Aspiring Author Awards Short-List
10 stories
Primal Fortune by LadySapphire2018
LadySapphire2018
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Glamour, mischief, and mystery made Halloween the perfect holiday for a werewolf fortune teller like Ivy Winters. That was until one meddling tarot card decided to stack the deck in favor of complete and utter chaos. Starting with a sexy, matching tattoo attached to very much still human veterinarian. An entry for the Open Novella Contest. Open Novella Contest Milestones 2,000 words - Towards the end of Chapter 1. 8,000 words- Somewhere in the first scene of Chapter 5. 20,000 words - End of Chapter 11 or beginning of Chapter 12.
Whispers Beyond the Forest by NDeMeer
NDeMeer
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When Emily wakes up in a hospitalbed after a traffic accident, she can't remember anything from her life before that. Her friends and her dad tell her things, but nothing rings a bell. Then they tell her about the Others - a savage race of people living on the other side of the forest. People with strange, magical powers. As Emily discovers more and more about her old life, she also finds out that people close to her have been lying to her. Can she even trust her own past? Why does she have a photo of an Other boy hidden under her bed? She'll need her memory back to know the truth. Prequel to The Atrament series (Can be read separately). Cover by the fabulous @KatySantiago08.
Wind by AmyMarieZ
AmyMarieZ
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•• Wattys 2018 Winner •• Wattpad Featured Story •• One day, a wind blew into the town of Millstone and didn't stop. Slowly people moved away. It was like the town was trying to clear itself out, as though it was preparing for something sinister. When a strange man moves into town and purchases the old abandoned farmhouse on Clay Road, Harper suspects he might be up to something. As Harper and his best friend Jeremey investigate the man's activities, they end up discovering some frightening truths about their town, the newcomer, and the wind itself. But getting close to the truth comes with risks, and they soon find themselves in danger not only of the stranger on Clay Road, but also the dark forces within Millstone that have remained silent for too long. •• AWARDS •• 🥈2nd Place in Horror, The Chaos Awards (April 2018) 🥉3rd Place in Horror/Paranormal, The Literally Lit Literature Awards (May 2018) 🥈2nd Place in Horror/Paranormal, The Blossom Awards (June 2018) 🥈2nd Place in Horror/Paranormal, The Psychedelic Awards (July 2018) 🥉3rd place overall and best grammar, The X-Factor Awards Season 2 (August 2018) 🥇1st place in Horror, The Hidden Gem Awards 2018 (September 2018) 🏆 The Wattys 2018 Storysmiths Winner (October 2018) 🥇 1st Place in Horror/Paranormal, ILoveAwards (May 2019)
In Another Death by heymorpheus
heymorpheus
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Isabel Edwards is yet to become one of the most famous suicides - in search for the answer to the biggest question of her life - if being a TV actress is the rigor of being psychologically challenged that lead her to feel incapable of quitting a job of maintaining a high social status, or she's really passionate of being a TV actress and she just have to go with the flow of life as a means of maintaining her mental health. Diagnosed and treated with OCD or obsessive-compulsive disorder and severe major depression simultaneously when she was 16, a one-year theater program had been her convalescence. She was discovered and debuted her career as a TV actress in the UK at the age of 18. She took television media by storm, and she believed that the only way for her to be healthy-minded was to be complacent; it later would make her feel like she was just surviving and not living her life anymore. It also makes her oblivious to what exactly makes her happy. She was 21 when she first attempted suicide, through a bottle of sleeping pills. She believed that her hometown - Amsterdam - is the best place to do it for the sole reason of getting away from paparazzi. Just when she was about to take the pills, her manager called her for another project - to be the main cast of the most anticipated TV series derived from a bestselling novel. She took it as a "sign" to continue living her life, and a "hope" that her life would get better. She becomes more vulnerable that a degrading post on Twitter about her makes her want to kill herself again. To completely steer clear of seeing posts about her on social media, while experiencing using social media as a normal person, she created another Twitter account, and that's where she met Ernst Joseph Williams. She believed that he's the reason why one day, she woke up in Australia, where he lives , and in a different body - unaware how. Disclaimer: For age 17 and up as it contains self-harm themes and scenes.
The Sea Thief by ray_of_sunshine9
ray_of_sunshine9
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Meet the Selkies: seals by day, humans by night. Or, in the case of Tora Urchadainn: seal by day, thief by night. And Tora is just about to learn that even the best thieves sometimes get caught. Inspired by Scottish mythology about the Selkies, The Sea Thief is a YA Fantasy set in the arctic land of Narenji. As the eldest of three sisters, it is Tora's duty to hunt and kill to feed her family. Except there's one catch: Tora is scared of blood. She can't hunt. Instead, Tora has spent the past few years mastering the art of theft. Pickpocketing, shoplifting, sleight of hand - she's done them all. Every morning, she takes off her seal coat, poses around as a human, and steals her dinner from the human markets. But one day, Tora's seal coat gets stolen. And, without it, she can't turn back into a seal and swim back to her family. When Tora finds the boy who took her seal coat, they strike up a bargain: if Tora helps him steal from the Cobalt Sea Pirates, he will give her back the coat. Before she even knows it, Tora finds herself planning her biggest heist yet. And this time, it's not her dinner that's on the line. It's her life. Gorgeous cover by @awesomeSTG
The Chronicles of Amberguarde: Institutional rivals by Evelyn_wrights05
Evelyn_wrights05
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At the heart of Amberguarde lies Stormvein Institute, a fortress where heirs of noble houses, warlocks, paladins, and summoners are trained to master the three great forces-Solar, Lunar, and Astral. But beneath its towering halls of living stone, rivalry runs deeper than magic. Macey Rinaria, the so-called Mad Mage, bears lunar power too volatile to control. Haunted by whispers and a past drowned in fire, she knows one misstep could shatter more than her reputation. Connor Heslington, son of a knightly dynasty, carries the weight of his family's Astral legacy. His oath is to order, not chaos-and certainly not to mages like Macey. When their clash in the lecture hall spirals into a duel that awakens forbidden powers, the two are forced onto a collision course that could tear apart the fragile peace between their houses. Fog conceals secrets. Glyphs hum with warning. And as ancient forces stir-Hinara, Ceao, and Gilgamesh-the truth becomes clear: Stormvein is not a sanctuary. It is a battleground. Magic is rivalry. Rivalry is survival. Began: 7.02.2019 Completed: 21.04.2020 Rewrite: 15.09.2025
I Breathe Salt by SethWaylin
SethWaylin
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Lacey Waits has gotten too comfortable appealing to the good natures of the spirits she can communicate with. See, these spirits, they breathe salt on the little sills and doorways to keep the evil out. But when she moves back to Iowa for the spring and a little Jane Doe asks for her help in bringing justice to her gruesome murder - and when Lacey subsequently denies her request - the restless spirits see no reason to stick around, allowing demons and ghouls with lesser-than-holy intentions to wreak havoc. Caught in constant danger, it's up to Lacey to get on the case of Jane Doe's death, rescue a childhood friend from a string of missing persons cases, and regain the good graces of the dead before she joins them at the hand of evil entities and water that just keeps on rising. *Previously featured on the @mystery profile* *Featured on @Paranormal's "Life After Death" reading list* *Featured on @Ghost's "Bustling Ghosts" reading list* *Featured on @crime's "Policing the Paranormal" reading list* *cover by cosettetapes*
A Book of Dust and Breath by eacomiskey
eacomiskey
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Max has spent the past several thousand lifetimes as a Reaper among humans and, despite the pleasures of a tidy country home with a well-dusted library and a finely tuned Harley, he's starting to get bored. His best friend gives him some advice: "Drink some scotch. Bed a woman. Join a rock band. Get it out of your system, and get back to your dutiful service." Max tried, but he ended up getting drunk, marrying the girl in Vegas, and accidentally triggering a chain of events that could end with the destruction of the human race. Now he needs to make things right again but the Reaper quickly learns that the magic of being human comes with one grim reality.
The Dark Heir (SHORTLIST - Open Novella Contest 2019) by HM_Braverman
HM_Braverman
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**Featured on DARK FANTASY and ADULT FICTION reading lists** WARNING: EATING OR DRINKING WHILE READING THIS STORY IS HIGHLY INADVISABLE. Once Upon A Time, Good Omens, Monty Python, and Arrested Development had a back-alley three-way and birthed a fairytale. Gerald wasn't supposed to be stuck living seven centuries in the future. He definitely wasn't supposed to be "mentoring" The Dark Lord's progeny in the hopes that she would decide to save the world rather than destroy it. In fact, he wasn't even supposed to be named Gerald (the name of every other male in his family for three hundred years), because everyone assumed a weak-chinned, balding, forgettable man, who was just a magician, could never be who Geraldo The Foreshadower prophesied. But that's what assuming gets you, and here he was saddled with a fate he never asked for, in a time he didn't know, surrounded by people he didn't want to like, and he was out of Firewine AGAIN! The Dark Heir is a darkly satirical tale of assumptions, anti-heroes, and apocalypses, where the road to hell is actually a themed water-park slide covered in slightly less urine than a real one. It drops literary and film references faster than an NYC socialite drops names, and promises endless laughs - including, but not limited to, sad chuckles, guffaws, uncontrollable giggles at inappropriate moments, brays, barks, cackles, snorts, cachinnations, and the occasional howl (though that may be the Welsh Werewolves showing up unannounced). Consider yourself warned... Reviews: "Completely and adorably bonkers," says @floranocturna "Hilarious in every way. Even when I cringed, I laughed," says @LadySapphire2018 Winner of The Trident Awards
The Wings of Storm by draphy
draphy
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Tahro Akagi shouldn't live in two worlds at once. Yet, forced to spend his days studying by a no-nonsense mother, he longs for adventure. In a moment of desperation, Tahro's soul splits in two. While one of his selves remains in Japan, the other finds himself in Saishuu Riku, the lands of his favourite book. Engrossed in this world more than he ever thought possible, Tahro saves a character's life. But if a butterfly's wings can bring thunderstorms, then his every breath is another flap as it flies- his every heartbeat a danger to those around him. Unwittingly, he becomes entangled in a web of conspiracies between ministers, a murderous witch and a kidnapper with butterfly-patterned knives. Tahro learns he's changed the plot too much. Events that should happen don't and his new friends are caught in a crossfire he wants no part in. And when his friend is kidnapped, saving her could put everyone else in danger. Yet Tahro can't stand by and watch. *** I update every Saturday. Blurb written with the help of @catlegis. This was previously titled as The World Changer. #thecrystallineawards #TEA2020 #BGAwards #spiceoffawards #TheOasisAwards