contest: Now Open!
That’s right!
The time of year to compete for fat prizes by expressing your creativity has come once again!
Starting April 16th and ending May 16th, the fanart contest has begun!
Artistically inclined denizens throughout The Verses try their skill to be immortalized in the upcoming website, win some moolah, and get a super-special package from Mr. Inkston himself (that’s me!)
Artists will submit their work on the ✏︱art channel within the Discord server, using the hashtag #HVAC2025 (I’m not laughing, you’re laughing! Let’s keep this Summer cool with some #HVAC2025!?)
Readers and fans will vote on their favorite entries on the Discord server just like last time (so be sure you’re in there when voting starts!) Voting will last until May 20th, so vote fast! The Winner will be announced May 21st.
The optional themes of this year’s contest are: “Sepia” and/or “Slice of Life.” Pick both or either based on your comfort, or don’t – make something you love. Art entries can be in any visual artistic medium, not just digital art!
Now without further ado: here’s the prize tiers for dauntless artists:
1st- $250 or equivalent value in an art commission to the artist of your choice (coordinated by yours truly), a special thank you package with some rare stuff (I’ll ship anywhere in the world, just for you! mailing address required), the featured art of the month spot in the following month’s email, and most incredible of all: a permanent spot in the “winners” hall of fame on kellinkston.com!
2nd- $200 and a personalized letter. (mailing address required)
3rd- $150 and a personalized letter. (mailing address required)
3 “runners up” at $50 each
2 “honorable mentions” at $50 each
Here’s last year’s winning piece (drawn by franibear) to whet your appetite:
Glorious, isn’t it? Think you make something better, funnier, more sepia?! The time has come to fire up your drawing tablet, pen and pencil, or whatever your medium is.
The fine print (AKA stuff you should keep in mind):
-No Generative AI of any kind
-No stealing art from others to create your piece (i.e. tracing, training, or anything that uses someone else’s skills to make your piece)
-Entries can be any visual medium at all: clay, watercolor, digital, etc. Have fun with it!
-Payments will be made over PayPal: that’s the only way we’ll be doing it so I hope you have one or can get access to one
-Please keep submissions appropriate for the larger audience (no excessive gore, nudity, violence etc.) Mild violence and “cheesecake/pinup” style art is fine but if you have to think twice, it may be better to reconsider how wild you go with it. Rule of thumb is for your teenage cousin to be able to look over the entries and now grow up too fast – thank you
-Voting will be conducted entirely by fans within the Discord Server. I will not have any say in who wins(!) While I cannot decide where votes go, I recommend to voters to vote on preference alone to maximize the integrity of the competition!
-I reserve the right to remove entries for any reason, whatsoever!
The 5 W’s (if you want to share with your friends):
Who: YOU! (A motivated artists of any medium and any skill level)
What: Fanart (or just regular art if this is their first time hearing about the books, I guess) Contest about the Holyverse overarching multiple series of novels
When: April 16th to May 16th
Where: Post your entries to the Holy Verses Official Discord (Link: https://discord.gg/nZFyza9Qe3) in the ✏︱art channel. Make sure you either say it’s a submission for the 2025 contest, or use #HVAC2025! (Not an advertisement for Air Conditioning.)
Why: up to $250 along with multiple other cool cash prizes, as well as the chance for permanent exposure of your piece in the upcoming website!
Good luck, and happy creating!
Featured art of the Month: by Toloma
The Captain and Deckhand Colette seem to have their hands full of regular Nocturna issues! Where’s Mister La’Coss when you need him?!
Parting of the Month:
The world will continue to change, in fact it is life’s only constant…
However, if you can find it in yourself to love change, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, you begin peeling back the layers that hold people back from discovering who they truly are.
Enjoy your month, and be ready to change in new and exciting ways! Forge the you that you’d like to be in the next month, and your future you will thank you for it.
May your reading list never end,
Kell Inkston
