Our lovely contact at Penguin, Jordan, has recently sent us a bunch of autographed copies of The Sending to give away to Obernet members.

Winners!

Out of all the great entries, five winners have been chosen. Congrats to the following entrants (who all agreed to have their entries posted).

It was 2009 and I was in my final year of high school. I had no idea where I was going, and didn’t really care. As long as I had my imagination I was content. I think I read Obernewytn in two days. To say that this series is my favourite is an understatement, and to say that it has changed my life seems unoriginal. Instead I am going to tell everyone what the series has done for me. Elspeth has taught me a lot. I’ve always known dreaming was important (cheers Disney) but what I gained from reading the series is that to dream is to be brave, - you can’t be brave unless you aren’t afraid to be a dreamer. It’s important to do what you want in life. No matter how badly everything is falling apart and breaking all around you sometimes things have to be completely destroyed. Broken in a thousand pieces so it can be put together in a completely new way. While everything falls apart for Elspeth she keeps pushing on through complete darkness. Elpseth and her adventures led me to Obernewtyn.net where I made great friends. Talking to people really helped a lot. We all need different things at different points in our lives. Obernewtyn.net really helped me through dark days. When in ‘RL’ I was just a quiet weirdo, on the forums I could say anything and it would be heard. Looking back it was everyone being so warm and welcoming that led me to accept myself in RL. It wasn’t a quick change. It took time, and now I have the greatest friends for life, a charming boyfriend, have a year of university left and am still dreaming hard (I’ll never stop!). Thanks Isobelle for Elspeth, I’ll never forget her ☺

Serendipity

Hey there, my name is Madlen and I just discoverd this page. I come from Germany so it's still the 28.02.13 over here and I hope I am not too late to hand in my message for the competition for the book. I first got to know the Obernewtyn books when I got them as a birthday present from my australian boyfriend last december. He gave me the first two books and I just smashed them. I was fascinated by the story created by this young girl, that Isobelle was when she started writing the books. I think in this story lies so much truth about our todays world that it is even scary. Besides having a great time reading those fantastic books, we should start think about how we can change this world so that it will not end up in a "Great White" which I believe is not too unlikely to happen for real one day if we go on acting like this. Its a shame that its only published in english as to me it really is a masterpiece that should be more famous then it is. It should be known all over the world and be translated in many languages as it contains so much truth besides being a great adventure. I keep my fingers crossed that I will win a copy, cause I searched the internet the whole day for the book but couldnt find it anywhere for sale. And the download of the ebook is blocked in my country. Looking forward to hearing from you. Kind regards from Germany, Madlen

Django719

There is a cozy used bookstore, which is a hidden gem nestled in the middle of nowhere county where I live. This is where I first discovered Obernewtyn. I remember scouring the shelves for my next book and had enlisted my mom’s help, who seems to know my taste in books better than I do. She called me over and showed Obernewtyn to me. I have to admit my first impression was not one of love, I thought the cover was strange and the pages were yellowed. But trusting my mom, I read the back cover, which did sound intriguing, so I opened it up to a random page, where I discovered a captivating writing style, so I decided to give it a chance. I am so happy that I did because within only a few chapters I wanted to return to the bookstore and purchase Farseekers. Unfortunately, I had to wait until the next day, which seemed like an eternity because all I wanted to do was to immerse myself into the series. This would become even more tragic when I found out that only the first three books were released in the United States making it a long distance love affair. While there are many things that I love about the book, it was how realistic the characters’ relationships were that made this series one that I couldn’t get enough of. After reading the series, I couldn’t believe that anyone could willingly part with these books. I remember feeling the need to tell everyone about Obernewtyn because it was a story that deserved to be read, but there was also a small part of me that wanted to keep it a secret because I liked escaping into a world that hadn’t been devoured by all of society.

mysticjem

I remember the first time I picked up 'Obernewtyn' at a writing workshop. At the time I was not into reading, I hated it. But I thought, what the hell, I'll buy it anyway. And so I bought it. Read the first page. Never looked back. I don't know what I would do without these books. They were the books that got me into reading, taught me the joy of experiencing different worlds and lifes other then my own. They were the books that taught me it's ok to be different, weird, strange, whatever; as long as I'm being ME. And being me is OK. Better then OK. Isobelle Carmody has given me the gift of being able to SEE for once in my life. She deserves the best and only the best. She is my inspiration.

Gahltha_Heart

It was roughly 10 years ago, when my best friend and I were sitting discussing a book we were both currently reading (instead of doing the work in class that we were supposed to). She then paused and thought for a moment, "I've got this book my mum bought me that I think you would love. It has the first three books of the series in one and I have the fourth book as well". I asked what it was called and she told me the Obernewtyn Chronicles. She went on to explain that it was really different and that she loved it and knew I would too, but she hadn't found the fifth book and didn't know if there was going to be one (these were before the days when googling was the solution to these problems). I read the first three in a couple of days, ringing her constantly to discuss it and then demanding the fourth book immediately. This was how I became hooked! We went to the library one lunchtime and tried to track down everything we could about Isobelle Carmody and the series, anxiously awaiting any news. Little did we know we would be waiting another 6 years for the release of The Stone Key. This series changed my life. Not only was it a fantasy story unlike any other, but it had the potential of realism for what might be to come. I felt like I had things in common with Elspeth and you became so attached to the characters that it felt as though they were real. I was also a little jealous, because as horrible as their world is at times, I really wanted her powers and to be able to beastspeak my cats and read someone's mind. This was the beginning for me and I love that 10 years on, Obernewtyn is still such a significant part of my life!

cheekygal310

Thank you to everyone who entered! [ligne][/ligne] We realise that there's a lot of people, be it in Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Canada, America - most of the world for that matter - that haven't been able to acquire a copy yet, so this competition is open to every member of Obernet, from any country, with one condition: if you win, you need to be able to pay for your own postage. But that's it. Pay for postage (via EFT), you get a signed book. Postage calculations: If you are unsure whether you'll be able to afford postage to your area, Australia Post has a parcel calculator on their site that we'd recommend you use - International calculator, Domestic calculator. When using the domestic calculator, your start postcode is 4101 (West End), and select the satchels and other items option. For both calculators, your weight is between 500g and 1kg (the book weighs 770g). Bear in mind it shows the most expensive first (generally), so scroll down the page to check your options. How to enter: In 300 words or less tell us about your first memories of reading Obernewtyn. If you're stuck for ideas, start with how you got onto it, what you initially thought about it, and when you realised you were hooked. Winners will be picked by the MoOs; Min, ElspethInnle and Agyllian. Send your entries in a PM to Elspeth. Closing date: Entries will be accepted from now until 28 February 2013. MANY thanks go to Penguin for making this competition possible!