F3 – Cycle 33 – The Conspiracist

Posted by on May 27, 2011 Leave a comment (31) Go to comments

I’m a big fan of conspiracy theories. You know the ones, right? JFK, 9/11, Area 51, the fake moon landing. Call me crazy, but I think there’s a grain of truth in all of them. That’s what makes conspiracy theories so…conspiratorial. Maybe there is a shadowy government that is behind the scenes controlling everything from the price of gas to the outcome of the Super Bowl. Who are we to know for sure?

Well, we may never find out the truth, but this week your characters are going to. It’s your job to take a conspiracy from the lists here, and here, and write a tale in where your main character discovers that aliens are real, that the New World Order does exist, that Elvis is still alive, that…you get the idea. Stretch your creative muscles and think of ways to find out the truth. They can be as serious, or outlandish, as you want. Just have fun with it.

I look forward to experiencing your reality.

Prompt: Write a story based on a common conspiracy theory
Genre: Any
Word Count: 1000 words
Deadline: Thursday, June 2nd, 2011, 4:30 pm EST

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James Melzer is the award-winning author of HULL’S LANDING (Double J Media – 2011), ESCAPE (Simon & Schuster/Permuted Press – 2012), the upcoming young adult zombie novel, TEENAGE WASTELAND (Permuted Press – 2012), and his short fiction has appeared in publications from Library of the Living Dead Press. Melzer currently lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, daughter, and husky.

Visit him on the web at www.jamesmelzer.net

Featured Prompt, , ,
  • I Hardy

    Utter awesomeness… :-)  :-)  :-)

  • L Turner

    couldn’t get my story to come together last week, looking forward to tackling the challenge this week. Looks like a good prompt!

  • Glen

    sounds like a challenge

  • barbara

    This should be fun!  The creative possibilities of this prompt are huge.

  • Spudrph
  • Anonymous

    I wasn’t going to do this week’s prompt… I’m not big on CT’s, but….  couldn’t sleep last night, so got up to write in my journal… I have a picture pasted inside the front cover… that picture is my inspiration for this week’s story.

    What is the picture of, you ask?  Well, you will have to tune in here Thursday and find out.  *wink* 

  • Anonymous

    Oops!  I spoke too soon.  

    We have to use one of the CT’s from one of those two lists?  Really?  That’s our only choices?  One of those twenty?Well, I guess maybe I won’t be doing a story…. see everyone next week.

    • http://www.ronearl.com/ Ron Earl Phillips

      Veronica, you have to know when to break the rules. If you’ve got a good story based on the prompt, don’t hesitate to follow through.

  • Anonymous

    Thank you, Ron.

    I may be able to get away with just bending them a bit… but, if you do hear a loud “snap”… hehe!

  • Anonymous

    Okay… I am having fun now… :)

  • Anonymous

    Whew!  That was the most fun I have had without…. never mind!  Hehe!  Okay, so… I bent rule a little (how much, Veronica?) and I went a bit over word count… first time.  I hope everyone likes… had to do more research on this one since my knowledge of conspiracy theories is small.

    This was a lot of fun… really exercising the creative muscles here… I hope I don’t get muscle-bound.  :)

  • http://irefusetogoquietly.blogspot.com/ SueH

    I’m in! This (rather worryingly?) has literally just poured out of my head….!  http://irefusetogoquietly.blogspot.com/2011/05/f3-cycle-33-bilderberg-request.html

  • Evan Henry

    Oh, I am SO freakin’ in this. Give me a day or two!

  • Evan Henry

    That went faster than I had imagined. It might be crap, but it’s conspiratorial crap for sure! By the way, when you comment to let me know how much you hated it, be sure to let me know at what point in the story you figured out which conspiracy I was writing about. Also, I went over the word count a bit. Sorry! http://cheeseflavoredwind.blogspot.com/2011/05/whats-it-like-to-be-me.html

  • James Melzer

    Man, you guys are coming up with some great stories. Can’t wait to read them all later this week! :)

  • Beach Bum

    Got one finished, excuse the typos, I couldn’t sleep at all today.

    http://carolinaparrothead.blogspot.com/2011/06/unseen-frontier.html#links

  • Beach Bum

    Got one finished, excuse the typos, I couldn’t sleep at all today.

    http://carolinaparrothead.blogspot.com/2011/06/unseen-frontier.html#links

  • Joyce Juzwik
  • David Barber

    Okeedokee, here’s my first attempt at the F3 challenge. 
    The First

  • I Hardy

    I’m not going to be able to make it this time… way too much work. :-(  And one of my favorite prompts too…

  • L Turner

    Didn’t think it would come together (still don’t know if it did), here it is
    http://everydaywritingisessential.blogspot.com/2011/06/mr-haskel.html

  • http://www.vinodnarayan.com Vinod Narayan

    Here is mine ” He is Our Man”

    http://www.vinodnarayan.com/flash-fiction/he-is-our-man/

    Written for Flash Fiction Friday Cycle 33 – Conspiracy Theory “Paul is Dead”

  • Anonymous

    I want to say right up front that I love Marilyn Monroe and mean no disrespect to her, or her memory.
     
    Did you hear that sound?  I broke a rule… two, actually.  My story is based on a conspiracy theory that is not on one the two lists above… and… I went over the word count!  (In for a penny… in for a pound, Mama would say). 
    You can find my humble offering at WordPress or Blogger.  I hope you enjoy.

    So… those two little sounds you heard… “snap”… “crack”… yep, that was me flexing my creative muscle.

    Do you want to know why I broke two rules?  Well, you see… there is a conspiracy in play here… give me another 500 words, and I will tell you all about it.  *wink*

  • Anonymous

    I want to say right up front that I love Marilyn Monroe and mean no disrespect to her, or her memory.
     
    Did you hear that sound?  I broke a rule… two, actually.  My story is based on a conspiracy theory that is not on one the two lists above… and… I went over the word count!  (In for a penny… in for a pound, Mama would say).   You may find my humble offering at 
    http://veronicathepajamathief.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/flash-fiction-friday-f3-cycle-33-the-conspiracist-and-miles-to-go-before-i-sleep/  or, 

    http://veronicathepajamathief.blogspot.com/2011/06/flash-fiction-friday-f3-cycle-33.html

    I hope you enjoy.So… those two little sounds you heard… “snap”… “crack”… yep, that was me flexing my creative muscle.Do you want to know why I broke two rules?  Well, you see… there is a conspiracy in play here… give me another 1000 words, and I will tell you all about it.  *wink*

  • Anonymous

    I want to say right up front that I love Marilyn Monroe and mean no disrespect to her, or her memory.
     
    Did you hear that sound?  I broke a rule… two, actually.  My story is based on a conspiracy theory that is not on one the two lists above… and… I went over the word count!  (In for a penny… in for a pound, Mama would say).   
    You may find my humble offering at 
    http://veronicathepajamathief….  or, http://veronicathepajamathief….I hope you enjoy.

    So… those two little sounds you heard… “snap”… “crack”… yep, that was me flexing my creative muscle.Do you want to know why I broke two rules?  Well, you see… there is a conspiracy in play here… give me another 1000 words, and I will tell you all about it.  *wink*

  • Anonymous

    I want to say right up front that I love Marilyn Monroe and mean no disrespect to her, or to her memory.
     
    Did you hear that sound?  I broke a rule… two, actually.  My story is based on a conspiracy theory that is not on one the two lists above… and… I went over the word count!  (In for a penny… in for a pound, Mama would say).   You may find my humble offering at 

    http://veronicathepajamathief.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/flash-fiction-friday-f3-cycle-33-the-conspiracist-and-miles-to-go-before-i-sleep/  or

    http://veronicathepajamathief.blogspot.com/2011/06/flash-fiction-friday-f3-cycle-33.html

    I hope you enjoy.So… those two little sounds you heard… “snap”… “crack”… yep, that was me flexing my creative muscle.Do you want to know why I broke two rules?  Well, you see… there is a conspiracy in play here… give me another 1000 words, and I will tell you all about it.  *wink*

    • Beach Bum

      “I went over the word count!  (In for a penny… in for a pound…”

      As someone who regularly breaks the word count limit I completely understand.

  • Anonymous

    Oh my… is my face red!  I seem to be “comment posting” challenged this evening.  You’re not gonna charge me for those extra comments, are you?  :)

  • Doc

    I’m so sorry I haven’t been around much. I’ve missed out on commenting on your stories for two weeks now and I beg your forgiveness. My laptop went kerflooey. I tried using the kid’s computer but the “Net Nanny” program that we had installed prevented me from accessing my blog as it contained “alcohol, tobacco, and firearms” references. Your blog it treated as much the same. It would also limit what hours I could use it. If it was past my bedtime EST, well then it would just lock me out.

    Doc

  • Michael Williams

    Thanks, this was fun.
    http://www.katabatikos.com/
    see you later

  • David Barber

    I left a comment with a link down there but here’s the link as it should be.  Sorry for any confusuion.

    http://davidbarberfiction.blogspot.com/2011/06/f3-cycle-33-conspiracist.html