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, a parasite draining xeir hosts' energy with a single touch. That is until xe meets handsome thief Shiro, the only person immune to Heems's parasitism. ---- Working as a doctor on dwarf planet Eris, Heems drains the energy of xeir unknowing hosts -- Eris's sickly hospital patients -- to survive. Heems's rare parasitic condition doesn't seem to have a cure until xe attempts to make a host out of an injured smuggler. Heems's touch has no draining effect on the handsome vagrant, Shiro, possibly the only person in the Solar System immune to Heems's parasitism. Galvanised by the hope of finding a cure, Heems is lured by Shiro into a world of criminality and obsession, setting them both on a collision course with powerful organisations desperate to keep hidden Eris's biggest secret: that parasites can be hosts too. ☉ Energy vampirism ☉ LGBT+ romance ☉ Non-binary main character ☉ Cyberpunk ~~☉~~ ☆ No sci fi knowledge is needed to understand this story. Basically Eris is cold, has no atmosphere (literally and figuratively), and everyone's broke. I will put some sci fi comments inline for those who are interested, or if you don't understand something, just ask me. I'm happy to help! ☆ Notes on gender: Heems uses xe/xeir/xem pronouns. This book is written in first person so don't worry if you're new to these pronouns since there aren't so many instances of them being used in the book. Content Warning: This book is rated mature. It contains potentially triggering topics such as extreme hunger, chronic debilitating illnesses, suicide ideation, drug misuse, sexual intercourse while under the influence of recreational and medicinal drugs.

🏆 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"

[2022 WATTYS SHORTLISTED!] [WATTPAD EDITORS' CHOICE] Riley Axford has it all figured out: Temptr, the new app which claims to tell you the identity of your soulmate, is bullshit and its creator, Decker Lord, is single-handedly destroying society as we know it. Riley has first-hand knowledge -- his parents are divorcing because his dad used the app, and his girlfriend, Chloe, is the loudest anti-Temptr activist on the internet. Riley proudly produces her podcast, and feels like they're doing a good thing for the world. But when Decker Lord's son, Noah, enrolls at his school and Riley falls in love with him at first sight, his black and white world becomes full of shades of gray. Soulmates are real, and Riley has found his. Getting in between Decker Lord and his son sets Riley on the path to discovering a deadly secret in the Lord family's past and the sinister truth about Decker Lord's tech empire. ***Top Rank: #1 in bxb***