Selected for the #Wattys2018 longlist! "The Storekeeper's Daughter" is a short story set in the early twentieth century that focuses on a young, unmarried woman who works in her father's shop and becomes dangerously infatuated with a mysterious farmer.

They live the perfect family life in the countryside. When the septic tank in their back garden is drained of its contents one day, everything changes.

Four hundred years ago the fabulous wealth in gold and silver possessed by the Incas in what is now modern-day Peru, was discovered and then systematically pillaged and plundered by Spanish conquistadors. One hundred and sixty-nine Spaniards under the command of one Francisco Pizarro, the illiterate and illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro, an infantry colonel, and Francisca González, a common street whore, ended the Inca dynasty in a bloody, syphilitic massacre bent on lust and greed sanctioned by the Holy Christian Church and the King of Spain, Charles I.

{2018 Watty's Longlist Selection} As a reporter for the local newspaper, Louis Beane is shocked when the tiny southern town of Highland Park is selected as the location of the new Hunter College. Funded by the mysterious New York modern artist named Porter Talbot, the school is seen as a cultural blessing for the small community--until it opens. The school's attempt to bring refinement to this highly-conservative town is a disaster, resulting in a series of scandalous performance art pieces that leave the community enraged. Suspicious, Lewis and his gay neighbors, Nik and Peter, decide to investigate the deceased Mr. Talbot's estate and the school's (possibly) true motivation. Shockingly, their hilarious attempts at investigation succeed, and reveal an ugly chapter of the community they now call home. Oh, s%*t. The town's church-fueled matriarch, Anna Hoss, eventually decides she's had enough of the school's antics, and whips her followers into a righteous frenzy. Faced down by Molotov-cocktail wielding townsfolk, rioting naked students, and an on-the-loose, unrepentant murderer, Lewis remains committed to revealing the town's sordid past as everyone around him goes Stark Raving Naked.

Can Daimeyen find the woman of his dreams in a world where he is seen as an outcast and anomaly? What secrets can he uncover about his past that will lead him to a brighter future?

A deadly plague burns through the village of Bliss, and a weary stranger approaches on a pale horse. The stranger doesn't know what treachery, fear, and pain he might encounter in the desperate village. He thinks he doesn't have anything left to lose. But it's not the plague, the murderers, or the terror he finds that reveals damnation. What he brings with him could destroy everything he still loves.

Senior Inspector Raghav is deputed to investigate the case of a dead body of a man lying on the Suburban train tracks of Chennai. What appears to be an accident where the drunken man had fallen off the train to his death, later on, takes the form of a murder as another body is recovered a little away. Much to his shock and surprise, he finds that the man was a rapist and he had been kicked out from the ladies compartment of a late night train. His investigations lead him to four women - Udita, Vani, Nimmy, and Vidya, who had been on the train when the incident happened. Will he be able to identify the accused?

In which the Grim Reaper has a mid-life crisis and the Four Roommates of The Apocalypse get into arguments.

From the richness of Cambodia, Anwara and her friends travel to Japan, trying to get to to Tokyo. On their trip to Tokyo they face challenges and discover more about the culture of Japan. From the swaying of beautiful kimons, bamboo leaves dancing with the wind, and the sound of monkeys laughing fills their journey. Anwara faces many ups and downs, but will she be able to handle the lows. 5 tickets to Japan please!

An assassin finally reaches his life-long goal, but what is it?