Opennovellacontest2023 Stories

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[8X FEATURED] Merlin is the greatest-eleven-year-old nerd the world doesn't know because his name has cursed him--he's all parts nerd and zero parts magic and all he wants is to be cool. When Merlin hacks a new encryption code designed to protect online banks, he receives a full scholarship to Code-X Academy and wins a new enemy who trolls him online as @WizardSlayer666, ruining all his plans for coolness. Merlin discovers new powers and deadly secrets at the academy--but can he figure out how to control his abilities in time to unravel the clues before someone else dies? To do so, he may need to learn that the best kind of cool is to just be yourself. 1st Place in the Hallow's Eve Astania Awards 10/31/2023 Featured by @SpeculativeFiction 9/13/2023 3rd Place in The Book Awards 9/6/2023 Featured by @lowfantasy 7/2/2023 WINNER ONC 2023 Spirit Awards: Against All Odds 6/30/2023 Featured by @WattpadWitches on 6/15/2023 Featured by @WattpaddDisney on 6/12/2023 Hit 2,000 reads! 5/31/2023 ONC 2023 Shortlister!! 5/31/2023 ONC 2023 Longlister!! 5/19/2023 No.8 Rank on "lowfantasy" tag 5/10/2023 No.1 Rank on "fittingin" tag 5/8/2023 No.1 Rank on "nerdy" tag 5/4/2023 No.24 Rank on "middleschool" tag 5/4/2023 Completed!!! 4/26/2023 ONC 2023 Round 3 Qualifier!! 4/19/2023 No.1 Rank on "middlegrade" tag 4/5/2023 ONC 2023 Round 2 Qualifier!! 3/21/2023 No.1 Rank on "speculative" tag 3/20/2023 No.4 Rank on "witty" tag 2/27/2023 No.3 Rank "ONC2023" tag 2/23/2023 Started 2/5/2023 WARNING: This middlegrade book touches on topics of cyber bullying, death, murder, identity, and has LGBTQ characters. PG Rating. The story is based on ONC 2023 contest prompt No. 47: You had a dispute with a cyberbully/keyboard warrior on social media. So you decided to step up and track down the account to confront. But you were shocked when you discovered who the person(s) is/are. BOOK COVER: I created the cover using Canva + staryai to create image of Merlin

Buried in the wreckage of a Compound meant to imprison her, Faine awakens a shell of her former self. With no memories and a growing taste for revenge, she is given the ultimate decision. She must save the city, or herself. Round One 》✅️ 2k 》✅️ Round Two 》 ✅️ 8k 》✅️ Round Three 》✅️ 20k 》✅️ Longlisted 》 ✅️ 》Featured on WattpadUrbanFantasy and Fantasy《 || Start Date 2/1/2023 || Finish Date 4/20/2023 || || Open Novella Contest 2023 ||

[DUO spin-off, prequel to Codename: DEMON]  In the city of Portia, the government has a small branch called the Special Connections Division. On the outside, they serve as a way for for the government to keep an eye out for non-government funded organizations. On the inside, however, their job is different: they operate as a black ops, weeding out criminal organizations and gathering enemy information from the shadows During the night, Lucinda Saffirus works for the SCD as an assassin who uses her blood as a weapon. But during the day, she's a private detective working to solve the major crimes, especially murders, in the city. Juggling new jobs isn't new to her, but raising her eight year old son as a single mother changes a lot of things. Life isn't already easy, but a new threat makes things more difficult--one of the top members of the city's most powerful criminal organization has figured out her identity, and she's given one rule: play their game. And she has no choice but to accept. Otherwise, her family, friends, both jobs, and especially herself will be at risk.

🏆ONC 2023 || Ambassador's Pick 🏆ONC 2023 || Round Two Qualifier One night is all it takes to change a life. There's something wrong with Felicity Farr. It's how she can't seem to do her job right no matter how hard she tries, and how she's still under her parents' thumb years after moving out, and how she looks at girls the way she should look at boys. So even though she can't fix anything, she tries to fix herself all the same. But when a blind date ends with her in an attractive stranger's bed, Felicity is forced to question everything in her life. Especially when said attractive stranger asks her to run away with her for a week. Clover Chai is beautiful, confident, and everything Felicity should avoid. But she captures Felicity like the drag of the tide, and as the week drags on, Felicity finds herself having to choose between her head and her heart---especially since she can't imagine her summer fling remaining a fling anymore.

What would you do if you on day awoke from a two-month long nap to find everyone, and everything had disappeared? Well, this is the story of what a fifteen-year-old did. With only a cat and her next-door neighbor to accompany her quest to discover: The Magic of September. prompt #66 (onc 2023)

He's back, and he's out for revenge. 🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ · ₪ · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ · 🙦 When a secret hidden for 22 years is revealed, every part of Kalisha Morales' life comes tumbling down. The karma of a careless childhood decision has finally arrived on her doorstep with a surprise gift. She ruined his life and Aiden Bryant isn't going to let her go scot-free, not again, no matter how long it has been. Sucked into a battle of survival, Kalisha must become the predator and not the prey or risk losing her life this time. There is no good or evil. There's just doing whatever it takes to survive. Will he get to her first or will she outlive him? 🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ · ₪ · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ · 🙦 Oɴᴄ 2022 Pʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ: 49, 69, 33 ✎ Sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ: 08/02/23 ✎ Fɪɴɪsʜᴇᴅ: TBD Wᴏʀᴅ Cᴏᴜɴᴛ: TBD © 2023 Laz-lequil

This is an original book is written for WATTPAD Open Novella Contest 2023. --- "The world goes on even when I am gone. Don't shed a tear because my memory lives on. Even when I'm not here, my music will be. When you hear my melodies, remember our symphony." Those were the last few words written by Arslan when he knew his life was at a crossroads. They were written to provide solace to another soul who came to mean so much to him. Ren. For Arslan, only his music mattered. His soul sang when his lips couldn't; his heart created lyrics when his body couldn't. Ren is a soul who was Arslan's shadow, a best friend as they come. For years he was in love with the man whom the world adored, yet not once did he confess his heart. He knew nothing would ever take over Arslan's soul. There was only music. But when life was at stake... during these last few moments that fate offered another chance, will these two souls make up for what could have been, or will their feelings be never revealed, and all that would be left in the end is a sad sonnet? --- Prompt No. 44: "Music is a bridge that can join people together regardless of their differences. Connect your characters through their love for music." Prompt No. 57: "Unknown to everyone, you are battling a life-threatening condition. With only a couple of weeks to live, you help your friend get a partner of their dream, except they are in love with you." --- This is a work of fiction. All rights are reserved. No part of this eBook may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means [graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information retrieval systems] or reproduced on any disc, tape, perforated media or other information storage device, etc., without the explicit written permission of the editor. of Breach of the condition is liable for legal action. ©️LuvLaws Only 18+

When a grandmother is declared the Chosen One, she abandons her rocking chair to challenge the Dark Lord who plots to destroy the world. -- Formerly a single mother, now a devoted grandma, Granny Thayer has never left her hometown before, let alone slayed a demon. But she'd better learn fast; she's just been selected as the Chosen One, the only hero who can defeat the nefarious Dark Lord of Devnia and avert a zombie apocalypse. Accompanied by a devastatingly handsome prince, a failed bard, and a werewolf with a dangerous secret, Granny Thayer embarks on a quest full of intrigue and love triangles to save her grandson. This is a collaboration for ONC 2022/2023, written by SophieKestrel and Spelunkadunk. Prompt: "It's always what/who you least expected that blows your mind away."

Open Novella contest 2023 (Prompts 73 and maybe 20?) What happened Maddie-Rose? Hundred of years ago Maddie-Rose was a powerful goddess, with the love of her life Oliver on her mind. One day her mother walks into her daughter's temple and finds her grandson alone with no sign of his parents. Now in the modern day, cousins Katie and Frankie will be going on a school trip. Along with Uncle Tom and Miss Adams.

After waking with no memory of her true identity, Aira must team up with a detective to solve a murder before she's arrested for the crime. 32. Your character awakens to discover a dead body in the bed next to them and a duffel bag stuffed full of cash on the floor... But the scariest thing is, they have no memory of what happened, or even who they are. 82. In a future where humans have the ability to upload their consciousness into virtual reality at the time of their death, a detective must solve a murder case in both the virtual and physical world as the victim's consciousness may still exist in the virtual world and hold the key to solving the crime.

Sixteen-year-old Grace Williams has always been destined to a life in servitude. Born to poor parents, she has spent her life knowing that service is all she shall be able to achieve. Levi Edgeworth has no such fate. Even though he has everything he could ever wish for at his fingertips, he still wants more from life. During a chance meeting, the flip of a coin becomes the decider of their destiny and the two of them agree to follow a stream to uncover its end. Although a seemingly ordinary journey, Grace and Levi quickly find themselves trapped underground with no hope of rescue. Injured and imprisoned in darkness with only each other for company, they must find their own way out of the maze of tunnels before the crumbling walls collapse around them. Based on Prompt 5: 'Flip the coin and make a life choice with it. Two choices, one coin, and no turning back. Do you dare?' (C)Spruce_Goose

Colin Creevy runs into Hermione Granger in Dijon, France after his first year as both of their families are there touring the place for their family vacations. He doesn't expect to find something strange in one of the photos he took the summer Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban. Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter. This is written for ONC, for prompt twenty-six, "As a tourist in a foreign country, you were just snapping pictures. Later that night you go through your camera roll and was shocked to your core when you saw what you caught on camera."

Always willing to put herself last, Catalina Juárez has never rocked the boat. But that all changes when her father insists she marry a man she cannot stand to be near. Hopping into a carriage for hire, she spends the last of her money on a ride to nowhere. Because this mysterious carriage has one rule: you go where it takes you. Well, that was a waste of money, because she isn't even to the edge of town before she's unceremoniously dumped off at a train station. With no money to buy a ticket and no time to think of another plan, Catalina pushes through the crowd and onto the train. Marcos Caballero has never met a problem he didn't want to solve. Traveling alone on a ticket meant for him and a woman who didn't want to be with him, he's taken in by the scared, doe-eyed look of the woman in the dining carriage. She's ticketless and alone; he's lonely and has an excess ticket. Stepping in to save her, he claims her as his wife, not really expecting her to play along past the point of danger. But she quickly steps into the role with ease, acting as if they've known each other their whole lives. Somehow, it seems like they might have. But being on the run from troublesome and powerful fathers isn't without its struggles, and Catalina and Marcos are going to have to decide how much they are willing to risk to put love ahead of duty. ~ * ~ * ~ This is one of the five novellas I'll be writing for this year's ONC! You can find the rest (Hang it Up, Christmas at the Cabin, Love Lies & Red Eyes, and I Don't Want to be Queen) on my profile! For this story, I selected prompt 9. "There's an urban legend that's been circulating for years about a taxicab that doesn't take you where you want to go, but where you need to go. One night, you stepped into this cab." Except make it pre-car-era.

Chris Hallowswift is the heir to the Hallowswift throne. Every date he's ever been on has been organized. He's confined to do whatever his parents organize for him to do and doesn't go out frequently. When his parents organize a blind date for him with an heiress from another well-respected magical family who gives off a bad impression, he never expected to be given an out...and a taste of freedom ---- ONC Prompt 39: On a blind date with a complete mismatch, you're increasingly uncomfortable but too polite to leave. Then an attractive stranger comes over and gives you an out.

For eons, the people of Crisium spun tales of a subterranean continent called Frigoria, located deep beneath the perilous Ice-Cap Mountains central to the continent. Over centuries, many have explored the icy region, only to turn up empty-handed. As time passed, many reduced the tale to nothing but a figment of a rambling madman's imagination. Little did they know that Frigoria actually existed! It was in Frigoria, that an archeologist working on a dig found a thick pane of glass and discovered a massive bio-dome, hidden for too long. Only one organism was inside, and it was meant to be forgotten. However, the creature escaped through a crack on the other side of the dome, into Crisium. As the townspeople of Catherina Island are overcome with a deadly sickness, it's up to Aria Octavia, the only one not afflicted, to find the cause and cure.

Grown up in the simple town of Forn, as the daughter to an innkeeper and ex-soldier, the youthful Marion Barwick aspires to become a soldier herself. Beaten down time and time again by life, she is eventually broken and takes on the role of innkeeper her father always hoped her to have. Here, she reunites with an old friend after losing her partner, who invited her to his wedding. The night before the wedding he confesses love to Marion, as well as his family-in-law's likely plans to murder him during the wedding ceremony in a coup of revenge on his family. Determined to save her love and live happily ever after, she elopes with him. Before they can make it off of the palace premise, he turns back to save his family. Now alone and grieving, Marion is left to pick up the pieces of her life to remind her she is worth of love, no matter what. An homage to simple fantasy, short bittersweet romance stories and stories without teenage protagonists. This story is a short recollection of the life and mind of Marion Barwick, a simple woman in search of a meaning to her life after losing her partner. This romance novel is focused on self-discovery, family and found love. Based on a Dungeons & Dragons game. Prompt 55. Since you've been going out for quite some time, your love arranges for you to meet their parents. When you get to their house and you enter the front door, you hear them say "I'm sorry" as the door closes behind you. ~(✩✧✩)~✶~(✩✧✩)~ Chapter I. • 1627 W (Total 1627 W) Chapter II. • 1974 W (Total 3601 W) Chapter III. • 2530 W (Total 6131 W) Chapter IV. • 1869 W (Total 8000 W)

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, a young girl awoke in a body not her own. 'Mirror mirror on the wall tell no more lies of who we are.' Atticus When the giant mirror shows not her own reflection but that of an evil enchantress, Lucy Lambert realizes that her troubles have only just begone. Waking up as the villainous character of a well-known fairy tale is no walk in the park, especially not when her only options are to die a gruesome death or succeed where the original has failed. *Original Story written for the Open Novella Contest 2023, completed with 25K words*

Eset is finally at peace. But for some, the war still isn't over and old grudges reveal long forgotten secrets.