A war won. A triumphant return home. Ell is a member of the Lion Regiment, a special forces squad trained to be the very best. After years spent fighting insidious demon armies, he returns with his squad to their barracks on the outside of the royal capital. Just as the yellow sun breaks through the turbulent, volcanic clouds above, just as the blissful days of silence, of a job well done wash over him and his fellow squadmates, trouble arises. GENRES: *action,* fantasy, tragedy, romance ~~~ ONC 2025 Entry |PROMPT 31 WITH SOME OF 61| First Draft version Prequel to an unwritten story Word count for project: ~34,000 Cover art made by me, using a Pinterest image, traced, colored in iPad Sketchbook, then filters applied with Polarr, and text by Canva.

When visiting Canada for a wedding, a commitment-averse dive instructor must pretend to date her Australian seatmate to avoid conflict with her ex and judgmental mother. *** Audrey Clarke rarely felt like other women her age. Not as a teen who'd never gushed about gorgeous celebrities, nor at almost thirty, with no desire to marry, have kids, or settle down. She would much rather explore reefs in Southeast Asia and adventure around exciting places. Even when she meets travellers with similar dreams, none are the right romantic match. Until Caleb. When flying home to Canada for her friend's wedding, Audrey dreads confronting the pain she caused her ex and facing her judgemental mother. It drives her to connect with her seatmate, Australian environmental scientist, Caleb, who also craves a distraction. Despite his charm, he is enigmatic about the cause of his stress. They agree to fake a relationship to make their lives easier. The more time they spend together, the more real their act feels. Will Audrey be brave enough to share her true feelings before the trip is over? *** Featured on - Humor's 'Ambassador's Monthly Pick' reading list (Nov 2025) - Ambassador's recommendations "Aces! Bows and Aros" chapter (Nov 2024) - Chicklit's "Rom-Com" reading list (August 2024) - Romance's "Slow Burn" and "Fake and Arranged Relations" reading lists (June 2024) Winner - Grand Winner Aro/Ace Awards by the TripleACommunity and FreetheLGBT communities (Dec 2024) - First Place Harvest Festival Astania Awards Wild Card category (Nov 2024) by the Asatnia Community - Honourable Mention, Romance Awards, Romance category by the Romance profile (Oct 2024)

Humanity is struggling to survive in a world that's no longer theirs. Liv, a scavenger leading missions to the edges of the city for food, medicine, and iron, knows things are getting worse. Every trip feels more desperate than the last. Humanity has an expiration date-the forest, and the creatures that dwell there, just have to wait them out. When a mission turns out to be a trap and Liv wakes up on the wrong side of the tree line-alone, disoriented, and for some reason not dead-she learns the forest doesn't just kill people or take their souls. It changes them. She doesn't know what she's becoming. Only that it's something way stronger than what she was. And that killing things never felt this good. Murderbot meets The Cruel Prince-with a whole lot of psychological horror My entry for onc2025, based on prompt 125: I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. - Frank Herbert

One Midsummer night. Two girls. Seven flowers. Once the night is over, everything has changed. *** This is an entry for the 2024 Shortys Awards. Credit to @furusato_ for the lovely cover!

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.

Everyone can read minds except for Ethan Langdon. And Ethan Langdon has the dumbest (and cutest!) thoughts Lukas Hoffmann has ever heard. ____ Lukas Hoffman's life in Brambleburg is about as boring as you'd expect for a town where everyone can read minds. He's used to his routine of dusting the LPs at the record store where he works and helping out his grandma around the house. Nothing in Brambleburg changes. No one in Brambleburg changes. Until Ethan Langdon stumbles in with the soggy remnants of a paper map, asking for the quickest route to Berlin. Ethan, it turns out, doesn't have telepathy, and as aggravatingly inane as his thoughts are, Lukas hasn't felt the excitement of meeting a stranger since.... well, ever. And the more Lukas listens, the more he starts enjoying Ethan's cute thoughts about life, the universe, and Lukas's dimples. ____ Might bring to mind: "Cherry Magic" but set in a fictive European town where everyone except the love interest can read minds. ____ Cover by @mygoodbones ____ Written for the Open Novella Contest 2024 using prompts 8, 75, 82, and 85. 8. You start singing along to a movie soundtrack late at night forgetting that your window is open. Someone from the outside starts singing with you. 75. You awake in the middle of the night to a voice saying loudly "May the force be with you..." 82. You wake up on a seemingly ordinary day to discover that your thoughts are not private. There is someone else in your head with you. 85. "If you do that again, I'll throw you out that freaking window. What are you doing?" "Checking how high the drop is to see if it's worth it."

**AMBYS 2022 WINNER** He'll never play piano again. That's what virtuoso pianist Zephyr has vowed to himself after escaping Sigma, the sprawling criminal organisation that once held him--and still holds his friends--captive in California's mega-city capital, Maria. After being forced to entertain Sigma's clients with more intimate services than just music, Zephyr is determined to use his knowledge of the labyrinthine plots and power-struggles between Sigma's gang members to save his trapped friends and find his family, who are mysteriously untraceable by South Korean authorities. But Zephyr's vow to abandon piano is tested by his uneasy alliance with Will, the timid stranger who whisked Zephyr out of Sigma's clutches under cover of a mysterious fire. Will's secretive nature can't hide tantalising hints of his deep connection to music, nor can Will hide the tangled web of his dark past. In a race against time to prevent his family and friends from becoming Sigma's latest targets, Zephyr must discover if Will's true goal is to help him, or to lure him deeper into peril, as they spiral inexorably together. 🥇Winner, Wattpad Amby Awards 2022, New Adult category 🥇Grand Winner, Wattpad Pride 2022 🥇Winner, Wattpad Pride 2022, New Adult category

*Featured in the Paranormal and Supernatural profile's reading list Blood-Thirsty Beasts (October 2021), in the FreeTheLGBT profile's reading list Wicked Little Creatures (January 2022), in the Music profile's reading list Alternative Rock (December 2022) in the Multicultural profile's reading list European Voices (September 2023), and in the Friends and Family's profile reading list Forever Soulmate (May 2024)* Elise is more than 2000 years old. She owns a nightclub in Paris, a city she has always loved. But she is not the only supernatural creature in this world. One night, she meets a mysterious painter, who happens to be a vampire. Magic and supernatural creatures, love and friendship, with a little bit of action and humor and a lot of music and drama, in two new episodes every week. [Season 1 is now completed and so are Season 2, 3 and 4.] Wordcount: 25 000 words Tropes in season 1: Found family, We used to be friends, Insta-love, forbidden love For Centuries is a cosy paranormal story that focuses on characters and the relationships between them. It contains romance storylines but there are a lot of other kinds of relationships represented. Most of the characters in the series are queer, including the main character who is ace. The worldbuilding includes vampires, immortals, and magic, with my personal twist on the lore. There is definitely drama in the story but also a lot of fluff. *** TW : violence, grief, addiction. Cover design: Bartholomé Girard (Instagram: @bartholomegirard)

2100. A mysterious ship, nicknamed the Chimera, appears in Martian airspace. It bears the symbol of the international space agency, the BASE, but there is no record of such a vessel. Word and rumour quickly spread. BASE investigator Leanne Ziegler is sent to inspect the ship and make contact with its crew. But the Chimera seems completely deserted, other than the imperious AI caretaker, Valkyrie. Down in the fledging Nerio colony on Mars, suspicion grows. The colonists are already turning against the ways of the BASE, creating their own Martian identity. This potential security threat could prove to be the final rift between Earth and Mars. Trying to keep control of the political situation, Nerio sends a mysterious and cold liaison, Ryan, to aid Leanne. But, in ten days, Mars will turn her guns on the Chimera. Leanne and Ryan must work quickly to discover the secret of the ship - and decide whether its fate under the Martian guns is deserved. [ONC 2024 entry]