Being a 'difficult woman', Oklahoma farm-gal Mavis wasn't having much luck with the local dating pool. Her Pa signed her up to emigrate to newly terraformed Mars, because 'Mars needs women'. Maybe there she could find a good man to marry. But Mavis had no intention of getting hitched, despite what the legal contract said. Walt, the son of successful Mars merchants, had no intention of going through with a forced arranged marriage. Finding a kindred spirit in Mavis, they chose their own path. A sci-fi sorta-romance story written for the 2024 Open Novella Contest based on prompt #88: "Your father is forcing you to marry someone you never met. The night before your wedding, you tie your sheets together and make your escape through the window. Half way down you make eye contact with someone doing the exact same thing a few windows over." **** Open Novella Contest Short List and Honorable Mention **** **** Open Novella Contest Round Two Ambassador Pick ****

Collection of short stories for the Spec-fic Smack Down of 2024 by @LayethTheSmackDown Cover photo is a Mason's Trichrome colouring of skin, 400x zoomed in. Sliced, washed, coloured & photographed by Yours Truly for school.

#1 in Robots for 10/15 #1 in Monsters 09/21 #1 in Cyber 08/3 #1 in Cyberpunk 09/14 𝘈 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. ________________ "You are a virgin?" Genesis felt her eyes began to water, and she yanked down her skirt a little, "Maybe. Is that a bad thing?" "Of course not," he responded quickly, trailing back into the room where he lay on the silk bed. It seemed so inviting and delicate- the way the fabric slid against his metallic body. Genesis walked further inside as well, hearing the door slide shut behind her. She examined him with temptation, laid out before her with his back against the headboard. His legs slowly spread open, inviting her to dive into them. "I will be gentle. I promise."

Single mom Selina Sardi would do anything for her 6-year-old son. Eager to turn their new house into a real home for him, she's devastated when she discovers that the monster under his bed is not a figment of his imagination but the real deal. Elias Zwarteveen started his bogeyman career twenty-four years ago and he has been living in the same attic since. He would love nothing more than a change of scenery, but if he wants to move, he needs to rebuild his strength. The only way to do that is to consume plenty of fear. Selina and Elias strike a deal. She will feed him her fears for seven nights in a row, after which he will leave and never return. There's nowhere to hide in the small attic room and Elias picks up on fears Selina wasn't even aware of. Selina and Elias embark on a heated, emotional rollercoaster. What starts as a game of cat and mouse evolves into an intense yearning that will be hard to walk away from. Yet, that is exactly what they intend to do when the week is over. Seven Nights with the Bogeyman is a steamy monster romance with explicit sex scenes between two consenting adults, written for the ONC2024. Enjoy! ONC Prompt 5: Horror is in the eye of the beholder ONC2024 SHORTLIST & HONORABLE MENTION 1 in #ONC2024 feb.16 '24 1 in #opennovellacontest2024 feb.18 '24 1 in #bogeyman march 6'24 1 in #monsterromance may 2'24 1 in #romantasy may 28 '24 1 in #paranormalromance june 3 '24 1 in #paranormal may 15'24 6 in #lovestory July 2'24 12 in #darkromance July 2'24 1 in #speculative July 2'24

An ONC shortlister! The long-forgotten god of chaos awakes when a small child drops a piece of candy onto his altar, unwittingly becoming the high priest of chaos. The god is beholden to his priest and his priest's people--AKA: his kindergarten classmates. The children are all-too-delighted to serve the whims of mayhem until the chaos becomes too much, even for them. They forbid the god from using his power. But when disaster strikes and the whole school is in danger, a bit of bedlam might be the only thing that can save the children, the town, and the god's budding romance with a schoolteacher. Based on the Open Novella Contest 2023 prompt: #73 - You are a long-forgotten god. A small kid leaves candy at your shrine and you awaken. Now, you must do everything to protect your High Priest/Priestess, the kid, and their entire kindergarten class, your worshippers. #ONC2023 #OpenNovellaContest

Leroy Adkins is an underperformer. He barely graduated. He barely got a job, and he hardly socialized in his day-to-day life. Zachary Turner has been sick for as long as he can remember, and as he grows older the crushing realization that he never got to experience his youth or transition into a normal adult life starts to weigh on him. What happens when the two meet after a promise of cat cuddles, and the youthful giddiness of new romance and feelings bloom? They might just be a little too old for all of this.

ONC Ambassador's Pick & Shortlister! Rumors. Infidelity. Lies. Secrets. MURDER. And all before lunch time. Who knew being a socialite in 1951 could be so thrilling? ~~~ On a lovely June afternoon, as the oh-so-chic members of the Gilded Grove Ladies' Book Club gather for their scheduled luncheon, they are shocked to receive the news that their vice president, Camilla Otis, is unable to attend. Gossip ensues. What catastrophe could possibly have befallen her to warrant a last minute cancellation? The answer comes by way of two clever, dashing police officers. It seems Camilla Otis has had quite a busy morning, and that the truth behind her absence is far more scandalous than the Book Club ladies could ever have imagined. As the police dig deeper into the events surrounding Mrs. Otis' shocking crime, buried secrets about the other Book Club members begin to surface. None of the women in question are the fine, upstanding ladies of society that the public believes them to be. Each has tarnish on her so-called "sterling reputation." And no one has more to hide than club president Marcella Montgomery. Written for ONC 2024, this is a tongue-in-cheek "whodunit" (in reverse) that will leave you wondering just what a scorned woman *wouldn't* do for sweet, sweet revenge. ⚠️ Warning: many very nonchalant references to murder and death. Very ignorant (era-realistic), inaccurate comments about nationalities/cultures outside the US.

'Death is coming in the Autumn.' That's what Tira tells Verity. But Verity is stuck in her life, and doesn't understand just what's at stake, until it's much too late... A novella written for ONC23. Guidance: mild horror, sex references.

Does true love deserve a second chance? The summer before university, Emily met and fell in love with Finn. It was a love to stand the test of time. Until Finn disappeared without so much as a goodbye. Eight years later, a twist of fate brings Finn back into Emily's life. Can she finally get answers to the questions that have kept her from moving on? Or does true love deserve a second chance? A reimagination of Jane Austen's Persuasion. ⭐Reviews⭐ "Let me tell you something... I never ever read a sex scene as beautiful as this one! Like ever! It was something so simple, so pure, so lovely! " "Amazing! ✨ The story is flowing very well! The way you tell his POV is so beautiful ."