ONC2025 Round 2 Ambassador Pick 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐎𝐬𝐤𝐚𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞-𝐚 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. Unicorns are sacred in the kingdom of Unara, their magic a gift only bestowed upon the worthy-or stolen through death. Someone is hunting them, and if the killings continue, their magic will fall into the wrong hands. Determined to uncover the truth, Oskar sets out to find the culprit. But the deeper he digs, the darker the secrets he unearths--secrets that could shake the very foundation of the kingdom. A standalone fantasy adventure, The Unicorn's Blessing follows Prince Oskar before the events of The Girl with Scars, revealing the choices that shaped the man he would become. Entered into the Open Novella Contest 2025 | @OpenNovellaContest - Rules & Guidelines: https://www.wattpad.com/story/387452246 **Main Prompt** 12. While hiking through a forest, you stumble upon a unicorn's horn. **Secondary Prompt** 130. Protect this with your life. ©2025 E. S. Elias All Rights Reserved. Book Created & Published to Wattpad: 02.01.2025 Book Marked as Completed: 04.08.2025 Cover: Me @DesignsbyEH I used Canva.com | Cover is temporary and subject to several changes. Word Count: 26,234 / 20,000 Goals: Round 1 ✔ | 2,000 words ✔ | Round 1 Winner ✔ Round 2 ✔ | 8,000 words ✔ Round 3 _ | 20,000 words ✔ LONGLIST _ | SHORTLIST _ Honorable Mention? _ | Ambassadors' Pick ✔ Mentioned in Ambassador Newsletter ✔ Rankings: #ONC2025: #21 on 02.02.2025 | #15 on 02.03.2025 | #12 on 03.24.2025 #opennovellacontest2025: #15 on

❝𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗲? 𝗠𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗺, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, ❞ *** The world is consumed by shadows. A decade ago, Nyx's life was shattered into pieces when her parents were consumed by their shadows-living reflections of despair that consume the souls they belong to. Now, as second-in-command of the strongest resistance force in the world, fighting to save the dwindling humanity, Nyx finds herself grappling with more than just the shadow apocalypse. A prophecy whispers her name as the one destined to end the curse, but at an eerie cost- that was not yet known to any. But of all the battles she has fought, none wound her deeper than the one in Aiden's heart. When the man she has come to love remains tethered to the ghost of his past, to the shadow of his lost childhood sweetheart-he does not see that some ghosts are better left undisturbed. Until the day fate makes its move. When the shadow of his beloved becomes a threat too great to ignore, when the choice is torn from her hands and placed upon the blade of her sword, Nyx will do what she has always done-what she was destined to do. But the world is cruel, and the gods are crueler. Because in the end, the greatest tragedy is not dying in darkness. It is becoming it. *** cover by @Lasophie79

ONC NOVELLA 2025 ROUND ONE QUALIFIER ROUND TWO QUALIFIER ****PROMPT:#126: "Because you're you, and I'm me, and we just don't fit" -Idea of You, Book by Robinne Lee***** Skylar O'Hara was a smart-mouthed and street-smart high school senior who believes that geeks and popular kids do not, and will never, mix well. And when it comes to Drake Andrews and Jorge Fernandez (the co-captains of the aquatics team and his godbrothers), he wants nothing to do with them whatsoever because they're representing everything that he despises about the jocks: their good looks, their ability to charm all the teachers, and how they manage to rule the school with little effort. Despite the nagging from his parents and teachers to be more like them, Skylar has one plan: survive senior year, graduate with high honors, and leave Dallas behind for good while becoming a well-respected fashion journalist. Funny how one accidental discovery of Drake and Jorge being the two most-beloved superheroes can throw off his plan completely. Oh, yeah, and they now want him to join their team as their sidekick, and their sudden interest in him Now, Skylar has a new plan that he has to follow: graduate high school, avoid being involved with anything superhero-related, and never fall in love with either Drake (Blue Crush) or Jorge (Green Tide) at all costs. But can he do all that with a vindictive cheerleader on his tail, deal with being an instant celebrity, and avoid any of the duo's advances? Or is he doomed to fall flat on his face on the runways that are called his senior year?

Mabel's life is falling apart. Between her long-time situationship who wants to be more than friends now, her rapidly deteriorating grades, and a group of friends who've been conveniently excluding her from their plans lately, nothing is going her way, and the pressure keeps building up from all sides. That's when Katie comes along, a brilliant new student who is quickly arranged to be her tutor. She seems like everything Mabel could never be. And yet, she understands her better than anyone ever did before. As the two start spending more time together, and Mabel's life becomes increasingly messier day after day, Katie will add another problem onto Mabel's plate-one that, if not handled properly, could leave a bitter taste in their mouths... and hearts. ~ 🍋 ~ Entry written for Open Novella Contest 2025 Prompts: 126, 118, 134, 69 Genre(s): Contemporary YA Romance PUBLISHED: 2/1/2025 COMPLETED: TBA

Fame, fortune, and millions of followers can disappear as quickly as they come, especially in an era where getting ''cancelled'' is just one viral scandal away. Hollywood's former golden boy, Finnegan Braxton, knows this all too well. Once a beloved teenage heartthrob, he's now branded as a notorious player, arrogant, and a lying cheat. With his career hanging by a thread, his PR team scrambles to salvage his image. Their solution? A reality dating show where Finnegan must prove he's not the heart-breaker the world thinks he is, but a man searching for true love. Everything takes a turn when Finnegan crosses paths with Aurelia Winslow - a recently fired librarian - who is unimpressed by him. After their public altercation goes viral, she's thrown into the contest. For Finnegan, it's a chance to rebuild his reputation. For Aurelia, it's merely a paycheck. Will Finnegan face the truth and reclaim his integrity, or will the spotlight expose him for good? Can he prove he's more than just a tabloid scandal, or will this love experiment be the final nail in his Hollywood coffin? ★| ★ | ★ | ★ |★ | ★ | ★| ★ | ★ | ★ |★ Open Novella Contest - main prompt 31, secondary prompts 126,128 130. © 2025 minsari // all rights reserved

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!

When an orphaned, DACA, pre-med student with a secret gift and a fiery CEO with a legacy to protect are forced into a marriage of inconvenience, the Mayan Moon isn't the only thing causing turmoil. Roger Catzín, a pre-med student with a knack for healing wounds with a whisper and a touch, never imagined his nightly stroll under a blood-red moon would derail his life. But then again, Central Park has a reputation for surprises, and not all of them pleasant. Enter a dramatic old man with a cryptic message, and Roger's life flips from mundane to mystically entangled faster than you can say, Mayan Moon. On the other side of town, or more accurately, on the upscale side of life, Claire Williams navigates the corporate jungle with the grace of a seasoned CEO-a title she earned but now fears losing to the whims of fate, or worse, a grandfather who apparently moonlights as a matchmaker from beyond the grave. When Roger and Claire's worlds collide, courtesy of a will that reads more like a romantic comedy plot than a legal document, they find themselves legally bound in holy matrimony. Who said romance is dead? Mayan Moon is a novella that asks the important questions: Can a man who talks to the moon and a woman who commands the boardroom find common ground? Will they uncover the mystery behind the old man's attack and the secrets Chester Williams hid in his will? And most importantly, can two strangers fake a marriage without killing each other or, dare we say, falling in love? Dive into a story where magic is real, the moon is a guide, and love is... well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Roger and Claire have enough on their plates trying to figure out why fate (or a very eccentric old man) decided they're a match made in legal documentation. Mayan Moon delivers laughs, gasps, and maybe, just maybe, a belief in the magic of the unexpected. Participant in the Open Novella Contest 2024 | Prompt: A midnight stroll and a meeting with a frantic stranger.

A vampire named Citlali receives an email from an old lover who broke her heart centuries ago. The message says the immortal is dead and she left a key for Citlali in a bank in New York. But the same message had been sent to two other persons whose identity Citlali ignores and the safe can only be opened if the three of them are present. Dear Citlali is a queer polyamorous paranormal romance. This story is set in the For Centuries Universe but can be read as a standalone. Cover by Bartholomé Girard