Open Novella Contest 2026 »Kings have honor, soldiers are brave, poets have heart, and all I have is rage!« (Sound by Nathan Apollo) Once a witch, now cursed and powerless, Meena lives on the edges of a kingdom that has forgotten what she used to be. When a winged warrior falls from the sky, Meena's quiet exile is broken in a single night. What begins as a rescue quickly turns into something far more dangerous as secrets begin to surface and the fragile balance between kingdoms starts to tremble. Meena is left to fight with the only thing that was never taken from her. Her rage. And an unlikely duo of a dragon prince and a mermaid princess.

On Elena Chen's fortieth birthday, a number appears on her palm: [30]. Thirty chances. Thirty memories. Thirty opportunities to understand why every relationship she's ever had has ended the same way-with her running. A mysterious painting arrives showing six panels across six centuries. All with her face. And a man named Adrian who claims he's been waiting six hundred years for her to wake up. Each memory costs her. Each time she chooses fear over love, the countdown drops. When it reaches zero, she'll forget everything and repeat the cycle. Forever. But if she chooses to remember-if she faces every moment of cowardice across six lifetimes-the price isn't hers to pay. It's his. *Kintsugi: the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold.* *Some scars aren't meant to be hidden.* *Some scars are meant to shine.* 🏆 Entry for Open Novella Contest 2026 | Prompt #53 Content Warning: Mature themes including death across timelines, emotional patterns, LGBTQ+ relationships (historical period), war trauma (WWII), and discussions of obsessive behavior. Recommended for readers 16+.

Anna lives a deliberately colourless life-one spent in the background, where asking for anything comes with a price she learned to stop paying long ago. At school, on the bus, at home, her world has been built on silence, routine, and the certain safety of going unnoticed. It's a balance she maintains meticulously, because being seen has never ended well for her. Then, one day, that balance fractures after a brief moment of accidental acknowledgement-small, meaningless, fleeting, and completely impossible to undo. Now, Anna is forced to confront the quiet life she's built. She begins to question whether survival is the same as living... and what it might cost to want more. She finds herself wondering whether the price is too low-or far too high. Because once you're noticed by someone, the world doesn't always let you disappear again. Highest ranking: #1 literaryfiction 01/03/2026 - Ongoing.

"The moon is out during the hour of dusk, which means only one thing..." It was that time of year again. Halloween was fast approaching, And the girls of Ave Mujica just wrapped up another practice session. However, it didn't take long for Sakiko to notice the spooky vibe that was going on outside. Not only did the moon appear during the dusk hour, but a creepy fog rolls in not long after. Disclaimer: I don't own BanG Dream/Bandori. All rights and images go to their respective owners.

━━━━━━ ❝ 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐄 𝐖𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆. ❞ i think i hate you, you know that? 𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗏𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝗋𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗍𝗈𝗇 𝗑 𝖿𝖾𝗆 𝖮𝖢 ( 𝗌𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 2 )

Under the cherry blossoms sits a nimble girl, her face sullen, and her eyes caved in. She was sitting by a gravestone, staring longingly towards where her mother was laid to rest. Guilt, regret and melancholy was all she could feel. Had she known her mother would pass away, she wouldn't have left her in hopes to pursue her dream as a light novel writer. Inspired by her mother's creativity and imagination, she also wanted to walk down the path her mother went. However, her visit to her mother's grave at the first sign of spring soon turned out to be an ordeal when a cherry blossom flower piqued her interest. One touch and she was now in a world where magical creatures walked on land. But, her role as the daughter of the greatest witch follows more troubles and challenges than she had ever anticipated. ------------ An open novella contest entry Main prompt: #2 Other prompts: #11

All that once glittered was gold, until it turned to bitter ash and ruin. Juliette Laurant has always dreamed of a simple life, painting to her heart's content and unbothered by men and women alike. She gains her wish, to paint in a way that is envied by all who see it, but at the cost of her life's work, and the sudden arrival of a stranger whose only desire is to be seen once more. Now, trapped by the hands of fate, she must find a way to put an end to the stranger's cycle of despair or discover what awaits her at the end of life's final portrait ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Life's a mess. She's a mess. Claire gets fired from her coffee shop job, has her designs called 'trash' by the rude prick who was supposed to sponsor her first fashion collection... And then, her best friend, the love of her life, announces his sudden engagement and wedding next month in Hawaii. And guess who gets to be maid of honor? This is the last fucking straw. This book contains: Cussing & An absolute disaster of a protagonist. You have been warned.

Tayla's life should have been full of adventure and battle, and it would have been had she not failed her Crest Champion test a year prior. Now she's stuck at her aunt's herbalist shop, selling potions to the very ranks she once dreamed to join. And her town has just become a hot spot for Crest Champions everywhere. The once-bound dragon Zyrel has awakened after a century of slumber, and he draws dangerous monsters to his cage. The Crest Champions must kill him before he can finally be freed. Tayla plans to keep her head down and avoid the constant reminder of her failed dream, but that changes when an alicorn appears in her garden, claiming they must join forces and release Zyrel before it's too late. There's something wrong with the story of Zyrel's imprisonment, and to uncover the truth, Tayla must join a familiar-and loathsome-face from her Academy days. Dangers await, but the greatest threat she finds in the woods won't be the prowling beasts. It will be herself. -- Shout out to @raizelrose3 for the absolutely amazing cover!!

Eveleen Montclair has always despised Gilbert Crow, her sworn enemy and the heir to the Crow family. Their feud is older than either of them, bound to a curse that has shaped their bloodlines for generations and carved itself into the foundations of the city they rule. From childhood, Eveleen was taught a single, sacred truth: a Montclair can never love a Crow. To do so would mean the end of everything. The curse binds Eveleen's life to Gilbert's in ways neither can escape, pain and fear shared, distance unbearable, death impossible without taking the other with it. The only force capable of loosening the bond is an act forbidden above all others: forgiveness, sealed with a kiss. As the city begins to fracture under the weight of a curse as old as its stones, Eveleen must choose between preserving a world sustained by hatred or risking its destruction by loving the one person she was never meant to touch.