Onc2022 Stories

When a grandmother is declared the Chosen One, she abandons her rocking chair to challenge the Dark Lord who plots to destroy the world. -- Formerly a single mother, now a devoted grandma, Granny Thayer has never left her hometown before, let alone slayed a demon. But she'd better learn fast; she's just been selected as the Chosen One, the only hero who can defeat the nefarious Dark Lord of Devnia and avert a zombie apocalypse. Accompanied by a devastatingly handsome prince, a failed bard, and a werewolf with a dangerous secret, Granny Thayer embarks on a quest full of intrigue and love triangles to save her grandson. This is a collaboration for ONC 2022/2023, written by SophieKestrel and Spelunkadunk. Prompt: "It's always what/who you least expected that blows your mind away."

Ever since Death got trapped in the mortal realm three years ago, nonstop famines, wars, and plagues have ravaged Earth. Shiori, a budding scientist with a love of snakes and a loathing for small talk, doesn't really care. She can deal with the constant pandemics, bombs, and spider/iguana/fruit fly/crocodile plagues, so long as it doesn't involve socializing with strangers -- the thing she hates most in the world. Too bad her new roommate is hot, suave, and super chatty. Even worse, he seems to have decided Shiori is the only one with the power to send Death back to the underworld -- and he'll stop at nothing to make it happen! **First place in The Punk Rock Awards 2022, Paranormal*** **Grand Winner of The Punk Rock Awards 2022**

Whether it's your first time or your seventh time, writing a novella in 12 weeks isn't easy. As a 2021 ONC Winner and two-time Honorable Mention (2023/2024), I totally understand. After years of participation and reflection, I have lots of advice to share on how I wrote a winning novella and look forward to writing every year. Inside this guide, you can find everything from insider tips to craft chats to contest commentary. So grab a cup, get your notebook, and settle in: it's time to start writing! Copyright © 2022 Elle Chaika

My journal for ONC this year, following through with my tradition of writing a journal every year.

In a frozen world, Kismet rules. Following Kismet's rules is the only way to survive. So what happens when Kismet has determined you die? **** In the frozen wastes of North America, a biodome holds the market on heat, providing light, energy, and a suitable life for a sizable population of humans. Amy, who has spent her entire life in the Youth Camp waiting for her chance to be admitted, is finally about to enter her new life, the life written for her by Kismet. But all Amy gets in her file is a single line, identifying her as a murder victim. Kismet writes everyone's lives, determines every aspect of existence within the biodome. But in order for Amy to have that life, she would have to submit to being murdered. ONC 2022, Prompt #85

Keith hated school, and while having Shiro in his life now that he was enrolled in the garrison program was a plus, being seen as Shiro's favorite wasn't. And then, one day a new kid transfers in from the Japeanse garrison, one the other kids joke looks like Keith's identical twin brother, but the fact Keith looks like Ryo Shirogane - Shiro's younger brother - becomes a laughing matter, one Keith isn't to keen on. Disclaimer - I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender. This is written for ONC 2022, prompt 95. "They say that everyone has someone out there that looks like them, but what happens when you come face to face with the new kid in school that could pass as your identical twin?"

Lila Unwinter is not a very talented witch; she mostly has a lot of ambition, determination, and enough spite to last her a few hundred years. How else was she supposed to survive the past sixteen years, after she lost both her best friend and her family over something she can barely even remember now? They're not dead, of course, but for all that they care about her, she might as well be. But then her magic decides to send her home for lunch break one day, and she not only finds out about a curse that's taken hold of her way back when she was only six years old, but also reconnects with her childhood friend (who's considerably less alive now). A series of events unfolds that may well redefine Lila's perception of both love and magic itself. Featuring: way too many ghosts, the town at the Edge of the world, knife and sword-wielding girls, sapphic childhood-friends-to-lovers, ghost kitties, weird magic and magical creatures, and a certain three-headed dog. ________________ an entry for the open novella contest 2022

Entered into the Open Novella Contest 2022 | This version of the book was posted solely for the ONC. A final, even more, polished version will be coming soon to Amazon! All feedback on story pacing, character development, and the overall plot is most appreciated. | ©2022 E. S. Elias All Rights Reserved. Published to Wattpad 02.01.2022 Cover: Esther Hadassah @DesignsbyEH (I used Canva and Dream by Wombo) The Lark's Pearl (A Standalone Romantic Fantasy) | ✔ Ariabella is a young woman who receives the gift of pearls from a bird of mysterious, playful nature: a Lark. How does this sweet, little bird come by these pearls and what will Ariabella do when she finds out why this bird chose her? This wholesome, romantic fantasy, can be enjoyed completely on its own without fear of a cliffhanger, HEA guaranteed. #13 (Top 20!) in #ONC2022 03.13.2022 - #10 03.14.2022 #1 in #YAlit 02.09.2022 #10 in #cleanromance 02.13.2022 - #4 02.22.22 (Top 100!) #25 in #opennovellacontest2022 - 02.22.2022 #5 in #Romantasy 02.25.2022 | #1 03.13.2024

Entry For ONC2022 Heaven is a place any Angel wants to be and the angels here are thankful for their home. Calynn enjoys the peace and beauty of this world but what happens when the enemy comes and picks a war. Will the Angel of Heaven win this battle or will their enemy win? What happens when she feels love but for someone not of her kind? Cover by @Lueur_laVespine

ONC 2022 PROMPT - 88. (slightly altered) Last night was your first night on the uni campus. You went to the pub and ended up having a steamy kiss and a bit of a fight with a hottie. When your new roommate moved in today, though you discovered your roommate is someone so special to the hot bad boy you kissed that night. gay/bi/trans/asexual/aroace/bicuriouse/

Death is a shadow that follows you through time. Vera Langley thought she would live and die and be forgotten. As a pathologist she knew the limitations of life and the vastness of death and she wanted nothing more than to be forgotten when she was nothing but dust. It was a thought she took solace in repeating. Until an accident takes the lives of everyone aboard a research vessel leaving Vera as the sole survivor. Dealing with survivors guilt and the physical recovery of nearly drowning, Vera isn't surprised when she finds little solace in sleep. Each time she closes her eyes she finds herself back on the ship only it isn't the R.M.S Etruria she remembers. In place of well-worn metal staircases are beautiful hand polished banisters and carpet covered hallways. The way the R.M.S Etruria had looked on its maiden voyage in 1893. At first it seems like nothing except a few harmless dreams but death comes for Vera each night in her sleep and she isn't the only one dying by dawn. Between whispers in the dark that may hold answers and shadows down corridors, Vera must hold onto her sanity as she tries to cheat death and stop him from claiming more than her life. An ONC 2022 Project Highest Rank #1 ONC Final WordCount: 21,466 Completed: April 30, 2022

A disloyal knight, a missing Diviner, and one terrible secret that must be kept for the fate of the world depends on it. *** A royal knight like Safina is supposed to follow the King and Queen's every order without question. But when Safina is ordered to assassinate the court Diviner, who vanished one night before the prophecy is made, she can't help but question. The Diviner is supposed to foresee and reveal the identity of the chosen one who will save the world from the apocalypse-it makes no sense that the nobility wants her dead. Safina faces a difficult decision. When questioning means you stand alone, do you dare question? Or do you shake your doubts and follow your orders? Safina planned on doing the latter. And then an orphan boy with red eyes and an unshakeable faith that Safina will save the Diviner shows up at the palace gates. - A novella written for (N)ONC 2022

[COMPLETED] Elliot wants to win the war. An unresolved conflict from the past led Angels and Demons to be at each other's throats. With each time he brings down his sword, it's as if time keeps stretching forward. Every demon he kills doesn't seem to be the last and every dream he wakes up from seems to be more vivid than the last. As soon as he kills the last demon, he's brought back a month before everything begins. The cycle begins again. Only this time, Elliot knows what will happen. And as usual, someone else is trying to stop it. Word count: 4/30/2022: 39100 Started: 2/27/2022 Ended: 4/30/2022 ______________________________________ {3X Featured} » StoriesUndiscovered: Into the Abyss » FantasyPH: High Fantasy » FantasyPH: Spotlight Stories [ENG] Cover by: @Hamloveham Collab by: @aliyahthebooks and @AmHjonk_ #ONC2022

A retelling of Grimm's King of the Gold Mountain Odessa made a bargain with a Saint, offering ten years of her life in service at the convent in exchange for a home after her mother dies. And if she tells anyone about the bargain or breaks the rules, the saint warns her that something terrible will befall the person she loves the most. "It felt almost blasphemous to say, but the moment her Saint had saved her, she knew she had also been cursed."

The hospital called Skyler Everlow's phone 20 hours ago to inform him that his girlfriend had passed away in a nasty car accident on Interstate 86 due to injury to her head. He had seen her dead, wrangled body in the hospital, raspy breathing, gasping for air until it stopped altogether. If she was dead, why was she eating dinner with his parents right now? *** Skyler Everlow's life was flipped upside down when his girlfriend, Natalia, was severely injured in a car accident. He was there in her last moments, he held her hand when she died. He watched her die, and there was nothing he could do. However, his whole world was flipped upside down once again when he saw her eating dinner with his parents, perfectly well and happy. Turns out, a mistake had been made in the afterlife and she wasn't supposed to die. Something was keeping her on Earth, and she refused to pass onto the afterlife until Skyler would go with her. *** Open Novella Contest 2022, Prompt 68

Everyone knows about the red thread of destiny that binds soul mates' pinkies to each other. But not many know of the golden thread that brought an aspiring young woman from the modern world and an Imperial Prince from ancient China together. This is their story.

In 2023, Scientist Daniel Rudolph told the WHO Board of Directors that he may have discovered a cure to the Coronavirus. He is tasked with carrying out all necessary lab tests to ensure the 'cure' is safe for world consumption. Emilia Larsson, Regional Infection Prevention Coordinator with the CDC, is assigned to work with Doctor Rudolph on his cure and to ensure that all his procedures are WHO approved. It is a dream for her to work with her new team and when she meets the test subject, Alexander Maxwell or 'subject zero' as everyone calls him, she starts to fall in love with him. As Emilia fights to stop the program which she deems to have been carried out unethically, they make a new discovery. The cure works. But there is a cost.

Vale Havon and Aberon had been at war for thirty years. Three decades of battle on the Eastern plains of Vale Havon's lands. This is why on the Western side Zaffre felt pretty safe. Helping her parents run the farm is her only duty and she was happy to do it. Things change, however, when her father gets sick. Bedridden he can't help with any of the dawn til' dusk work, and Zaffre is unsure if she can pick up the slack. Worse is the sudden death of their animals. With the autumn harvest on its way and already two horses down, things look bleak. The war still wages, and as more troops die Vale Havon grows more desperate. The Royal family is willing to do anything to save their kingdom. To keep their power. So, the drafts begin. Suddenly the Western border is not safe anymore. Zaffre knows if she's sent to fight her mother can't keep the farm running. So she goes into hiding. Except no secret stays hidden, and Zaffre's role in the world is far bigger than simply harvesting plants. Everything just got a whole lot more complicated. Excerpt: A cold sweat began to trickle its way down her back and a shiver traveled up her spine. It was when the hair on the back of her neck stood on the end that she realized something was wrong. She took a few more steps forward in the dark forest when she finally comprehended the thing that flashed a warning in her instincts. The sounds of the woods she'd been hearing all night, the birds, crickets, and scuttering squirrels had all gone silent. That only meant one thing, and one thing only, a predator was on the hunt. This time it wasn't her. *Trigger Warning, the book contains, violence, blood, fighting

Sixteen-year-old Bridget has always been warned that if she ever found a bell in the woods not to ring it. But, accidents happen, and, one beautiful spring day, she literally stumbles over a bell, awakening the dead and changing her life forever.

Born in 51BC, Professor James Scott Hamlin is about to quit his job that he has held since the late 1990s. Across Europe, someone is killing Hamlin's friends and relatives. This is my entry for ONC2022 using prompt: 44. The year was 27 B.C when you helped an individual escape their imprisonment. Before parting ways, they asked you to make a blood oath. Once done, they told you that as long as they lived, you would too. Nearly 2000 years have passed since and you continue to search for them each and every day.