** Marian, a thieving nobleman's daughter with too big a heart, meets Robin Hood, a daring thief with a huge ego. Will they be able to overcome pain, longing, and, finally the cruel Sheriff of Nottingham? Or will the legend end before it begins? ** "Hope, be it never so faint, bringeth a gleam into darkness, like a little rushlight that costeth but a groat." ― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood - In the heart of Nottinghamshire, the noblewoman Maid Marian has a secret double life as a thief by night. She steals from the chests of embezzlers and distributes her loot to the poor. When she crosses paths with the self-proclaimed King of Thieves, past and present collide, soon forcing her to choose between loyalty to the crown and the law - or rebellion. But it's not only the dangerous raids that swirl her life: soon she is torn between her feelings for the charming Robin Hood and the honourable Guy of Gisborne. Will Marian be able to bring justice to the kingdom? Will she lose her heart to the King of Thieves or will the righteous Guy of Gisborne be able to preserve her honour? In a story of love, courage and resistance, Marian's fate interweaves with the legends of Sherwood Forest. **** Part 1 of the Sherwood-Dilogie **** Wattys2023 GERMAN WINNNER + Special Price for Most Engaging World Cover/Banner by Thinkerling *** 🥇1st Place Literary Book Award - Adventure 🥇1st Place Lavender Awards - Historical Fiction 🥇 1st Place Ambrosia Awards - Best Cover 🥇 1st Place Ambrosia Awards - Historical Fiction 🥇 1st Place Phoenix Award - Best Cover 🥈 2nd Place - Tricolor Triennial Awards - Historical Fiction 🥈 2nd Place - The Wonder Awards - Fanfiction 🥈 2nd Place - The Nebula Awards - Historical Fiction 🥈 2nd Place - The Aster Awards - General Fiction ****

Everyone knows the band Zenith, but nobody knows how they managed to rock Zerkovkia's youth into starting a revolution... until now. Tolya Viktov is coming of age in the 1980s to the tune of spinning records, cheap liquor, and Zerkovkia's nine year war with neighboring Blivdova. The perms and denim jackets are hip, but it's the underground music he's most excited about. By the time he enters university, his lyrics and his talent have helped him break through on the student musician scene. Tolya, a duo of genius guitarists, and a bandless drummer soon come together when a producer realizes the key to achieving radical change in Zerkovkia is getting them to make music. What happens next is the stuff of legend and a whole lot of love, revolution, and rock and roll. Honors/Awards: ONC 2023 Honorable Mention ONC 2023 Ambassadors' Pick (Round One) "VIKTOV LIVES!" is featured on @music's "mighty drumset" reading list @storiesundiscovered's "feast on fiction" reading list @flexiblebookexchange's "read these gems!" reading list @opennovellacontest's "2023 honorable mentions" and "2023 ambassadors' picks" lists Copyright © 2023 Elle Chaika Open Novella Contest VI (2023) | Prompt No. 44

ONC Shortlister 2023! There are few rules in the Kingdom of Kadotaru, and punishment is not kind, even for the young prince who wishes he was anybody else. Tied to the crown, to his family, to his kingdom, there isn't much he can do. He isn't born to bear the crown, to rule over all the creatures of Kadotaru, but it still haunts him. He never thought to break a rule, there was too much fear deep in his heart. He never thought to break any rules, until she was able to see him. Humans. Humans don't have true sight. They aren't seers, or creatures of Kadotaru. So why can she see him? Why does she reach out to help him? And why did he have to break Kadotaru's most sacred rule? ------------------------------------------------------- This novella will include extreme violence. There will be warnings at the beginning of the chapters that include this show of brutality, but do not reach this novella if you do not wish to read horrific scenes. For the Open Novella Contest 2023 | Cover designed by me | Prompt 62 Word Count - 38,637 RANKINGS: #44 in High Fantasy - 27/04/2023 #90 in Fae - 10/02/2023 #79 in Dark Fantasy - 10/02/2023 #09 in opennovellacontest2023 - 10/02/2023 © elmaloney 2023 | all rights reserved

Three women. Three secrets. Three tangled lives. Prompt 15 for the ONC 2023 Neledh | Three in Sindarin (Tolkien) - Eira a child of war. Nadine a child of life. Tiffany a child of humanity. Brought together by fate, yet separated by the world. - A lot of people die in this story for varying reasons. If you don't want to read about that, you might want to skip this story. Though several of them aren't very permanent. - Part of the same universe as: Temptation, to Walk on Water, The Aftermath and o'Reilly's secrets

Humankind has long since perished. But life goes on. Nature is slowly reclaiming the planet. A fire forces a young red fox named Kip to flee her den for the first time. Now alone and left half-blind, Kip must struggle to find refuge for herself and her two cubs. One thing is for certain: this nascent and feral world is just as dangerous as ever. --- ONC Prompt 13: You were at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and now you are running for your life! Cover art drawn by me.

[ONC Shortlister - 4x Featured] Professional thief and smuggler, Nio Barn, lives by one rule: break them all. When his criminal past finally catches up to him, he's faced with a choice: win the world's most dangerous racing competition in exchange for freedom or face a lifetime in an overcrowded prison cell. As he enters a world of high-speed thrills, deception and betrayal, Nio realises that life in the Speed Sprint races is far from easy. Forced into a fake relationship with his teammate to keep the money flowing, Nio instead feels more drawn to his fiercest competitor, Ruben Vincuña. With ten races across ten different countries, the stakes are high and the tension is palpable. Only one can be crowned champion. Only one can be free. Death is but a corner away. Written for the Open Novella Contest 2023, based on the prompts: 69 - I had a marvellous time ruining everything - Taylor Swift 49 - Master the rules of the game until you play it better than they can - Michael Scott Four times featured: Romance - Rainbow of Love Dystopian & Apocalypse - Rebellion: Against The System Speculative Fiction - A Crack In The System Science Fiction - Punk Fiction

Until recently, Mia's biggest challenge was attracting visitors to a province whose unsolved crime rate keeps climbing. After her Bear Claw Lake ice fishing tourism campaign gets axed because a body was discovered, an unusual stranger offers her unconventional help to catch a potential serial killer. Even with his help and that of her childhood friend from the affected community, the clues leave Mia with more questions than answers. But she must discover the truth to keep the province safe, get justice for the victims and save her job. Trigger warning: This story is related mature because there are brief mentions of the suicide of a family member having an effect on a supporting character as well as one scene that flashes back to child abuse in the form of neglect resulting in a near-death experience. Cover photo by Simon Wijers (from Unsplash)