Monday, September 16, 2013

Build-A-Monster (The October Reading Challenge)



This is a challenge I wrote for the Goodreads group, Nothing but Reading Challenge, which I am a moderator of,  for our October reading challenge. Interested in participating? Then join us at Nothing but Reading Challenges: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1494375. We'd love to have you come play with us. :)

This Halloween don your mad scientist lab coat and Build-A-Monster. Using books, piece together your unique creation. Yes, technically it doesn't need to be a monster, any supernatural creature you wish to create/invent will do. (This challenge was inspired by Mary's ingenious Build-A-Body challenge.)

This challenge has three tiers from which you can pick, mix, or combine. You can choose one tier or do all three. It's up to you to decide.:

Tier One - For this tier, you actually build the monster using book covers. You can make this portion of the challenge as easy or as challenging as you wish, depending on how many body parts you want to use. For instance, if you wanted to make this as hard as possible, you may want to look for two separate eyes, a mouth, a head, hair, a torso, a shoulder, a neck, a back, legs, two hands, arms, and feet (or even a nose and ears if you can find them). If you want something a bit easier, however, you can look for just those unique parts (fangs, wings, skin, etc.) that you want. The point is, it's all up to you! You're the mad scientist. (Examples listed below)

Note: Look for book covers predominantly featuring the body parts you're after. For instance, the cover for Bitter Night below has arms on it, but they don't draw your eyes the way the arms on Leaving Paradise's cover do. Also, remember that all of the body parts below are optional. Mix & match, pick & choose, but remember to be creative and have fun.


Tier Two - For this tier, you may pick and choose what skills, abilities, tools, weapons, etc. you want your monster to have. Just select books for which the characters have the traits you're looking for. (Examples listed below)

Tier Three - For this tier, create a story about how your creature came into being. Was it actually created by a mad scientist, a fluke of nature, a curse, or something else? Use book titles to fill in the gaps. (Example listed below)

Possible Alternative: For those of you who are die hard Spell-it-out challenge fans, you may, if you so wish, create your monsters using the spell-it-out challenge method. Using the first letter in the book's title (if the book starts with 'the', 'a', 'an', etc. you may use the first letter in the second word of the title), the first letter of an author's first or last name, or the first letter of a character's first, last, or nick name, you may spell out what unique body parts, tools, powers, etc. your monster has like fangs, fur, brooms, spell book, wands, etc. (Example listed below.)



Levels of Play:
Sidekick of Doom - Read 2 - 4 books
Igor's Evil Twin - Read 5 - 7 books
Mad Scientist - Read 8 - 10 books
Evil Genius - Read 11 - 13 books
Megalomaniac Mastermind - Read 14+ books

Duration: The month of October, but as this one will be moved to the regular challenges after October, you can opt to set your a goal for yourself that better suits your reading ability/speed and set a different deadline.

Tips & Suggestions:
- Listopia is a great place to find books for this challenge. There are many different lists devoted to body parts like hands, feet, legs, eyes, etc.
- Take it a step further by dressing your monster in a monster inspired outfit. You can search for covers with articles of clothing you'd like your monster to wear.
- Want to name your monster? Go ahead! Come up with a fun and unique name and tell us why you chose it.
- If you want an extra challenge, try to find two eyes, hands, feet, arms, shoulders, and legs. You can even look for a right & left of each!

Here are some example book covers to get you brainstorming:

Fangs/Teeth:


Eyes:


Skin/Fur (Think marks, color, texture, etc):


Nails/Hands:


Tails:


Wings:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/10...


Miscellaneous items:

  (heart)    (~neck~)    (tongue)      (ears)

Please Note: If you read a book in one language, you may use a foreign cover if it suits your purpose better. For example, you may wish to use this one:

In place of this one or eyes:


Powers:

(Healing)


(Controlling the weather)


(shape shifting)


(Electricity)

Instruments/Tools:


Example of a story:
It was A Dark and Stormy Night. The night sky lit up like there were A Thousand Splendid Suns blinking on and off. That's when I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She looked at me and said, "I put a Dark Curse on you. You will be Dead Until Dark, a Dead Witch Walking. Never to walk In Broad Daylight again. It will seem a World Without End. You will have A Hunger Like No Other and You Just Can't Get Enough.

Example of a Spell-it-out challenge:
F - Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz
A - Hank Adams, a character in Indelible by Karin Slaughter
N - Nadia Lake, a character in Replica by Jenna Black
G - The Good Sister by Wendy Corsi Staub
S - What the Duke Desires by Sabrina Jeffries


Please Note: The Pictures, images, gifs were found in the shared area on Photobucket and are not my own. The top image includes covers from real books and the logo used was designed at http://www.flamingtext.com/ 

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