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 mayhe...
[ONC 2023 SHORTLISTER] Prompt 63: A rivalry between two coworkers has unforeseen consequences. *** Down on her luck with a string of 12 unfateful heartbreaks following her, twenty-six-year-old Cate Miller, having accepted herself as a 21st Century spinster is satisfied being one of the best editors in a successful pub...
Evelynn Alters is a young woman working hard to make her way in the world. Whether by choice or bad luck, she flits from place to place and job to job. To others, she is a bit of an outcast; an introvert who excels in whatever she attempts, but never sticks around long enough to achieve real success. But who is she...
"There's something in the forest," was Charlie's response. "What?" Will squinted but aside from trees he saw nothing. "There's nothing there Charlie." When the girl shook her head, the beads from her braids clacked together. "Mr. P, there's something in there." Later, Will would wish that he had listened to her. Wha...
Deep in the Bavarian woods, where the faerie realm touches on the human world lies Schloss Mondschein. Owned by a corrupted human family, the castle is the playground of the Fae. The human staff are their toys. Servant's daughter Andromeda Arendt has watched their cruel antics her entire life. From the shadows, she w...
Four strangers are trapped in an elevator and forced to reveal details about their most malicious deeds within the hour to prevent a fall to their death. But as secrets are exposed, tension escalates, leading to a reality no one is prepared for. ***** Tasha Pierce receives an anonymous invitation she believes is from...
It's referred to by several names: the ghost frequency, the haunted frequency, the fear infrasound. You can't hear sound at 18.98 hertz, but your body feels it, and when it does, some believe you've opened yourself to the world of the supernatural. Liv used to believe the ghost frequency was real, and so did her frien...
Determined and quick thinking, Amelia Conti is okay on her own. She's also an expert in outdoor sports. So when her boss offers her the winter hike of a lifetime, she says yes even before she knows who she'll be guiding. Or how much it will pay. If she'd taken the time to research the man who bought the last-minute...
| 𝟳𝘅 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 ·|| HUNGER GAMES x CINDER || ONC 2023 Honorable Mention Amidst the escalating unrest between the windborne utopian city of Lighthaven and its seedy, oppressed underbelly Fumedge, the Grand Duke of Lighthaven, Lucius Sextus, comes up with an ingenious solution. To provide much-wanted respite fro...
Harley Sinclair finds herself attracted to bad boys. Not only do tattoos and motorcycles attract her, but she loves a walking red flag. Does he have a bad temper? Sexy. Does he tell white lies? Mysterious. Wears his baseball cap backward? Hot. Wilder Sharp is full of these warnings, and Harley is counting every si...
SHORTLISTED. Paul Finn wakes to discover that not only is he feeling horribly sick but, more worryingly, the naked stranger in his bed isn't moving. If only he could remember what happened... My story for the ONC 2023, a thriller scifi adventure, with a touch of romance. (SciFi /Adventure / LGBT)