[ONC 2026] When Kenna Sato's best friend vanishes without a trace and the police refuse to look closer, she decides to handle it herself. What she doesn't expect is to cross paths with the city's most dangerous man. Now standing at the edge of something far bigger than she anticipated, will she walk away while she still can, or step deeper into the shadows? **** Kenna Sato is a florist with a quiet life, a love for true crime documentaries, and a loyalty streak that often overrides caution. Tenacious and determined, she refuses to sit still when someone she loves disappears. But chasing answers in a city built on secrets comes at a cost. Nikolai "Niko" Volkov rules the underground with cold precision and an iron grip. Feared, calculating, and always several moves ahead, he does not tolerate interference. Yet when fate throws him into Kenna's path, their worlds collide in ways neither of them expected. As danger tightens its hold and betrayal lingers in the air, an unlikely connection begins to form. In a game where trust is fragile and power is everything, can two people from opposite sides survive the storm they are about to face? Or will the darkness consume them both? [Story not edited / proofread] Copyright © 2026 All rights reserved.

Sophie loves cosy games, especially Stardew Valley. But when she is suddenly sucked into the world of the game, it turns out living on a farm is different from what she imagined. Cultivating the land is arduous work; the animals smell, and what is worse, the role of the beloved farmer is already taken. If Sophie wants to return to her world, she will face a series of challenges. But she's a gamer, and she beat the game several times already, so it can't be too hard. After all, she knows everything about the Pelican Town, its people, and the mechanics. It's just a game. What could go wrong? *** ONC 2026 Prompt 8: 8. You wake up inside Stardew Valley with no idea how you got there and no guarantee you'll ever get back home. *** Cover art by @caralogues

Hailey wakes from a forced shutdown to find her boss dead at her feet and twenty-four hours missing from her memory. The evidence is clean, the tech is confident, and everything points to her. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the murder makes too much sense. But not for long. 90. You receive a video message from someone you hate, recorded five hours after their confirmed death.

She sits at crowded tables, drinks countless glasses of wine, and convinces herself that he loves her. That's what this city is for, isn't it? Reinvention? ***** Sixteenth Street is only supposed to be a job for her to afford the bills in the new city she now calls home. What she doesn't expect is to fall head over heels for a man with enough experience - both in the restaurant and in life - to make her forget the real reason she moved to this new city in the first place. Intoxicated by the world of fine dining and men who taste like her new favorite poison, she finds herself lost and in waiting - for him, for the guests, and, most importantly, for herself. ***** OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2026 -- prompts 28 & 29

"I like being out of the spotlight. It's the only place I can breathe." 💫💫💫 Hazel Brooks has always loved Poppy Sparks, one of the most popular singers. From the posters on her walls to the songs she hums without thinking, Poppy has been the soundtrack of Hazel's life. As a dedicated fan, Poppy was always meant to be a world-famous star, someone Hazel never imagined she would meet beyond a crowded concert stage. But at the start of sophomore year, a quiet transfer student stepped into her life. She's soft-spoken, careful, and oddly familiar. Everything fell into place when Hazel heard her soft, unguarded singing on the rooftop. The voice she's admired for years is sitting right beside her. 💫💫💫 PROMPT USED: Number 23

Melinda starts her first day as shift manager of Cozy Retreat with a personal disaster. After spilling coffee into the lap of the most influential food blogger online, she is sure her brief carreer as shift manager was over. An unexpected connection forms and all she needs to do is believe she deserves a second chance. But can Melinda trust her heart as she struggles to keep the secrets of her past and the footprints of her memories beat a path to her door? @XxxSistersxxX is my cover artist. Thank you for the amazing work.

Mari thought that coming home to a ghost town was bad. It turns out it's worse having to attend her estranged father's wedding and letting her childhood best friend break down the walls she carefully built. ***** Mari Chasey's life is suspended. She returns to her hometown in a cold November day following her mother's death, after years of studying abroad in Europe. Pinewood is sleepy in the bitter cold, the deserted shoreline stretching further than she can reach, but that's okay. Mari is good with temporary things and at not lingering. She's not planning to stay for long, just enough to sort out her mother's affairs without poking at open wounds. Then her father returns. Jack Chasey, former renowned superstar, absent for most of her childhood, is getting married to a woman Mari hardly knows. He gets to begin again, build something new, while Mari grapples with a fractured life and all the scattered pieces of herself. Her mother was supposed to live forever; Jack was mercurial and always at arm's length. But now he's here to stay. Enter Kinney St. James. Once Mari's closest friend, then another person that passed by like a comet, she still knows Mari and all the shards of her. Even the sharper ones. In the stillness of winter, Mari reconnects with the quiet life Jack always wanted for her, the softer parts of her that only Kinney can tap into, and what it truly means to be her mother's daughter. ***** Open Novella Contest -- prompts 24, 29, 46, & 77 [[OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2026 ROUND 1 WINNER]] © 2026 caterina george // all rights reserved

How do you find your future soulmate whom you have yet to meet? Better question; how do you find them within the week? Any ideas? All you know is that if you don't, you will lose them forever. So wouldn't you drop everything and try anything to find them? ONC Prompt: 90. You receive a voicemail from someone you love, recorded one hour after their confirmed death. Started: Feb 1, 2026 Ended: ~ Book Blurb/Author Notes can be found after the last current chapter ~ Cover created in Canva ***This book might contain occasional colorful language***