He taught her passion.She taught him love ... and broke the spell that had seemed destined to torment him forever.Bronwyn's father had always forbidden her to go anywhere near the gypsies, but when a beautiful mare catches her eye at the fair, she can't resist having a better look at the horse ... and then taking a short ride, just to take her through her paces.But she quickly learns her mistake when the mare carries her off to the demon castle in the Dread Woods.Published: 12/2015Length: NovellaWord Count: 15,158Genre: Dark Fantasy RomanceRating: Spicy/Erotic-spanking Views: 5
The Star Kingdom of Manticore is once again at war with the Republic of Haven after a stunning sneak attack. The graduating class from Saganami Island, the Royal Manticoran Navy's academy, are going straight from the classroom to the blazing reality of all-out war.Except for the midshipmen assigned to the heavy cruiser HMS Hexapuma, that is. They're being assigned to the Talbott Cluster, an out of the way backwater, far from the battle front. The most they can look forward to is the capture of the occasional pirate cruiser and the boring duty of supporting the Cluster's peaceful integration with the Star Kingdom at the freely expressed will of eighty percent of the Cluster's citizens. With a captain who may have seen too much of war and a station commander who isn't precisely noted for his brilliant and insightful command style, it isn't exactly what the students of Honor Harrington, the "Salamander," expected.But things aren't as simple -- or tranquil -- as they appear. The "pirates" they encounter aren't what they seem, and the "peaceful integration" they expected turns into something very different. A powerful alliance of corrupt Solarian League bureaucrats and ruthless interstellar corporations is determined to prevent the Cluster's annexation by the Star Kingdom . . . by any means necessary. Pirates, terrorists, genetic slavers, smuggled weapons, long-standing personal hatreds, and a vicious alliance of corporate greed, bureaucratic arrogance, and a corrupt local star nation with a powerful fleet, are all coming together, and only Hexapuma, her war-weary captain, and Honor Harrington's students stand in the path.They have only one thing to support and guide them: the tradition of Saganami. The tradition that sometimes a Queen's officer's duty is to face impossible odds . . . and die fighting. Views: 5
Wendy has long heard the family legend — madness strikes the Darling women at a certain age, traditionally after romance visits in the form of an overgrown boy. The Darling girl will fall in love, the boy will desert, and the girl is left on her heels, heartbroken and flirting ever after with lunacy's lure. Wendy knows she should be grateful for her childhood adventure, but instead she finds herself adrift; resenting the heartache-turned-eccentricity of her mother; envious of the oddball antics of her Great-Nana; and consumed by the mystery of her grandmother Jane, whose disappearance following her own youthful romance remains unsolved. When Wendy falls in love with Freeman, an exuberant and irreverent man-child himself, she finds herself perpetuating the pattern she thought she had missed. And then along comes her daughter, Berry, the precocious but sullen child with the eyes of a sage. When it is Berry's time to go off to The Neverland, Wendy, like so many mothers... Views: 5
It's 1921 and Maisie Mills is looking for excitement in her life.New York City is the place to be. Except New York isn't exactly awaiting Maisie's arrival. What she wants is to be a detective. But despite a new era of freedom and choice for young women, Maisie has to settle for being a telephone exchange operator. Being a sleuth is out of reach or at least that's what she thinks...Until she comes across a body in the Park.Bizarrely the victim is propped against a tree, looking like he's asleep. Maisie overhears the police conversation, the victim has no ID. Her inner sleuth is aroused. Curiously even the labels have been removed from his clothes.Little does Maisie know that her work as a telephone exchange operator will cause her to overhear a conversation. They are talking about the dead man!She can't help but get involved. Detective Blake has little time for her interference. Officer George Bantry has little choice but to become Maisie's sidekick. She finds the clues and George... Views: 5
Sixteen-year-old Simon has always been considered odd. Three years ago, a skateboarding accident caused some minor brain damage and made him a little stranger. His career-driven parents mostly leave him alone, and he spends much of his time living in his imagination. When Andrea, whom no one else can see, appears to Simon in class, he is fascinated by her and strikes up a friendship, even though he knows she may be pure hallucination - he's had imaginary friends before. Andrea says she is there to "help" him, but before the story ends, Simon discovers that it is he who needs to help Andrea, not the other way around. Views: 5
Lord Riel Evann-Sin was a man with whom to reckon. Men feared him and women lusted after the handsome warrior. His sword hand was legendary, his sexual prowess well known. Tamara Naibril was a Daughter of the Night-one of the women warriors called Hell Hags by those who feared them. Kaibyn Zafeyr had been conjured from the Abyss by lonely women who want not only to exploit the Rysalian demon's immortal powers, but to use his muscular body for their own entertainment. Being all things to all women was a tiring job, but Kai was very good at what he liked to do. Cainer Cree has spent centuries imprisoned on the Isle of Uaigneas. Memories of the woman he had loved and lost ever in his grieving mind, his mission in life is to right the wrongs done to the helpless. Fate will bring these four unique beings together to wage war against an evil woman intent on bringing mankind to its knees. It will take every power they possess-human or otherwise-to defeat the Queen of the Daughters of the Night. Along the way, undying love with be forged as Evann-Sin and Tamara become one, hearts entwined. Views: 5
Sara Parker stalks the wilds of Africa, battling her ferocious dual nature. She is one of the chosen, the Siri Mtu, at times Sara the human, at times Serah the lioness, protector of the innocent creatures of the savannah. But time is running out. Ruthless poachers hunt the nearby elephant herds and her feral nature is growing stronger, flaring with the heat of sexual desire, threatening to overwhelm her and steal the last shreds of her humanity. Only a mating with a human male can save her. Views: 5
Everyone can have heaven, any heaven they want, but some people don’t want to go.
"Visceral, bloody -- and one hell of a page turner! Bingle tackles the philosophical issues surrounding uploaded consciousness in a fresh, exciting way. This is the debut of a major novelist -- don't miss it." Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Author.
Mankind has largely retreated to the realms of virtual reality, where resources are unlimited and the problems of the real world--violence, conflict, sickness, and pain--can all be avoided. Unfortunately, those who stay behind in the real world pose the only risk to the immortality of those who have converted to virtual existence.
Derek, a soldier in the Conversion Forces (ConFoes), seeks to enforce the Mandatory Conversion Act on the remaining mals (malcontent Luddites, gangbangers, and religious fanatics). He just wants to put in his time and join his family on one of the virtual worlds. But until then, he is forced to deal with his psychotic squad-mates, the increasingly brutal tactics of the ConFoes, and a mal ambush. And that's just the beginning of his journey.
While most speculative and science fiction deals with worlds transformed by technological advance, Forced Conversion highlights the troubling and chaotic process of that transformation, itself. It combines the adrenaline-soaked action of military fiction with the extrapolation of current scientific trends of the best speculative fiction, while dealing with the moral and religious implications of both war and technology.
If large scale transcendence could occur, this novel explains how it would come about and what the real world would be like in the aftermath.
When Moore’s Law meets God’s Law, the result is forced conversion.
Says Ed Greenwood, Creator of The Forgotten Realms™ and Author of the bestselling Elminster novels: "I loved it! Many writers have explored hard-hitting and brutal possible futures for Earth, and told colorful tales of people trying to stay alive in them, but few have brought such imagined futures as vividly to life as Don Bingle -- and no other book I can think of examines how and why such a future might just happen as well as FORCED CONVERSION does -- or provides half the breath-catching twists and turns of Bingle's yarn. A 'good read' of the old school, coupled with all-too-plausible reasons for everything. A grim warning and a fast action adventure tale, all in one! Highly recommended!"
Best known as the world's top-ranked player of classic role-playing games for fifteen years, Donald J. Bingle is an oft-published author in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, steampunk, romance, and comedy genres, with five books (Forced Conversion; GREENSWORD; Net Impact; Frame Shop; The Love-Haight Case Files), and more than fifty shorter stories, primarily in DAW themed anthologies and tie-in anthologies, including stories in Carnage & Consequences, The Crimson Pact, Steampunk'd, Imaginary Friends, Fellowship Fantastic, Zombie Raccoons and Killer Bunnies, Time Twisters, Front Lines, Slipstreams, Gamer Fantastic, Transformers Legends, Search for Magic (Dragonlance), If I Were An Evil Overlord, Blue Kingdoms--Mages & Magic, Civil War Fantastic, Future Americas, All Hell Breaking Loose, The Dimension Next Door, Sol's Children, Historical Hauntings, and Fantasy Gone Wrong. Many of thsese stories and others appear in his Writer on Demand TM story collections by genre: Tales of Gamers and Gaming; Tales of Humorous Horror; Tales Out of Time; Grim, Fair e-Tales; Tales of an Altered Past Powered by Romance, Horror, and Steam; Not-So-Heroic Fantasy; and Shadow Realities.
Donald J. Bingle is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Horror Writers Association, International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, GenCon Writers Symposium, and Origins Game Fair Library.
**Review
Says Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winningauthor of Hominids: "Visceral, bloody -- and onehell of a page turner! Bingle tackles the philosophical issues surroundinguploaded consciousness in a fresh, exciting way. This is the debut of a majornovelist -- don't miss it."
Says Ed Greenwood, Creator of The ForgottenRealms™ and Author of the bestselling Elminster novels: "I loved it! Many writers have explored hard-hitting andbrutal possible futures for Earth, and told colorful tales of people trying tostay alive in them, but few have brought such imagined futures as vividly tolife as Don Bingle -- and no other book I can think of examines how and why sucha future might just happen as well as FORCED CONVERSION does -- or provides halfthe breath-catching twists and turns of Bingle's yarn. A 'good read' of the oldschool, coupled with all-too-plausible reasons for everything. A grim warningand a fast action adventure tale, all in one! Highlyrecommended!"
Says Jean Rabe, Author of The Dhamon Saga:** "Though this is Donald Bingle's first novel, it reads like thework of a seasoned thriller author. Forced Conversion is filled with plenty ofsuspense and surprises, deep and quirky characters, and engaging dialog. It isnot easy to set down, so read it when you have time on your hands. It is ahelluva trip ..."
**
From the Publisher
Technology can be a wonderful thing, when it's not ruining the world completely.
Most science fiction deals with worlds transformed by technological advance. Forced Conversion highlights the troubling and chaotic process of that transformation, itself. It combines the adrenaline-soaked action of military fiction with the extrapolation of current scientific trends of the best speculative fiction, while dealing with the moral and religious implications of both war and technology.
When Moore’s Law meets God’s Law, the result is forced conversion.
Donald J. Bingle lives in St. Charles, Illinois. This is his first published novel.
** Views: 5
From the incomparable Anne Tyler, a rich and compelling novel, spanning three generations, about a mismatched marriage - and its consequences.-Michael and Pauline seemed like the perfect couple - young, good-looking, made for each other. The moment she walked into his mother's grocery store in Baltimore, he was smitten, and in the heat of World War II fervour, they marry in haste. From the sound of the cash register in the old grocery to the counterculture jargon of the sixties, from the miniskirts to the multilayers of later years, Anne Tyler captures the nuances of everyday life with telling precision and sly humour. Views: 5
Subject: Daredevil Darian Sabura Family History: He's an empath -- but the source of his power is a mystery Deepest Secret: He avoids human contact and emotion -- especially love With his rock-hard body and bottomless bank account, Darian Sabura fearlessly traveled the globe in search of his next adrenaline rush -- and found it rescuing a damsel in distress. Abigail Pembroke's sheltered life had been violently shattered when she'd witnessed a brutal murder. Now someone was trying to ensure she didn't live to talk about it. But Abby wasn't the only one in danger. From the moment he saw her, Darian couldn't stop the flood of emotion that destroyed the long-held barriers around his soul. For the first time, he felt cold-blooded fear -- and desire. And as their stalker drew near, he risked sheltering Abby in his arms...and his heart. Views: 5
WOULD SHE RUN AWAY--WITH HIS HEART?Small town girl Blaire Harding had always kept bad boy Justin Chisholm at arm's length. But after months of wooing, she finally agreed to let him into her life--and her bed. After one remarkable night, Blaire avoided the youngest Chisholm brother like the plague, leaving Justin to wonder why.... When he discovered that Blaire was in the family way, the rogue of Cherokee Rose was eager to do the right thing and marry her. But the independent Miss Harding would rather raise her baby alone than marry a man who didn't love her. Could this cowboy convince her that he cared? Or would he end up trailing her across the state of Oklahoma? Views: 5
