Onc2019 Stories

|| ONC 2019 OVERALL THIRD PLACE WINNER || Every card has a meaning, but not all are pleasant. Siobhan Brady is a Tarot reader, a profession that called to her ever since she was young. So when the same card begins to repeatedly present itself during her daily personal readings, her intuition tells her there's something greater at play than just a random draw. But when the mysterious MacKenzie Stewart crosses her path, Siobhan realizes the cards weren't lying, and soon finds herself in the middle of a deadly spread where not even Fate can determine the outcome. ---------- Entered into the Open Novella Contest 2019 Suspense Fiction Prompt #6 - Tarot ONC Round One Qualifier - 02.12.19 ONC Round Two Qualifier - 03.13.19 ONC Round Three Qualifier (Long List) - 04.18.19 ONC Short List - 04.28.19 ONC Overall Third Place Winner - 07.03.19 Cover by Lucy Rhodes ©2019 M.Dalto Published to Wattpad 01.01.19 Completed 04.02.19

It used to be tradition, to tell the children stories of the gods that lived down in the river. It had been generations since those stories had even closely resembled the truth, but they lingered, until finally they were no longer told at all. Kenzie was never told these stories, so he has his own concerns when his younger sister, Tara, disappears. Was she bitten by a snake? Has she broken her leg, and gotten stranded somewhere far from home? Was she kidnapped by the strange woman who recently appeared in town? But Tara has stumbled across something else entirely, something she has never known even to imagine. The siblings' attempts to find each other will uncover a world of secrets- legends forgotten, in more ways than one.

*Short-listed for the 2019 Open Novella Contest* {2019 ONC Ambassador Pick} Sibling rivalry is a tale as old as time. For Kharma, her particular tale goes back to before time began. She's the youngest of seven archangels, and the only girl. Like her older brother, Lucifer, the Creator had banished Kharma to spend all her days on Earth among the human race fulfilling specific assignments that made them particularly unpopular. After seven thousand years, Lucifer was growing bored and began a campaign to speed up the demise of the Earth and all her inhabitants. Through the invention of the internet and the placement of ridiculous world leaders, along with corruption of religious leaders, he was very close to getting his wish. Just one thing stood in his way... Baby sis. And Kharma is a bitch.

Book 1 of the Paradise Series. - 3019: The world was now advanced in all sorts of technology. They were stronger than any species known. And now, they began their exploration of other planets, searching for what humanity wanted to find even during the past millennium: planets capable of hosting life and paradise to all. At last, in this very year, they have found a planet worthy of being Earth's twin. But as soon as the first humans landed on that same planet, they were killed, suggesting that they were not alone on the new planet. So NASA sent a group of humans to planet Greta to investigate. But eventually, they realized that there is more at stake than what they expected. -

**Featured on DARK FANTASY and ADULT FICTION reading lists** WARNING: EATING OR DRINKING WHILE READING THIS STORY IS HIGHLY INADVISABLE. Once Upon A Time, Good Omens, Monty Python, and Arrested Development had a back-alley three-way and birthed a fairytale. Gerald wasn't supposed to be stuck living seven centuries in the future. He definitely wasn't supposed to be "mentoring" The Dark Lord's progeny in the hopes that she would decide to save the world rather than destroy it. In fact, he wasn't even supposed to be named Gerald (the name of every other male in his family for three hundred years), because everyone assumed a weak-chinned, balding, forgettable man, who was just a magician, could never be who Geraldo The Foreshadower prophesied. But that's what assuming gets you, and here he was saddled with a fate he never asked for, in a time he didn't know, surrounded by people he didn't want to like, and he was out of Firewine AGAIN! The Dark Heir is a darkly satirical tale of assumptions, anti-heroes, and apocalypses, where the road to hell is actually a themed water-park slide covered in slightly less urine than a real one. It drops literary and film references faster than an NYC socialite drops names, and promises endless laughs - including, but not limited to, sad chuckles, guffaws, uncontrollable giggles at inappropriate moments, brays, barks, cackles, snorts, cachinnations, and the occasional howl (though that may be the Welsh Werewolves showing up unannounced). Consider yourself warned... Reviews: "Completely and adorably bonkers," says @floranocturna "Hilarious in every way. Even when I cringed, I laughed," says @LadySapphire2018 Winner of The Trident Awards

Round 3 Long List for the Open Novella Contest Party planning doesn't have to be personal. If anyone knows that, it's Samantha Hall. She's been successful in the Event Planning business without ever getting emotionally involved. It's how she likes it. With no one else to take care of a job, Samantha is forced to face the one thing she's went out of her way to avoid the most. Love. A promotion isn't too far out of reach, and apparently neither is rekindled relationships. What happens when there's a lot more riding on a new client than just a paycheck? Formerly known as: The Engagement _________________________________ Content Warning: Sexual situations, Profanity, Implicit content (implied actions) MA15+ Open Novella Contest 2019: Romance Prompt #3: Engagement Party

Everyone knows Haru pays attention to nobody as his mind is focused on swimming any chance he gets. For this reason nobody expects the reaction Haru has when Gou stops flipping channels on a news report of a young pop idol with local connections going missing. Gossip abounds regarding the local beauty queen and her possible secrets, yet none expect said secrets to involve Haru. Disclaimer - I don't own Free! Note - This is written for Open Novella 2019. The prompt is the General 5: Missing Beauty

"I'm just an ordinary girl. So... Why Me?" That's what Sylvia Olive Smith thought for her entire life. That she was just an ordinary girl. Sure, she scored straight A's and was a little smarter than your average 12 year old, but that's all she thought she was. Average. She couldn't be farther from the truth.

Lorrine Miller, a successful eventologist and a sought-after wedding planner, experienced another heartbreak from the man of her dreams. This breakup changes her entire perspective in love - in happily ever after. How will she fulfill everyone's "happily ever after" if she no longer believes in it? In dreams and in love, there are no impossibilities. A story about dreams, love, and reality. (On Going) ©️ 2019 *** Check In a Perfect World's Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/12152311368/playlist/7wn3bfEfAfzlS5JW3wsoUS?si=Y0s7K2HQTpaRbo6TPWs9-A

Keith tells Shiro not to get on the flight home, so Shiro instead takes a commercial flight. Upon arriving he learns the plane the rest of his unit were on crashed and there were no survivors, yet he finds himself curious regarding why his younger brother knew he shouldn't get on the flight. Disclaimer - I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender or One Day at a Time 2017. Note - This is written for Open Novella 2019. The prompt is Thrilling 1: Saved.

Aled is a gay man in a soldier's uniform. Unhappy with the turn his country is taking, Aled seizes the opportunity to enter a mysterious portal into the strange, primitive world of Thera. Finding himself trapped there, Aled discovers Marius, a man left to wander blindly in the wilderness. Surrounded by intrigue, Aled and Marius must find a way to trust each other, to save both themselves and Thera's Lady. 2022 AMBY AWARDS Winner for Alternate Universe stories. Finalist for the Open Novella Contest 2017/8. Sci-Fi and LGBT ♥ **Edited version now available on Amazon etc with the title PORTAL**

Earth, 2070 AD. 18-year-old Kai and his twin sister Zel are survivors. Two years ago, they lost their parents in an apocalyptic environmental disaster that ravaged Earth, killing many. Kai and Zel now live a scattered, nomadic existence along with other survivors. On a planet left devastated with few natural resources available, Kai and Zel work hard to stay alive. But while Kai goes deeper into Earth for answers, Zel looks to the stars. She is convinced that their time on Earth is limited, and that in order to save humanity, they must travel to Mars. And when a Martian spaceship crash lands into Earth near the Blue Ridge Mountains of their childhood home, Zel sets out on a journey to find a new home on Mars, the Red Planet. *Cover Design by @CelticWarriorQueen17 *Longlisted in Wattpad Open Novella Contest Winners, April 2019. *Second Place Winner for SciFi, Majestic Universal Awards, May 2019. *Second Place Winner for SciFi, The Creativity Awards, June 2019. *Winner, Most Engaging Characters - Fiction, The Futhark Awards, July 2019. *Second Place Winner for SciFi, The Grace Awards, July 2019. *Entry for Science Fiction in the Wattys, 2019. *Featured, Wattpad Science Fiction's Space Opera Reading List, 2020. Stacie Eirich @spacetodream

A tarot reader aids a mysterious man who believes she is the only one who can help him return to his true home in the eerie Manaan caverns where they must fight the natural and supernatural to stay alive. ***** Maxine Shepard is a tarot reader who has survived several traumas in her twenty-five years of life. Without living parents, trusty friends, or a loyal partner, she is unfulfilled and lonely, seeking meaning outside of her tarot shop. Bombarded with visions of a mysterious man with a strange tattoo, Maxine's world is turned upside down when he enters her shop, claiming she is the only one who can help him return to his true home. After reuniting with her old gang to aid the odd man, they become trapped in the maze of the mysterious Manaan caverns where they must fight against the natural and supernatural to stay alive. --- [Wattpad Picks: Editor's Choice] [Wattpad Picks: Friday the 13th] [ ONC 2019 Shortlist ] 🏆 2nd place in the Materia awards 2019 in Paranormal. --- Copyright © 2019 by L.L. Sanders

When Emily wakes up in a hospitalbed after a traffic accident, she can't remember anything from her life before that. Her friends and her dad tell her things, but nothing rings a bell. Then they tell her about the Others - a savage race of people living on the other side of the forest. People with strange, magical powers. As Emily discovers more and more about her old life, she also finds out that people close to her have been lying to her. Can she even trust her own past? Why does she have a photo of an Other boy hidden under her bed? She'll need her memory back to know the truth. Prequel to The Atrament series (Can be read separately). Cover by the fabulous @KatySantiago08.

Where I brainstorm off old and new ONC prompts utilizing various fandom, I'm familiar with to give an idea of how to use prompts during ONC, and figure out the ins and outs of brainstorming for ONC.

{Round 2 open novella qualifier} Down the rabbit hole and into the underworld goes another unlucky soul. Lost, alone, and very confused, Alice joins the long line of the dead, waiting to be judged. To save her from endless boredom comes the chance of a life (death) time. Win the Queen's Tournament and earn back your place in the land of the living. Hundreds of hopefuls are chosen, from every time, place, and death imaginable, but Alice won't go down without a fight. She's determined to complete her trials, including slaying something called a Jabberwocky (which she assumes is some kind of dragon, hurray), navigating an undead forest, and beating every other competitor to the finish. It's a lot to handle alone, but Alice isn't one to give up, and isn't lonely for long. With a mysterious offer from a chatty competitor and paper thin alliance formed, Alice is ready to show the Queen of the dead and her husband that she has what it takes. But when the games begin, the heat of the battle shows Alice that maybe Hell's not that hot after all. #OpenNovellaCONTEST2019 #Godsofdeath

During a massive drought, a Water Witcher goes trekking across several states to visit a friend but finds himself in danger when a group called The Hounds begins hunting him down. 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 1 ~ 🅦🅐🅣🅔🅡 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 Corbin has been witching water since he was a young boy. It's a skill his grandfather taught him to survive living in a time of thirst. He also taught him never to venture farther than their property because the world had become too dangerous with people fighting over water. As an adult, however, he finds himself alone. The home he once shared with his grandfather feels more like an empty shell with echoes of memories. Deciding to head for the road to visit a friend, he sets out to wander what's practically become a wasteland. Except, he soon discovers that since his last adventure north, Water Witchers are being captured and sold to high bidders by a group called The Hounds. With his friend Coyote living up north, a few states away, he'll have to figure out how to get there safely, but it won't be easy with danger at every turn. * * 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧: ~Editor's Pick - Oct 7, 2022~ @Wattpad - Adrenaline Rush @WattpadExplorer - Adrenaline Rush @WattpadDarkFantasy @Adventure - Featured Stories @Fantasy - Featured Fantasy @Mystery Featured Mystery @Adultfiction - Featured Adult Fiction @Action - Featured Action Stories

Cover Credit: @ILoveMusic060803 Alexia Kemp was probably one of the most kind, pure girls that her friends, and family knew. She was always there to help, even when she had a lot of things on her plate. Little did they know about the feelings growing inside of Alexia. Heck, little did she know about them- dark feelings that she couldn't shake. As everyone, Alexia has a dark side, darker than most. Does she have the power to release the darkness when her family and friends are at stake? Is she willing to take the risk summoning the dark will have?

Let me introduce you to the lost world of Kanari. A world full of myths about forgotten wars and races and a legendary sword. Dragons and magic once ruled the land, but with time they vanished. Left were only humans and some Leavers and Wavers, creatures living in the woods and oceans. The humans thought they were the strongest living creatures, and splitted the land into several countries. The Leavers and Wavers had no other chance as to return to their lands of origin. The story I want to tell takes place in the time of Re-appear. When a glimpse of magic laid over the land and dragonewts, harbinger of the dragons have been seen again. And old legends going from ear to ear over the land, about "The one sword", held by the saviour who will bring the land back together. In this time the young dragonewt Caren traveled around the world, in order to find out about her forgotten past. The only clue, an old letter to a lord, who died hundreds of years ago. Caren had been alone most of her life, but when she entered the little, music-filled, tavern her eyes catched a brief sign of the only girl in there, Mary. Who does not dislike Caren, as all other humans do. Dragonewts are not happily welcomed by humans, because they fear the dragons to return. Mary sees in Caren her chance to escape from the town and is sure to have found a familiar soul, because she is feared by humans as well, due to her ability to use magic. It is her hope to find her own destiny somewhere out there in the world together with Caren. Let the story begin! This story is an Open novella contest entry. It follows the fantastical fiction #3 (legendary sword) and #4 (myths of the old world)

I'm keeping track of my notes and reflecting on my writing process regarding my Open Novella writing.