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Noteworthy

Black Dragon

By Genevieve Ann Atwater

5

~ 5

150

It was in the air. The islanders stared in amazement, their mouths hanging open, as the great ship cut through the clouds above them, gleaming gold in the noontime sun. Its sails were all scarlet, and rising above them waved a crimson flag marked wit ...

DRIVEN

By The Behrg

3

~ 10

81

They will call her Monster. Child killer. A seething psychopath. Though right now she is just another hapless driver fighting traffic on her daily commute, unaware of the destination to which she will arrive. For her next stop is not a location, but ...

The Emerald City

By Cassiopeia Fletcher

3

~ 27

168

Nine-year-old Jonas is about to embark on the journey of a lifetime: crossing the main street to the corner store all by himself.

The Billionaire Mentor

By Deb Goodman

3

~ 8

234

A billionaire explorer and a suspense novelist at a dating retreat? Too bad their relationship is fake.

Semper Romanus

By Christopher Jones

4

~ 21

163

At the edge of Roman power, a yearlong struggle with the invading Carthaginian horde leads to division within the halls of Saguntum, Rome's farthest outpost.

Dollie

By Miranda Renaé

3

~ 4

282

Nora had a love-hate relationship with her job, the smells of a campfire, and fresh dirt being the love. She sat down on a log at the edge of the fire, watching her clients, the bright lights of their phones, and orange spikes of the flames highlight ...

Mistress Mary

By Caren Hahn

7

~ 16

298

It's bad enough helping her aging mother-in-law sort through fifty years of clutter. But when she finds an antique doll that takes the nightmare to a new level, Mona is ready to call it quits. The doll, however, has other ideas.

Headless

By Cass Weldon

6

~ 13

266

Indigo dismounted her motorcycle with carefully unhurried speed. The moon overhead was bright and silvery, and the noise coming from the house was happy—chattering voices and scattered laughter pouring out from golden glowing windows. The autumn nigh ...

Spooky

By Rae Sterling

4

~ 10

402

It was the day before Halloween that I found her on my doorstep. She was just too adorable, a tiny black kitten with huge green eyes just sitting on top of the Jack-o-lantern on my porch like some sort of Halloween postcard. I was supposed to be leav ...

Blog Entries of the Brokenhearted

By Stephanie Van Orman

4

~ 29

321

The wind blew the grass in waves that rippled like the waves of the sea. The tombstones didn't bend to the wind. She couldn't see him, but in her mind, he was there.

The Librarynth of the Lost

By Taya Okerlund

4

~ 14

412

An evil assassin is plotting the death of Fairy's crown prince. The princess will have to get her hands dirty, making some sketchy bargains, just to protect them, but the traitor is closer than you think.

Dragon's Fury: Chapter One

By Brian Meeks

3

~ 5

222

From out of the mist it flew... ...a dragon bent on revenge and hungry for power. Who will stop him?

Tethered

By Crystal Brinkerhoff

24

~ 5

790

The bodies wouldn’t sink. His muscles ached and his back screamed at him. Dragging the corpses into the ocean had been much harder than he’d expected. Heavy with salt water, his crew uniform clung to his body and trapped in granules of sand that chaf ...

Red Wrath

By Gerhard Gehrke

4

~ 9

249

I was sitting in a bar, brooding and thinking about superheroes. There was a special on the news all about them. The large flat-screen televisions mounted on the wall should have been showing the Mets game. Instead we got a fawning comedian whose fil ...

#science fiction

My Beauty For Your Ashes

By Traci Wooden-Carlisle

2

~ 9

107

It all started with one lone tear. It escaped unguarded, quickly falling from her high cheek bone, wetting the concrete below. It was closely followed by another. Soon there was a rain of tears splashing against the once warm, dry stone underneath he ...

The Gentleman Physician

By Sally Britton

6

~ 26

268

Nathaniel Hastings bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing while his patient, Lady Huntington, continued to spout nonsense about the reasons behind her various ailments. He knew very well nothing troubled her that a good conversation could not cure. ...

Incognolio

By Michael Sussman

6

~ 12

223

Ever since the concussion, I can’t get the damn word out of my head. I haven’t a clue what it means. But I love the sound of it. So, I’ll make it the title of my novel and allow the entire story to spring forth from this mysterious word. My neuro ...

The Speed of Sound

By Steppen Sawicki

3

~ 5

170

Jay had never been much of a talker. He had won Carrie’s heart with gentle touches on the hand and shoulder, neck and waist. He had made her dizzy with rare utterances of her beauty and his love, precious because they were so rare. When they married ...

#science fiction

Supervillain High

By Gerhard Gehrke

4

~ 6

300

“See that guy there in the purple mask robbing the bank? That’s my dad.”Brendan stopped the video on his phone and waited for a reaction. Mr. Childes, his school counselor, nodded as if this was something he had heard before. The older man took his ...

#science fiction

Red Marks the Child

By Amira Awaad

5

~ 11

163

This desert land was exceptionally dear to me. Its warm sands resound in the drumming beats of my eye-lashes. The sultry wasteland engulfed fresh oases with water that was pure — it pulsed and it pulsated. It throbbed like the beating of a living hea ...

The Follower

By M. K. Martin

4

~ 5

486

I watch her sleep, her short bristle of hair twisted into sweaty knots. I can’t help her and it’s killing me. I lay down next to her, the heat baking off her in waves. I sigh and the dust puffs out, a few small dry leaves flap at me as if annoyed by ...

#science fiction

The Purse

By Dan Hahn

6

~ 13

202

The smell of coffee lingered lightly from lunch as warm afternoon light streamed through the windows onto the linoleum topped table. Lorine sat with her purse open, engaged in the light conversation of old lovers. Yet Stanley hadn’t been in her life ...

Dragonsphere

By Richard Fierce

4

~ 3

212

It was dark and cold. The distant sound of dripping water echoed throughout the narrow tunnel, part of a large system of interconnected passageways and caves deep in the Viss Mountains.A hooded figure navigated his way through them hesitantly, pausin ...