When a deadly plague spreads like wildfire, 17-year-old Bren Watts is trapped at Ground Zero of a global pandemic. ---- Bren and his classmates are stranded in New York City, now filled with thousands of murderous infected and desperate survivors. Forced into an unlikely alliance with his school bully and former friend, Logan Hardy, the two boys must find a way back home, traversing through the ravaged landscape of the United States. With their odds stacked against them, Bren has no choice but to use the skills taught by his ex-Navy SEALs father to fight and survive. But the path ahead is bloodied and broken, and if he wants to reunite with his family, Bren must tap into his darkest heart for not only the infected are capable of hatred and violence. The Bren Watts Diaries tells a dark and gritty account of the end, all narrated in the survivor's own voice as a first-hand witness to humanity's end. The story will cover the first year of the Apocalypse, depicting the beginnings of the disease, society's war against the pandemic, and the eventual collapse of civilization. [[Current word count: 450,000 - 500,000 words]] ----- The series portrays an LGBTQ+ protagonist and numerous other characters. Violence, like any medium of zombie stories, is described in detail.

Antique store owner Liz brings home a Victorian taxidermy hound from auction, unwittingly unleashing dark forces on her wife and son. ***** Nat Loman has finally married the love of her life, Liz, and is getting used to her role as stepmother to Liz's 5-year-old son, Liam. The Loman family runs a bustling antique business so they attend a sale where a striking, black taxidermied hound is up for auction. Liz picks it up for the business, but it ends up being stored in their home, where Nat notices strange things occurring. She quickly discovers the past residents had died violently. Then she hears from a friend about the myth of "the devil's dog", a hound that perches in the shadows, tearing families apart from the inside. Soon, people around the Lomans are dying, and Liz is changing, darkening. It's up to Nat to save the woman she loves from the darkness closing in, and to save Liam from danger no matter what she has to sacrifice. [[Winner of the 2018 Wattys "Hidden Gems" category]] [[word count: 60,000-70,000 words]]