A warm welcome to our poets and storytellers! Whether you're joining us for the first time or returning for another year, we're delighted to have you here. The Shortys is a place to challenge yourself, celebrate creativity, and connect with a community united by a love of words and creative expression. On September 1st, this year's prompts will be revealed. You'll then have the entire month to bring your ideas to life and share your work. So sharpen your wits and ready your words. We're here to encourage one another, cheer each other on, and have fun. We can't wait to read what you create. Let the ride begin. The Shortys Team

Step into the darkness; don't be afraid, for you're not alone... for long. * Malevolent laughter fills the air that surrounds you* Run, run, and bring your stories; enter them into the Beyond the Veil Awards. Bring your stories that cross the veil. Wake your vampires and bring your werewolves into the night. Beckon the witches and warlocks alike to join in the chaos of breaking through the veil that separates the living from the dead. Ghouls and Ghosts bring things that bump in the night; an award full of tantalizing frights awaits! Who says scary can't be fun? lol Have a story about a witch who can't get her spells right, or a Ghost who keeps stealing the socks of the person living in their house!? A story of comedy where a werewolf who is raising a cute kitten causes chaos in his pack? Maybe ghouls promoting their own skin care products, but the results weren't expected? What about a romcom between two supernatural beings, one good and one evil? As long as these stories meet the other requirements, you can submit them for consideration. You have a story about a werecreature but not a werewolf, it can enter the category too. Werecat, wererabbit, I know werebunnies are out there lol. As long as they have a sense of scare in them, bring those stories too. Entries are NOW being accepted! Judging begins November 1st. Cover Art By LAJoyner Awards Host: LAJoyner

The spiteful Witch Cornelia has cursed Darraby with nonstop rain and it's up to her former servant Bertie to save the town from being washed away. Aided by the good witch Cordelia and the junior witch Ferra, Bertie soon learns that Witch Cornelia didn't have only mere flooding in mind-she intends all that enchanted rainwater to do something far more horrific. Can her terrible plan be stopped in time?

A pacifist with a war god trapped in her bones must decide between stirring her demons or watching her allies and enemies unite against her. ***** When Queen Nomvula finds herself threatened by a reckless prince, she's cornered into navigating a battle that will devastate the region, and her clan, should it escalate. Worse, someone knows about her deadly secret, and where its bloody trail eventually ends. Staying ahead of her enemies means risking her land, her values, and even her children, all while keeping the war god inside her from takings matters into its own hands.

After seven years trapped in the mind of a wolf, alchemist Declan Laroux returns to the decaying Louisiana town of Vieux Marais to find his ancestral home under a supernatural siege. To stop a coven of vampires from turning the town into a necropolis, Declan must forge a volatile alliance with savage werewolves and a broken brotherhood of swamp hunters. As the bayou's "temporal bubble" begins to sever the town from the rest of the world, the alchemist must discover if he is the region's savior or its doom. Readers should expect a supernatural noir set within the suffocating atmosphere of the Louisiana bayou, where ancient magic and modern legal tactics collide. The story centers on a world where the boundaries of reality are fraying, and the living dead are as dangerous for their political power as they are for their bloodlust. Trigger warnings Language Blood Graphic Violence.

As middle-elves went, Krev was more reclusive than most, and he only accepted mercenary work when he needed to - which wasn't often. After handling a particularly difficult orc raiding party, he found himself facing his biggest challenge yet... An infant half-orc. If he didn't possess paternal instincts before, he had to find some, now.