For a writing contest by newlywrittenbooks . Please note that this is something I wrote for a contest according to it's prompt and I'm not sure if i'd bring a whole story out of this. but i might give it a try after i finish the BRAVER. No promises. Tell me if you want this to continue....

Shipwrecked during the war, four survivors strand on a plague-haunted island, where something monstrous hunts the living faster than the disease ever could. *** Italy, 1381 The country is torn by the war between Venice and Genoa. After surviving a harrowing battle at sea, the ship's medic, Adriano, and some of his fellow shipmates find a momentary refuge on an abandoned island in the Venetian lagoon. At last, they believe, the worst is behind them. But some shores are not meant to be reached. Something begins to hunt them - something the sea didn't keep, and the land doesn't want. A creature feared like a curse by all sailors, serving only Death. One by one, the men are dragged into the dark and slaughtered. On an island forsaken by God and men alike, the past demands its due, leaving no one unscarred. As fear fractures the survivors and silence becomes impossible, Adriano is forced to choose between survival and a truth long kept hidden, forbidden by law, faith, and fear.

(A dark horror-romance retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth) Jade Salvador isn't your typical dissatisfied, burnt-out twenty-something-year-old. Crushed by the weight of her family's name and high expectations, she finds herself working a dead-end job, hoping for something more out of life. One day, she makes the drastic decision to start catfishing would-be predators online, posing as a teenager and exposing their crimes. But when Jade meets Percy Belrose, a man who's also searching for the same purpose in his life, things get messy fast. As sparks begin to fly and bodies begin to pile up, Jade soon finds out that killing is the easy part. It's falling in love that might be the death of her.

A reimagining of the Rumpelstiltskin tale by the Brothers Grimm. ----------------------------- This is a contest entry.

××××××××××××××××××××××××××× Fickle: {adjective} changing frequently, especially as regards one's loyalties or affections. ×××××××××××××××××××××××××××

When his long-lost love rises to power, winning the election and becoming the President.

Long before the Great Flood, there was a man who vanished from the earth- not by death, but by divine command. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, walked so closely with God that Heaven itself took him away. But what truly happened in those final days before his disappearance has been buried for millennia... until now. When a young archaeologist discovers a hidden scroll called The Lost Chronicle, visions of another world begin to haunt her dreams- a world where angels fall, knowledge becomes forbidden, and one man holds the key between Heaven and Earth.

| | Wattys 2025 Shortlist | | Ambys 2025 Grand Favorite | | Iris is the oldest of a group of orphans, working hard and without complaint to help bring in money to feed and clothe the younger children. Everybody knows and loves her. She wants nothing more than a normal, safe life―but war looms on the horizon, threatening her plans. Char is a dragon and a certified troublemaker. He and his brother are a pain in their commanding officer's side and a favorite at parties, especially among the girls. But when Char's familiarity with humans earns him a routine scouting mission, he meets Iris―and finds more trouble than he ever expected. She's suddenly at the center of a war, shackled with a magical amulet she doesn't understand and can't control. He's too impulsive to stay out of the tangled web tightening around her, even if that means lying to his brother and risking his life to keep her out of the hands of a psychotic mage. Nowhere is safe. Nothing is normal. And Iris may hold the power to end the war and save them all. ***** A Song and a Storm: Book One

"The willow has been my friend since the wake. And since then, I talk to it like it's my best friend. My confidant." Ophelia didn't expect much from the fifth anniversary of her mother's death, just her usual quiet talk with the willow by the grave. But then a stranger shows up. Not quite a stranger. And maybe, just maybe, not quite a coincidence. A soft and bittersweet flash fiction about grief, memory, and unexpected connection.🪦🩶 🩶3rd in willows