|| ✨ 2022 WATTYS WINNER ✨ || || x8 FEATURED || Kill the monsters. Claim the bounty. Escape to Alaska. ------------ Ten years ago, an event known as The Turning upset the balance of Earth's ecosystems. Demons emerged from the depths of Hell, dragging along with them obscure creatures from old myths and legends. In the midst of all this chaos, eighteen-year-old Raine Barlow makes a living by hunting monsters. No price is too high, no monster is too deadly. Her goal is simple: to make enough money to escape to Alaska -- where her parents are rumored to be held. And Raine just might be able to do it: the mayor of Eureka has agreed to pay her $10,000 to escort his young daughter to the City of Dust -- a former metropolis surrounded by walls and secrets. Armed with poison-tipped crossbow bolts, her own brand of small magic, and an aging battle-elk named Winston, Raine and her charge must trek across the dust-covered and desolate stretches of a California highway, all the while trying to avoid the monsters and demons who are trying to take over the world. Cover created by @Shreya_VA

Seventeen-year-old Zelene had never believed in magic or prophecies; until the day she was attacked by an assassin with unnatural powers. Now, her life has been thrust into a war between two worlds she knows nothing about and told that she must fight against an enemy determined to snuff out her existence-all because of some ancient prophecy that claims five girls from her bloodline will unite and end the war between the worlds. As their enemies strike, the girls are forced to flee back to their home world after being hidden away for so long. There, Zelene meets Rhaya, Terrena, and Isauria and discovers the familial bonds tying them together and to the powerful Duillaine who rule over the worlds. Zelene sees this connection as a prison rather than protection and can think of a place or two she'd like to shove the crown she supposedly inherited. When she learns Ariana, her long-lost twin sister, has been captured by the rebels, Zelene's attitude changes. With whispers of Ariana being the sacrifice needed to fulfill the prophecy, Zelene knows she has to act. She doesn't know how she is supposed to go against an army of magic-wielding rebels when her own ability to manipulate the elements is still locked within her. But can she trust the Duillaine to rescue Ariana when it seems their medieval politics are what brought about the war in the first place? With all that is at stake, the answer becomes clear to Zelene. Screw the worlds. She's getting her sister back.

Sam is the most promising swordsman among this year’s crop of Paladin trainees...and knows it. Brash, cocky, and unbeatable with a sword (well, almost), Sam is the kingdom of Thule’s best hope against the violence wrought by demons. The only problem is that Sam is really Lady Samantha, daughter of the seventeenth Duke of Haywood, and if her father has his way, she’ll be marrying a Paladin, not becoming one. But Sam has never held much interest in playing damsel-in-distress, and so she rescues herself from a lifetime of boredom and matrimonial drudgery. Pity that Tristan Lyons, the Paladin assigned to train her, is none other than the hero of her childhood. He hasn’t recognized her as Lady Samantha--yet-- but if he does, he’ll take away her sword and send her packing. Sam is not the only trainee hiding secrets: Braeden is a half-demon with a dark past that might be unforgivable. Sam, Braeden and Tristan set out for the western coast, charged with rooting out an infestation of demons that has made the West unlivable. As they travel, they uncover a deep-seated corruption of power that threatens to derail everything they stand for. Rebellion stirs, led by a rival faction of warriors who tempt Sam to join them with an irresistible offer. A war between men is coming, and Sam must pick a side. Will saving the kingdom cost her life -- or just her heart? Reminiscent of Mulan, but with a medieval fantasy twist, Paladin is a tale of adventure, action, and romance.

**CURRENTLY A FEATURED STORY** highest ranking: #11 in Science fiction ❝true happiness is only achieved without freedom. There is a girl who wakes to a world that she was supposed to protect. Instead, she fights it. There is a man who is cursed with the ability to dream. A glass city is their cage, a city filled to the brim with unanimity and order, a paradise on an earth laid to waste by an artificial snowstorm. Sunlight filters through the glass buildings and through glass walls, pierces glass floors. It illuminates the city square when it is strongest at noon, surrounded by a huddled mass of citizens, all as perfect as the city they inhabit. And they all think: everything is as it should be. And it is. Or, it was. -- long live perfection.❞ (c)sarahgaier2016 #diverselit | #LoveEqualsLove | #helpfightcliches | #freethelgbtq | #badassreads check out my Science Fiction novella, Sector-33, here! https://www.wattpad.com/story/62174094-sector-33

Delaney Escott lives in a world where popularity reigns supreme. If you want to be noticed, social status is everything. The government is run by the Superiors: a very exclusive group of individuals who are virtually flawless. They are smarter than us and stronger than us, and to join their ranks is the highest honor. The Superiors pay an annual visit to the top schools in the nation and evaluate the students, choosing one boy and one girl - the most Popular in the school - to go the Capitol and train for Superiority. Delaney thinks that she's the only one indifferent to (and perhaps even suspicious of) the Superiors, until Caleb Payne, the most popular boy in school, approaches her with a request. He has a task for her, one that he believes she is uniquely capable of completing. And as she helps him, Delaney discovers that the government is hiding many secrets - and that the truth of the Superiors is far from what people believe it to be. [Watty Awards 2012 Winner, Science-Fiction: On the Rise]

We are built on lies. Tallia Asriel learnt that the hard way, having left her home to become a world class lawyer in New York yet dragged into a world of crime and violence at the hands of a breathtaking mobster who shows her life from a whole different perspective. When hatred turns to love and the law collides with passion she finds herself stuck between the two. But we always choose violence. She discovers that she has more in common with him than she could have ever imagined but the truth will only destroy you. How do we find redemption in the darkness? Welcome to the Mafia, where only the strongest survive.

[PREVIEW ONLY] If killing a superhero were easy, everyone would do it. But for Julian Godfrey, defeating Storm Warning was far from the hardest part. What began as victory over the city's biggest hero quickly unravels into a mess, once he learns that the mysterious source of Storm Warning's power has found a new host. Charlotte Hathaway has no idea how to use her new abilities, but she won't stop trying until she destroys Julian's alter ego, Citadel. Julian should have taken her new powers from her when he had the chance, but he let her go in favor of a new plan: training her for a real fight. It's the only way to prove he didn't get lucky when he killed Storm Warning, and show the city--and the other villains--that he's a force to be reckoned with. Getting close to Charlotte comes with far more than Julian bargained for. She's the perfect hero. Determined, confident, and selfless above all else. She's even nice to him, of all people. But if Julian doesn't follow through with his plan despite his growing feelings for her, he has another force to reckon with: Blazar, the villain who raised him and taught him to use his powers. It seems that no matter what choice Julian makes, he's going to lose. And it's not just his life in danger. With its biggest hero gone, the fate of the city of New Atlas hangs in the balance. *ANTIHEROES GALORE Badass Author Feature*

When the sun goes down, the gravestone statues in Willow Hills Cemetery come to life--including Gretta. As a granite guardian of the dead, it's her job to make sure her charge--the snarky, hot-headed, lesbian spirit Quinn Rivera--crosses over and finds spiritual peace. But that's a little hard to do when Quinn's twin brother Jason blames himself for her premature death. And for Quinn to agree to cross over, he must learn the truth of her accidental passing and the bipolar episodes that led her to shut him out beforehand. But reaching out to the living is against the rules, and to break them would mean facing the most power-hungry and terrifying spirit of all: Death. *** Inspired by 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘰 (but not a retelling), Willow Hills is a southern gothic story with paranormal/horror elements. 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 (𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥) C/W: Gore, some violence, and light to moderate swearing. Neurodiverse and LGBT #ownvoice rep.

The Year Rules were simple. Year 1- Crawl Year 2- Walk Year 3- Talk Year 4-Start learning second language Year 5- Start school Year 6- Anything not completed on time from Years 1,2,3,4, or 5, result in Abandonment A/N- The synopsis is like a flashback, once chapter one starts, Felisha is 17 :) As of April 14th 2015- #31 in Science Fiction As of August 29th 2015- #59 in Science Fiction {#Wattys2015} {#Wattys2016}