Zerseus

Hey guys!
          	
          	It's been a while since I last published anything, and honestly, it sucks not being able to write consistently because of all the stuff life throws at you, but I hope you guys are doing well and have been doing better than me at least!
          	
          	I'm hoping to work on 'Midnight Elysium' at least semi-frequently from now onwards (fingers crossed). No schedule yet, but I hope to have a backlog of chapters soon that I can just schedule to publish every week.
          	
          	And for those wondering - the earlier title of this story was 'Under the Midnight Sun', which I found to be a bit lackluster considering the grander scope of the latter half of this novella, and so I found 'Midnight Elysium' to be more fitting. I've also changed the cover art for it—let me know your thoughts!
          	
          	Lastly, go check it out! I've just published the latest chapter 'Chapter 3: Vitalis'. Looking forward to hearing you guys' feedback in the comments—enjoy!! :)
          	
          	https://www.wattpad.com/1323477830-midnight-elysium-chapter-3-vitalis

Zerseus

@DillPexe Thanks man. I wish I were still in school :') I used to have so much more free time to read, write, watch and game back then. Life just gets so much harder the older you get, with all the responsibilities and everything. Doesn't help when you have a crappy job that doesn't respect you and when you're faced with multiple deaths in your close family in less than a year either.
          	  I'm doing better now though, which is why (I hope) I can publish more frequently. Writing is as much a distraction for me as it is my passion, so that helps.
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Zerseus

@vaporization thank you! :)
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vaporization

@Zerseus hey! welcome back! glad I get to read more of your stuff :)
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Zerseus

Hey guys!
          
          It's been a while since I last published anything, and honestly, it sucks not being able to write consistently because of all the stuff life throws at you, but I hope you guys are doing well and have been doing better than me at least!
          
          I'm hoping to work on 'Midnight Elysium' at least semi-frequently from now onwards (fingers crossed). No schedule yet, but I hope to have a backlog of chapters soon that I can just schedule to publish every week.
          
          And for those wondering - the earlier title of this story was 'Under the Midnight Sun', which I found to be a bit lackluster considering the grander scope of the latter half of this novella, and so I found 'Midnight Elysium' to be more fitting. I've also changed the cover art for it—let me know your thoughts!
          
          Lastly, go check it out! I've just published the latest chapter 'Chapter 3: Vitalis'. Looking forward to hearing you guys' feedback in the comments—enjoy!! :)
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1323477830-midnight-elysium-chapter-3-vitalis

Zerseus

@DillPexe Thanks man. I wish I were still in school :') I used to have so much more free time to read, write, watch and game back then. Life just gets so much harder the older you get, with all the responsibilities and everything. Doesn't help when you have a crappy job that doesn't respect you and when you're faced with multiple deaths in your close family in less than a year either.
            I'm doing better now though, which is why (I hope) I can publish more frequently. Writing is as much a distraction for me as it is my passion, so that helps.
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Zerseus

@vaporization thank you! :)
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vaporization

@Zerseus hey! welcome back! glad I get to read more of your stuff :)
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Zerseus

So I wasn't able to keep up with the 30-Day Versification writing contest, but I had this one story at the back of my mind for a while now, so I decided that hey, maybe I should just put it out there.
          
          I seriously need to be more disciplined, it's a bummer because Versification had a ton of great prompts too. Maybe I'll still try and add to this anthology if I feel inspired to write more short stories based on their prompts, despite the fact that the contest has ended.
          
          Anyway, here's Short Story #4 - 'Whispers of a Cursed Land'. Back to cosmic horror with this one, specifically focused on the lesser-known (and less explored) Japanese eldritch monstrosities. Hope you guys enjoy! ^^
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1335045565-dreams-of-infinity-other-short-stories-whispers-of

Zerseus

@Digital_F1aw By genres do you mean the Ambassador profiles that I mentioned? You can find the full list of English Ambassador profiles over here - https://www.wattpad.com/480647104-community-guidebook-all-english-profiles
            
            As for a calendar of the ongoing and upcoming contests, you can find that here - https://www.wattpad.com/1314057432-calendar-of-contests-may-contests
            
            You should definitely try them out some time if you find the time for it. Mostly they're short story contests but there's also some extremely popular ones like the OpenNovellaContest (ONC), which a lot of people look forward to every year. There's also extremely creative ones like the Shiver Me Timbers contest by talesofthedeep, which is this sort of 'choose your own adventure'- style contest where you have to pick between different prompts for every round and end up with a coherent novella.
            
            Also, this is obvious but winning these, especially the ones organized by the bigger Ambassador profiles (or a bunch of them) can be super useful to grow your audience, since part of the prize is usually a shoutout from all participating profiles and your book being showcased on their Reading Lists.
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Digital_F1aw

@Zerseus ah, haha! Yeah, keeping that up for 30 days is a lot harder than one would assume early on, I bet. 
            You’re not wrong there! Prompts can spur some of the most fascinating pieces of fiction out of just the right person at the right time.
            How do you find all the genres for such a thing?
            But, all that sounds very interesting. I might tackle that soonish… but I probably should stop overloading myself with stuff so much. 
            Are they all under StoriesUndiscovered guy/thing’s profile?
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Zerseus

@Digital_F1aw Versification is this 30-day poem/short story writing contest where each day has a different prompt, meant to help people complete their NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) goals. It's organized every April by a bunch of Wattpad Ambassador profiles on here, usually it's just poems but this time they included short story prompts as well.
            
            It's pretty fun, there's a bunch of these Wattpad Ambassador contests every month, I mostly compete in the ones by ScienceFiction, fright, mythandlegend, and StoriesUndiscovered (who are also super helpful in getting your story out there, they provide free publicity by adding your novel onto their Reading List for a month - all you need to do is fill their form). Tried taking up the 30-day writing challenge but failed miserably lol, but yeah there's a bunch of interesting prompts on StoriesUndiscovered's Versification book that I still might try and use as inspiration for some short stories as part of my 'Dreams of Infinity' anthology.
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Zerseus

“We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is. We are searching for an ideal image of our own world: we go in quest of a planet, a civilization superior to our own but developed on the basis of a prototype of our primeval past.”
          
          ― Stanisław Lem, Solaris

Zerseus

@WanderScholar I've yet to watch the movies, but yes the novel was absolutely brilliant!
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WanderScholar

+1 Love this quote. Great novel. Interesting films based on it. Cheers!
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Zerseus

@binniebaker It is!! Solaris is brilliant and the concept of planetary consciousness is an absolutely horrifying and thought-provoking reality to fathom, highly recommend it if you haven't read it already.
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Zerseus

I'm super happy to announce that Gehenna won First Place in two categories - Best Argument/Insult & Best Worldbuilding, and Third Place in two categories - Best Action Scene & Historical Fiction - for the Wonder Awards!
          
          Though I just write as a hobby, receiving acknowledgment like this for my work genuinely motivates me to write more and be more consistent. I'm also deeply grateful to you guys who consistently read whatever I put out and give me valuable feedback and thought-provoking comments!
          
          Lastly, huge thanks to @AdrielleReina for all the wonderful feedback & @Mariya_Evans for organizing the awards! ^^

ACSutliff

@Zerseus you are very welcome! Motivation to write is so important. I’m glad I could provide some motivation for you!
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Zerseus

@mikeyoung87 @AdrielleReina @the-red-jester @ellewritestuff Thanks!! :)
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Zerseus

@binniebaker @ACSutliff Thank you so much for the kind words ^^ I still feel like I have a long way to go, but these small achievements and your support are so incredibly helpful & motivational!! I'm so glad Gehenna has been a thought-provoking read for you guys!
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Zerseus

Hey guys!
          
          I'd like to give a huge shoutout to this criminally underrated horror author - @LosersWatt. If I could describe his works in a few words, it'd be "spine-chilling cosmic horror dripping with beautifully lyrical prose". His short stories are hands down some of the best Lovecraftian horror I've ever come across on this site.
          
          I'd like to highlight three of his stories in particular which especially blew me away and scratched that same Lovecraftian itch that the works of Lovecraft and the greatest of those he inspired do.
          
          The first - 'Where God Once Lay' - a chilling tale of a man stranded at sea, left alone with a mycelial monstrosity he can barely comprehend. A beautifully original eldritch entity, ticking every box of what makes cosmic horror so terrifying.
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/331862174
          
          The second - 'Who Heard the Sound' - a horrifying story about a man who finds an object that defies reality, leading his psyche down into the depths of antediluvian truths that should've never been unlocked. Expect pure, unadulterated terror throughout.
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/336385069
          
          And lastly, my favorite - 'What Lay Below' - a cave explorer in a canoe magnetically drawn deeper and deeper into an almost infinite cave that houses beings of the primordial kind. This one captivated me throughout, reminding me of the very same exploratory horror that Lovecraft evokes in his masterpiece 'The Nameless City'.
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/326231303
          
          All in all, no amount of words can help me capture the sheer amounts of beauty and dread that @LosersWatt's stories ooze, you need to experience them for yourself. Go check his stuff out if these sound like something you'd enjoy!

Zerseus

@LosersWatt Your stuff is brilliant!! Your stories genuinely deserve so much more recognition. I'll be glad if I'm able to expose even a handful of my followers to your stuff; I'm 100% sure they'll enjoy them as much as I did.
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Zerseus

Entry for Day 2 of @StoriesUndiscovered's Versification contest - 'In the Throes of Tranquility' is out now! This one's inspired by a new favorite horror author of mine - Thomas Ligotti's works. If you're a fan of his as well, do let me know how I did with this one! (More Psychological Horror than Cosmic Horror.)
          
          Go check it out, as well as Day 1's entry 'Dreams of Infinity' if you haven't already, enjoy! ^^
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1330825111-dreams-of-infinity-other-short-stories-in-the