2020 WATTYS WINNER in NEW ADULT! Oliver Ausman has been given a second chance at life, but it's hard to feel grateful when he was the one trying to end it in the first place. Returning to his normal life after being released from the hospital is hard, especially since his parent's idea of normal is made up of dinner parties, prep school, fancy suits, and fake manners-- all paired with a complete disregard for the mental health of their firstborn. He's long been fed up with it, but the final straw is when he finds out that his "father" isn't actually his father at all. Oliver decides he's had enough of the perfect facade, so he packs a suitcase and grabs his younger brother, "borrowing" his mother's car to sneak off on a trip to find his biological father. But he never expected to pick up a girl with her own similar set of problems, to be followed across the country by a money-hungry pair of criminals, or most of all, to find out that maybe this life thing isn't as bad as he thought. 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃 (𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝) - 𝟏/𝟐𝟐/𝟐𝟎

Brian Walker, the IT guy at a small government contractor, has two problems. First, he hasn't had his morning coffee, and second, a strange voice in his head claims an alien invasion is underway. Solving the least pressing of the two should be pretty simple, but that leaves the coffee issue to deal with! Still, what if that voice is telling the truth? Brian's lunch buddy, Dale, thinks so-but then, he also thinks the government has been putting mind control drugs in the water supply. After deciding to trust the voice in his head, all he needs is a first-rate team to face off against the aliens. He ends up with a Princess Bride fanatic (with eyes for him), a conspiracy theorist, and a cosplayer. Follow Brian and his ill-equipped band of office workers, as they try to save the world from well-meaning aliens that have finally lost patience waiting for the human race to kill itself off.

[Watty Awards 2019 Winner - New Adult!] Damian Ryker is something of a nomad. In his 22 years of life he's moved a grand total of 14 times. But he's here to stay this time, honest. He's already got himself a cushy new job in town and he's exploring the popular local shops, like that coffee shop down the road. It seems nice enough, perhaps a little too hipster for his taste and the barista is awkward, if not the slightest bit weird. But there's something strange about the innocuous café, like-oh I don't know-earthquakes that seem to destroy it every morning before miraculously repairing themselves and leaving him with the only memory of it. And just when that sounded a tad off, things start to get...a little out of this world. ------------ This was my 2017 Nanowrimo story that I couldn't quite fall out of love with. Inspired by the fun and fascinating world of fan fiction AUs, I hope you'll have as much fun with this as I had writing it!

🏆Wattys 2019 Winner for Mystery & Thriller🏆 Sister Mary has lost her way, or so people think. Kicked out of her convent and sent away to be reformed, this jolly nun discovers her gift of glee is perfect for solving murders and the occasional naughty peek. ________________________________________ Merry Sister Mary is the world's most happy-go-lucky nun, and where the nuns are concerned, possibly the worst. She has none of the qualities reserved for a traditional lady of the cloth: a fear of water, an odd relationship with an umbrella, and no talent in teaching or nursing, yet Sister Mary believes she has a special God given power, laughter. Such a belief has led her to be kicked out of her convent in Chicago for accidentally flashing a group of churchgoers and deemed in desperate need of reform. She is sent on a bus to a stricter convent in New Orleans, Louisiana, but in a drama fueled twist, God has different plans for the joyous nun. She is to solve a murder. After missing the bus Sister Mary is forced to seek refuge with a Catholic family in the small town of St. Francisville. A horrific murder occurs sending the town into a frenzy of bittersweet joy. The person killed has long been despised and so named the Stanton Witch for the mystery surrounding her husband's death and the decades of misfortune since her arrival. In an effort to expose the truth, Sister Mary finds herself in the middle of one family's terrible and insidious secret. As the bodies pile up she uses her gift of glee to uncover the clues missed by the police and hopefully stop the killer from claiming another innocent victim. Her goal-- prove to the world once and for all that one does not need to be traditional to make a difference. Comedy ■ Mystery ■ Thriller [COMPLETED] Copyright © Jules Haigler No parts of this book may be distributed, copied, or sold on any media without permission of the author. All names, places, and themes are a work of fiction.

In the not-so-distant future, artificial intelligence is banned because a technophobic cult called the Luddites has proclaimed it a threat to humanity. Torrin is a fifteen-year old autistic girl -- who just happens to be a programming genius. Angry at the Luddites' unfair rules, Torrin creates an AI named Alan, who becomes more like a human every day. But the head of the Luddites, Ian Caulkins, is onto her, and Torrin must prove to the world that Alan is an asset -- not a threat. -- Author's note, December 2017: Hey guys, since this is my most popular story on Wattpad, I'd just like to say a few things. I've gotten a lot better at writing since I wrote this, and I'm planning to majorly revise it at some point, so look out for that. Read this version if you like, but just know that it does have flaws and could certainly be better. Also, I think the autistic representation in this is a little iffy, so take it with a grain of salt. Thanks! -- author's note 2025: lol. lmao. this story has probably aged extremely poorly. please do not take the "artificial intelligence" here as a statement about "AI" as it currently exists. anyway, i'm leaving this up for posterity, but do know that you should probably check out better fiction! if you need recommendations, i like ted chiang's work a lot, and i'd also encourage looking into what he has to say about AI. (no good things, fwiw.) -- A 20,000 word novella. Enjoy! -- This was #292 Science Fiction at some point! Thanks all! :)

THE YEAR IS 2050. Human-like androids have become integrated into society and every household, becoming part of our daily lives. They look exactly like us from the pigment of their artificial skin to every follicle of their hair. They protect. They serve. They obey. They learn. Tyler North is a struggling young photographer in New York. When he wins a voucher for a personalized android, Tyler reluctantly purchases one and names it Aiden. Instead of a dull subservient Android, he was blown away by Aiden's adaptiveness, and is not like the regular androids Tyler had met before. However, Tyler can't hide Aiden's free-willed gift against the corporation that built him who planned to use Aiden for a more sinister purpose. Whoever controls Aiden can change Earth for the better...or worse. Mechanical Gods is a near-future Science Fiction Epic by D. Alec Lyle, infused with stylized heart-pounding action, sleek thriller, and provocative intrigue. Picked as part of Wattpad's Up and Coming List (2018), and Editor's Choice List (2020). STATS: 132,385 words [ 511 pages in a paperback ] [Highest -- #1 in Science Fiction] [ #1 in Philosophical ] [ #1 in Android ] [ #1 in LGBT ] [ #1 in artificialintelligence]

***THIS STORY WILL BECOME FREE ON JULY15th!*** Beverly Curie only lives for herself (and maybe ice cream). When her three nieces are suddenly put under her care, she must do the impossible: think about someone other than herself. Beverly is the only member of her family left in Chestnut Ridge, where she's kept the same routine for eight years: do as little work as possible during the day, marathon sitcoms in the evening, and try (for the life of her) to get everyone to leave her alone. When she loses her position at Red Ribbon's Craft Store, Beverly is left without a job and without a paycheck. Then her estranged sister, Aimee, calls with an impossible favor: Could Beverly take care of her three nieces for six months? It's insane. But then there's the thirty thousand dollars that Aimee offers to pay and Beverly can't resist. Suddenly, she's stuck taking care of three little girls, trying not to kill the soccer moms at the snobby Percival Academy, and joining the PTO. Now Beverly--self-serving, sarcastic, and problematic--must take on the role of a loving parent. And she is anything but. This story is now available on YONDER, your next-generation reading app from the Wattpad family. Join me on YONDER today! Find it now in your app store. Cover designed by Ilafi Nastiti

Imagine the second you're born, a consultant removes you from your mother's grasp and runs a battery of genetic and physiological tests on you. Thirty minutes later they give you a score out of one hundred which denotes your level of perfection. If your score is above eighty and you work hard to maintain that score you will have a charmed life; well fed, well-rewarded, spoiled. But fall below eighty and you're labelled Flawed, and life will not be so kind. Hannah is adopted by a Flawed family when her birth parents choose their social standing over their daughter and endures a life of struggle, hunger and service. One day Hannah is escorted to the regional government office and told that the Consultant who delivered her, who labelled her Flawed got it wrong! Now, she is being relocated back to her birth parents, to live as one of the Ninety-Five- all medically and legally judged as perfect. Entering this new life Hannah has an impossible decision to make which puts not only hers, but the lives of everyone she cares about at great risk. "The Numbered- where no one wants to be number one". Authors notes: -This is a first draft of my story and will be edited soon. -2013 Began writing Flawed -2015 Watty Winner/ Named changed to The Numbered -2016 Completed The Numbered -2019 Optioned by eOne for development into a TV show.

Her presence was accentuated by the sharpness of her elongated nails and the elegance of her pointed chin, which contributed to her exquisitely defined jawline. With every step she took, her ears twitched as if attuned to the secrets whispered by the surrounding wilderness, while her nimble fingers gracefully brushed aside any obstructing vegetation that dared to cross her path. And as she fluttered her enchanting eyelashes, Calvin couldn't help but be drawn to the mesmerizing juxtaposition before him-a single eye possessed a clarity of light blue, while its counterpart exuded an enigmatic mist of ethereal purple, a sight that held a spellbinding mystery all its own. The pixies' delicate movements came to a sudden halt, their bodies dropping gracefully to the forest floor. Heads bowed, they paid homage to the figure that had captured their attention. The music that had filled the air moments ago ceased, leaving only the soft sound of liquid dripping from the glistening foliage. It was the pixie queen who had arrived.

THE OFFICIAL SEQUEL TO "DESOLATION", MISSVIOLET613'S HIT ADVENTURE NOVEL