Li Xiang is the Priestess of the Moon, she can see read the stars and fortune as well as misfortune to her people. However, the life of a Priestess consists of nothing but loneliness: she can neither leave the palace nor meet with anyone but the Emperor and his advisors. One day a mysterious servant boy named Rui sneaks into her room, daring her to go outside if he wins against her in a game. Upon meeting him, she also befriends a female warrior and a scholar, and realizes life is much more than the palace. When the day comes she can either choose to go down the road her heart truly desires but bring ruin to the kingdom, or ignore the one chance she will ever have to leave this life? *** "My fate has been decided for me." "There's no such thing as that," he said. "We all make our own fate." "But the stars tell me--" I stopped talking when he holds my face in his hands, warm hands cupping my cheeks, brown eyes looking into my eyes. "Then stop looking at the stars. Look at me." A love story about fate, finding one's identity, stepping out of your comfort zone, and, most of all, choosing between your happiness or the happiness of others... [[Word Count: 80,000-90,000]] Wattys Fantasy Winner 2021

[C O M P L E T E D] Finished on 1 Jan 2019 It is now the 22th Century and the year is 2112. Times are extremely different from the 21st Century. Now, the world is divided into only four continents- and Alara Berrera resides in Excidium. In Excidium, children are kidnapped from the low-class families who live in the rural areas. This is done to 're-populate' the upper-class families of Excidium- as well as the Governors, who rule this particular country. At age eight, Alara Berrera witnessed the kidnapping of her brother who was kidnapped by the Amorals. After the traumatic incident, her mother fell ill and the Berrera family collapsed. The Amorals are a group of people working for the Governors- the ruling party in Excidium- and do their dirty work for them, such as kidnapping young children from poor Exicidiums. Ever since that fateful day, Alara is determined to fight against them as she believes that she will have a better life once that is accomplished. However, what will Alara do to get what she wants, and what will it cost her? What secrets would she uncover as she tries to reunite her family? WINNER of LITWITSAWARDS (2018-2019) action category: 1ST PLACE WINNER of AURORA AWARDS (2019) action/adventure category: 3RD PLACE - h i g h e s t r a n k s (2019 -2020) (12.04.2020) #8/285K - MYSTERY #11/353K - ADVENTURE #215/33.9K - DYSTOPIAN #110/10.7K - FANTASYADVENTURE (06.04.2020) #6/352K - ADVENTURE #222/284K - MYSTERY #94/10.7K - FANTASYADVENTURE (20.02.2019) #1/14 - FLOADV2019 #39/380 - BEGINNER #211/ 2.31k- SADSTORY (9.05.2019) #1/16 - FLOADV2019 #270/321k - ADVENTURE (21.09.2020) #4/377K - ADVENTURE #75/4K - EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER #276/306K - MYSTERY #84/13.3K - FANTASY ADVENTURE (29.11.2020) #1/619 - HERBS #2/987 - SPECULATIVE #11/313K - MYSTERY #8/272 - COMPLETESTORY #875/26K - SERIES

A classic 1940's style mystery... "Secretary Murders Widowed Mistress in Adelaide Love Nest!" Vivian Sherlock glanced from the screaming headline on her daily newspaper to the pale young man sitting on the other side of her desk. "Nigel is innocent!" insisted the young man.