This is my entry for the #ShawRocketFundContest. We were required to write the opening chapter of a teen fiction/young adult story that aims for diversity. If anyone wants to join, simply search "Shaw Rocket Fund Contest" and write a chapter with the maximum of 1500 words (or less). Here's the link for instructions and rules: https://www.wattpad.com/936857216-shawrocketfundcontest-accelerator-writing-contest

*UPDATES EVERY SUNDAY* In a world of perfection and blonde-haired, blue-eyed facsimiles, 16 year-old Sophie has something to hide. Something that could take her life in an instant. She goes through her days hiding herself, with the constant fear of being caught. One day, Sophie discovers something else wrong about her, something that can't be hidden this time. As the hour of her certain death approaches, Sophie is strangely calm. The world doesn't need her. Her parents don't need her. She's a burden to all. She's different than the others, and she's sick of having to hide it; this way she won't have to anymore. But her boyfriend, Liam, thinks otherwise. Will he be able to save her in time? And how will he face the evil Distsiplina government, who'll be hungry for Sophie's blood?

Don't stare. Don't look. Don't Linger. Pretend like you don't see. Sam has never understood why people see "The Blemish" as a flaw. Everyone has it, everyone always has, why should it matter? When a new student, Jonah Lee-Yang, shows up to the school Sam starts to fall, and fall hard for the young man who barely has any of the Blemish yet doesn't seem to judge even those massively disfigured by it. If Jonah can accept people with the Blemish, maybe he can accept Sam...and the secret. Written for the #Shawrocketfundcontest

It's summer 2009. 15-year-old Italian immigrant Antonio was having one of the best summers of his life. He and his boyfriend Luke were spending almost every day together, his English had gotten a lot better, and he was finally adjusting to life in Cathcart, Newfoundland. But everything shatter's when his best friend, who's also Luke's sister, Lena goes missing. Not satisfied by the lack of attention Lena's case is receiving, the boys decide to start a podcast to find people who may help them and to get their own answers. After that everything fell apart. It's two years later and Antonio has left everything and everyone in Cathcart behind to live a new life in Toronto with his dad. Until one day, Antonio decides to listen back to the podcasts and his feelings resubmerge him underwater. Antonio decides it might be time to return to that small town to finish what he started. Told during the events and the aftermath that would forever change the lives of two boys and everyone around them. Erased is a story of grief, LGBTQ relationships and rights, prejudice, and missing Indigenous women.

Min Kye, a fifteen year-old, has lived in Canada her entire life. Despite knowing the Canadian culture, she's rejected by her peers for a reason that she doesn't even know herself. Min thinks it's her Korean culture that bothers other people and slowly, she begins to distance herself from her family's traditions and values. She's lived almost everywhere with her dad's shifting job, but nowhere has she found a penpal or an Instagram friend. She's tried to fit in with every group out there, but none let her in. She's so focused on trying to make her mark in Canada, that she hasn't noticed the new Indian boy, Ajay, who is in the same situation as she is in. Min has two options left: she can either move back to Korea with her aunt (who had been experiencing the same issues) or she and this new boy can team up and take the entire ignorant school down. Either way, things won't be easy. Join Min as she experiences feelings of friendship, and learns the difference between rejection and acceptance and how to stand up for herself. This was written for the ShawRocketFund contest!

Infinite world of Ella Jane is now a podcast! Tune in now! All episodes live on your favorite podcast apps. The universe has accidental holes but perhaps the unraveling chaos has nothing to do with accidents. Ella Jane, or EJ, isn't one for social gatherings, especially after the recent death of her father. But when her best friend drags her to a party, and the arrogant school jock throws her into the pool, EJ finds herself waking up to his face on a train in a strange new world-Estonasia, a parallel universe that eerily mirrors the paintings of her late father. And the person on the train is not him but a doppelganger... Turns out Estonasia is torn apart by interdimensional, flesh-eating creatures and a power vacuum left by the disappearance of EJ's doppelganger, a missing military general. The Empire desperately needs saving. Pressed by the Crown Princess and Prince to impersonate the missing military general, EJ is forced to step in and help restore peace and save the Empire. At first, EJ rejects this new reality, desperate to escape back to her world. But as she delves deeper into the Empire's conflict, she uncovers a shocking truth: her father's death may be more connected to this world than she ever realized-and she herself is far more entwined with its ancient struggles than she could have ever imagined. And if things weren't complicated enough, an interdimensional romance might be brewing with the person who found her, the apprentice to the royal physicist...

"If my life were a story, I would never be considered the main character. It's not a self deprecating comment, it's just the truth." Emma Chen lives her life on the sidelines. Overshadowed by her successful older sister and breaking under the pressures of her immigrant parents, Emma becomes distant to the rest of the world. She spends her time alone, harbouring secrets in her protected notebook. With the help of a new guy at school, Emma navigates her last year at high school, realizing the power in saying those unspoken words. She embarks on a journey of finding bravery, friends, and love in unexpected places in the process of self-discovery.