In a small Vallejo rental duplex where mornings cut through the air in gold and gray, a little girl learns her first lesson about trust, and how quietly it can disappear. The house hums with ordinary sounds: her mother's goodbye kiss, the echo of work boots on the floor, the laughter of a television left running. But one morning, a familiar figure enters, and routine turns into something her young mind cannot name. What follows is stillness, the kind that hides pain beneath ordinary daylight. The First Bridge begins the caretaker's story: the first fracture of innocence, the birth of silence, and the quiet instinct to survive what no one else can see.

The smell of wet earth always made Amina think of the fields where she used to play with Bashir. They had been no more than children when her father agreed she would marry him. She had been ten, he twelve, the son of Alhaji Musa, a man whose word in the village carried more weight than the chief's. The arrangement was not about love; it was about the debt that had chained her father's pride for years. "You will be safe with Bashir," her mother had whispered that night, her voice a mix of reassurance and resignation. Safe. That word would take on strange meanings in the years to come.

As a magical horde storms their virtual sanctuary and throws human existence into chaos, a gifted young mechanic emerges from the ashes. He gathers a band of determined allies, and together, they evolve into a formidable force. Armed with the power of invention and logic, they wage a high-tech war against sorcery itself in a heroic saga to defend justice and safeguard peace.

People will tell you writing is hard. That's a load of crap. Anyone with a pencil can scrawl a line of graphite across a page and call themselves a writer. Does that mean anyone can be an author? No. Only people who are willing to sacrifice their time and energy will cross the line that transforms an adjective (writing) into a noun (author). What's so effing hard about it? Joining one word to the next in such a way that it draws the reader through your story, evokes their primal emotions, and leaves them satisfied is a process not unlike walking on freshly scattered Legos. The necessary skill takes practice, time, effort, persistence, and a set of standards that reaches beyond the scope of your average layperson. The effort shakes your ego like a dog with a chew toy. It's the curse and the glory of the writer. In the beginning, every story is bad and stupid and the first part of improving it is recognizing how far you still have to go. That's the deepest, darkest secret to nailing down this writing stuff: knowing when it sucks, and sticking with it until it doesn't. Will you find solutions within these pages? No. I am not a brilliant author who can give you a step-by-step plan to improve your skill, but if you want to learn to write with competence and you're trying to figure out how to start I can set you on the path. I know this because I'm on it too. I know it's the right one because my standards are growing faster than my skill. Step inside for a very candid, very blunt look at becoming a better writer, and I promise you, I virtually guarantee, that you will improve at least a little, and all you have to do is invest the time it takes to consider my words and intelligently apply them.

Synopsis At four years old, Katarina's life was torn apart in an instant-the night her family's van plunged off a bridge, taking her mother, brother, and unborn sibling with it. She survived, but only in the stillness of a twenty-year coma. While her body lay sleeping, her mind built a world-filled with love, with a boy named Cay, and with the promise of a future that felt more real than dreams. When she finally awakens, Katarina is forced into a reality that no longer fits. Her father, Atries, has aged under the weight of grief, waiting faithfully for the daughter he thought he had lost. The world has moved on without her, and the family she remembers exists only in memory. Worse still, Cay-the boy she loved in her dream-is unknown to anyone else. As Katarina struggles to separate illusion from truth, she discovers that what she lived in her coma was not entirely imagined: she carries a child conceived in that other world. Torn between despair and fragile hope, Katarina begins a journey of healing, identity, and love-one that blurs the boundary between what is real and what is eternal. Her story is one of loss and rebirth, of the fragile threads binding dream to life, and of the mirror that reflects not just who we are, but who we might become.

Four hapless college roommates decide to hire a cleaning lady. When a beautiful young woman shows up, hilarity ensues. --- It chick lit from a male POV. It's trash... but then you keep reading and you're like: wait.. is this kinda good? It's pretty funny. You will likely laugh at some point. If you're thinking you've seen this story before, you may have seen it on my throwaway account... but I've decided I don't mind associating myself with this story after all. So here it is on my main. (The only feedback I'm looking for on this story will be in the form of praise as it is something I don't actually tale seriously at all lol. )

Join Dr. Nadia Markovic, a fierce pediatric cardiology surgeon on a mission with the Global Mercy Initiative - think remote regions, urgent care, and a whole lot of heart. But Nadia's job isn't just stitches and stethoscopes. Add one tall, grumpy, emotionally mysterious Sergeant into the mix... and boom - you're in a story that pulses with drama, a little action, and those tender, soul-searching silences we secretly live for. But in a place where reputation travels faster than radio signals, Nadia's name is beginning to echo beyond the clinic walls. And not everyone wants her because she saves lives. Some want her because she shouldn't be able to. Expect realness. Raw emotion. A cast of characters that are gloriously flawed, occasionally chaotic, and unapologetically human. *** "She listens like the walls are lying to her," Sama said once. Then added, quite seriously, "And maybe they are."

The Prequel to Stuck in the Middle A warm yet bittersweet tale set in rural Georgia. Southern Sunlight follows young Emily as she navigates the joys and struggles of her childhood. Growing up in a modest home with her hardworking yet troubled parents, Emily finds comfort in simple pleasures-long summer days, friendly neighbors, and the love of a mother doing her best. But as she comes of age, she begins to see the cracks in her world, forcing her to confront the realities of loss, hardship, and the passage of time. A story of resilience, belonging, and the fleeting magic of childhood, Southern Sunlight shines with the glow of love and the shadows of heartbreak.

Ellie Harris (they/he) has hit a patch of bad luck. Their dad died, they lost their job, their boyfriend cheated on them, and, to top things off, they literally trip over a black cat. What else could go wrong? Then Ellie learns their dad was a witch, the cat is not a cat, they're the heir to the 'Ivy Throne' (whatever the f -k that is), and certain people want to kill them for it. 'What else could go wrong?' is soon a question Ellie learns not to ask. - - - Open Novella Contest prompt # 91: 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 - 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺. - - - Copyright SG Gardner, 2022.

Nobody tells you what happens after the upgrade. Isabella's just trying to survive-bad job, glitchy city, and a body caught between patches. Life's stuck buffering. But she's not ready to quit. Not yet.