❝ Things are only as beautiful as you make them, Charlie. Including murder. ❞ It's the opening night of Burton Abbey's production of Romeo and Juliet and all is going smoothly - that is until the climactic death scene. Romeo takes a big gulp of the poison to be with his lover, except it really is poison and Elijah, who plays Romeo, is now dead. Charlie Monet, in charge of props, is the first suspect but soon the suspicion around her turns to worry as it seems she's the next target. Khaleel Rahim, an aspiring writer, is dying for a mystery to solve at his new school. When he sees Charlie sneaking around at night he thinks he's finally found something worth writing about. After discovering Charlie's ability to see visions of the past, Khaleel decides that they're the perfect pair to solve the mystery. With threatening notes, a quiet library and poison disguised as props; somebody in the school is blurring the lines between theatre and reality and the fast friends are about to discover that there's more to boarding school than just silly rumours. [2022 Watty's Shortlist]

a quick guide to desired reality.

Cigarettes, lilac skies and poetry at 3am: sixteen-year-old Pietro ''Pit'' Rossi knows the adrenaline of feeling empty and infinite at the same time. With the reputation of a goofy idiot who doesn't care about anything at all, getting held back at school doesn't seem like a problem. But it is. Because Pit cares about everything, and he always cares too much. [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]