TTYL
Ashley and her sister, Brianna, were an inseparable gaming duo: always player one and player two. As kids, they had grand plans to create video games together, but it all crashed down when Brianna died. Now, twenty years later, Ashley’s life is stuck on a loading screen.
The closest Ashley gets to her dreams is fixing retro video game systems. That is, until she finds an old virtual reality console coded by her tech-genius sister. But it’s not a typical system, it houses a lifelike, fully immersive world—a ‘90s wonderland where her sister’s avatar resides with her real-life memories and personality intact. In this artificial paradise, Ashley can rebuild the life she always imagined, pixel by pixel.
But it’s game over when a hacker threatens Ashley for the advanced tech. Her nostalgic utopia becomes her personal hell as he infiltrates the system, altering Ashley’s mind and blurring the lines between reality and the virtual world. When Ashley finds that he’ll do the same to others when he mass produces the tech, she realizes the only way to stop him is to delete the code. In other words, destroy her dreams and lose her sister—again.
TTYL won a mentorship through Author Mentor Match and was shortlisted in the Pitch Wars Mentorship contest.
AN IMMORTAL'S GUIDE TO BEING CURSED: AND OTHER LIFE LESSONS
Amasis wouldn’t mind being immortal if he had a functioning memory. Extensive record-keeping is the only way he trudges through life, but honestly, he’d rather die like everyone else. Unfortunately, he can’t remember why he was cursed or what’s keeping him on Earth. Until his ancient girlfriend rises from the dead.
She warns him of a deadly game conducted by five power-hungry gods. The deities are using Earth as the gameboard and uniquely designed humans as pawns, and Amasis is one of them. The god in control of the last pawn standing wins control over humanity and the divine realms. But Amasis's god, the god of the dead, doesn't plan on losing—he brings Amasis back to life every time the other players kill him, sabotaging the game.
The only way Amasis can break the cycle and be awarded permadeath is to kill the other players, but there’s no way Amasis would allow a god who slapped him with an immortality curse to rule mankind. If Amasis can convince the brainwashed pawns to work against the gods, they can outsmart them—and Amasis can finally rest with his ancient girlfriend in peace. Well, if he can remember the game exists in the first place.
AN IMMORTAL'S GUIDE TO BEING CURSED: AND OTHER LIFE LESSONS was shortlisted for the RevPit editing contest.