→ finished ← Claustrophobic and agoraphobic, Alaska Gouramie doesn't leave the house much. She whiles her days away nurturing her goldfish, Gordon. Her life is passing her by. Elver Harrison James is scared of fish. He won't go near the pond at the bottom of his garden. He will do anything to stay away from those water-loving freaks. Alaska's mother forces her to leave the house. It's just a trip to the park, no big deal. Until Alaska falls in the pond. And Elver is the only one around. Teen Fiction #118

Nandini Varma owns the only bookstore in town and is content with hiding her awkward self behind bestsellers. What she doesn't know is that her favorite author has moved near her, and that perhaps she could finally have a love story of her own, even if it's an awkward one. ***** Ryan Callahan wants to move on from his writing career and just work for the police. It's hard though, when the town's book lady happens to be a huge fan of his. She's smart, funny, beautiful, and kind - a lethal combination. He wants to get to know her more, but something seems to be holding her back. Who is this mysterious woman that Ryan can't stop thinking about? Content/trigger warning: This story contains themes of sexism and verbal abuse. [[word count: 70,000 - 80,000]] Cover designed by Joe Resch

Bribed by her stubborn and terribly conceited self, Imani Ane agrees to be the personal maid of a creep whose family's a little too perfect. To the undeniably humble Ane, all's generally fine as she struts about the wealthy Campbell's residence and tends to its needy, frustratingly beautiful twig of a Master, but such mercy's bound to not last long── love is in the air with little to no patience, and so are the demons hiding in plain sight, always ready to pounce on any soul that disturbs them, even if they're Ane's own. Prepare yourselves for a wild, unforgettable mash-up of humor, psycho-thrill, and drama. © 2019-2021 Indigo Ivy Salamander / @indigosa All Rights Reserved ----- Featured in the 2022 @Wattpad Community Curator List for Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month. Also featured as a 2020 Hidden Gem by Wattpad HQ's @WattpadExplorer. **This story contains mature content, including but not limited to graphic depictions of violence, and self-harm themes, as significant elements of its plot. It involves abuse, bullying, and neglect. I do not promote nor encourage any of the aforementioned. My characters' actions, thoughts, and values are not reflective of my own. Reader discretion is advised.** This story is a rough draft. Feel free to provide constructive feedback!

* ONC 2020 AMBASSADOR'S PICK * * ONC 2020 HONORABLE MENTION * * ONC 2020 SHORT LIST * * HIDDEN GEMS * Sean has a problem: his dreams come to life. It causes him enough trouble that he moves across the country to start fresh at Everwood Institute. But as his repetitive dreams become more vivid, he wonders if anything he sees is real, and if the black leaves Finn trails behind him are truly there... Finn tries to keep his dreams under control, but this year, he keeps dreaming the same dream. It haunts him in the day, and doesn't help when he's trying to keep his past problems separate from his present life. Then there's the matter of Sean, who leaves flowers blooming wherever he steps... As Sean and Finn grow closer, they realize there's more to their dreams - and each other - than they know. ~*~ COMPLETED | #lgbtq+ #mlm #contemporaryfantasy "How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?" - Plato Prompt #15, OpenNovellaContest2020 Word Count: 21,198 words