Sammi Cox

Who else is excited for ONC 2026? It's one of my favourite writing challenges of the year...

I've added a new chapter to my collection of short stories, inspired by Short Story's latest drabble prompts.
          
          The drabble, A Very Simple Choice, is a sci-fi vignette, and was a fun write. I'm looking forward to expanding it as part of one of my current WIPs.
          
          If you have a read of it, I hope you enjoy it!
          
          Have a wonderful rest of the week!
          
          Sammi x
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/162892521?utm_source=android&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_reading&wp_page=reading&wp_uname=sammiscribbles

Happy New Year!
          
          Wishing you all the best for 2026!
          
          Do you have any writing or reading goals for 2026? Or maybe a writing-focused New Year's resolution or two?
          
           I'm still thinking mine through in an attempt not to be overly ambitious and instead aim for goals that are achievable without burdening myself with crazy amounts of stress and anxiety...
          
          Sending you the brightest of blessings, 
          
          Take care,
          
          Sammi x 

A couple of nice surprises this morning...
          
          Fantasy have added my novella from ONC 2024 to their Urban Fantasy reading list. Yay! Thank you so much for selecting it. You can find The Midnight Moon here, if you're interested:
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/361926445-the-midnight-moon-onc-2024
          
          And, one of my responses to a Fantasy question of the week has been added to their most recent newsletter, for which I'm ever so pleased. If you follow me over on my blog, you will know how much Tolkien's writing means to me as both as a reader and a writer, so my answer to the question wouldn't surprise anyone at all. What might be surprising is that I didn't write an essay in the Fantasy's profile comment section ;-)
          
          So the question:
          
          Which fantasy author’s writing style resonates with you the most, and what do you enjoy about it?
          
          And my answer:
          
          Tolkien. Definitely Tolkien. Not only does his writing resonate with me as a reader but he has influenced my writing too. I love how landscape, and the interaction of landscape and people, features prominently in his stories, whether that's in terms of historical echoes, current experience, or simply the amazing geography of Middle Earth.
          
          Thanks again to the Fantasy profile. They've made my weekend 

Wow. My latest piece of writing, The House in the Woods, has been published for 12 hours and it has already had 7 spam / scam comments. Wonderful! My own personal record. (Can you detect the sarcasm in my words?)
          
          Not that any spammers / scammers are likely to read this comment - they don't even read what they claim to  be "great writing" and "great storytelling", but I will, and I do, delete all comments of this ilk. If it doesn't look like a genuine comment, I don't want it on my work.
          
          

I might be leaving it a little late, but I've just posted a new piece of flash fiction, and entered it into the Shortys 2025...
          
          The House In The Woods is a just-shy-of 2000 words prequel to The Demon of the Woods, my entry for this year's ONC, and it tells the story of Fern and her demon in the months leading up to the events in the novella.
          
          I really enjoyed writing it, and after a few months away from the story, I'm eager to get back to it.
          
          If you have a read of it, I hope you enjoy it!
          
          Have a great week!
          
          Sammi x
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/402259760-the-house-in-the-woods

After a few months away, I'm back and trying to get a handful of submissions sorted for The Shortys. 
          
          First up, a new poem has been added to Scattered Voices, This Place is Full of Hearts.
          
          If you have a read of it, I hope you enjoy it!
          
          Have a great weekend, 
          
          Sammi x
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1578966236-scattered-voices-this-place-is-full-of-hearts

A new drabble has been added to my short fiction collection, Embrace the Night.
          
          An Intergalactic Union was inspired by the most recent Short Story profile drabble prompt, and was so much fun to write. The plan is to extend it into its own story because so many questions need answers...
          
          You can find it here:
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1550066117-embrace-the-night-and-other-stories-an

The Demon of the Woods has made it on to this year's ONC short list! Yay! A little surprised, if I'm being honest, but still very much Yay!
          
          Congrats to everyone who made it through. Also many thanks to those working hard over at the ONC profile. It's truly appreciated.
          
          I'm currently in the process of going over my story away from Wattpad, to see how easy it will be to extend it into a novel, and then maybe submit it to The Wattys. I'm also wondering if it's possible to keep the novella as it is and somehow adapt it into a new novel, separate from the novella, but so that they can both co-exist in the same universe. I hope that makes sense...? We shall see...
          
          But for now, you can find my ONC entry here:
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/390574349-the-demon-of-the-woods

So Monday morning, I still had 8,215 words to add to my ONC story. With 3 days to go, and lots to do, I wondered if there was any point trying to hit the deadline. It felt pretty impossible...
          
          But I tried anyway, and I've done it! Yay! I've finished my novella and got it submitted into Round 3 of the contest. Woohoo!
          
          I really enjoyed writing this story. The ending wasn't what I expected to write, so was a surprise as much for me as for anyone else reading it. (Don't you love it when that happens?)
          
          The plan is to have a little break from this project, before extending it (there is still so much story here and so much more to explore) and if I finish it in time, I'll submit it to The Watty's...
          
          For now, if you want to have a read of a story that has a demon, a witch, a love triangle, past lives, a curse, as well as folklore in it, you can find The Demon of the Woods, here:
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/390574349-the-demon-of-the-woods