After suffering tragedy as a child, Anna enters the employment of a mysterious gentleman to help lift her family out of poverty and seek revenge for the people once dearest to her. However, Igor Olegovich soon reveals plans of his own that threaten to shatter her worldview. As their country marches closer towards revolution, will Anna's desire for vengeance prevail? Or will more tender feelings eventually get the better of her?

After a year spent healing at St. Francis Mental Hospital, Neillah must piece together the life she was forced to leave behind without getting caught. ⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆ When Neillah Thomas is released back into society she expects her family and friends to have moved on--not believe she's dead. Convinced it was for the best, her mother assures her temporary grief was better than long drawn hardship that could only end in pain, keeping her wellbeing a secret from everyone, but also single-handedly cutting off Neillah's entire support system. Sworn to secrecy, she attends college at her dream school only to find her former friend group in shambles. Between the cold stares, scathing retorts, and literal evasion, Neillah is shocked to find her first crush is a loner and that hot-headed best friend of hers? He seems to be staring in her direction a little too long. Clinging to her promise to remain out of sight, Neillah stubbornly fights for the closure they all deserve and answers she never got, no matter the cost. | An Open Novella Contest Longlister | | Cover by the Amazing @Caralogues |

In ages past, humans were sacrificed to dragons, but somewhere in this dark history a miracle occurred. A dragon was tamed by its intended victim and its human heart triumphed over the beast within. No longer victims, these tamers became Divas, experts in taming their Dragon oppressors. Sacrifice evolved into marriage between the Dragonborn and humans. Many of the Dragonborn willingly entered into alliances with humans and others not of dragon blood, grateful that their bloodline survived extinction and that their painful savagery could be quelled. Many, but not all. Among the Dragon Lords were those who still favoured their beast over their humanity, equating it with power, wilfully ignoring the pain and mental instability that came with it. So, when the Chief Dragon Lord, Pen Draig Selwyn, chose to sign a treaty with Tweldor formally aligning the Dragonborn with the Angelic Guardianship of humanity, his grandson, Ninian with help from the Demonic Realm leads a rebellion against him. But all is not as it seems...

TEGSA2026 Fleeing her abusive boyfriend, Merinda searches for her dead mother's best friend, hoping to start a new life and free herself from a past filled with pain. When she meets Cree Boland, another man with issues, Merinda's resolution to stay away from men weakens, and she can't decide whether to give him a chance. Just as things look like they could work between them, Merinda's ex, Jeff, resurfaces, threatening her newfound peace. Will Cree save her from her past or let her be dragged back into darkness?

Astoria Muir, daughter of a dark-magic witch mother and light-magic druid father, never quite fit in the world. But to the hidden covens, she was an abomination, carrying within her an anti-magic power they both feared and sought out. When a mysterious man appears at a party claiming to have information about her long-missing mother, Stori sets out on a quest to find her. But like most life journeys, the path is made easier with the friends made along the way. An urban fantasy written in episodic style. [Previous titled Fantasmical Tales, and re-edited]

They stole his wife to steal the throne. A circle of hidden usurpers had been plotting long before Ptahhotep ever crossed their path, but once he married the princess, they saw the problem clearly: he was not a man who could be removed not with the warriors who would die before letting him fall. So they steal the princess he loves, using her disappearance to drive Egypt's greatest warrior down a trail crafted to vanish beneath his feet while the insurgent walks unchallenged toward the crown. But Ptahhotep is not a man who breaks. He is a man who burns. The war he unleashes shakes the kingdom, and every victory pushes him closer to a crown he never wanted... and a reckoning no usurper can escape. Some men fight for power. Ptahhotep fights for her and he will bring a kingdom to its knees to get her back.

She wakes with missing hours, a burning imprint carved into her shoulder, and no memory of who put it there. Nyxara Blackvein is an assassin who survives by control. Control over her body. Her blades. Her choices. But the mark beneath her skin has a will of its own, pulling her toward Stillreach-a city protected by an impossible shield and a power no one dares to name. Torin Cross was never part of the plan. A half-elf bard with a charming smile and secrets of his own, he's headed in the same direction for reasons that don't quite add up. When violence forces them to fight side by side, trust forms before either of them is ready for it. Whatever waits in Stillreach is already watching. ONC 2026 Prompts used. 32. Two assassins from rival organizations are sent on the same secret mission, only to realize the assignment holds a much bigger truth. 86. A wasteland hides pockets of thriving communities protected by mysterious shields. 99. You wake up with a strange mark on your skin after a late-night encounter you can barely remember, and its meaning grows more unsettling by the hour. If this is posted on any other site, please let me know. I have not given anyone the right to use it.

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.

After a near death experience, 16-year old Makiko Lombardi's celebrity father comes to Tokyo, but Makiko hasn't met him for almost seven years. To please her mother, Makiko refuses to see him. Ashamed about not speaking her mind, Makiko admires Cynthia, an old friend who helps teenage runaways exploited by Yakuza gangsters. When Yakuza follow them, both girls assume Cynthia's in danger, but someone powerful has a problem with Makiko's father and sees Makiko as a pawn. Meanwhile, neither girl believes rumors that a demon stalks and kills runaways. Until something sinister kills Yakuza outside Makiko's house, and a survivor warns her that the demon "likes" her. *** A first boyfriend. Yakuza with unknown plans. A killer demon who "likes" her. What's a quiet girl to do? Added to @AmbassadorsJP 's Kowai: Eerie Reads list - Sept. 2023 Featured on @StoriesUndiscovered Plain Janes? Not These Ladies - May 2022 Added to @Paranormal 's Paranormal Paramours list - April 2022 Notable Rankings: #1 meet-cute (March 14, 2022) #4 yakuza (July 14, 2022) #6 paranormal (July 6, 2026) #13 bravetogether (July 13, 2026)

let me. let me begin. let me begin again.