Last month we announced several different contests to celebrate the release of Gillian Anderson's first novel, A Vision of Fire. Now that the book has hit stores and the chaos of New York Comic Con is over, we're ready to hand out those books to the winners!
Each contest has five winners who we'll be sending a copy of A Vision of Fire, and one winner from each round will also be getting a poster of the book jacket.
Click read more to see all the winners and their very creative responses.
Facebook
We shared some fun posts on A Vision of Fire and asked for comments about why you were excited. Here are some of our favorites. Alyssa will also be taking home a poster in addition to her copy of the book this round.
Alyssa Waugh:
Why am I excited about this book? First off all, The X-Files was the most well-written show I've ever seen on television. It told amazing stories about truth, friendship, love, solving tragic mysteries that others chucked aside, and fighting for what's right even if you always seem to lose. And one of the main characters exemplifying these qualities was Dana Scully portrayed by Gillian Anderson. Gillian worked for years with amazing writers like Chris Carter and Vince Gillian, and in the seventh season of The X-Files, wrote and directed her own episode-one of my favorites-entitled "all things". Gillian wrote about complex themes like the long-term consequences of each seemingly innocuous choice we're forced to make on a daily basis, and the way each decision defines the course of our lives. It is clear that she learned from the experienced writers she worked with for so long, as the episode captures everything I loved about the series and included Gillian's own unique flair. Based on everything she has written, and her interviews and public appearances where she talks about her career, I know I will love whatever this woman decides to produce. Gillian is intelligent, creative, a talented actress and writer, and from what I know about #AVisionofFire, this book will be intelligent, creative, mysterious, and a little spooky. In short, it will encapsulate everything that I love about Gillian and her work. I can not wait to read it.
Jennifer Dhursaille:
This lady already proved the world her talent both as an actress and a director, and the quality which stands out most about her skills in every area is her ability to go further into emotion as only a few can. Even her involvement with charity shows Ms. Anderson is a person who has a lot of empathy with others. Empathy is a definitive ability for a writer. Plus, rising the right emotions at the right time, more than literary rules of a perfect style makes the books we love the most. Excitement? That really doesn't even come close to describe the feeling...
KD Mulder:
I'm super excited for this book because Gillian Anderson is one of my biggest inspirations. She's incredibly talented as an actress, director, and author. There is literally nothing she cannot do. I grew up watching X-Files, reading the comics, and playing with the action figures. I'm just fascinated with the premise of the story of A Vision of Fire after reading an excerpt. Gillian is just phenomenal.
Britney Mamaclay:
I'm UBER excited for Gillian Anderson's first novel 'A Vision of Fire' for a few reasons. One, I want to see her first novel do well. "I Want To Believe" that it'll get a wide mass of fans of Gillian's work into reading a thrilling Sci-fi genre book or even just getting into reading period. Two, I simply want the novel to get me totally lost in the story. Get me so indulged that i can't put the book down. As well as to get no sense of time passing. Get my own experience of "lost 9 mins of time." Three, to find my own self or relate to one of the characters of the book. It's a possibility that "The Truth is out There" someone, somewhere reading Gillian's book might be able to relate in anyway. Like "a single mom trying to juggle her job, her son, and a lackluster love life." Four, to allow the book to open up a window to another world and allow it to take me in "a north American P-51 Mustang" to a place of excitement and journey. Lastly, to just friggen fangirl OUT! Fangirl my heart out about another release of Gillian's work which will be surely accompanied with erratic heartbeats, sweaty palms, high pitched squeals and "COTR" "ATTHS" "WTFIM" "S.F.W" moments.
Jacque Newman:
I am excited because for years I have followed her as an actress and been inspired by her over the years. Then I found out about her new book and thought wow she is unstoppable! She continues to inspire me with this book. I can't wait to see her imagination and talent placed on paper. From what I have read her imagination and talent spreads in many ways. She proved she is not a one trick pony. Best seller alert! Maybe even a movie in the future.
Tumblr
We asked the Philes of Tumblr to get creative in showing us just how excited they were for A Vision of Fire. Some of them went above and beyond. XFilesGeekery wins the poster for this contest. Check out our winners:
X-Files Geekery with two brilliant uses of an X-Files miniature: here and here.
gillyanderson's post for showing us that everyone wants to read A Vision of Fire.
This post from somuchmorethanthis for perfectly playing off of "Jose Chung's From Outer Space".
gilliananderson1996 for making us laugh way too hard here.
And finally theoddsock for the most valiant effort with this gif.
You guys joined the celebration for the release of A Vision of Fire on twitter with the hashtag #AVOF. Here are some of the best tweets whose creators will have a copy of the book arriving in the mail soon. @catrionasfailed wins the poster here for being excited for the book and the hypothetical movie. (We are, too!)
@catrionasfailed: @XFilesNews @GillianA says it has the potential to become a film, which of course would be equally exciting as the book itself #AVOF
@MindyD1013: @XFilesNews @GillianA I'm excited to read this sci-fi thriller. I'm hoping there is a little bit of Gillian's humor as well! #AVOF
@mp_angi: @XFilesNews #AVOF I'm going to read it to improve my English and I'll be delighted to do it by @GillianA 's book!
@GleysserPeyser: @XFilesNews I am a great reader and @GillianA is one of my favourite persons. I've been following her work since always. CAN'T WAIT #AVOF
@vibhuuuu: @XFilesNews @GillianA Her powerful character in the X-Files left me speechless.Book written by the lady herself is a MUST HAVE! #AVOF #Fan
We asked fans to send us a short paragraph about what superpower they would use to solve the crisis presented in A Vision of Fire, and we got some very interesting and clever answers. Below are the ones we picked. For being extra creative, Heather takes home the poster in this round.
From Heather:
As the crisis presented in A Vision of Fire is heavily linked to the supernatural and/or unexplained phenomena, I would use the power of the Super X to solve it. Super X (also known as Super X.B.I.) is an imaginary superpower I just made up which combines the attributes of the best pair of investigators of unexplained phenomena in the sci-fi universe: F.B.I. agents Scully and Mulder from The X-Files. How convenient that the author of this novel is well acquainted with this series. This superpower would, of course, endow me with super intelligence, insight into criminal psychology and behaviour, an eidetic memory, intimate knowledge of science and medicine—including forensic pathology, excellent reasoning skills, superb intuition, a remarkable knack for being in the right place at the right time, and (incredibly) the ability to run really fast in high heels without smashing my face in the pavement. These super skills would allow me a unique insight into the crisis, and my outside-the-box thinking would make it likely that I would discover a solution. As most superpowers come about as the result of abnormal incidents involving radiation (Super X is no exception—I suspect the government had a hand in it), there are some unfortunate side effects. On top of my super crime-solving skills, I would also suffer from insomnia, a serious case of skepticism, a lacklustre social life, the likelihood of being abducted or held hostage on a frequent basis, a Freud-worthy oral fixation involving sunflower seeds, and an over-zealous appreciation of the pornographic arts. These shortcomings aside, my superior Super X mental skills and my kick-ass heels would solve this crisis in short order. Also, my birthday is October 31 (10/31), which is easily inverted to 1013. This superpower, and a copy of this book, were meant to be mine.
From Sharon:
For my superpower I would be a dream warrior. Someone who can change people’s lives by entering their dreams. I would be able to see what they see, feel what they feel and alter as necessary the problems they incur in their awake state. By being able to do this I could fight their demons for them or with them. Not unlike what Freddy Krueger could do but my powers would be used for good and not evil. The other difference is that I’m very much alive and would intend to stay that way.
From Clement:
If I were to have one superpower that could solve the problems presented in A Vision of Fire, I think I would like to have the power of telepathy. By telepathic power, I mean the all encompassing ability to mentally read, and also detect, both human thoughts, as well as decipher animals' feelings (because even though animals do not speak, they can still react to stimuli in nature in their various biological ways). From what I can tell from the general outline of A Vision of Fire, it seems there are inexplicable happenings to children and animals, but not to adults. For children, unlike adults, their minds are still being formed and their brains are still in the process of being 'wired'. So, it is possible that they are more susceptible to certain external 'influences' that are causing their minds to tell their bodies to make them physically react a certain way due to inexplicable outside forces (speaking in tongues, drowning on dry land etc.). And as for animals, I have read that animals are extra sensitive to changes in environment. Perhaps the irrational behavior of animals around the globe in this book is the result of some telepathic influence by some unknown force too. All this is a guess of course, but I believe that if I were to possess telepathic powers, I would be able to know what the affected children are thinking about, and also figure out what is causing the animals to react so strangely. Then, once I find out the source(s) of their distress, then I would be able to also maybe even detect where/who/what is causing this, and try to stop these events - maybe not all by myself, but at least get some help to stop this.
From Nova:
To help solve the problen presented in A Vision of Fire, I would use the power to teleport. If I could easily be in different places in a matter of seconds, in one 'poof!' then I can provide more help to more people (and animals!) in different countries. I could slip in and out of a certain area where some strange event is happening, try to get people to stay calm and do what would alleviate pain, confusion, fear, etc. I can also investigate. If help is needed in another place, I would go there and do something. It might not be the kind of help that would solve matters in a big way, but armed with knowledge & infornation I gathered from being able to easily travel to different places plagued with strange occurences, Being able to teleport would quickly get me the information needed, and that could help Dr. O'Hara save her patient and perhaps, the world. ;)
From Jesus:
I would use the superpower of powerlove, so love would spread like a flower and, after reaching critical mass, it would rain like a waterfall all over Earth, cleansing burning clouds and souls to receive the pure love light from the center of this all-loving universe. Why else would it ever allow evil to exist?