#1 for a month on the Fantasy-Action Hotlist. Wattys2015 Winner. Fourteen-year-old Luisa is focused on staying under the radar at her rough London school, relieved that the summer holidays are soon to begin. Exploring the ruin of an abbey at night, Luisa falls into the underground land of Cataindar. The catains are a cat-like race, possessing powers and magic that most humans could only dream of. They have been expecting her. As the catain abbot guides Luisa through their world, Luisa finds out that things in Cataindar are not quite as they seem. Old secrets are discovered, new loyalties are forged and a dark truth puts Luisa's life in terrible danger. Cataindar is the first in a planned series involving talking cats, giant rats and an ancient power that will change the world as we know it forever.

Humanity’s desire to be immortal is finally fulfilled when Stuart and Nick, two mischievous yet brilliant young men, figure out a way to reverse age. Over the next few years, they sell life to the aging population and build Phoenix Corporation: one of the biggest companies in the world. With Life Centers across the globe, people can prolong life but death still remains unconquered. When an accident at a Life Center throws the city of Hamilton into chaos, nothing stops the spreading death and madness. Stuart and Nick struggle to find the real reason behind the mysterious phenomenon. Will humanity pay the ultimate price for evading death?

What happens when ancient magic collides with the internet? One thing is certain, modern life will never be the same again. A thousand years ago, a young thief, Tung, and a disgraced wizard, Madrick, are thrust together in an executioner's dungeon. In the darkness, Madrick reveals an incredible secret about a legendary spell. The great spell helps them escape their prison cell... and eventually their century. Catapulted into the present day, their lives collide with Michael, a computer hacker who plans to destroy the world's largest bank. But sinister people are tracking their every move and they will stop at nothing to steal their spell. **Please note, for copyright reasons, the complete story has not been published here.

Who is Rob Ford when the cameras are off and the microphones aren't aimed at his face? What motivates him? Why does he party so hard? Why does he say such horrible things that make him look like an idiot? Does his private life matter if his job commitment is honorable? Can he come back from political ruin? This is a fictional series of shorts about Rob Ford, mayor of Toronto and partyer extraordinaire. Loosely based on the real Rob Ford, this fictional mayor plans to save the city or have fun trying.

An incredible true story - in 1964 my father, British Javelin champion John McSorley, built a man-size box and shipped it from Heathrow airport. The airfreight was human; his friend Reg Spiers, a penniless young Australian athlete desperate to get home and win back his girl. He was in for the ride of his life; a nightmarish cocktail of turbulent cargo holds, forklift truck disasters and mind-altering dehydration. He’d risk everything for Annie, but little did she know, they'd soon be skipping bail on drug-smuggling charges. Follow the true-crime exploits of the young couple and their years of gripping, high-stakes dramas through India, Africa and Sri Lanka.

The greatest tragedy the world has ever known turned out to be the ultimate catalyst for change. In the wake of World War III, which decimated most of the world's population, the remaining survivors vowed to not continue to repeat the same mistakes of the past. Fortunately, they had something previous generations did not have - advanced technology. The year is 2117 and this once shattered civilization has become prosperous again. Innovative forms of technology have enabled them to abandon the old model and re-engineer a better way of living for all. Brain implants and genetic modifications have made an entire population educated, healthy, and kind. Despite the benefits of this technology, it has created some unforeseen side effects that threaten humankind's existence. When technology proves to be inept at solving the world's problem, a new hope emerges in the unlikeliest form - a young orphan girl. *** Cyberpunk, dystopian, technology, future, futurism, scifi, heroine, prodigy...

An Earth rampant with telekinesis results in isolated city-states forced to live beneath protective domes. Among the Americas, New Teotihuacan has arisen as the most powerful, thanks to its strict social classes and teenage fighting force known as masazin. A resident of New Teo's Worker City, Calli Bluehair loses her parents in a telekinetic storm caused by her little brother, Olin. Two years later, the siblings have five days to make final preparations for their last chance at a better life--Masa Academy and it's famous graduates, the masazin. If she fails, she and Olin will live out their last years condemned to the violent and self-indulgent underground of worker city. Those who survive the academy are rewarded with immortality. But only loyal citizens, ages 14-15, are allowed to register. Time is running out for Calli to prove that's exactly what she and Olin are, despite the accumulating evidence to the contrary.

Tattini Hawkens is every teachers nightmare. She never does her work, she fights, she talks back and has a miserable, sullen attitude. But what the teachers fail to see are the bruises, the tears, and the scars all hidden under her famous scowl. What they don't see is how hard she is trying, how hard she is trying to keep the pain inside, to not show how much it all hurts. However, everything changes when a new teacher comes. Oblivious to the "Horror Stories" of Tattini Hawkens, Mark Hilleond comes into Tattini's life and does something no ever has. He listens and he cares and treats her just like any other eight year old. Slowly Tattini goes against her instinct to not trust and opens up to this new teacher, revealing her dark secret of home and changing her life forever.

For all those who felt the Disney version was a little too happy or wondered if mermaids have souls...may I present the original mermaid story, Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale. This story was written as part of Hans Christian Andersen's collection of fairy tales and is now in the public domain, which is why I have posted someone else's work on my profile. The mermaids in my stories do not endorse this work. It has been denounced as a work of fiction and anyone who wishes to discuss this work with Vanessa, Belinda, Maria, Sirena or any other mermaid has been warned.

Thirty years ago the corporation stole an infant Alice from her family and brought her to Quinto, where they spent the next few years trying to make her into the perfect soldier for their corporate wars. Now free of the corporation's control, Alice will embody the ancient Greek Moon Goddess and hunt down the corrupt Arricebo Corp and have her revenge for what they did to her and her family, even if it's the last thing she does. Will it be? Sci-Fi Smack Down Round 5, using pictures E, Q and X in the nanopunk subgenre