❝ Things are only as beautiful as you make them, Charlie. Including murder. ❞ It's the opening night of Burton Abbey's production of Romeo and Juliet and all is going smoothly - that is until the climactic death scene. Romeo takes a big gulp of the poison to be with his lover, except it really is poison and Elijah, who plays Romeo, is now dead. Charlie Monet, in charge of props, is the first suspect but soon the suspicion around her turns to worry as it seems she's the next target. Khaleel Rahim, an aspiring writer, is dying for a mystery to solve at his new school. When he sees Charlie sneaking around at night he thinks he's finally found something worth writing about. After discovering Charlie's ability to see visions of the past, Khaleel decides that they're the perfect pair to solve the mystery. With threatening notes, a quiet library and poison disguised as props; somebody in the school is blurring the lines between theatre and reality and the fast friends are about to discover that there's more to boarding school than just silly rumours. [2022 Watty's Shortlist]

"Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter appeared." When Emmy helped her exhausted and on-the-verge-of-a-panic-attack neighbor into his apartment at three in the morning, she never expected to be sucked into his world; one filled with the unsolved murder case of his mother from ten years ago. [completed]

"Do you normally make-out with the people you're hired to kill? It doesn't strike me as very professional." "Put the gun down," Gabriel panted, not answering her. "Why on earth would I do that?" "Because you're not going to shoot me," Gabriel replied, noting that she still had the safety on. "I bet you've never shot anything in your life." She studied his gun with a smile. "Maybe you're right," she replied. Then she pointed the gun back at him, taking off the safety and cocking it. "Are you willing to bet your life on it?" she asked him coolly. *** He didn't know anything about her - her name, age, even what she looked like. He only knew it was his job to kill her. But when Gabriel comes face to face with his latest target, he finds himself completely mesmerized and can't pull the trigger. Left with few viable options, he decides to kidnap her. Unfortunately for him, she's not willing to come quietly. Instead, their encounter sets off an intense game of cat and mouse, unraveling Gabriel's entire world in the process.

In a blink of an eye, the whole world can change. Evey had always lived a normal life. She was an emergency room nurse, had friends, and had a family that she loved. Her mundane world changes when she watches a man attack and feast on the flesh of another man at a gas station. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated attack. Majority of the population has been infected with an unknown airborne virus. Not only does it cause people to foam at the mouth and bleed from the eyes, but it turns them into mindless creatures that are hungry for flesh. Zombies? Not quite. They are infected, not dead. Evey's life is destroyed when her family becomes Infected. Being one of the few Immune, Evey is taken away to a military base with other people who seem to not be infected by the virus. There she meets multiple people including Ford, a stubborn and stern soldier that she is always disagreeing with but finds herself distracted by his eyes. The Immune band together and work for survival. Will they ever be able to find a cure? At what cost would they go to stay safe? Will they kill each other before being eaten alive?

When sixteen-year-old New York City native Neo O'Reilly is dropped off with his extended family in Hawaii for the summer, he's terribly out of his element. And with his militaristic aunt, over-excited older cousin, and a small town swimming with total strangers, he's not sure he'll ever get used to it. This plain, happy-go-lucky town just isn't for him. After all, Neo has a secret: He's taken something he shouldn't have. Yet, Neo realizes the town is not so simple as he thought when he meets Kit Kawamoto: a mute boy living in the abandoned house at the top of the hill. What follows is a whirlwind of secrets revealed, destinies questioned, and love realized. Two boys, a stolen item, and a curse: this is The House Above the Sea.

A campus thriller: suspense, murder & one handsome roommate. ***** When Haley Bell is offered a scholarship to study at the exclusive Woodcreek College, famous for moulding the world's brightest thinkers, politicians and entrepreneurs, she jumps at the opportunity. Except when she arrives, the murders start. In a campus hidden from civilisation in the mountains of Colorado, Haley's classmates are slowly turning up dead. As the bodies pile up and eyes of suspicion turn on her, Haley finds that there's a reason why she was brought to Woodcreek. And it wasn't to study. "That opening line will hook you (I still think about it) & it DOESN'T STOP! I binged this like crazy" - Leah, Sr. Editorial Manager @ HQ [[word count: 90,000-100,000 words]] Cover designed by Ellie Sita

[2021 WATTYS Winner] Giovanna joins a handsome nobleman to save a friend from an arranged marriage, but they discover a plot that may have victims of Venice's Black Death rising from their graves. * * * As a child, Giovanna Visconti learned the arts of bloodletting and elixir brewing from her father with an intent to simply support his work, not take it over. But when he falls ill from the pestilence that's been ravaging Venice for months, she reluctantly dons the beaked mask of the plague doctor. Vowing to protect her father however she can, Giovanna hides him away and sees her first patient--the handsome, but alarmingly feverish Matteo Barozzi. Although she successfully treats this son of a high-ranking official, in a careless moment Giovanna fails to properly conceal her identity. The only reason she isn't tossed into a dank jail cell is thanks to the young man's honor and feelings of indebtedness. The association between the charming aristocrat and the clever commoner should end there, but when Giovanna's dearest friend goes missing right after her betrothal to the Doge's son and amid strange reports of nighttime attacks, violent commotions, and inexplicable behaviors in the community, the only person Giovanna can turn to for help is Matteo. Together, they must carefully navigate Venice's increasingly deadly canals to uncover a sect peddling false cures and a smuggling plot involving the highest levels of government or risk the entire Republic falling victim to something even worse than the plague: the risen dead. Historical Fiction with Fantasy Elements THE BORGIAS X FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH * * * WATTYS 2021 winner for Historical Fiction and special HQ prize for "Catchiest Hook" AMBYS 2022 winner for Best Zombie story Content Warning for adult situations including assault and death.

[WATTY WINNER 2021] The summer takes a turn for the worse when young filmmaker Dakota Black returns to his Washington hometown to co-produce a series with a premium television network, and the screenplay becomes a chilling reality. ***** Dakota Black isn't looking for fame. He isn't even responsible for submitting his short film that wins numerous awards at a prestigious film festival in New York City. He has his ex-girlfriend to thank for that. One year after skyrocketing to stardom, graduating high school, and moving to Los Angeles for film school, Dakota returns to his island hometown in Washington State to co-produce a drama series with a premium television network. But when the summer takes a dark turn as the series' screenplay becomes a chilling reality, Dakota and his splintered group of friends are pulled into an elaborate conspiracy that elicits fatal consequences. [[2021 Watty Winner - Mystery/Thriller & Wattpad Editors' Choice]]

Kai Gilling, a transgender wanderer traversing the American West, has to trek hundreds of miles in his beat up Jeep, in order to reach an urban legend rumored to be the only settlement still thriving. *********** It's a Wasteland, baby. In the uncomfortably not-so-distant future, the world has been ravaged by natural disasters, water shortages, and public apathy. People like Kai Gilling have flocked to the desert (once known as the American West) in hopes of finding a better life. After picking up a pair of siblings, the three come across a strange woman who claims to have a map to Arcadia, an urban legend rumored to be the only city thriving in the wreckage of the old world. Will they keep their hearts set on an oasis in the desert--even if it's just a mirage? Or will they be tempted by something else

WATTYS 2021 WINNER - PARANORMAL Olivia Porter is well acquainted with death- or so she thought. With the passing of her only friend, she's given more than she bargained for when the estranged and mysterious Lee Noble enters her life. Lee brings with him more than his bad attitude and mysterious past. He's Olivia's gateway to a dark and terrifying underworld she never knew existed. The Edifice; a dimension parallel to their own, separated for a very good reason. It's a world of magic, where warlocks, fiends and monsters walk the streets in strained coexistence. Stranded in a foreign land at the mercy of its citizens, Olivia has no choice but to accept the help of Otis- a deity masquerading as a fickle young man. With seven days to escape the consequences of the deity's contract, Olivia's humanity is on a perilous countdown. Otis promises her the world if she can hold out- while Lee will sacrifice anything to see her gone. Because Otis's gift to her is worth dying for... and all of the Edifice knows it. - cover by @newsies- ~90,000 Words Mature and Horror Themes CONTENT WARNINGS for death, family trauma, adult language, kidnap, coercion, drug and alcohol abuse, suicidal ideation, mental illness, graphic violence and references to racism and homophobia..