Two princes set out to rescue a princess-each for their own reasons. But when her curse begins to unravel, so do they. What if saving her means losing themselves? And when wills collide... who truly deserves to wake her?

🌊The Shortys 2025 Shortlist🌊 A short story, my entry for the Shortys 2025, followed by a few poems for the same contest. The short story is inspired by the Flannan Isles lighthouse mystery. The poems are all lighthouse themed.

~The Wattys 2025 Shortlist~ ~ONC 2024 Honourable Mention~ ~~~ Alaric, the King of Silmarea, recently married to his beloved husband, needs an heir of his own blood to secure the throne. With the help of Emrys, his court magician and best friend, he recalls his youthful escapades and discovers a daughter he once had with a woman he had loved in The World Beyond The Stones (our world). He sends an unlikely but trusted trio on a quest to find her and bring her home-- a brooding dragon shifter and Highlander who owes him a favor, a dashing elf whom he loves like the son he never had, and a loyal, kindhearted dwarf, the elf's best friend. Alaric, the last scion of the old gods, weary of ruling the country and ready to retire and enjoy his love life, doesn't know that this quest will bring much more than he ever bargained for, setting in motion events plotted by the destiny that will challenge his kingdom and legacy. ~~~ Cover: My own picture.

ONC 2025 Short List: Aden Dekker easily slays on the dating front, but as one to go with the flow rather than dive into the dark uncertainties and mysteries clouding his life, he's avoided giving serious consideration to what qualities he's looking for in a girl beyond a pretty smile. But when a blood-starved vampire queen comes hunting him, he quickly figures out exactly what he wants in a girl when it comes to wicked, nighttime company -- arcane book smarts, steel nerves, and a loaded crossbow. This story was written for the Open Novella Competition, ONC 2025, prompt 11. Reader advisory: bad language, horror elements (bitey, vampiric violence and seduction), a pinch of sexy spice.

In the aftermath of a long and bloody war, the daughter of a king, no longer a princess, Mussumi, has to bend the knee to the man who has defeated her father. With only a small escort to lead her back to her homeland, Mussumi soon realises that the warlord does not intend for her to reach home alive. Only the intervention of a skilled warrior, who identifies herself only as 'Duty', allows Mussumi to escape, but a desperate chase ensues and only 'Duty' can get her to the ship that will carry her to safety. With the enemy sniping at their heels at every turn, Mussumi and Duty have to face dangerous paths and deadly creatures to reach the port. But can Duty be trusted, or is she only another assassin waiting to strike? An ONC novella, based on Prompt 31: "Next time, ask yourself if your integrity can withstand the truth."

There's nothing more dangerous than a book, especially in the wrong hands. And, in this world of magic, wars and an alarming number of self-serving, gratuitously selfish people, there are a lot of wrong hands to take advantage. When the world's foremost mage, Anpound Pudbatter (fresh from a magical accident that had turned him back into a teenager with all the associated raging hormones) meets Gammer Goodhiding, the world's most polite, yet indefinably terrifying witch, and Bindi, a Druid who almost has a filthy mouth, they come together to search for an object that could very well spell the end of the world as they know it. Or change it in ways they cannot imagine. From the intermittently high Mount Pintel, to the vast, unending Library, to the indeterminately located city of Lost Vagueness, where hope, and Coin, go to wallow in despair, to the world's most important, prominent, and tiniest city, the three of them must follow the magical chaos wrought by the presence of the book. And with warlords bent on conquest, thieves out for a quick score and a djinn with a mischievous attention to detail in the way, things may not go quite according to plan. And what, exactly, is the origin of the book? Only The Archivist's All-knowing Almanac knows for sure. A love-letter to the works of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. [Cover created in Canva, using an AI generated image from a stock clip art and text from Logokit]

[2024 Amby Winner | Featured on Wattpad Science Fiction | Featured on Wattpad Romance] Rory emerges from a space pod in the Nevada desert with no memories, and only one certainty-this world is not her home. She refuses to live as a lab rat for the US military and fights to make a new home for herself. While she's settled into a life on Earth with a man she loves, she's unknowingly left another behind. Worse, a threat looms over Earth, one that has already ravaged her home planet. One day her lost memories suddenly reactive and she must make an unimaginable decision. Torn between two lives and two loves, Rory must decide what she's fighting for, and just whose side she's really on.

Yamashita's Gold. During the occupation of the Philippines, Japanese military looted everything - temples, homes, and government offices, amassing a huge fortune in treasure. When it could no longer be shipped back to Japan, Prisoners of war were forced to bury it. Much has been recovered since the war - but not all. Our story concerns a number of competing groups vying over information of a site, uncovered through a letter delivered by a dying man, as a last act of a promise made.

It's a deadly plan, and it goes like this: First, become a crew member of the Avourienne, a pirate ship notorious for its charismatic captain and wicked ways. Second, trick the ship's cunning strategist, famous for winning every game she's ever played, into believing a delicately spun lie. Third, get close enough to their tyrant king to put a knife through him. Deadly doesn't quite describe such a plan. In fact, inconceivable may be the better word. But Archer Kingsley has a knack for such things, and he feels he's going to pull off this plan with the ease he does most everything. Perhaps he's not quite aware of the absolute hell that's about to break loose, but truthfully, it's so much better that way. Because true adventures are born from uncertainty. * Cover by xxsoteria Mature themes you may encounter in this book: - harsh language (it's a pirate book) - violence (it's a pirate book) - sexual implications (it's a PIRATE book) However, this story does not violate any of Wattpad's mature guidelines and therefore is not marked as such. This is book one in the Venture Series. It is standalone and can be read without any prior knowledge. Featured on the following profile's reading lists: (15x) @adventure (Voyages and Sea Epics) @YAfantasty (New Adult Fantasy) @talesofthedeep (Pirate Tales) @HistoricalFiction (Revolution and Rebellion) @WattpadSeries (Action/Adventure) @WattpadHistoricalRomance (Pirate Adventures) @WattpadRoyals (The Adventure Awaits) @action (Fantasy in Action) @action (Adventure in Action) @antiheroesglaore (Wicked Women) @adultfiction (Journeys to Another Realm) @fantasy (Romantasy) @StoriesUndiscovered (Not This Road Trip Again) @WattpadDarkFantasy (A Kingdom in Shadows) @WattpadDarkFantasy (Out of the Shadows (featured stories)) @Romance (Worlds Apart)

ONC 2022 Short List: The emergence of a more virulent lycanthrope virus decimated civilisation. As a street scavenger, Gulliver Chase risks his life in his home city's derelict streets hunting for resources for his fellow survivors. But it isn't food or fuel his colony needs him to find tonight; it's one of the Changed. If humanity is to have a future, they need to start salvaging their own. A story inspired by ONC 2022 prompt 28. Reader advisory: violence, horror, bad language