Welcome
Welcome back to Scholar and Scribe's monthly genre-focused fiction writing competition - JULY EDITION! The genre for this month was mystery/noir, with the thematic stipulation of something desert-related! In the words of 
Well, this month, YOU DID! Although some of you proved that it is extremely difficult to incorporate both of these elements (and unfortunately disqualified for failure to adhere to genre/thematic prompts or including appropriate tags), the vast majority provided us with fascinating stories of mystery and intrigue in the arid setting of the desert! Without further ado, we would like to present to you our winners for July!
Drumroll, please...
Our Winners!
Gold: 30 SCHOLAR, 3 SCRIBE, and 3 HSBI goes to: @grocko!
What a pleasure to read this true embodiment of the mystery/noir genre! Dive into a story of a detective investigating a murder with the killer still at large! Everything from the setting to the jargon oozes noir, you guys are gonna love this story!
Silver: 20 SCHOLAR, 2 SCRIBE, and 1 HSBI goes to: 
@jfuji!
Coming in a VERY close second (we struggled with how to assign our top 2, the stories were so good!) is Jordy's incredible story of the Airspear - a natural phenomenon harnessed with a special magic called Artwork - which ties beautifully into his serial novel The Childseeker's War. This one feels a lot like you, the reader, are an adventurer learning about a fascinating - and deadly - sidequest from the local tavern! A true pleasure to read, and expertly crafted!
Fatal Paces 🏜️ A tale of Heirbrossi treasure
Bronze: 10 SCHOLAR, 1 SCRIBE, and 1 HSBI goes to: 
@wrestlingdesires!
In this incredible story, you find an intriguing partnership between two strangers that are unsure of what to make of each other. The interactions between them are fascinating to read, as well as their reactions to the other as they dance around each of their purposes for being so far out in the middle of a desolate desert - looking for a particular oasis and the secrets that lie within...
The Mystery Of Sanctuary Oasis
Runners-Up
Two exceptional authors who we felt deserved special mentions as Runners-Up were:
Gracepro's story features a cybernetic bounty-hunter with a tortured past investigating the disappearance of a child on an alien desert world, and stickupboys' story of a man seeking the source and purpose of a strange amulet and ancient map he received from his father are both excellent reads that deserve a special spotlight here!
You will both be receiving 5 SCHOLAR and .5 SCRIBE for your entries, thank you for participating again!
Conclusion
So, this concludes our July S&S Monthly Competition! Rewards will be divvied up within the next 24 hours so be watching your wallets to ensure your winnings come through!
Special thanks again to 
Thank you all for following this competition, be watching for the next monthly contest to drop this week! The easiest way to track them is to follow me since I will always be hosting the contest from this acount, but the general rule of thumb is that they'll always be dropped in the first week of a new month and pinned to the top of the Scholar & Scribe community page with the #ss-monthly tag! See y'all in the next one!
[Update] Reason: error in reward amounts, and announcement that I'll be doubling SCHOLAR rewards for all winners and runners-up! I'll even throw a little bone in there for everyone who entered into the contest, just because I love ya. 😉
As always, take care of yourselves and each other, and stay thoughtful!
Your friendly neighborhood dork,
~Thinkr
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About the Scholar and Scribe Community
Scholar and Scribe is a new creative writing community founded in the forges of Hive's passionate Pizza Guild. It sets itself part from some of the other writing groups on Hive with its unique dual-token system.
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