impossible heists, lawless youths, and centuries-old paintings that hold immeasurable power. ✧ cover art by Louise Delfin

THOSE WHO ARE MORTAL BURN BRIGHTER © 2017 by lee

When a storm strands Ira Hale at the stately Beaufort Manor, she joins the household to work under the mysterious and reclusive Valeri Beaufort, but what secrets are lurking in the shadows? *** Ira Hale joins the Beaufort household under the employ of Beaufort Manor's mysterious master, Sir Valeri Beaufort. She soon comes to care for the reclusive noble and his haunted home. When a series of gruesome murders in a nearby town expose Sir Beaufort as a vampire, both the town and Beaufort Manor fall under the scrutiny of a ruthless police force known as the Amith Capil. In a world where monsters walk among humans, the true killer hides in plain sight. *** Book I of Kingdom at the End of the World series. 2021 Watty Winner in Horror *** Content warning: This story contains graphic depictions of violence and death.

The year is 1879. When thirteen-year-old Ruth Merritt Holbrook emerges from her family's burning estate, bloody and charred, but entirely numb--She makes headlines. Reporters believe she is deranged. They accuse her of having set the fire. All the headlines read: "UNSUSPECTING FAMILY SLAIN BY DERANGED DAUGHTER." Everyone believes it. How else could a highbred girl exit a burning building, injured yet senseless? Why did she not scream or cry? The police tell her she is a killer. The doctors tell her she is mad. The nuns at St. Agatha's tell her she is possessed. Perhaps, Ruth Merritt Holbrook is all of those things-or perhaps she is much more. Mysterious and Paranormal. Romance. More than meets the eye. ******* Sgt. Barton Rucklesbee September 13, 1882 The following is an account sent to our office on the first of this month. The whereabouts of those listed in this document are currently unknown. Case Notes: Personally, I don't believe a word of this. It seems like a child's story to me. Best not to be taken too seriously. Read at your own folly as it is quite the elaborate tale and you may find yourself wasting the entirety of a day on it. Sgt. Barton Rucklesbee ******* Senseless: The Unnatural Case Of Miss Merritt Holbrook ******* Author's note: This is a novel I wrote for my undergraduate thesis. I studied the Victorian era/ genre and wrote a novel in the styles of "Dracula" and Leanna Renee Hieber's "Darker Still." There are a lot of sections but they are all fairly short. Also, it may not be perfectly edited. To the wonderful grammar wizards out there, don't worry about it. Just sit back and enjoy the story and characters, I'll deal with the grammar later. Thanks for reading! Enjoy. :) First Posted: August 31, 2018 {On the Wattpad featured list 9/20/18}

[Wattys 2022 Winner - Wildcard Category] Mereneith is a junior crystal keeper at the Temple of Ptah, the greatest of the temples located within the capital of Memphis. Bored with the mundane job growing and maintaining the Ak'heka crystals-the kingdom's prized energy source-Mereneith secretly pockets scrap pieces for her own research, her wild imagination conjuring endless possibilities for the Ak'heka crystal technology. When Mereneith's mentor is found dead in a temple well, leaving behind only a cryptic message, she sets out on a mission to uncover the truth behind his death. Accompanied by the fourth prince Kha, son of Pharaoh Sneferu and forerunner to inherit the throne of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mereneith's quest for justice lands her in the middle of a political storm, where one wrong move could spell the end of the empire - and her own life. ======== Heretic of the Nile is Book One of the Sands of Giza Trilogy, a speculative historical fiction series that explores the origin of the Great Pyramid of Giza 19.10.22 - Heretic of the Nile has been shortlisted for The Wattys 2022!