[ORIGINAL DRAFT SAMPLE] She is twenty-nine when the FBI comes for her, but Catherine Themis was only seventeen, grieving and naive and angry, the first time she wiped someone else's blood from her fingers and felt the snake rise in her chest. She was seventeen when she stepped into the dark and never looked back. ***** By day, Catherine Themis is an unassuming civilian administrator for the Dedwich Police Department, but by night, she is a notorious vigilante known as The Hangman. Struggling with her violent urges and the psychological cost of her actions, Catherine becomes the target of an obsessive serial killer and a relentless FBI agent, and as the hunt for the Hangman intensifies, Catherine must decide which life she wishes to live and what she values more: vengeance or her fading humanity? A psychological thriller in the vein of MINDHUNTER and HANNIBAL, SERPENT HEART is a deep-dive into the life and history of a conflicted vigilante forced to confront her inner demons and evade a national manhunt. Catherine questions the efficacy of her own convictions as the FBI closes in and a vindictive murderer puts her family, love, and identity in jeopardy. With everything on the line and time running out, who will Catherine Themis become? --- [[AVAILABLE ON AMAZON]] [[REMOVED 24 DEC 2021]] [[2019 Watty Winner - Mystery & Thriller]]

Wren and Kenna hated each other in high school. Now mature-ish adults, they still hate each other. The problem? They're engaged. A year away from marriage, according to two of the most powerful people in the world: their parents. ***** Wren Castile and Kenna Gold are engaged...because their parents say so (and no, they're not kidding). Wren has one year to marry her former nemesis, or else. The fact that Kenna emulated her infamously anti-gay father throughout high school seems to be irrelevant--even to Kenna herself. Suddenly Wren and the girl she never wanted to see again are on the same (bickering) side as they face mandatory dates, disastrous family get-togethers, and their unhappy past. Wren is filled with mistrust, but to protect her heart, she might just have to sit back and let it lead the way. Content/Trigger Warning: This story contains references to and/or scenes of homophobia, childhood trauma, bullying, violence, and suicide. [[2022 Watty Awards Shortlist]] [[Editors' Choice - October 2022]]

I can't keep the smile off my face as I take my seat on the plane. I slide my bag under the seat and lean back. I close my eyes and let a blissful smile grace my face. He said I wouldn't be able to run. As if. I'm vaguely aware of someone taking the seat next to mine, but I pay no attention to said person. "So where we headed?" I choke on my own spit as my eyes fly open and whirl around to face the owner of the familiar voice. His eyes are hidden behind those damn sunglasses and a rather smug smile graces his face. I continue choking and he does nothing other than flip through a magazine. That smug smile never leaving his face. "You still haven't answered the question." "To hell." I finally manage to choke out. "Awesome," He flips a page in the magazine, "It's about time I returned home. You know, bodies to burn, lost souls to torture, I've missed it. It'll be fun." *** Nicolette Moore. A name law enforcement agencies across the world know. Though no one's ever seen the face of the world's greatest thief and hacker, everyone knows who she is by name. Nicky. She's an absolute genius. Once upon a time she wasn't the best person in the world. When her family was struggling she made some bad choices to help them through it, but when she tried to get out she got pulled in deeper. Ryder Stevenson. He's the son of the director of the FBI, and an FBI Agent himself. He's the one who brings in Nicky to get her protection from the people chasing after her. He's also the one, who gets assigned to protect her. Neither one of them like each other, and they can't go five minutes without getting in a full blown argument. She's constantly ditching him only for him to show up later and prove to her he's not that easy to get rid of. They're stuck with each other whether they like it or not. But he doesn't know who she really is. What will he do when he finds out? An FBI Agent protecting THE Hacker. The one the FBI have been after for years...this just screams chaos.

When May Alana's wish on a star brings a stranger to her remote island home, the pair must survive a deadly magical conflict in order to be together. ***** When May Alana, a scorned and anxiety-ridden young woman, finds a stranger on the beach of her remote island home, she wonders if this is the adventurous, accepting, and loving answer to her otherwise cloistered life. But as the pair grow closer, the stranger entrusts May with her brilliant secret: that she is half-Star in possession of otherworldly powers, and that a violent group of Star worshippers are out to destroy her. So if they want any chance of being together, they'll have to survive a deadly conflict between humans and mythological creatures first. THE STAR AND THE OCEAN is Book 1 in the Starborn Series Book 2: THE WIND AND THE HORIZON Book 3: THE FIRE AND THE SKY Cover illustration by Brittany Willows (@BrittanyMWillows) [[Watty Winner]] [[Wattpad LGBT Book of the Month]] [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

***GirlXGirl Romance*** Living in New York you learn to keep up with the quick pace of the city, myself included. I was never the one to stop and smell the roses, but that was until I met her on that dull September afternoon. Her eyes were light and dark at the same time, as if a devil and an angel lived inside of her. Time itself had stopped, and since that day everything had changed, ever since I had crossed paths with Drew Wilder.

Highest Rank #1 in Action 14/6/16 Chevron Raynes 'accidentally' hacks into her college mainframe and finds blueprints to a billion dollar satellite belonging to none other than the Mafia. As if that wasn't bad enough, when the blueprints and a certain Professor go missing, Chevron is thrown under the Mafia's radar. Soon she's running for her life with not one but three Mafias behind her, in a race to get the blueprints. Adrian DeLuca is a genius who has a talent for psychology and manipulation. He may be the youngest Mafia Boss ever, but his raw ambition and ruthlessness scares people twice as old as him. So what happens when his only chance of getting the billion dollar blueprint is a headstrong, intelligent little girl who was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time? An adventure where the two unlikely allies travel the globe to solve cryptic clues and pull off the heist of the century without killing each other. Laced with humor and romance. *Strong Language* I wrote this when I was 16. Cut me some slack.

Soph, a new junior at Delaware County High School, is used to being alone. She doesn't need any friends. After her homophobic dad kicked her out for being a lesbian, she moved in with her older sister and built a wall around her heart. She didn't think anyone could break through. Until she met Ari. The two girls grow closer, with Soph, all the time, wanting something more. Terrified of her feelings, Soph opens up slowly, but were her inhibitions correct after all?

When your girlfriend gives you a gym membership for your birthday, your relationship is probably doomed. Too bad Jenny didn't realize this before proposing. Rejection stings, but it's the catalyst Jenny needs to move her stagnant life forward. For Juliana, well-padded women frequenting the gym she works at are potential clients. But she can't help noticing how cute this one is. And determined. And a number of other things she shouldn't notice. She doesn't, however, want to be attracted to gym clients, so she does her best to keep it professional. If only her attraction to the woman would do the same. Open Novella Contest (ONC) entry - Prompt #61: After being jilted, you move to the city to hide your embarrassment, lick your wounds, and start afresh.