Death is a shadow that follows you through time. Vera Langley thought she would live and die and be forgotten. As a pathologist she knew the limitations of life and the vastness of death and she wanted nothing more than to be forgotten when she was nothing but dust. It was a thought she took solace in repeating. Until an accident takes the lives of everyone aboard a research vessel leaving Vera as the sole survivor. Dealing with survivors guilt and the physical recovery of nearly drowning, Vera isn't surprised when she finds little solace in sleep. Each time she closes her eyes she finds herself back on the ship only it isn't the R.M.S Etruria she remembers. In place of well-worn metal staircases are beautiful hand polished banisters and carpet covered hallways. The way the R.M.S Etruria had looked on its maiden voyage in 1893. At first it seems like nothing except a few harmless dreams but death comes for Vera each night in her sleep and she isn't the only one dying by dawn. Between whispers in the dark that may hold answers and shadows down corridors, Vera must hold onto her sanity as she tries to cheat death and stop him from claiming more than her life. An ONC 2022 Project Highest Rank #1 ONC Final WordCount: 21,466 Completed: April 30, 2022

*2019 WATTY AWARD WINNER: YOUNG ADULT* Madiera-Jade has no money, no luck, and absolutely no sense. Atticus has no interest and no patience, especially not for Jade. When Madiera-Jade enters Atticus' life (invades, really) she takes him by storm. On the run from a quarterback hell-bent on revenge, she attempts to steal from Atticus, the latest bad decision in a long line of bad decisions. Atticus, a perpetual grouch who is already a semi-established video game designer at 19, has no idea what's about to hit him when he agrees to his Aunt and brother's request to take her in.

Mallory finds herself brokenhearted when she loses the love of her life in a tragic accident. She's left to pick up the pieces of her life with the help of her best friend, Kendall. Her job as a neonatal nurse helps to keep her mind off of her broken heart when something unexpected happens; she comes face to face with Dr. Samuel Daniels. Will she find love again, or will her grief blind her from her second chance at love and happiness? *** "Kendall is under the illusion that you're in love with me. Can you believe that? I just buried my fiancé seven months ago. She told me not to be blinded by my grief, not to see that you love me," I sigh. I notice Sam lower his head. "I'm guessing that must have pissed you off." "It did! I don't want her to ruin the friendship that we have. I like how we are. You throw the love word in there, and it freaks me out." I fight back my tears. Sam raises his head to look at me. "Listen, Mallory. I would never do anything to jeopardize what we have. Please don't let other people's observations of our relationship mess that up, okay?" *** 1st Place in The Candy Cane Awards 🥇 2nd Place in the 2020 Universal Awards 🥈 2nd Place in the Books and Beyond Awards 🥈

Cindy Powell uses detective work that she learned from her father as a young girl in her job as a real estate mogul Benson Easton's assistant. Benson needs to know every detail about an associate before doing business with them. It's Cindy who digs up that information. When she has a complex case, she requests help from her police detective boyfriend, Sam. While investigating several new possible clients for Easton Real Estate, she receives threatening messages. Someone has something to hide, and they'll do anything to keep their secrets buried. Cindy becomes targeted the deeper she delves into their life. *** I wake up disorientated, with my head pounding. I touch the sensitive spot on my temple. My hands are extended and handcuffed to a water pipe. I take a moment to glance around the room that is now my prison. Slowly, everything comes back to me. How will Sam find me now? I gasp when I hear the door above me squeak open. I close my eyes while I listen to the heavy footsteps descending the stairs. "Please hurry, Sam," I whisper to myself in despair.

Cheryl and Reed had a whirlwind romance. Reed swept Cheryl off of her feet. Her family and friends thought things between them were moving too fast. Did Cheryl know Reed? How much does anyone know about a person? Especially when they only show you their good side while hiding the side of them, the evil side, that they don't want you to see until it's too late. What would you choose when that side is revealed? Would you choose to Forgive or Forget? 2nd Place Mystery/Thriller in the Books and Beyond 2020 Awards 🥈 3rd Place Mystery/Thriller in the Books and Beyond 2021 Awards 🥉

On steamy, hot summer days, the parched soil cracks like ice into jagged lines resembling lightning blowing up the midnight sky. Summer craves to be quenched and begs to feel the invigorating shower that only rain can douse. It takes what it can get from rain without considering the possibility of destruction. Rain is a necessary evil. It's prayed for yet cursed and hated. It brings forth destruction and life simultaneously. Rain is a refreshing sprinkle and an overwhelming flood. It's elusive, and it alone decides when and where to release its precipitation with no regard to the impact of its power. *** Summer breezed into McGrath's Pub like a breath of fresh air. Despite her miserable day and the tepid rain dampening the streets of Harrisburg, she lit up the bar with her bright smile the moment she entered. Rain is looking for a warm body to take to his bed. He spots Summer and immediately approaches her. She has no clue about his plans for her, and he's determined to bring those plans to fruition. Summer's heart and soul were destroyed by the torrential storm that is Rain Grant. Summer is determined not to let what happened to her happen to the "Next Girl." *** "Next Girl" I bet you probably met him at a bar Let him walk you to your car I bet he said he never fell this hard Yeah, I remember that part He knows how to say all the right things Knows how to get you outta that dress Knows how to make you think you're thе best thing But I know what happens next, girl Co-written and performed by Carly Pearce *** Cover by: @zmswift 1st Place 🥇 The Carnival Awards 2021 Chick-Lit Featured in WattpadShortStory's Realistic Fiction Reading List Qualified for Round 3 of the 2023 Amby Awards

Vita hates being a demigoddess. Especially now that Barnabas, the love of her life, is locked up in the Underworld, while she is stuck in an endless cycle of resurrections and new lives. Worst of all, with every resurrection Vita loses a piece of her past, as her memories slowly fade. To break this never-ending cycle, she decides to steal her own records from the Underworld. After all, without records they won't know to send her back to Earth, so she can stay and search for Barnabas. But to get those records, Vita will have to get past Hades, his three-headed watchdog Cerberus and all the guards of Tartarus. Credits to @roguehopes for the amazing cover!!

Falling in love with your best friend's brother is never a good thing, is it? Falling in love with both of your best friend's older brothers? That's even worse. *** Emma Branson has always harbored a crush on Mason Masterson, her best friend Jessie's so-called "brooding" older brother, but as Emma journeys through high school, she realizes it's the middle brother, Caleb, who has always been by her side, leaving Emma in quite possibly the worst love triangle of them all. A story of a group of childhood best friends that navigate the complexities of life, love, and the meaning of family. {Editor's pick, October 2021} ~60,000-70,000 words~ Content Warning: This story contains mild sexual content and strong language. Cover designed by Cil Ojumo

Kacie Janacek dreams of having superpowers like her two fathers, the legendary superhero Almighty Orion and the evil henchman Onyx Spark. After the media captures a photo of Orion saving Kacie from the clutches of a fight, she slowly becomes famous as the rumoured child of a superhero. But her newfound fame isn't everything it seems to be. Kacie feels trapped--with no way to defend herself, how could she possibly be a heroine? As a villain rises to power, and Kacie's father finds his research stolen, she is forced to make a choice to put on a mask and fight, even if it means leaving the safety of normalcy behind. Kacie has idealistic expectations of being a superhero, but a powerless heroine might be Astral City's only hope. * Cover by @newsies- !! *

Nineteen-year-old Vhrea doesn't want to have attached attributes to her name of being called the descendant princess of a rich Jewelers family, but life doesn't give a choice of where we are to be born and what will be our surname. As one of the only heirs of Ashtrick family, she is expected to be the amazing prim and proper lady ready to drown in a corset set. Life might not give a choice but her father did give one to prove the worth of herself as an individual rather not an asset to the family. Between juggling college and a rising PR company, she lands a major collaboration with Mendel Sports Academy - the key to her success and the only way to shut down the drains of her misogynist grandfather. But only if life were too easy; not having a single romantic nerve in her body she now has a crush on a golden head after the opening of her new semester and her arch-nemesis, Kriag Mendel whom she despises from the bottom of her heart is the promotion face of the bagged project and her hot yet cold relationship with Gabriel, her partner in the new project makes her head want to hit against a wall whenever she is with him. It feels like seasons as to when it is winter we crave for summer then again in the heat we long for some rain which keeps happening in an endless loop. Simply, that is what happening with Vhrea and the cherry on top of it is she still has her demons to face. Will she be able to ever live like a normal human?