[COMPLETED] Twenty-five-year old Gunner Shaw is a drug addict, and his girlfriend is hopelessly drowning in the sorrow of raising their daughter without his support. From one high to the next, and from one job to the next, it can only be so long until one of them caves. As the New Year peaks over the horizon, stages of withdrawal rise, old habits resurface, and dangerous feelings begin to shadow everything they've known. The chances of redemption start fading away with each passing day, leaving them with choices that ultimately change their definition of home and the fight for family.

The Muse

There's an idiom that goes: wear your heart on your sleeve. In the 14th century, knights would dedicate a performance to their lady by tying her colors around their arm. I think about that a lot. About finding your fallen knight on the ground, speared but still wearing your colors. To carry your heart into battle. To know you could die. To do it anyway. Just so she'll know. *** My entry for the Open Novella Contest 2026. Prompt: "Staying as friends feels safe, but it doesn't mean it's the path you're meant to take."

About Happiness

The Open Novella Contest is back for 2026! Join fellow storytellers and plant the seed of a tale that will blossom into a 20,000+ word novella within 12 weeks! Your epic quest begins February 1st, 2026, so mark your calendars with this date!

"*Completed*"I froze the first boy I ever kissed. And I don't mean he got cold feet..." Megan is pretty unhappy when she's forced to move to a tiny, freezing town in Canada. It's going to be totally boring, right? Things heat up when she discovers that she possesses a growing power that's becoming more and more difficult to control. Not only that, but the power has attracted some interesting people. A smouldering young man who claims to be her rescuer, and his icy but attractive enemy. They're both claiming to be the good guy, so who exactly is she supposed to trust? Megan finds herself embroiled in an ancient battle between two kingdoms, slowly discovering an identity she never knew she had. Cover designed by Marie Tilmant

WATTPAD BOOKS EDITION How do you trust the ground when all you've known is flight? In this breathtaking debut, Leigh Ansell has created a compelling, heartbreaking, and truly engaging story about a young girl used to flying high only to be faced with living life with her two feet firmly on the ground . . . Seventeen-year-old Corey Ryder can't remember a time when she wasn't gliding through the air of Cirque Mystique's big top. As a trapeze artist in a traveling circus, Corey wakes up every day in a different place, buzzing for the moment she can suspend gravity during the night's performance. When the circus pulls into small-town Sherwood, California, everything seems normal - aside from meeting the exceptionally cute Luke Everett at a local diner. But that night, in the midst of the performance, tragedy strikes and flames overtake the tent. While Corey narrowly escapes, in the ashes of the circus pitch lies the only home she's ever known. Repeatedly thrown out of her comfort zone, Corey must learn how to push toward her future without forgetting her past, what it means to be a daughter to a mother she's never known, and how to navigate the confusing magic of first love, even as she performs the high-wire act of being true to who you really are.

𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅☑𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚&𝒕𝒉𝒆𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 "𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕?" After being trapped in the cursed town of Du Ciel for seven years, Isabelle's life was only going to get worse. Because she is turning eighteen, which puts her in danger of being sent in the next Offering to the Beast, her father pushes her to marry without love to save herself. However, since Isabelle is poor, and the other four girls that are of age happen to be from very prestigious families, she believes she will be sent by default. This leaves her with one of two choices: give up her freedom and marry without love to save herself, or risk being sent into the depths of the Castle where a monstrous Beast lurks and an unknown fate awaits her. But, what if the Beast was the least of her problems? A part of Wattpad's Creators program! *Warning: There are a few parts that include abuse and violence.* Chapters with abuse: 2, 24, 27 Chapters with violence: 20, 25, 26, 29 Word count: 120,000 Last edited: 5/19/22 Highest rankings: #1 in Romance 💘 #1 in Magic 💫 #1 in Darkfantasy ⚔ #1 in Baroque ⚜ #1 in Speculative❔ #1 in Twistedfairytale #1 in BeautyandtheBeast🥀 top 50 in Featured 🎉 Mysterious 🔎 Fairytaleretelling 📖 Magical-Realism 🧙‍♂️ top 100 in Fantasy 🧝‍♀️ Fiction 📚

With a less than desirable past, Abby is relieved when she is promoted to Property Manager and must move hundreds of miles from home. Leaving her tainted relationships behind, she is determined to have a fresh start and focus on herself. She wants nothing to do with romance or love, until she must evict the smug, but gorgeous, resident breaking the rules. Their chance meeting throws Abby's life into a whirlwind of secrets, surprises, and romance.

Wattys 2019 Winner! "So when is it a problem? Oh, when you're in love." ----- Simon St. John is a liar, a cheater, a fraud -- but only because he has to be. Born with the ability to shape shift, his childhood was mostly spent learning to control his many faces in a world where most people only wear one. In fact, it was almost fun, in a way, until he met Valerie Love. Valerie Love is a college student fresh out of luck. For years she has watched her friends fall in and out of love, test the waters of relationships, earn their stripes in the wondrous field of romance. Valerie, however, has watched from the sidelines, passing face after face, meeting person after person without forming many connections. She has mostly given up on the idea of searching for love, until Simon lends her a new hope. Follow the strange story of college students Simon St. John and Valerie Love as one finally discovers the true definition of identity, and the other questions what it really is to be known.