Some beauty secrets are more dangerous than others... When Beauty Box beautician Tammy Smith is discovered with a pair of hair shears in her back, there are suspects and secrets aplenty in her small Southern town. Octogenarian Myrtle Clover, bored by bingo and bridge, is intrigued by the crime...and her neighbors' secrets. But discovering, and blabbing, secrets got Tammy killed and Myrtle soon learns her sleuthing isn't just dangerous...it's deadly.

#ONC2025 Third Place Winner (Finalist) #ONC2025 Short List #ONC2025 Round 3 Ambassador's Pick #ONC2025 Long List #ONC2025 Round 2 Winner *** After spending 30 years in another world, Ariana wakes up in the life she left behind, only to find echoes of the love she lost in a stranger. Was this fate, or just a cruel trick of her grieving heart? ============= When Ariana opened her eyes in a hospital bed, the world she had known for the past thirty years had vanished. There was no elegant hanfu, bustling marketplace, or warm smiles from her children and grandchildren. Instead, she found herself back in her original life-the life she had lost in a car crash, the life where her fiancé, Paul, had betrayed her with her stepsister, Julie. Her best friend, Tina, is the only anchor in this cold, unfamiliar reality, helping her navigate a world that has moved on without her. But Ariana cannot forget the lifetime she lived in another world, the love she had discovered, the husband she had mourned for a decade before she was ripped away. And then she sees him. A stranger with familiar eyes. A man whose presence tugs at something deep within her, inscribed into her soul. Is he the reincarnation of the man she loved beyond the boundaries of time, or is her grief distorting reality, causing her to chase the shadows of a dream? As Ariana struggles to regain her place in a life she no longer wants, the lines between fiction and fate blur. The past is written, but love might find a way to reshape destiny. ============= A novella inspired by the ONC prompt 129: "The ink of our souls binds us beyond the pages of time," The Ink of Our Souls tells a story of love, loss, and the unbreakable ties that transcend worlds.

Wei Zifu, the second wife of Emperor Wu of Han, who rose from a poor singer to a powerful and respected empress. Her rise, fall from grace and survival in imperial harem. **** This story my is historically accurate. Please vote and give lots of love. **** 🪷Age gap 🪷Concubine 🪷 Pregnancy 🪷 Affair 🪷Patriarchy 🪷 Strong female lead 🪷 Harem

Waking up in a different body was just the beginning. Dr. Baiyu Tang didn't expect to die, but Xiang Bai sought it. Somehow, their soul's crossed, and Dr. Tang woke up in Bai's body. Not only did she wake up in the body of a woman who should have died, but in a whole different world. Now she was trapped in an ancient land that seemed designed after her mother's favorite Chinese Dramas. Guided by her mysterious Keeper and Xiang Bai's memories, Dr. Tang tries to adapt to her new life. But when someone tries to finish the job Xiang Bai started, Dr. Tang strikes out on her own. Determined to find her own way, Baiyu Tang has to move through an ancient world of martial arts and magic utilizing her modern-day knowledge to survive. Can Baiyu Tang become Xiang Bai without taking on her fated future? And will the new husband Bai left behind let her go? 70. What if the Freaky Friday trick happened to you? You wake up one day in the body of someone else...from another time. From ONC 2023 Prompts Open Novella Contest 2023 **ONC2023 Shortlister**

I wish I never stepped foot inside his Palace. Now I am a prisoner, a servant to the Realm for dishonoring my family, only because I dared to speak the truth. This place is cold and empty. Rigid with rules and indifferent to emotion; just like the man who sits on the throne, looking through his subjects as if they are nothing more than mist. He is arrogant and aloof, seemingly unaware and unconcerned of the whispers throughout the Realm of the tragic mistakes of his past. It's hard to believe this stoic creature once loved so fiercely, it drove him to madness. I will fulfill my sentence, finding my true self along the way. Palace intrigue, jealousy and betrayal will become my constant companions, and yet there is light. Not everyone is what they seem, especially me. And this man, this being that I hated so fiercely, will become the one thing I would willingly give my life for.

Caroline Winther has everything a girl in Victorian England can wish for. A kind, caring family, plenty of money, a respected name, and a loving fiancee. Her life takes a drastic change, however, with the start of the Crimean war. Carol finds her plans to join Florence Nightingale's team of nurses roadblocked by her loved ones. A military hospital is no place for a girl of Carol's status and position in society. But Carol's family underestimate her, and when threatened she breaks with them and sets sail for Turkey, hardly prepared for what is to greet her when the ship docks. Does Carol have what it takes to cope with the hardships and prejudice she must face as a female military nurse? And will she be able to regain the respect and love of her family? Daughter of England is a story of courage and love set against a historical background. Through the eyes of fictional characters you can meet one of history's greatest heroines and embark on a journey with the early pioneers of nursing as we know it today.

Life has completely broken Leah Sinclair's spirit over the past year. Still reeling from her ex-husband's affair and struggling to keep her nine-year-old daughter's behaviour under control, she has rather a lot on her plate. So why did she ever think joining her daughter's Taekwondo class would be a good idea, when she has no athletic ability to speak of? Maybe it had something to do with the adorably attractive Tristan, another parent attending the class. With his persuasion, she finds herself diving headfirst into the world of doboks, sparring and endless press-ups, where there is no room in her brain for the persistent cloud of misery usually dragging her down. With the freedom to see what, and who had been standing in front of her all this time, it surely won't be long before Leah's spirit returns - this time never to be broken again. #331 in Short Story on 04/08/16. Written for the #justwriteit sports challenge, March 2016!

An ONC shortlister! The long-forgotten god of chaos awakes when a small child drops a piece of candy onto his altar, unwittingly becoming the high priest of chaos. The god is beholden to his priest and his priest's people--AKA: his kindergarten classmates. The children are all-too-delighted to serve the whims of mayhem until the chaos becomes too much, even for them. They forbid the god from using his power. But when disaster strikes and the whole school is in danger, a bit of bedlam might be the only thing that can save the children, the town, and the god's budding romance with a schoolteacher. Based on the Open Novella Contest 2023 prompt: #73 - You are a long-forgotten god. A small kid leaves candy at your shrine and you awaken. Now, you must do everything to protect your High Priest/Priestess, the kid, and their entire kindergarten class, your worshippers. #ONC2023 #OpenNovellaContest

The Garnett siblings operate a traditional handicraft store in Clover Village, a popular tourist destination on the route to Sea Glass Beach. Their store welcomes a variety of visitors, including amateur photographers, fashion enthusiasts, and honeymooners, each offering unique adventures and funny experiences.

Corporal Mae Stoker is no stranger to misery or surviving harsh conditions, especially after enlisting in the Union Army at the height of the American Civil War to avoid living with her aunt and uncle. But when she's wounded during the Battle of Lovejoy's Station, Captain Wolstan Mitchell discovers there's a female in the ranks and makes a rash decision to save her life, forever intertwining their fates. After leaving Mae with his doctor uncle in nearby Jonesborough, Georgia, Wolstan is captured and imprisoned in Andersonville Prison for nine months. When he finally returns home to Chattanooga, Tennessee, he is a tormented shadow of the man he was before, unsure if the brokenness inside him can be or is even worth fixing-until learning love has the power to mend even the most shattered souls.