Seventeen-year-old Grace Walker never imagined that four words could haunt a person forever. "See you on Wednesday." It was the last thing her parents said before the tragic accident that took them both away. Forced to leave everything behind, Grace moves to a new town to live with relatives she barely knows. Between a new school, unfamiliar faces, and the crushing weight of grief, she struggles to find her place in a life that no longer feels like hers. At first, everything seems normal. Until strange memories, unsettling dreams, and unanswered questions begin to follow her everywhere. And the more she searches for answers, the less certain everything becomes.

Ninnette, a water-wielding Sea Drifter, has to ally with the destructive sea demon Kazi in order to break a deadly curse that binds them together before it claims her life. °:•.🪸.•:° Ninnette is a Sea Drifter with the power to command water, dredging shipwrecks, and salvaging lost treasure. When she braves a sunken ship no one else dares to dive, she finds a strange clockwork bangle that binds her to an ancient curse and to the infuriating Kazi, a demon who leaves destruction wherever he goes. The moment the bangle is activated, they are hunted by a secret order led by the relentless Priestess Aleja, who believes the armlet is the key to something far greater than treasure that no one is ever meant to possess. And she will sacrifice anyone to reclaim it. But the true danger isn't the order. It isn't the demon Kazi. It's the curse. When Ninnette puts on the bangle, a countdown begins. If she doesn't break the curse in three days, she will die like every wearer before her. °:•.🪸.•:° She commands the sea. He is a demon who has lived for centuries. They are both bound by a curse. Only three days to survive. °:•.🪸.•:° Set in a Maritime Steampunk world and inspired by Filipino culture. From Spanish influence to the seafaring Sama-Bajau. This story weaves dangerous magic, high stakes, and heart-aching romance. °:•.🪸.•:° ONC 2025 Honorable Mention Round 1 Winner Round 2 Ambassador Pick Round 3 Ambassador Pick °:•.🪸.•:° Romantasy High Fantasy Fantasy Adventure SciFi Steampunk Fantasci Young Adult

Since she was fifteen, Ria Martin has known one unchangeable truth: she will marry Adrian Morgan. A man she has never met. A future she never chose. A vow she walks into not for love - but for survival. With her family's safety hanging by a fragile thread, the aisle becomes her only escape route. Adrian Morgan, heir to a global empire, has lived his life bound by duty and power. Arranged marriages are nothing new to him. But this bride is different. Why has she never reached out? Why does silence cling to her like armor? And what is she hiding that feels... dangerous? When fate finally binds them, carefully constructed lives begin to crack. Secrets surface. Old wounds bleed. And a quiet storm of betrayal, desire, and buried truths gathers beneath the calm of their union. ✨ Can love grow where trust is fractured? ✨ Can she survive the shadows closing in around her past? ✨ And can he become her refuge... when he may be the very reason she's in danger? A story of forced vows, hidden scars, and a love that dares to bloom where it was never meant to survive.

When Teia Cloto travels to Naples, Italy, hoping to steady a life already quietly unravelling, the last thing she needs is a blind date that turns into an easy, unexpected friendship. Alden instantly makes the city feel strangely familiar in ways Teia didn't know she needed. Drawn deeper into Naples' ancient past and her own unsettling sense of déjà vu, the line between coincidence and destiny begin to blur. Staying friends is simpler. But Teia must confront whether destiny is a story we inherit, or one we choose to rewrite, no matter the cost. Water and Sand is a contemporary love story that reimagines the myth of Theseus and Ariadne, where love is a labyrinth and friendship feels like the safest way out. #thenanowatt #thenanowatt2026

Copyright © 2026 by Darkrai_X In Room 309, people learn how to survive each other's pain. Elise Valencia is dying, and everyone around her seems to speak softer because of it. Everyone except Matteo Reyes, the chaotic night shift cleaner who steals hospital sunflowers, breaks rules constantly, and refuses to treat her like she's already gone. What begins as irritation slowly becomes something deeper inside the oncology ward, where laughter feels rebellious, love becomes complicated, and strangers leave permanent marks on one another's lives.

In VINTAGE ROB, Robert Pirone photographs A-list actor Brian Keating cavorting with girls in a Tokyo hotel room. In LOUD, Rob hints that the photographs are incriminating, and Brian Keating's father figure and fixer, Mr. Young, sets out to protect "his boy". He threatens the only thing that seems to matter to Robert Pirone: his estranged daughter Makiko. #1 celebs (Feb. 18, 2026) #1 buddhism (Feb. 18, 2026) #1 cross-cultural (Nov. 4, 2024) #2 runaways (April 1, 2026) #2 nonviolent (May 5, 2025) #2 buddhism (Feb. 23, 2025)

When Brie lands a spot on Cheese Whiz, a cheese-themed cooking competition, the last thing she expects is to run into Colby Jackson, the man who left her heart with more holes than Swiss cheese. ~~~ It was supposed to be simple. Enter the contest, win the prize money, open her own restaurant. Easy peasy, extra cheesy. So of course Colby freaking Jackson and his smug, entirely too sexy face just had to come back into Brie's life like an extra stinky wheel of limburger cheese. Surrounded by fierce competitors and legendary amounts of dairy, Brie and Colby exchange barbs sharper than any cheddar. Yet, as the competition heats up, Brie quickly discovers the mozzarella isn't the only thing melting. Against her better judgment, Colby is once again worming his way into her heart. Will Brie find a whey to make things work between them, or will he leave her feeling bleu? 🧀 Rivals to lovers 🧀 Second chance romance 🧀 All puns are fully intended ONC 2026 4th place winner! Cover and banner by @-DeeIsDead-

A covert government operative sent to surveil a famous footballer accidentally becomes the nanny to his six-year-old son, forcing her to choose between completing the mission that could destroy him or protecting the unexpected family she has begun to love. ◈ ◈ ◈ Grace Anna Sumer has always craved freedom. That hunger is what led her into the shadows, working as a covert field operative for a little-known government agency. Officially, she gathers intelligence. Unofficially, she removes problems. Pulled from a coveted assignment in the Congo, Grace is reassigned to Paris to surveil the family of Hermes Mansi, an international football (soccer) star whose career is tightly controlled by a powerful and corrupt league that profits from obedience. Grace is told to watch him. To observe. To wait. What she does not expect is a twist of fate that places her inside his home, hired accidentally as the nanny to his six-year-old son, Drax. Under the safest cover imaginable, Grace enters Hermes' life with one objective, gather evidence and prepare for a quiet takedown. But the longer she stays, the harder it becomes to remember where the mission ends and her feelings begin. As secrets unravel and loyalties fracture, Grace must choose between completing her assignment or protecting the fragile and unexpected family she has found. ◈ ◈ ◈ This novella was written for the Open Novella Contest 2026, based on Prompt #33: "It doesn't take long before everything in your life spins out of control. One moment you're a secret assassin, and the next you've somehow been hired as a nanny and you're not entirely sure how it happened."

In Blackbriar, justice serves the powerful. And love? Love leaves a body count. Corvina Everwood is here to rip both masks off. One corpse at a time. ──────── Haunted by a legacy stained with forbidden magic, Corvina is the last heir of a cursed bloodline born of necromancy and a love that defied the laws of life and death. She walks a razor's edge between justice and vengeance. By day, she runs Thorn & Bloom; an apothecary of healing potions, charms, and whispered spells. By night, she carves retribution into the hearts of the wicked. Cursed by the Veil, the ancient force that guards the boundary between life and death, she must kill thirteen who escaped justice, or be slowly consumed from within. Sentinel Warren Crowe is stoic, sharp-eyed, and sworn to uphold a system he is beginning to suspect was never as righteous as he believed. He follows the rules and trusts the law; until the Redheart murders lead him to Thorn & Bloom. He doesn't expect a witch with a silver tongue, dangerous charm, and a laugh that unsettles him more than any spell. Corvina gets under his skin. And Warren, for all his discipline, finds himself choosing to go back. But Warren is not as unshakable as he seems. And some truths, once uncovered, can never be buried again. As corruption festers at the heart of the city and time runs out, Corvina searches desperately for a way to break the curse before the Veil claims her soul entirely. In a city where the gods no longer answer, the price of mercy may be written in blood. ──────── Dark, atmospheric, and laced with blood magic, Blood & Roses is a gothic romantasy for fans of forbidden love, morally grey characters, and the kind of slow burn that leaves marks. // EDITING WHILE WRITING // LONG CHAPTERS //