The Ultimate Psy-Op - Conspiracy Writing Contest III - Winners Announced [$175 STEEM + Bonuses]

My apologies, I intended to announce the winners of the contest earlier but once again real life got in the way. Some of you may have noticed that there was quite a wait for the third installment of the Conspiracy Writing Contest series, mostly for 2 main reasons.

1. I struggled to find the proper topic and prompt. I finally settled on Psychological Operations as they have always fascinated me and my hope was that others felt the same. Judging by the number of quality submissions, I think it was the right choice.

2. Although hosting this contest is something I always look forward to, it’s also very time consuming and as the number of submissions increases with every contest, accordingly it demands more and more of my time and attention. This is one of the reasons why I like to cap the short stories at 1500 words. Honestly, hosting a contest is not as easy as it looks sometimes, especially selecting a winner.

But, never mind all that, let’s get on with it, shall we?

Thanks Yous

First, I’d like to thank everyone who made a submission, all of you make this contest what it is. I’d also like to give a big thank you to curators big and small that supported the authors here with their upvotes and resteems.

A very special thank you to @blocktrades for generously rewarding a number of the participants with a powerful upvote completely of his own will. Mighty kind of you :)

Thank you for supporting original content.

An extra special thanks goes out to @fortified who came up with another fantastic GIF at the very last minute. Much appreciated my friend you are a Wizard. Check out his alternate account, @animate, for high quality custom made GIFs and images.

I want to also thank the Writer’s Block for their participation in this contest. There really is a growing pool of writing talent coming out of this community.

The Writer’s Block share their writing drafts and concepts with each other and teams of editors get to work on improving and rewording the creations of their fellow writers.

Please visit these fine and friendly folks on Discord, as @creatr said in his post these people really are the salt of the earth. I really, should spend more time there myself.

Here’s the link to the Writer’s Block on Discord – The Writer's Block
You can also follow their community account - @thewritersblock

Furthermore, I would like to say that seeing the mutual support between writers, feedback in the comments and the positive words of encouragement you all give each other is what community building is all about. It's just amazing to see.

From the author feedback I’ve received, multiple writers have thanked me for providing them with this creative platform and have expressed that they thoroughly enjoyed the writing process for the Psy-Op contest. I really couldn’t ask for anything more in terms of a reaction/feedback, it really put a smile on my face.

Finally, perhaps my proudest moment during this time was receiving an entry from @tremendospercy who had lost his motivation to write in recent months. And I can tell you, he did not disappoint delivering an excellent piece of writing showcasing a group of familiar elite criminals orchestrating chaos. Bravo, and welcome back!

I hope that these contests inspire more creative writing from all of you in the future.

The Winners

First Prize $50 STEEM – Postcards from Rio

This heart racing, tension filled entry blew me away. It’s an expertly constructed tale with an ocean of emotional depth building palm sweating tension from start to finish. The story revolves around an IT professional working at an American version of CERN whose life is turned upside down when he becomes an unwitting participant in an alternate reality that rips apart his world. @rhondak has created an amazing short story here that, I for one, was not expecting. I’ve known @rhondak for several months as she established Steemshelves.com and was a central moderator at MSP Fiction-Workshop before establishing Ihe Writer’s Block where creative and original writing thrives. @rhondak was also one of the judges for the second conspiracy writing contest Welcome to Antarctica. I’m ashamed to say, what I didn’t realize is her obvious writing talents surpass her excellent editing skills. This is a real gem and a must read. I’m grateful to have this short story as part of this contest and I believe it deserves the top honor. Splendid storytelling @rhondak!

Bonus Resteem and @v4vapid 100% upvote

That was the easy part…

1st Runner-up Prize $25 STEEM – PLAN B

I loved this piece right from the start. @tremendospercy makes a triumphant return to posting with this intricate and understated conspiratorial contribution. What I love about @tremendospercy’s writing is that there’s an excellent use of, what i would call, negative space and the reader fills in the blanks on their own. I absolutely love the characters and concepts in this offering. We have the puppet master ‘Jacob’ which I believe must be the infamous elite from the de Rothschild clan, the ex-president and ex-chief of the CIA George H. W. Bush dutifully executing the diabolical plans, and a man-made natural disaster that is as utterly believable as it is horrendous. It's such a pleasure to read several conspiracies rolled into one narrative at this level. The story is also laced with TP’s trademark humour and unique style. Tremendous!

Bonus resteem and @v4vapid 100% upvote

Bonus - 2nd Runners Up Prize $10 STEEM

Okay, here's where I went off-script.

There were so many excellent entries here I really couldn’t choose one over the other. So I decided to eliminate the categories of Best Line and Best Tone/Style and added several worthy submissions to the list of winners.

These four contributions are of such high quality that I had to recognize them. Each of these entries receives 10 STEEM.

@creatr – Pulling Strings

@gmuxx – False Flag

@negativer – Constructing the Invisible

@steemedchitty – The Truth Will Set You Free

@tarazkp – The Stream Network

Bonus - Resteem and @v4vapid 100% Upvote

Biggest Mind Fuck - $20 STEEM - The Real Stakes of Living on the West Coast

I’m awarding the biggest mind fuck to @mindhawk who’s concept of North Korean submarines positioned stealthily off the west coast of the US over the tectonic fault lines really gave me the chills. He makes a convincing case that if war was to break out, these almost imperceptible mariners would launch a devastating attack on the US west coast causing unfathomable damage.

Most Humorous -$10 STEEM (2X)

There’s two stories that had me laughing right from the start. @cizzo’s Hillbilly 3001 and @son-of-satire’s The debate. Both of these posts are funny as hell, but also very entertaining reads touching on novel concepts and memorable characters. Be sure to check them out!

Best Line

I'm putting this question to the audience, nominate your favorite line from the contest and paste it in the comments. Be sure to identify the author or piece for easy reference.

Upvote your favorite quote in the comments.

After 7 days, the comment with the highest rewards will receive the 10 STEEM!

STEEM Transfers (sorry SBD is through the roof!)

Update: Image of STEEM transfers

The Participants

Thank you to all the participants, you are what makes these contests so special!

Find your favorite entries here -

https://steemit.com/created/psyop-contest

Disqualifications

There were several disqualifications I should mention. One author submitted 4 entries (make that 5 now) and not receiving a response from my comment, I was forced to disqualify all of these entries. There was also an entry that @cheetahbot identified as a plagiarized post, so of course that’s completely unacceptable.
For future contests, please read the contest Rules carefully, thank you.

I look forward to your awesome contributions in Conspiracy Writing Contest IV!

Until then, Keep an open mind and Steem on!

V