ZonderZorg
THOR - ONC 2024

THOR - ONC 2024

788 111 16

When Marissa's poodle, Thor is snatched, the police can do nothing, so she goes to a private investigator. Their initial encounter leaves her shaken and wondering whether it's time to review her decision to avoid men.Graham gave up on women after a series of disastrous relationships, but something about Marissa stirs him. Dog? Oh, yes, there's a dognapping to solve. Written for ONC 2024 in response to the prompt: Sometimes words speak louder than actions.This story was named a Round One Winner.…

Noble Duty

Noble Duty

257 35 12

Having escaped the pirates and evaded them, Jarvis must now decide whether his damaged ship can safely cross the Atlantic to England. Is it too much for the limited rig and the small crew? Should he put into a port up the coast? Or will his haste to settle into a life ashore with Gillian distort his reasoning?…

Noble Intentions

Noble Intentions

1,280 158 37

Held captive in the aftermath of a devastating attack and facing being sold as slaves, two strangers comfort each other, and as affinity grows, they conspire to overpower their guards and regain freedom.Jarvis is the son of a mariner and Gillian is of noble birth, but ignoring class differences, their mutual respect becomes love. This is a story of intense emotions and brilliant ingenuity set aboard a trading ship bound from the Caribbean to London early in the reign of King George.…

Red Flag

Red Flag

5,924 535 50

Reviewing restaurants is normally a safe pursuit, but Kate and Lorne face torture and death when they try to unravel organised crime's infiltration of the fine dining scene.Kate is a novelist and a dining columnist. Lorne is a lawyer, a prominent wine writer and an incognito restaurant reviewer who, since his teens, has believed he's asexual. Playmates when they were toddlers and friends ever since, they are now thrown together by increasingly dangerous circumstances as the Mob targets them. The intensity and closeness trigger Lorne's deeply buried sexuality and Kate's long-suppressed desires. Will they be able to set their passions aside and focus on evading and entrapping the Mob?…

Zeelandia

Zeelandia

89,677 6,057 58

Camille disguises herself to gain a position as the captain's cabin boy aboard a ship bound for the Caribbean in 1676. She soon discovers her natural urges, and her feelings must be expressed as a young boy looking at a father figure, not as a smitten young lady of eighteen.The first portion of this novel was named Round One Winner in the 2020 Open Novella Contest, and it was selected for the Shortlist. It has now been expanded to a full-length novel, which is complete and was selected as a Wattpad Editor's Choice and as a 2022 Ambys winner. There is also a completed sequel, and a third volume is nearing completion.…

Zealand

Zealand

2,871 611 47

A bastard by birth and orphaned at twelve, Charles has learnt to fend for himself in 1660s London. Homeless, he seeks shelter for the night in some canvas aboard a barge on the Thames. In the morning, he tumbles awake when the sail is hoisted, and the captain presses him to work as they move away from the wharf. Trapped, he sees no option but to follow orders.Captain Bryson likes his sharp mind and eagerness, and he offers him a job aboard with food and shelter. Charles wonders how he'll be able to repay this kindness, and he strives to do his best, lest he be set ashore, again homeless.Charles drives himself to learn and gain experience and to remain in the captain's favour as their adventure grows far beyond the barge, but his insecurity continues surfacing. What will it take to give him the confidence his natural abilities deserve?Written for ONC 2021, this story was selected for the Shortlist. I'm now expanding it into a full-length novel to serve as either the third volume of the Wattpad-featured Zeelandia story or as a prequel to it.…

Hot Potato

Hot Potato

7,305 621 54

Gigi, an aromantic bi, doesn't know what she wants most - a husband, a lover, or her own restaurant. She has just lost her prestigious chef position and kicked out her latest fling, who threatens revenge. With her meagre savings, all three possibilities seem remote at the moment.A holding company acquires a failing restaurant chain, strips its name, and assigns the 'hot potato' to Duncan, a business consultant, to determine whether to rescue or liquidate it. The pressure of success weighs on his shoulders when he decides to attempt a turnaround, knowing failure means loss of jobs. Gigi is among those he hires to replace staff who had abandoned the 'sinking ship'. Attracted initially by her resumé, he is captivated by her beauty and spirit. Mutual interests become increasingly personal the closer they work, and maintaining professional façades falters. Gigi sees him as another gorgeous hunk to seduce, and she flirts, but Duncan, convinced since his teens that he's asexual, is confused by his frequent and obvious arousal. His plan of tying the success of the restaurants to the bigger goal of winning Gigi's aromantic heart is endangered when her deranged, stalking ex posts explicit videos of her on the web, threatening to smear her reputation and ruin her career. Can the fledgling relationship survive this and save the restaurants?A certified organic storyline with no artificialities, clichés or stereotypes.…

Valentine's Dinner?

Valentine's Dinner?

49,001 4,375 73

Set in an environment of extreme wealth in contemporary London, this is a story of tender new love trying to flourish while a tragic past conspires to destroy. As Valentine's Day approaches, two lonely people begin breaking out of their social shells. Valerie has been celibate since she was drugged and raped, and she now concentrates on three things; running her corporate empire, guiding her inquisitive daughter through puberty, and volunteering in the community. Lorne is still grieving a fiancée who died years before, but when he meets Valerie in a charity soup kitchen, his dormant desires stir. Unaware of her identity, he takes a bold step and invites her to Valentine's Day dinner. Their relationship escalates with blinding speed and all the comforts of a billionaire lifestyle, but the bliss is interrupted when pornographic photos of Valerie flood the internet. She wants to crawl back into her shell. What does Lorne want?_____________________________________________________________________________________ I portray the wealthy lifestyle and all its appurtenances through experience, having made my first million in the 1980s when that small amount could still buy something.…

Subversion

Subversion

639 111 23

This is the sixth volume of my award-winning Wattpad Featured Story, 'Posted As Missing', an intense adventure/romance set in the turmoil of World War One Europe. I've grown tired of blood-and-guts war stories, so I've written this series to examine deeper issues. David left the battlefields in the first chapter of the first volume of this story, and to this point, he has not returned to them. He has found far more effective ways to fight the German war machine.You might wish to read the earlier volumes in this series: 'Posted As Missing', 'Missing', 'Back in Action', 'Watching Fritz' and 'Colonel Berry. The first volume, 'Posted As Missing', has now been published by Dark Ink Press, and it's available in both paperback and e-book. It's also still available on Wattpad for all to read.…

The Delfe Treasure

The Delfe Treasure

15,623 2,164 64

Aldrick is obsessed with finding his grandfather's treasure. More than half a century and seventeen voyages have failed to locate his ships after they wrecked in Windward Passage, deeply-laden with pirate plunder and homeward-bound from the Caribbean in 1679. Elizabeth, the firstborn of Baron Leigh, was raised in Warwickshire, about as far from the sea as is possible in Britain. Recently betrothed to Aldrick, she doesn't want him to sail out of her life.First Place Winner in Round One and Shortlisted in the Open Novella Contest 2019 and now expanded into a full-length novel.…

Bait & Hook

Bait & Hook

5,161 780 37

On his doctor's recommendation, Alex signs up to an online dating site, creating a profile as Xander. After a few false starts, he connects with Roxy.Rosario is an investigator for the online dating site, and the tone and content of Xander's profile cause her to red-flag him as a financial predator. She creates a wealthy widow profile as Roxy to initiate contact and honey-trap him.Their daily chats become longer and more frequent, and captivated, Alex invites her to dinner. Not long into their first date, he suspects he's being catfished, but hungry and intrigued by Roxy, he decides to play along with her and enjoy the evening.The story is presented from alternating first-person PoV chapter by chapter.…

Zeelandia Port Royal

Zeelandia Port Royal

9,371 1,006 48

With nothing left for her in England, Camille had disguised herself to become the captain's cabin boy in a ship bound for the Caribbean in 1676. This is the sequel to the award-winning first volume of her story.…

Weekend Write-In Story Collection

Weekend Write-In Story Collection

1,499 297 52

This is a collection of fifty-two of the short stories I've written for the Weekend Write-In challenges. Each story is exactly five hundred words long, except for two which specified one thousand words. From the beginning, I have taken the challenge further by using interpretations of the prompt that differ, sometimes dramatically, from those that usually come to mind.…

Posted As Missing

Posted As Missing

21,528 2,034 49

Early in World War One, a young Canadian soldier is wounded and trapped behind German lines. He uses quick thinking and ingenuity to evade capture, then deeper into enemy territory, he meets a young woman who recently lost her father and brothers to the war. She takes him home to meet her mother, hoping he can help them escape back to their family roots in Switzerland. As they flee over the mountains, love blossoms and stirs old traumas. He's torn between following his heart and honouring his sworn duty.…

Spilt Wine

Spilt Wine

8,690 1,481 64

The disappearance of a friend and millions of Francs worth of wine interrupts David's buying trip in France when he pauses to assist and comfort his friend's wife, Catherine. Their lives are threatened, the intensifying circumstances draw them closer together, and they uncover their buried traumas, insecurities and longings. This is a tale of mounting tensions, realisations and passions, woven through a gripping crime thriller on the Burgundy canals and in the French wine business of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. A compelling read which pulls us inside the French wine trade of thirty, forty and fifty years ago to experience a gripping crime thriller and a sweet romance. Although this is a piece of fiction, most of the locations, many of the adventures and some of the characters in it are real or are based in reality. The story and the timeline follow events from my own experiences when I was a wine buyer in France, though sometimes they're slightly juggled to fit the crafting of this novel. Fortunately, the crimes and the criminals are fictional, and any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.…

Unknown Diners

Unknown Diners

7,296 1,053 71

Reviewing restaurants is normally a safe pursuit, but Lorne and Catherine face torture and death when they try to unravel organised crime's infiltration of the fine dining scene. Their longstanding friendship deepens when they meet again seven months after she was widowed by murder. While they help each other work through their traumatic pasts, their passion and intimacy increase, and they're unaware of the mounting danger until it's almost too late. Their scramble to track down who is trying to kill them leads into the darker corners of the Internet, through a world of perversion and extreme body modification.…

Missing

Missing

5,791 1,288 67

In the early months of the First World War, a young Canadian soldier uses quick thinking and ingenuity to evade capture after being wounded fighting in Flanders. While escaping through Germany to the Swiss border, he becomes intimately entwined with a beautiful woman and her British-Swiss family. A hundred metres from the border, on the cusp of escape, he pauses. His mission turns to plans of sabotage and to ways of slowing the German war machine. This is the sequel tp 'Posted As Missing'.…

Back In Action

Back In Action

5,660 1,333 72

In the early months of the First World War, a young Canadian soldier uses quick thinking and ingenuity to evade capture after being wounded fighting in Flanders. While escaping through Germany to the Swiss border, he becomes intimately entwined with a beautiful woman and her British-Swiss family. After arriving in Switzerland, his mission turns to plans of sabotage and to other ways of slowing the German war machine. This is the third in the Posted As Missing series of novels which show deep passion and intense love twined through the turmoil of war.…

Watching Fritz

Watching Fritz

5,825 1,486 78

This is the third sequel to my award-winning Wattpad Featured Story, 'Posted As Missing', an intense adventure/romance set in the turmoil of World War One Europe. I've grown tired of blood-and-guts war stories, so I've written this series to examine deeper issues. David left the battlefields in the first chapter of the first volume of this story, and to this point, he has not returned to them. He has found far more effective ways to fight the German war machine.This was my 2017 NaNoWriMo project, and during November, I drafted over 50,000 words of this fourth book in my Posted As Missing series of World War One novels, and I continued at a chapter per day into January. Jump aboard, I've been told it's a great read and an eye-opening look behind the scenes of the war - without the blood and guts. You might wish to read the earlier volumes in this series: Posted As Missing, Missing, and Back in Action. Posted As Missing has now been published by Dark Ink Press, and it's available in both paperback and e-book. It's also still available on Wattpad for my followers to read.…

Colonel Berry

Colonel Berry

2,806 604 54

This is the fifth volume of my award-winning Wattpad Featured Story, 'Posted As Missing', an intense adventure/romance set in the turmoil of World War One Europe. I've grown tired of blood-and-guts war stories, so I've written this series to examine deeper issues. David left the battlefields in the first chapter of the first volume of this story, and to this point, he has not returned to them. He has found far more effective ways to fight the German war machine.You might wish to read the earlier volumes in this series: 'Posted As Missing', 'Missing', 'Back in Action' and 'Watching Fritz'. The first volume, 'Posted As Missing' has now been published by Dark Ink Press, and it's available in both paperback and e-book. It's also still available on Wattpad for all to read.…