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**ONC 2024 Shortlister** 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.…

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The Alliance's top galactic terraformer, Pelin Demir, uses state-of-the-art biotech to transform barren rocky planets into lush habitable ecosystems. Seeking escape from a dying Earth and a tragic past, Pelin has devoted a decade to serving the Alliance in the seemingly-endless galactic turf war between post-Earth humans and powerful warrior lifeforms, the Karinja.Pelin's life of quiet order is thrown into chaos when her Alliance leaders inexplicably force her to train Midori, a surly rookie navigator. When a terraforming mission spirals into a catastrophic Karinja ambush, Pelin discovers the dazzling secret that Midori, and the generals of the Alliance, are desperate to keep hidden. Forced to navigate deep space, draconian Alliance protocols, and her own turbulent past, Pelin charts a galactic course to protect Midori at all costs from the Karinja assassins hunting her, and from the sinister Alliance generals aiming to use her as a weapon of war. Yet Pelin can't seem to protect herself from her growing feelings towards her abrasive protégé. As the conflict for galactic control reaches a climax, Pelin struggles to keep Midori, and her own heart, safe.🥇First Place, Katana Awards 2023, Science Fiction🥇First Place, Lovely Valentine Awards 2023, Science Fiction🥇First Place, Gloria Regali Awards 2023, Science Fiction🥇First Place, Jamboard Awards 2022, Science Fiction🥇First Place, Hearts Awards 2022, Science Fiction🥈 Second Place, Aster Awards 2022, Science Fiction🥇First Place, Star Awards 2022, Science Fiction🥇First Place, Misfit Awards 2022, Science FictionCover designed by @laylagriffin_…

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**AMBYS 2022 WINNER** He'll never play piano again. That's what virtuoso pianist Zephyr has vowed to himself after escaping Sigma, the sprawling criminal organisation that once held him--and still holds his friends--captive in California's mega-city capital, Maria. After being forced to entertain Sigma's clients with more intimate services than just music, Zephyr is determined to use his knowledge of the labyrinthine plots and power-struggles between Sigma's gang members to save his trapped friends and find his family, who are mysteriously untraceable by South Korean authorities. But Zephyr's vow to abandon piano is tested by his uneasy alliance with Will, the timid stranger who whisked Zephyr out of Sigma's clutches under cover of a mysterious fire. Will's secretive nature can't hide tantalising hints of his deep connection to music, nor can Will hide the tangled web of his dark past. In a race against time to prevent his family and friends from becoming Sigma's latest targets, Zephyr must discover if Will's true goal is to help him, or to lure him deeper into peril, as they spiral inexorably together. 🥇Winner, Wattpad Amby Awards 2022, New Adult category🥇Grand Winner, Wattpad Pride 2022🥇Winner, Wattpad Pride 2022, New Adult category…

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Get out of jail, get yet another crappy criminal henchman job, get his hotshot lawyer ex-girlfriend back. Oh yeah -- and get a murderous demon exorcised from his head. Jason Torres has his route back from rock-bottom perfectly planned out, right? That is, until he gets catapulted head-first into a police investigation into his ex-employers, the mysterious and deadly Saudi criminal organization, Alcor.The police think they've hit the jackpot by exploiting criminal trash like Jason to take down Alcor, except Jason has conveniently forgotten to mention a few details: his innate ability to attract chaos, his unfortunate possession by a bloodthirsty demon, and the fact that he's falling in love with his handsome new police partner, Dante Russo. And of course, there's Jason's biggest deadliest omission. His relationship with Alcor's sadistic boss is more than strictly professional, and she doesn't like sharing.🥇 First Place Winner, Katana Awards 2023, Action🥇First Place Winner, Valentine Awards 2023, Action🥇First Place Winner, Clouded Ink Awards 2022, Action🥈 Second Place Winner, Aster Awards 2022, Action🥇 First Place Winner, Hearts Awards 2022, Action…

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Submerged kingdoms, haunted temples, booby-trapped caves. Lara Croft has seen it all in her quest for ancient artefacts, which she sells to the highest bidder. But nothing prepares Lara for her latest, greatest discovery: a golden apple capable of bringing its bearer anything they desire. The only problem? The golden apple has also transported Diana, the beautiful warrior queen of the Amazons, straight from Ancient Greece's Olympian Realm and into Lara's world. Lara is determined to use the golden apple to get her gorgeous--and literally divine--guest safely home, but the apple is ripe with discord, tempting Lara with the chance to bury her demons and bring back all that she has lost. Darker forces in Lara's world also desire the golden apple: she and Diana are hunted by a corrupt tech company bent on using the apple as a weapon for world domination, and Lara's discovery awakens a vengeful supernatural entity determined to control the apple's power. Unable to fight her growing feelings for her demi-goddess companion, Lara finds herself torn between getting Diana home and wishing that she could stay forever. As a net closes around her, Lara must risk losing everything to realise that love is the greatest treasure of all.~~°~~°~~°Welcome to my ONC entry! I'm not sure if I can stick to the deadlines for long, but I'll try! I used the following two prompts:71. After discovering a precious but dangerous artefact you become an instant celebrity. But things begin to happen that make you wish you had never discovered it. 75. You inherit a family heirloom passed down for longer than anyone can remember. You discover its secret. This secret will twist your life and change it forever.----Cover art adapted from artwork by the amazing Stjepan Sejic. If you like sapphic comics, check out his series "Sunstone" and the incredible comic artwork as Nebezial on Deviantart and ArtStation, @stjepansejic on Twitter, and #nebezial on Insta and Tumblr…

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**A clockpunk Cinderella Story**Margot, a disinherited viscountess, works as a servant for her widowed step-mother and her step-sister. With nothing but her late father's glass bead necklace for comfort, Margot dreams of a life free from servitude.A visit from Chiara, a mysterious and beautiful guardswoman, thrusts Margot into a world of spiralling war, an inheritance that she does not want, and the terrifying realisation that her parents' glass beads had a far more sinister use than as mere heirlooms. As boundary after boundary in their friendship is crossed, Margot and Chiara wrestle between redemption from their past tragedies, or risking all for a near-impossible future. 🥈Second Place: Sunflower Awards 2021k🥈Second Place: Books Got Talent Awards 2021 Cover design by @BooksGotTalent…

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Nebulae are outer space's stellar nurseries, swirling vortices of hot dense gas where shiny new stars are born. Be it a chase through a time-space portal, a venture into a fascinating new biome, or a strange encounter with fabulous beasts, I hope that you enjoy these starry tales that have grown from the maelstrom of story-dust in my mind. United by their brevity, this little collection of stories offers bite-size science fiction and fantasy for days when you can't face that fifty-chapter red giant.…