When Arjun Mandal summons a demon, the last thing he expects is to come face to face with his dead ex-boyfriend. Four years ago, Teddy Nkhoma was killed by followers of a sorcerer threatening the balance between realms and was reborn as a demon. Though beings from the Realm of the Dead are not trusted even by the magical community in the Realm of the Living, Arjun knows Teddy too well to believe him evil. He knows Teddy is still the boy he loved, still his best friend. Defying his family's warnings, Arjun agrees to work with Teddy to defeat the sorcerer. As an ancient prophecy re-emerges and more than one realm is threatened, Arjun and Teddy must face their past, their present, and a future that might tear them apart all over again. GENRE: urban fantasy, paranormal, mxm romance TROPES: second chance romance, grumpy x sunshine, nerd x bad boy MIGHT BRING TO MIND: Harry Potter, The Raven Boys, The Owl House

When Rosalin arrives in the imperial capital, Livia, she carries with her a burden of secrets. Her purpose is not what she says aloud. But Rosalin is not the only one shrouded in lies: there is no sign of Empress Cassyna's twin sister, Servina, and everyone speaks of her as if she is a ghost. What Rosalin hoped would be a journey to save her and her family's lives turns into a game of power and peril. A feud between two rival siblings is written in Livian history and myth, but this is no tale of goddesses in heaven. This will endanger the whole empire. [ONC 2025 - PROMPT 66]

Seventeen-year-old Jordan is happy to take his Grandma Charlotte out to the mall for Valentine's Day, even if he wishes he had a date with Dakota instead. When Jordan spots his crush, his grandma offers him a deal: if her grandson takes a first chance at love, she will give her first love a second chance. Recent-retiree Benjamin came to the mall to remember happy dates with his high school sweetheart, Charlotte-but in fifty years, everything has changed. Just when he has decided he is too old to reclaim the joy of living, Charlotte waltzes right up to his table. Warning: This story is sweeter than a box of Valentine's Day chocolate. We are not responsible for any toothache incurred during your reading.

A young man confronts the spirit that haunts the mirrors of his dance studio.

Did you know there is a patch of the Pacific Ocean so littered with plastic that, taken together, it would be at least the size of Texas? Learning this shocked me. I wrote The Eighth Continent on behalf of National Geographic and "Planet Or Plastic," imagining what would happen if all that plastic "invaded" the west coast of North America. Join me in spreading awareness about plastic's impact on marine (and human) health. Enter the Planet or Plastic contest with the #PlanetOrPlastic tag and a story of 500 words or less. You can't really lose. You need clean oceans, too!

Dr. Madeline McKinnon has just returned from a service trip counseling victims of Child Soldier recruitment in South Sudan to work for the FBI. She's been given a gun, a badge, and a rigid partner. Special Agent Jake Parker has been working for the Federal Bureau of Investigations for a long time and he doesn't appreciate Dr. McKinnon's tendency to doubt him. It's brains versus brawn as these two learn to work together to solve the most brutal homicides under the Bureau's jurisdiction. But, as they solve the case and work to catch the killer, they learn that not everything is what it seems. Even when it comes to your very own partner. Originally submitted during the Open Novella Contest 2021. Trigger Warning: Please be advised that this story contains violence, sexual themes, alcohol and drug use, and casual depictions of violence by characters whose jobs make them susceptible to detachment.

After the 2017 election, Rob Jetten comes bouncing into parliament with all the enthusiasm of an impeccably dressed and exceptionally well-groomed puppy. Normally, Jesse would be more than happy to show an old friend the ropes - if they were just 'old friends,' that is. Or, over the span of four years, Rob Jetten and Jesse Klaver reunite, fall apart, fall in love, and carry on a secret relationship in the nest of vipers otherwise known as the Tweede Kamer.

**ONC SHORTLIST 2024** Heems is an energy vampire draining victims' energy with a single touch. That is until xe meets handsome thief Shiro, the only person immune to Heems's parasitism. ---- Heems is an energy vampire working as a doctor on Eris, an off-world mining colony. Draining the energy of Eris's sickly hospital patients and destitute workers to survive, Heems flees the city to search for a cure for xyr rare parasitic condition, where xe meets Shiro, a handsome vagrant who is somehow immune to Heems's parasitism. Smitten by Shiro and galvanised by the hope of finding a cure, Heems is lured into a world of desire, obsession and criminality that reveals the darkest secrets of Eris's society and sets the pair on a collision course with the shadowy biotech company that dominates the mining colony. When Shiro is hunted by the colony's brutal law enforcement at the behest of corporate overlords, Heems realises that xe is far from the only parasite on Eris, and the only way to save Shiro is to be as monstrous as xe can be. ☉ LGBT+ romance ☉ Energy vampirism ☉ Cyberpunk ☉ Non-binary main character CONTENT WARNING: This book is rated mature. It contains potentially triggering topics such as extreme hunger, chronic debilitating illness, suicide ideation, drug misuse, sexual intercourse while under the influence of recreational and medicinal drugs. Cover designed by the amazing @mygoodbones - check out their incredible queer books! ~~☉~~ ☆ No sci fi knowledge is needed to understand this story. Basically Eris is cold, has no atmosphere (literally and figuratively), and everyone's broke.

🏆 WINNER (2ND PLACE) - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2024 🏆 A misfit of an aristocratic family must find out who is behind the murder at his university before he is disowned and falls victim to the murderer. ⋯⋯⋯ Arlo Crowhaven, a student of the prestigious Lyllan University of Magic, is poised to uphold his family's elite status. That is, until a classmate is murdered, and all of the clues point to him. With little time to clear his name, he must take the investigation into his hands, find the killer, and stop an even bigger secret from leaking out. After all, while Arlo likes keeping his hands clean, he may be entangled in a scheme even his family is not privy to. Now, Arlo must pull all the strings he can to foil the murderer's plan and save his skin. From the award-winning author of 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘌𝘯𝘥 comes a story of privilege, wealth, and the divide between the elite and the common. Ideals are a salvation for many, but in the quest for freedom and power, sometimes, they are the first to go. AN INSTALLMENT OF THE LYLLAN UNIVERSITY OF MAGIC AND MISFITS SERIES ˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°• © 2024 (First Edition) [20,000 - 30,000 words] [All graphics are made by @sardonictabby] 🏆 SHORTLIST - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2024 🏆 ROUND 1 WINNER - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2024

Two brides. A love to die for. Let corpses litter the cathedral, drained bodies taking the place of roses. For one way or another- Vows will be exchanged. _________ Sapphic vampire-werewolf erotica, loosely based on Bram Stoker's Dracula. This gothic horror is set in an alternate universe in the Regency and Victorian Eras. _________ In 1814, Lady Marienne is left for dead on the streets of London. With her final breath, she makes an oath to the Goddess of Darkness, cursing herself to an eternity as a vampire. Marienne's lover, Lady Elisabeta, believing her to be truly gone, flings herself to her own demise. When Lady Marienne rises from the grave, she finds that the love of her life has ended hers. In her moment of despair, she calls upon the Goddess of Moons to bring back her lost love, inadvertently cursing her to reincarnate as a werewolf. Eighty years later, Marienne tracks down the reincarnated Lady Elisabeta, only to find that she has no memory of her past life and is now engaged to a Mr. Jonathan Harker. Marienne will take back her lost love, even if it means setting the world on fire. Lovers reunite in a dark entwining of souls; a morbid wedding of ghouls and ghosts. _______________ Warning This is an erotic romance and is rated mature (18+) for explicit content (smut, lol), as well as dark themes and potential triggers - blood/gore, and there's some murder (cause it's a vampire book, duh!) Basically, not recommended for younger audiences. _______________ Written for ONC2024 using prompts: "Horror is in the eye of the beholder." "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." "I will become as monstrous as I must"