*WATTYS 2024 SHORTLISTED* Ellie did the 'True Love' thing and it left her heartbroken. Now her dreams are smaller: win a BAFTA, convince her mother she's okay, and don't kill her infuriating colleague Nas. And definitely don't kiss him. 'I am suddenly aware of his hand on my waist. Has he always been this tall? Has he always smelled of smoke and cloves and warmth? My brain is collapsing. All it can think is NAS IS TOUCHING ME. His lips are coming down... Or mine are coming up... Does he want to kiss me? Even worse, do I want him to?' FEATURED BY: @Ambassadors - Diverse Fiction (February 2025) @Romance - Slow Burn (December 2024) @Romance - Workplace (June 2024) @ChickLit - Self-Discovery (May 2024) @Project Athena - Author Spotlight (July 2024) @Contemporary Lit - Contemporary DiverseLit (September 2024) @Newly Written Books - Roses Are Red (October 2024) @Project Athena - Women's Fiction ChickLit (July 2024) @AstaniaCommunity - Love is Love (June 2024) @8ChapterChallenge - 8CC March-April (May 2024)

At age six, Pullman Grier was abducted by a monster. Held deep underground in the Ontario wilderness, he and four other children laboured for years, scrounging for the creature's food, until the day the impossible happened: Pull slew the monster. Three children crawled out of the cold earth and made the long, bleak trek back to civilization. Now an adult in frozen Winnipeg, Pull scrapes by on a minimum-wage job, a stomach destroyed by childhood malnutrition and a grim sense of humour. The only good thing in his life is an online group that uses image recognition to search for victims of human traffickers and return them home. Then, a local boy vanishes. Unable to find help, the boy's desperate father approaches Pull's group. Only Pull sees the calling card of the monster that took him sixteen years prior. The monster that is supposedly lying dead and buried in the Canadian wilderness. Knowing the thing that stole his childhood could still be abducting children and that more will be taken if he fails, Pull scours secrets buried in his old prison. Secrets that have lurked in the darkness just beyond the firelight for all of human history.

[WATTYS 2024 SHORTLIST] When a troubled young man named Jake Featherstone enrols at a mysterious and isolated college that has had a recent murder take place, he soon finds himself becoming involved with the friends of the victim and with the killer still at large, perhaps the next victim in line.

[WATTY'S 2024 SHORTLIST] Seventeen-year-old, popular Athlete, Ontario Hackman struggles with identity, and the fact he may be facing something deeper-rooted than the surface, and when fellow gay boy, Nathaniel Ericson comes along, out and about, with his rainbow bracelets, and his shameless crush on the Popular Athlete, and begins experiencing torment at the hands of his peers, Ontario realizes just how much easier it is to stay hidden. But everyone knows, What's done in the dark will always come to the light - In the gilded halls of his high school, seventeen-year-old Ontario Hackman is the epitome of perfection-a star athlete, a charismatic leader, and the heartthrob of every party. But beneath the surface of his flawless facade lies a turmoil of uncertainty and hidden desires. When Nathaniel Ericson, openly gay and unapologetically himself, arrives with rainbow bracelets and an unabashed crush on Ontario, it sets off a chain reaction that shatters the delicate balance of Ontario's carefully curated life. As Nathaniel faces relentless bullying at the hands of his peers, Ontario is forced to confront the shadowed corners of his own identity. The conflict between staying hidden in the comfort of his popularity and embracing his true self becomes a battleground for Ontario's soul. As their worlds collide and intertwine, Ontario and Nathaniel must navigate the tumultuous waters of love, acceptance, and self-discovery. [Word count: 45k) #1 in mentallyunstable out of 3.97k (July 4th, 2024, 10:39 AM)