Oncshortlist Stories

In urgent need of a profitable job, freighter captain Kalina ap'Theron accepts a mysterious crate meant for delivery to an obscure rim planet. But under a space-gipsy curse and with the space patrol and a band of infamous pirates on her heels, Kali has no choice but to steer her precious "Topsy-Turvy" into an ion storm. The risky manoeuvre has the potential for some dangerous consequences. Lost in uncharted space, Kali faces the challenges of accepting a cute but slimy stowaway into her happy crew of outcasts, fighting off the attraction of both a black hole and a former crush, and getting back on course in order to deliver her load in time. Otherwise, once it reaches its sell-by date, she risks losing her ship to an alien hive mind. My entry for the Open Novella Contest 2020 - I picked prompts 39, 37, and 58 Chapter 1 - 1708 words Chapter 2 - 1883 words Chapter 3 - 1910 words Chapter 4 - 2011 words Chapter 5 - 1861 words Chapter 6 - 1780 words Chapter 7 - 1926 words Chapter 8 - 1963 words Chapter 9 - 1883 words Chapter 10 - 1894 words Chapter 11 - 1975 words Chapter 12 - 2057words Total - 22 851 words

Luke and Naluma have had a rough year, but their Force-bonded love has gotten them through the death of a student a few months earlier. However, Luke's worried about Naluma, who is trapped at the Jedi Academy with two dozen Padawan driving her crazy in the dead of winter. He surprises her with a long-overdue vacation for just the two of them, the first one in the four years they've known each other. However, their idyllic love is tested when Luke refuses to give Naluma what she desperately desires: a child of their own. When the Force gets involved, the couple learns that imposing the words of man on the will of the supreme power in the galaxy is never going to work--and the Force plays dirty when accomplishing its will. Luke and Naluma don't stand a chance. This isn't going to go the way they think. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Open Novella Contest 2021 Entry Prompt #17 Your main character is in an idyllic relationship. Your task? Make - then break - the ship. (It ends HEA, so no worries my Romance readers.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cover by author.

"There's no denying it-either I'm hallucinating or Cole Winton is standing on my porch." Jamie is used to putting pen to paper. She's been doing it for years, and has a slew of novels to show for it. For the most part, she's left alone to write which is what she prefers. But this is the first time someone has knocked on her door, insisting they are one of her characters. This is the first time someone demands to know how she knows what she does, declaring it treason. Armed with only her pen, her notebook, and her cat, Inkwell, she finds out just how much of their own lives her characters have taken on outside of her novels. (ONC prompt 99) ONC 2025 Finalist (5th place)