Winter M. Raven was the girl in her school everyone wanted to be. She was popular, pretty, lived on a farm, and could speak fluently in Chinese, Spanish, English, and Japanese, thanks to her international family. She got straight A's in school and a perfect attendance. People basically though of her as royalty, earning her the nickname "Princess." Though she had many friends, she never really considered any of them her friends. That is, until the new boy, Luke S. Walker moved all the way from Austin, Texas, to Eminence, Indiana, right into the house next to Winter's. She found herself drawn to him in a way that was more than just friends, and finds that every secret of hers is coming out, but will her other, not so Royal side come out as well?
Geoff and Naomi are dead, and they're depressed, but when Geoff's cat Bernie dies as well, they embark on a wild journey to find it in the underworld.
*****
When Geoff dies, alongside his girlfriend Naomi, they end up sharing an apartment in the Underworld as skeletons. But after a few years, Geoff starts suffering a mid-death crisis. What's the purpose of going through the motions as a skeleton if you can't really live? Then he gets word that his cat, Bernie, just died and he can collect him and bring him home! Geoff and Naomi hurry to get Bernie only to discover that, due to a clerical error, their cat has been lost. With the hunt for Bernie giving new purpose to Geoff's un-life, he and Naomi begin a quest to get back their cat. Battling skeleton pirates, climbing the sky ladder and facing off against the villain who took Bernie, Geoff is determined to find his purpose - or die a second time trying!
[[2018 Wattys Winner - The Originals]]
[[word count: 30,000-40,000 words]]