A fear of flying is one thing. Being seated next to a Tetris-addict who claims to be the Reaper is quite another. "He pulled out a business card. Where his profession should have been stated, the card read 'Destroyer of Worlds'. Nodding slowly, I pocketed the card." [check out the new spin off: http://www.wattpad.com/story/19632442-reaper-man] Copyright S.Ranasinghe 2013 HG Wells Short Story Competition [shortlisted]

Rewrite (n.) a person with the capability to alter the past, leading to changes in their future After the third world war, approximately ten percent of the population gained abilities. To be an altered is both a blessing and a curse as scientists seek to understand them and hunters seek to exterminate them -at any cost. Athena Roberts is a rewrite just trying to survive. But one day she does what no rewrite has ever done before: she goes to the future - and watches as her sister is murdered. Now back in the present, Athena is in a race to find out who killed her sister, whilst trying to evade the hunters who now include her best friend, stepfather... and boyfriend. When a boy from her future threatens the reality Athena is trying to survive in, she'll have to make a choice: trust the relationships she doesn't remember, or help her fellow altereds? With not just her life on the line, what she decides could change the lives of everyone around her... forever.

The world as we know it ended 209 years ago. From a desert wasteland springs a single kingdom, ruled by a tyrannical King and trapped in an endless war against the shadowy desert warriors. As a desperate bid to save what remains of humanity, society has been split into two distinct classes, nicknamed the Court and the Commons. For an oppressed population on the brink of revolution, a common thief could be the last hope. Up until now, Kay has survived by her wits alone. Reckless and impulsive, wanted by the King's guard, Kay has become known as the Runner. Using the city's rooftops as her personal domain, she manages to keep one step ahead of the King with one hand buried in the purses of the courtiers. Driven by the plight of the commoners and the unjust death of her family, Kay seizes the chance to graduate from small-time thievery to full-scale rebellion. Her opportunity comes in the form of Will, a wealthy ex-soldier with a dark past. Plucked from the streets and thrown into the shimmering palace court, Kay must use her every strength to blend into a world where she doesn't belong, closer to the enemy than she ever thought she would be.

(Chapter 1 only) In the winter of 1941-1942, Leningrad is under siege, and Karen Hamilton, a seventeen-year-old American musician, finds herself trapped and struggling to survive. Throughout the city, people are dying of starvation and frostbite, and Karen knows that if she doesn't escape immediately, she will share their fate. If she has any hope of leaving Russia and reuniting with her fiancé, Bobby, in New York, she must do the impossible: cross enemy lines and then stow away. On her harrowing journey, Karen encounters Petr, a young conscripted Russian soldier. She isn't sure she can trust him-he is equally wary of her. But as the two join forces in order to stay alive, an unexpected romance takes root. Now, as Karen gets closer to the reality of escape, she has a choice to make: Will she return to a safe life in America with Bobby, or remain in war-torn Russia with Petr? This is a sample chapter of the book that will be available October 18 from Lake Union Publishing.

Reece Bremer goes through life with a scowl and cold personality. Jessica Andrews goes through life with a glowing smile and positive outlook. Reece looks at life with dull, judgmental eyes that make him hate the world and the people living in it. Jessica, well... She looks at life through a camera. Literally. They're polar opposites, and that's what sparks Reece's immediate hate for Jessica the moment they meet. All he sees is a girl with the best life, put in the category of those who get everything handed to them on a silver platter. But who says Jessica's life is like that? Just like a photograph, there's more to the story than what you see. Stumbling across one of Jessica's hidden portfolio might reveal that her happiness isn't all that true. Behind that smile and each picture she takes, holds a thousand words of a very big secret - one that Reece is determined to find out. And who knows? It just might change everything between them. cover by dysanic || 2015 watty's winner for talk of the town ||