Stories say that the Witch rained curses down on Devil's Corner, that she made the woods grow strange and wild, made shadows leap and dance and snatch up stray children for supper. In a small town on the edge of a dangerous forest, stories are never in short supply, and they are held dearer than truth. Thea lost her hand to the things that live in the wood, and she can't shake loose the voice that lured her there. But her Pa fed her tales of magic and heroes, and promises that even the darkest things have hearts. When her brother is attacked by the Witch's gruesome creations, Thea breaks into her cottage, determined to save him from a fate she knows all to well. Because in Devil's Corner, stories are true, and Thea knows the greatest one of all: the only way to break a curse, is to kill the witch. --- COMPLETE - 20,000 words Written for Wattpad's 2024 Open Novella Contest. ONC 2024 SHORTLISTER

What do you do when a teenage movie star makes it seem as if you've kidnapped him? After working two summers at his father's health club as a towel boy, Peter Fisk saved enough money to visit California. He literally runs into Lance Hardwood in his hotel lobby - and Lance just wants to have fun, incognito. Pete gets caught up in a mad escape from Disney reps, paparazzi and a trio of Lance's superfans; and finds that maybe, just maybe - Lance has kidnapped his heart.

When Bryony -- herbalist extraordinaire -- goes missing, Bella knows one suspect stands above the rest. The village's aspiring second witch, Daphne, comes from a family that's tried to take Bryony down before, and Daphne seems determined to carry on that legacy. For someone who's always been terrified of Bryony, she's a little too keen on looking into the disappearance. There's just one problem. Bella's insufferable fellow familiar thinks the kid is innocent... and he's been right about worse things before. If Daphne herself is to be believed, clues on the disappearance lead a whole lot closer to home than Bella would like. As the evidence mounts, Bella must choose to either stand by her values and the woman who raised her, or seek what might be a truth she would rather not uncover. Prompt #81: The town's witch has gone missing and no one is looking for her but her two familiars - a crow and a black cat, plus the teen who has always been scared of her. ❖❖❖ Written for Wattpad's 2024 Open Novella Contest. Longlister. Complete. Comments and critiques are both welcome and appreciated. I write characters from many different backgrounds, with many different experiences. If you share those traits and find that I have misrepresented anything, please let me know! I am feedback-friendly and here to learn :)

Two brides. A love to die for. Let corpses litter the cathedral, drained bodies taking the place of roses. For one way or another- Vows will be exchanged. _________ Sapphic vampire-werewolf erotica, loosely based on Bram Stoker's Dracula. This gothic horror is set in an alternate universe in the Regency and Victorian Eras. _________ In 1814, Lady Marienne is left for dead on the streets of London. With her final breath, she makes an oath to the Goddess of Darkness, cursing herself to an eternity as a vampire. Marienne's lover, Lady Elisabeta, believing her to be truly gone, flings herself to her own demise. When Lady Marienne rises from the grave, she finds that the love of her life has ended hers. In her moment of despair, she calls upon the Goddess of Moons to bring back her lost love, inadvertently cursing her to reincarnate as a werewolf. Eighty years later, Marienne tracks down the reincarnated Lady Elisabeta, only to find that she has no memory of her past life and is now engaged to a Mr. Jonathan Harker. Marienne will take back her lost love, even if it means setting the world on fire. Lovers reunite in a dark entwining of souls; a morbid wedding of ghouls and ghosts. _______________ Warning This is an erotic romance and is rated mature (18+) for explicit content (smut, lol), as well as dark themes and potential triggers - blood/gore, and there's some murder (cause it's a vampire book, duh!) Basically, not recommended for younger audiences. _______________ Written for ONC2024 using prompts: "Horror is in the eye of the beholder." "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." "I will become as monstrous as I must"

Araminta was called a witch. Now she's gone. And the last person who saw her is looking for answers. *** A Good Girl's Guide To Murder x Wednesday *** Two years ago, Araminta Green disappeared. Her neighbor and classmate Jordan Thompson was the last person who saw her, walking through a graveyard in the early morning hours. Jordan was intimidated by Araminta. With her pale-powdered face, black lips, spider-web eyeliner, and her love for tarot reading, it was no wonder that people speculated that Araminta was a witch. But Jordan was also intrigued by her dark aura, sensing that she may be as lonely as him. Maybe if he had reached out to her back then, she wouldn't be missing now. When Jordan is tasked with creating an investigative podcast for a college course, there is no question about which case he wants to delve into. With his cat Kiki as his co-pilot, Jordan sets off to answer the question of what happened to Araminta, even as his recordings constantly get disrupted by a cawing crow in the background. Following the trail of Araminta, Jordan discovers truths both about his missing classmate and himself, because while he hasn't vanished he is definitely lost as well. Will he be able to find both himself and Araminta? *** An ONC novella using prompt #81: The town's witch has gone missing and no one is looking for her but her two familiars - a crow and a black cat, plus the teen who has always been scared of her.

Peaky Blinders meets Bonnie and Clyde. **** Eighteen-year-old Kit Jones has spent his life on the wrong side of the law. Having grown up poor in London's seedy East End, Kit has fought tooth and nail just to survive. Emily Masters cannot say the same. Born to rich parents, she's been handed everything she could ever dream of on a silver plate, but she longs for adventure. When Emily and Kit's lives collide, they find they have more in common than they first thought. Hiding from the police is one thing, but when Emily's parents come looking for her, the two must do whatever they can to avoid being caught. They quickly realise that a life on the run is no life at all, but they may have gone too far to get out. Based on Prompt 14: "My Love, believe me, waiting for you has always been a form of freedom." - Alexandra Vasiliu.

A vampire named Citlali receives an email from an old lover who broke her heart centuries ago. The message says the immortal is dead and she left a key for Citlali in a bank in New York. But the same message had been sent to two other persons whose identity Citlali ignores and the safe can only be opened if the three of them are present. Dear Citlali is a queer polyamorous paranormal romance. This story is set in the For Centuries Universe but can be read as a standalone. Cover by Bartholomé Girard

**ONC SHORTLISTER 2024** Heems is an energy vampire, a parasite, draining xeir hosts' energy with a single touch. That is until xe meets Shiro, a wily thief who happens to be the only person immune to Heems's parasitism. ---- Working as a doctor on dwarf planet Eris, Heems drains the energy of xeir unknowing hosts -- Eris's sickly hospital patients -- to survive. Heems's rare parasitic condition doesn't seem to have a cure until xe attempts to make a host out of an injured smuggler. Heems's touch has no effect on the handsome vagrant, Shiro, possibly the only person in the Solar System immune to Heems's parasitism. Galvanised by the hope of finding a cure, Heems spirals into a deep obsession with Shiro, setting them both on a collision course with powerful organisations desperate to keep hidden Eris's biggest secret: that parasites can be hosts too. ☉ Energy vampirism ☉ LGBT+ romance ☉ Non-binary main character ☉ Cyberpunk ~~☉~~ Notes on gender in this Novella: Heems uses xe/xeir pronouns. This book is written in first person so don't worry if you're new to these pronouns since there aren't so many in the book. Content Warning: This book is rated mature. It contains potentially triggering topics such as extreme hunger, chronic debilitating illnesses, suicide ideation, drug misuse, sexual intercourse while under the influence of recreational and medicinal drugs.

Three years ago, Ivelle Delaville poisoned her murderous git of a husband and ran away to start a new life. Now blissfully single, Ivelle is content with her carpentry business (apart from the crushing debt), and she's determined to live a life free of romance and villainy. Or so she thinks. Faced with the threat of foreclosure, Ivelle has a choice: poison the evil Prince Eirifold in exchange for a metric f*ckton of gold, or starve to death as her carpentry business goes bankrupt. It seems like a no-brainer... except for one problem. The prince she's been hired to poison may not be as evil as advertised. He's also a really good kisser. ~ Book 1 of The Murdery Marriages ~

"An eye for an eye, a kiss for a kiss." We all know the story: Honor's pragmatic world collides with Levi's unconventional life-with a revenge kiss. Newly single, she crafts a strict guide to finding "the one." However, her plans take an unexpected turn as she finds herself falling for the guy who challenges everything she thought she knew about herself and love. A decade after the heated romance that sparked the bestselling novel that captivated the world, Podcast Journalist Lilah Mōkena interviews the real life Honor and Levi, Alexia Fairchild and Lucca Mendoza to learn what happened after happily ever after. The lines between reporter and subject blurring as Lilah unexpectedly finds herself falling for the enigmatic woman who inspired her favorite character. ONC 2024 PROMPTS USED 29. An eye for an eye a kiss for a kiss 33. A broken Heart Beats with all its pieces. And it still wants the same person 38. "I hate you so much, I can't even bring myself to kill you" 43. "They look good on paper, I look good on you" 45. "Keep your happily ever after, it aint mine" 85. "If you do that again, I'll throw you out that freaking window, What are you doing?" "Checking how high the drop is to see if it's worth it"