In the late 1960s in Australia, orphaned Maddie is thrust into her aunt's care, uncovering family secrets while sparking laughter and growth in cousins Simon and Edith (Didi). As shy Simon stumbles to shed his stutter and bratty Didi sheds her "Didiot" ways, Maddie's life darkens under the shadow of a corrupt politician's son. After a harrowing ordeal leaves her vulnerable and alone, she finds refuge with a kind artist named Bill Shakespeare, whose name whispers of destiny. Will their bond thrive amidst the psychedelic dawn of a new age, or unravel like a fragile dream?

ONC 2025 JASMINE BAKER has given up on men and has decided to find herself. She catches the 6.20 from Flinders Street, each evening. Intrigued by one of her fellow passengers, she watches and listens to phone calls she can't understand. Jasmine witnesses Train Guy exchange packages with another passenger. Her imagination takes over. He has to be a drug dealer. When she sees him beating a man on the station platform Jasmine realises, she could be in danger. An unknowing witness to what must be criminal activity. Prompts - 57 - Two lovers - one is the villain, but no one knows it except the other. Can their love survive the truth? 126 - Because you're you, and I'm me and we just don't fit - Idea of you. Book by Robinne Lee.

An earlier version made the ONC 2025 Long List. This is the longer, revised version for the Wattys. Scott an insecure idealistic young man gets his girlfriend Zelda new virtual reality goggles that control one's senses and thoughts. The complete immersion in the MMORPG adventure cannot be distinguished from reality and raises the question will their love survive virtual realities with dream lovers and none of the inhibitions of actual reality. An exploration of ideas on love, sexuality, reality and the impact of future mind-altering technologies. Hopefully thought provoking and entertaining.

ONC 2025 SHORTLIST. Book 3 in the Black Cat series. Born to drug-addicted parents, Linc Bridgestone was crippled in an accident when he was a child. After breaking up with his girlfriend, he overdoses and is brought back to life by his sister. Linc doesn't believe in luck. He doesn't believe in love. He doesn't believe in anything except broken relationships, pain, torture, and the demons that possess him. Darby Dermot has a beast list. They come in different shapes and forms. Sometimes, she questions her career choice. Little Help Home Services has its ups and downs. Most of her clients are evil fiends, monsters, and devils. Falling in love with a demon wasn't on her wish list, but here he was, crippled, curled in a ball, spitting hate and vengeance, smelling like a sewage pit and demanding she leave him the fuck alone. ONC 2025 Prompts - 2: To be in love with a demon was the last thing on your wish list. 32: - A non-believer of love wakes up one day to find themselves in a world where love is everything. What will they do in a land ruled by hearts? THE DEMONS AND BEASTS IN THIS STORY ARE THE ONES WE BATTLE EVERY DAY. Thanks for taking a look at my first-ever entry in ONC. Wish me luck. ♥♥♥

Rambling ruminations, words of wisdom and awesome alliteration from your favorite coyote. An experiment, not so much a story as a stream of consciousness focused on human folly. Please enjoy the silly similes and playful, philosophical, political, provocative, purposeful, and pensive prose, pontifications, parables, philippics and polemics. As with Schrodinger's cat, everything is uncertain until you take a peek. Spoiler, the cat is alive. What happens to the rest of us is the uncertainty.

I have never read or seen anything to do with Harry Potter. My co-workers are forcing me to read the books. I am going to run a commentary on what I think as I go through it.

cover: @JELyrica / One week after Margaret pulls the plug on her relationship with Vincent, a decade-old video of their performance as a musical duo called Citizen Samurai goes viral, and they're hired as an opening act for an aging British boy band's reunion tour. Their romantic collaboration is kaput, but Vincent and Margaret seize the chance to achieve creative dreams by portraying themselves as a dedicated couple, singing intimate songs onstage while finding separate ways forward during a chaotic European summer tour.

Resurrection doesn't come cheap. To pay off his body debt to a future society, Matt Harmon must help a sentient power company track down a saboteur. As he scours the energy mesh for signs of foul play, he finds troubling links to his past and omens of a future without humanity. The entire book is now available on Amazon.

In Celtic myth, honeybees were regarded as having great wisdom and acted as messengers between worlds, able to travel to the Otherworld, bringing back messages from the gods. "Telling the bees" may be a throwback to the idea of keeping the gods informed of human affairs. "You must treat them as you would a member of your own family," Isaac's mother, an apiarist, would often say. Although, she preferred the term "beekeeper." She'd been ridiculously serious about her beekeeping duties, claiming she must keep the family bee-usiness alive. Yeah, Isaac thought the pun was overdone aswell. But when his mother dies an unexpected death, 13 year old Isaac is plagued with the guilt that somehow he's the one to blame. However, he'd like to think the blame is equally divided between himself and the bees. cover by @katherinewitherspoon