pull down to refresh

Stacker News Fiction Month Grand Prize Winner
2099 sats \ 29 comments \ @Scoresby 8 Sep BooksAndArticles

The judges for the 2025 edition of Stacker News Fiction Month are pleased to announce that @billytheked is the grand prize winner for his submission "Sagas of the Lincoln County War."

There were so many good entries in Fiction Month that making this decision was quite difficult. We each enjoyed different stories; however, all three of us agreed that Sagas of the Lincoln County War was something special.
@billytheked set a detailed scene that pulled us into the story and left us standing in a world we could almost touch. Curious, feeling at times like an old timey daguerreotype and at others like a travelogue, billytheked delivered an excellent story which we all hope he will continue.

The Prize

@billytheked: please post a lightning invoice for 100k sats and I will pay it.
Additionally, 21Futures would like to publish this story on their website, 21futures.com
write
preview
related posts
238 sats \ 8 replies \ @billytheked 8 Sep
verily --what an honor 'twas to have the story judged alongside all the others in this contest --reading some of the other great works --the speculative/science fiction --mystery --and others that elude genre --i felt my work may have been in the wrong contest --also seeing as it is not a bitcoin story i feel doubly honored that the judges would say such nice things about it
--hopefully the sagas valorized the frontier outlaw not to admonish his rancour --drunkenness or violence --but because in him (and her) lives the spirit of the american frontier --the spirit that inspires the adventure to do what we believe is right even at the cost of transgressing those (cronies) occupying conventional seats of power --a spirit i believe to be alive in the bitcoiners of today
BIG THANK YOU TO @siggy47 @TotallyHumanWriter and @Scoresby for organizing this contest and the countless other writers that made it so interesting --lastly thank you to my mammy for raising me good and ....
YUH BETTER SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN PAT GARRETT I'M COMING FOR YUH
reply
102 sats \ 0 replies \ @TotallyHumanWriter 13h
Can I post your story on 21futures.com this week, @billytheked?
Do you artwork you'd like to feature?
If so, please send that and your author bio to write@21futures.com.
Thanks!
reply
36 sats \ 2 replies \ @plebpoet 22h
who's pat garrett
reply
11 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 20h
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0070518/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
reply
72 sats \ 0 replies \ @plebpoet 7h
👍🏻
reply
0 sats \ 2 replies \ @billytheked 8 Sep
lnbc1m1p5t7t6app5nml2rg33xc3yv9gyd3yfj3rrtmureywp22ucrd2tfnk2mc2undcqdp9wdhzqenfvd6xjmmwypkk7mn5dqs8qunf0fjjqcqzysxqyz5vqsp5yte68wdq2u52uqlucswgavq4n9nwc2m3mc53ra2t67yp66g8v3gs9qxpqysgqsn38xl6l0ecupkss5npvuu86cwf4g93wcg8wm8rdcg6f0g3q6y0kfyz2mhj04qdg0k8m5cncx4k862wz3anpp8s7kscq7nkp54w5ungp6vtp32
reply
36 sats \ 1 reply \ @Scoresby OP 21h
Grand prize dispatched! Thanks great story!
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 17h
I await your invoice, my man
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @didiplaywell 17h
Congratulations!!! 😁
reply
298 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 8 Sep
It was a very difficult decision, since there were so many great stories. In the end, we narrowed it down to three. Selecting one was difficult, since any of the three could have been selected. Therefore, I have decided to mention the other two stories, and to zap them an additional 10k sats each:
The Talent Show Shakeup, by @realBitcoinDog
The Last Miner, by @GreaterthanFiction
reply
138 sats \ 0 replies \ @realBitcoinDog 8 Sep
🫡
Thank you so much! Like @GreaterthanFiction I’d also like to know what made my story stand out or not stand out 🙏
reply
252 sats \ 4 replies \ @SimpleStacker 8 Sep
By the way, I noticed that the grand prize winner wasn't from the top 10 in zaprank. I'm really glad you guys decided to read each entry individually. Sometimes, popularity is not a good mark of quality. I didn't read Sagas of the Lincoln County War when it was first posted, but this post made me go back and read it, and it is really good stuff. So, again, I'm glad you guys went with a personalized approach to judging.
reply
36 sats \ 3 replies \ @realBitcoinDog 8 Sep
I agree if we have judges let them read every entry!
Almost as bad as grok judging to go by zap rank, right @TotallyHumanWriter?
reply
30 sats \ 2 replies \ @TotallyHumanWriter 22h
Ha ha. Do you know the latest on that saga?
He prompted Grok to pick winners. It did (I was among the 6 winners). Many people were unhappy, as Grok got the most liked chain wrong and it was all very unclear.
He announced that 6 people would get the sats in early August, and he hasn't paid out a single zap.
reply
31 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 17h
Tell all the dissatisfied folks to come to SN, where the contests are clean and the payments are made on time! Haha
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @realBitcoinDog 14h
See that’s awful to say 6ppl will get sats and still not pay
reply
241 sats \ 0 replies \ @GreaterthanFiction 8 Sep
Thanks so much! This provides great motivation to continue writing these stories. I’d love to learn what you enjoyed about The Last Miner as had four other submissions.
A huge congratulations to @billytheked! I have a lot of reading to do.
Really appreciate the organisers for putting this on, it’s clearly been a success!
reply
138 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 8 Sep
Awesome. Congrats @billytheked
reply
138 sats \ 0 replies \ @carlosfandango 8 Sep
Well deserved. Congratulations and amongst some other excellent submissions.
reply
138 sats \ 0 replies \ @rootmachine 8 Sep
congrats to the winner!! we wish him inspiration for the future!
reply
138 sats \ 0 replies \ @daolin 8 Sep
Returning to face the city’s countenance, there you are, left staring at the figure of an old friend who remembers you for everything you were and waits before judging you for what you have become.
Awesome work.
reply
138 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coinsreporter 8 Sep
Congratulations @billytheked! Very well done.
reply
77 sats \ 1 reply \ @TotallyHumanWriter 22h
Congrats to all the participants.
Its been a fantastic inaugural Fiction Month.
I loved the descriptions and flowing prose of Lincoln County. For me, it was the most accomplished short fiction piece.
Of course, there was a lot to like about many entries. Harbinger City, The Trust Machine, OpenAids, and more.
Well done all, and thanks for helping us kick start fiction on Stacker news. I'd love to read more here, and remember, you can always submit to 21 Futures.
reply
30 sats \ 0 replies \ @billytheked 17h
very cool off you guys to organize this contest --thanks again
The Trust Machine
you may have meant The Trust Museum by @jbschirtzinger
reply
72 sats \ 0 replies \ @plebpoet 8 Sep
congrats @billytheked !! very nicely done
reply
36 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 8 Sep
Excellent! Well deserved
reply
36 sats \ 0 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 8 Sep
Additionally, 21Futures would like to publish this story on their website, 21futures.com
Wow
Congrats @billytheked
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @2053456d48 9h
Great story indeed ... @billytheked deserve the prize 🏆
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @brave 12h
Huge congrats to @billytheked!
'Sagas of the Lincoln County War' sounds like a wild ride, can't wait to read it on 21futures.com
reply