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* In the spirit of Curie's mission to promote undiscovered but exceptional content, we wish to use this twice weekly section to provide an author showcase for some of the outstanding authors who received Curie upvotes in past week. Curie curators and reviewers nominate authors for inclusion in this showcase and author approval is sought and attained.

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<a href="https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/delegateVestingShares?delegator=&amp;delegatee=curie&amp;vesting_shares=50%20SP" rel="nofollow noopener" title="This link will take you away from steemit.com">50 SP</a>, <a href="https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/delegateVestingShares?delegator=&amp;delegatee=curie&amp;vesting_shares=100%20SP" rel="nofollow noopener" title="This link will take you away from steemit.com">100SP</a>, <a href="https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/delegateVestingShares?delegator=&amp;delegatee=curie&amp;vesting_shares=250%20SP" rel="nofollow noopener" title="This link will take you away from steemit.com">250SP</a>, <a href="https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/delegateVestingShares?delegator=&amp;delegatee=curie&amp;vesting_shares=500%20SP" rel="nofollow noopener" title="This link will take you away from steemit.com">500SP</a>, <a href="https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/delegateVestingShares?delegator=&amp;delegatee=curie&amp;vesting_shares=1000%20SP" rel="nofollow noopener" title="This link will take you away from steemit.com">1000SP</a>, <a href="https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/delegateVestingShares?delegator=&amp;delegatee=curie&amp;vesting_shares=5000%20SP" rel="nofollow noopener" title="This link will take you away from steemit.com">5000SP</a>. <br><strong>Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.</strong>

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<center><h2>Curie Comments Contest</h2></center>
Did you know that you can win up to 10 Steem each week simply by commenting on Curie upvoted posts? That's right, in an attempt to increase engagement platform wide, and specifically on Curie curated posts we have started a weekly contest. We give away a total of 17 prizes each week.

1st place (Curie Comment Champion): 10 Steem
1st Runner Ups (2 payout positions): 5 Steem each
2nd Runner Ups (2 payout positions): 3 Steem each
Honorable Mentions (12 payout positions): 2 Steem each

Total weekly prize pool: 50 Steem/ 17 payout positions

The comments you leave have to be thoughtful comments. Spam comments will not be rewarded and may be reported if done excessively. We will use a secret algorithm to pick the frontrunners and then comments will be reviewed by a human to assure only quality comments are being counted. 

There is no need to sign up, just start commenting on all Curie curated posts. For details please see last week's results post which includes all of the specific rules. Then get out there and engage with all of the great Curie upvoted authors!

<a href="https://steemit.com/contest/@curie/curie-comment-contest-week-3-august-12th-august-19th-2018">Curie Comments Contest Rules and Results for August 19 - August 26th>/a>

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<center><h2>Featured Author: @lightenup
<a href="https://steemit.com/photography/@lightenup/review-of-the-boutique-and-now-affordable-fuji-x-pro1-camera">Review of the Boutique and Now Affordable Fuji X-Pro1 Camera</a></h2></center>

<center>https://s20.postimg.cc/o7mzfw60t/CameraReview.jpg<br><i>Images property of @lightenup</i></center>

We start off today's Author Showcase with a camera review post that was clearly the most popular among Curie Curators this week. In the one curator channel on the Curie server there were probably half a dozen discussing how they wanted to submit the post, and most likely some others who wanted to, but were not talking about it. Of course they were all beat out by a curator who was able to submit it after it was 45 minutes old, while they have to wait another 105 minutes before they could. One way or another though, this post was going to be upvoted by Curie.

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The author @lightenup is a professional photographer which helps add some weight to a camera review. More importantly though, they didn't just give a technical review of the settings available on the camera. Many reviews do that and nothing else, and quite frankly can bore a person to tears. They took it to a whole new level giving a good and honest review of the camera while also demonstrating just what the camera was capable of by taking a series of great photos with the camera and then discussing many of them. They even went on to add a second post full of images taken with the camera - <a href="https://steemit.com/photography/@lightenup/review-day-2-of-the-fuji-x-pro1-i-thought-you-d-like-to-know">Review Day 2 of the Fuji X-Pro1 - I Thought You'd Like to Know</a>
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This week @lightenup has had a change of scenery, heading from L.A. to Maine for a new project. They have already posted some great photos from their east coast trip - <a href="https://steemit.com/photography/@lightenup/photography-essay-of-maine-part-1">Photography Essay of Maine - part 1</a>

<center><h2><a href="https://steemit.com/photography/@lightenup/review-of-the-boutique-and-now-affordable-fuji-x-pro1-camera">Go read the full review of the Fuji X-Pro1 Camera</a></h2></center>

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<center><h2>Featured Author: @impression
<a href="https://steemit.com/elegance/@impression/landscape-artwork-based-on-imagination">Landscape artwork based on imagination.</a></h2></center>

<center>https://s20.postimg.cc/bg8t9bjd9/image.png<br><i>Images property of @impression</i></center>
Our next featured post is from a new artist here on the Steem Blockchain, @impression has been posting for just over a month now. Seeing the different water color paintings and sketches they have already shared it is clear they will be a great addition to the platform.

I loved seeing this artwork coming together from a simple pencil sketch, to adding some color, then putting in the fine details. I just really liked the final piece and think you all will as well. Be sure to check out their blog page for many other landscapes and portraits.

<center><h2><a href="https://steemit.com/elegance/@impression/landscape-artwork-based-on-imagination">Go see the full process for this landscape painting.</a></h2></center>

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<center><h2>Featured Author: @ammonite
<a href="https://steemit.com/art/@ammonite/duncannon-scroll-part-1-sand-cement-sculpture">Duncannon Scroll (part 1) - Sand/Cement Sculpture</a></h2></center>

<center>https://s20.postimg.cc/rehizglb1/image.png<br><i>Images property of @ammonite</i></center>

I have been following this next author/artist's work for a while now. I grew up in a town that had its own beach which of course leads a young child to be building all sorts of things in the sand. I can honestly say I don't think I ever dreamed that I could grow up and make a living from building stuff in the sand. This is of course much more complicated than building a castle, or a large five foot across fort complete with a foot wide moat surrounding it. Sorry, slipped a bit too far into a memory.

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Anyway, @ammonite has done just that. He gets to go around and build all sorts of amazing creations out of sand...and at times has to figure out a more sturdy medium, as is the case here. For this creation they had to use cement for stability, and create a mold to make it all work, while not losing any of the intricate detail of the work.
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In this post we get to watch all of the interesting process steps that went into creating this work that will now stand for people to marvel at for a much longer time than one of their normal sand sculptures. Be sure to check out their blog page though, as all of their work is  amazing. They have since posted <a href="https://steemit.com/art/@ammonite/duncannon-scroll-part-2-sand-cement-sculpture">Part 2</a> of this post, and then a <a href="https://steemit.com/art/@ammonite/duncannon-scroll-addendum-sand-cement-sculpture">third post</a> that takes us through the installation of the sculpture which apparently took years to get accomplished.

<center><h2><a href="https://steemit.com/art/@ammonite/duncannon-scroll-part-1-sand-cement-sculpture">Go read about Duncannon Scroll (part 1) - Sand/Cement Sculpture from the beginning.</a></h2></center>

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<center><h2>Featured Author: @schabenstolz
<a href="https://steemit.com/gaming/@schabenstolz/the-royal-game-of-ur-a-4600-years-old-game-rebuilt-or-das-koenigliche-spiel-von-ur-ein-4600-jahre-altes-spiel-nachgebaut-en-or">"The Royal Game of Ur" A 4600 Years old game reproduced<br>"Das königliche Spiel von Ur" Ein 4600 Jahre altes Spiel nachgebaut [En|De]</a></h2></center>

<center>https://s20.postimg.cc/adymqtaul/image.png<br><i>Images property of @schabenstolz</i></center>

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We now move onto another artistic post, this one however doesn't work in watercolors or sand and cement, but instead wood. I love how this author took a random video they saw on YouTube and turned it into a great bit of craftsmanship. I must also say that I am rather intrigued by the game and video itself. I think it has elements of another old game like backgammon, but also modern games like Sorry! and Trouble!. I am sure if we did enough research we would find the creators of those two games would point out their basis being in the more ancient games. 
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Author @schabenstolz explained a bit of how he uses the platform, and it is great to see someone utilizing it exactly the way I think people should be.

>There is not much to say about me. I am a child of the 80s, I come from Germany and love to be creative. As I am always interested in new technologies, I also had to try out this Steemit that everyone is talking about. Even though the background processes are not very clear to me, I think this platform is great. Every day, I discover many new topics that inspire myself in my creativity or to think about topics that are not otherwise of interest to me. By writing my contributions, I hope to be able to give a little back to the Internet.  -  @schabenstolz

<center><h2><a href="https://steemit.com/gaming/@schabenstolz/the-royal-game-of-ur-a-4600-years-old-game-rebuilt-or-das-koenigliche-spiel-von-ur-ein-4600-jahre-altes-spiel-nachgebaut-en-or">Go checkout the full process that @schabenstolz used to make his own version of The Royal Game of Ur.</a></h2></center>

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<center><h2>Featured Author: @anyaehrim
<a href="https://steemit.com/writing/@anyaehrim/the-garden-kingdom-chapter-02-choose-your-own-adventure-on-steemit">"The Garden Kingdom" - Chapter 02<br>Choose Your Own Adventure on Steemit!</a></h2></center>

<center>https://s20.postimg.cc/j8zh1cmsd/image.png<br><i>Images property of @anyaehrim</i></center>

As I often like to do, we will be wrapping up today's Author Showcase with some fiction. However today's fiction is on a much bigger scale than the normal short story, or even some of the longer ones.

Today's story is part of a much bigger project that I am very happy to get some attention for. Many fellow Steemians may recognize the names @mandelsage from his art, and many other endeavors on the platform, and @poeticsnake from her curation project You Got Snekked!, and much more. Well they have teamed up with new user (and author of this chapter of the story) @anyaehrim to bring us all a "Choose Your Own Adventure" story titled "The Garden Kingdom".

The <a href="https://steemit.com/writing/@mandelsage/the-garden-kingdom-chapter-01-choose-your-own-adventure-on-steemit-62fc265c32d7cest">first chapter of the story</a> was written by @mandelsage. It ended by giving the reader the options of having the main character named Sarah seeing the Fairies, or seeing the Pixies. A link is provided for both choices, one is a post written by @poeticsnake, which is the Pixies version, and the other written by @anyaehrim which is this story featured here, the Fairies version. Each of those stories will then have another choice at the end, and so on.

I believe this is a great concept and should work well here on the platform. Please check out chapter one and then stick around to read the entire story, the whole time choosing what you want to happen next.

@anyaehrim shared the following about her time here on the platform, and this great new project.

>The Garden Kingdom" project is everything I wasn't expecting from the Steemit platform when I made my first post only 22 days ago. It was so strange to be immediately curated by the "You Got Snekked" community. It was even more strange to write just one noir short story and get asked by @mandelsage to collaborate for this "Choose Your Own Adventure" round-robin project.<br><br>I don't think @mandelsage knew what he was getting himself into when he put @poeticsnake and I in a rather cooperative choke-hold. For me, my graduate degree in story composition has instilled over six years of academic Tolkien-esque world-building into my veins, and the result between the three of us may very well turn "The Garden Kingdom" into an absolutely massive project (especially if we don't keep ourselves pruned).<br><br>I may be the worst off since I don't want to just write in new characters, develop plot, or continue evolving the html format of our future posts. My other degree in Illustration is just itching to draw the characters. I may in a way be digging my own grave, but the Steemit community will just have to wait and see. All said, I hope Steemians will enjoy this ride for as long as I, we, and/or this project, lasts.

<center><h2><a href="https://steemit.com/writing/@anyaehrim/the-garden-kingdom-chapter-02-choose-your-own-adventure-on-steemit">Start reading"The Garden Kingdom" - Chapter 02, or see the link for chapter 1 above.</a></h2></center>

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This Curie Author Showcase was written by Curie Curator @randomwanderings (Gene) at times with input from other Curie curators and reviewers. All images and quoted texts are the copyright of their respective authors.