Carol is on a mission: to deliver a special package to her sweet, but forgetful husband. And no amount of snowy tundra will stand in her way...A short story of approx 1800 words.Choices is the story of Melissa and Jake. Melissa is suffering from a debilitating addiction to prescription pills. She has broken down every relationship to the point of fray. Now her husband Jake must decide what is next does he given up or give her another chance. Jake seeks the support of friends and family to make this hard decision. Views: 679
Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable--until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he's ever seen. In the past, the people of Lyrian welcomed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power. The brave resistors who opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.
In his search for a way home, Jason meets Rachel, who was also mysteriously drawn to Lyrian from our world. With the help of a few scattered rebels, Jason and Rachel become entangled in a quest to piece together the word of power that can destroy the emperor, and learn that their best hope to find a way home will be to save this world without heroes. Views: 679
"My tendency to make up stories and lie compulsively for the sake of my own amusement takes up a good portion of my day and provides me with a peace of mind not easily attainable in this economic climate." Chelsea Handler
It's no lie: Chelsea Handler loves to smoke out "dumbassness," the condition people suffer from that allows them to fall prey to her brand of complete and utter nonsense. Family, friends, and co-workers have all been tricked by Chelsea into believing stories of total foolishness and into behaving like total fools. Luckily, they've lived to tell the tales and, for the very first time, write about their humiliating experiences.
It doesn't matter if you're minding your own business, busily working, or honeymooning thousands of miles away. No one is ever safe from Chelsea's fake emails and phony pregnancies, bogus smuggling schemes and made-up sports bets. Because whether it's premeditated or spur of the moment, Chelsea will do anything for a laugh. And that's the truth. Views: 679
Brock Brower's National Book Award-nominated novel traces the making of a horror movie in Hollywood.Simon Moro, a 68-year-old star, is making his last picture, a low-budget remake of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven. Moro, infuriated by the bland horror movies of his day, sees his own career—even as it ends— as an ongoing effort to wallop the public with an overwhelming moral shock. And he succeeds when an elaborate publicity stunt turns into a gruesome and grand personal statement. As Moro's life reels toward its macabre end, it also reels backward through lies and evasions to show its surprising beginning. Underneath his Frankensteinian exaggeration, Moro has a vivid and humane story to tell, even as the coffins break open and dark, erotic secrets are revealed. Brock Brower has taken the horror film in all its gory glory to create a book that recycles pop material into literature, creating a Dickensian tale of America. Views: 678
On the brink of death, Keegan Black's soul reacts hastily and leaves his body. Minutes later he awakes, remembering the bee sting and the EpiPen that was out of his reach. Believing he's dead, he wanders the streets aimlessly and is soon confronted by demons intent upon confiscating his heart and escorting him to Hades.On the brink of death, Keegan Black's soul reacts hastily and leaves his body. Minutes later he awakes, remembering the bee sting and the EpiPen that was out of his reach. Believing he's dead, he wanders the streets aimlessly and is soon confronted by demons intent upon confiscating his heart and escorting him to Hades. Knowing he's in an unwinnable situation, Keegan prepares to run, but before he can make his move, help arrives in the form of Echo Fitzgerald, a mal'ak dispatched to find Keegan's misplaced soul and bring the two of them together again. Keegan cannot deny his attraction to Echo and, while she finds him appealing, she isn't interested in anything more than completing her assignment and getting back to what she was doing before the summons - enjoying a fine Pinot Noir with a Greek god in Belize. But a simple matter soon turns complex when her ex-lover arrives on the scene wanting payback for something that happened long ago. With the assistance of some of Keegan's friends, a biker gang, they are able to stall the demons long enough for Echo to locate Keegan's essence and reunite it with its host.The two fall in love, but their love can never be. Keegan will not let Echo go, not even for his life. Views: 678
E-book exclusive extras:1) Christie biographer Charles Osborne's essay on The Murder of Roger Ackroyd2) "The Poirots": the complete guide to all the cases of the great Belgian detectiveThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd broke all the rules of detective fiction and made Agatha Christie a household name. There are two things you must do if you know nothing of this book: discuss it with no one, and read it with all speed—because it contains one of the biggest surprises in crime fiction.In the quiet village of King's Abbot a widow's suicide has stirred suspicion—and dreadful gossip. There are rumours that she murdered her first husband, that she was being blackmailed, and that her secret lover was Roger Ackroyd. Then, on the verge of discovering the blackmailer's identity, Ackroyd himself is murdered. Views: 678
Every flame begins with a spark.
Blackwood Academy was supposed to be a fresh start for Ashline Wilde. A secluded boarding school deep in the heart of California’s redwood forests, three thousand miles from her old life—it sounded like the new beginning she needed after an act of unspeakable violence left a girl in her hometown dead. But Blackwood is far from the peaceful haven Ashline was searching for. Because terrifying, supernatural beasts roam the forests around campus. Because the murderer from Ashline’s hometown—her own sister—has followed her across the country. Because a group of reincarnated gods and goddesses has been mysteriously summoned to Blackwood...and Ashline’s one of them. Views: 678
The Tanith First are no more. Moved into another regiment under a charismatic new commander, the loyalties of the former Ghosts are put to the test when Colonel-Commissar Gaunt, long believed dead, returns. As the enemy overrun the Imperial forces, Clashing with Crusade command, and suspected of harbouring the taint of Chaos, Gaunt must fight not only to be reunited with his Ghosts, but to stop all their lives being thrown away in an unwinnable war. Views: 678
In 2019 Eli Sands is a typical kid, spending most of his free time with his vidpad. So what's he doing in the middle of a burning city in ancient Egypt? Standing next to a highly evolved dinosaur from another planet? It all has to do with DARPA and the timesphere experiments.Eli's mother has disappeared. Now he must save his world and family from a fatal disease that has slipped through time.The year is 2019, and a secret government agency is forcing Eli Sands's dad to continue with his time-travel experiments, even though Eli's mom has just disappeared in one. Then Eli himself demonstrates an unexpected ability to travel through time. Now he has a ridiculous new code name and a gravely important mission. With the help of new friends-- Clyne, an intelligent dinosaur from an alternate Earth reality, and Thea, a girl scientist from ancient Egypt-- Eli must investigate a deadly disease, search for his mother, and stay alive. Views: 678
An intelligent youth discovers an alien device of staggering power, and he eventually intuits its function. In doing so, he discovers that capability without wisdom is dangerous, including for him. Time, space and creation are at his command, and ultimately he does great harm before all becomes rolled up in a surprise ending.The Brane Skip device designed in the twenty-second century is intended to move a spaceship between the membranes of reality in order to get around the universal speed limit: 'Thou shall not go faster than light'. The theory behind the device is unproven, the technology experimental, but if there are side paths through the universe of normal space, there should be short cuts where speed limits simply don't apply.The unmanned tests of the Brane Skip are inconclusive. The probes wink out and then back into existence, but all they record in between is a mysterious gray haze. No one knows where they go. But they must go somewhere. The automated systems can't say. It's time to send volunteers.The Brane Skip seems like magic to Lisa Chang, the young engineer in command the first crewed test flight, and Chang doesn't believe in magic. But she does believe in the mission. Humanity must explore space in order to survive and prosper, and she feels honored to be among the first to go where no one has gone before. She does not know what will happen when the Brane Skip device engages. She thinks it will do nothing. She fears it will explode. What she does not expect is popping out adrift in space and on a collision course with a fantasy version of Earth, complete with dragons, orcs, and wizards.Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens. Views: 678
Jeremy Chikalto claimed for years he can look behind the air. When an angel delivers an Apocalpytic message, a series of strange events draws Jeremy closer and closer to the core of things. What if a third entity was vying for power with God and the Devil? Can a crude prince become a cosmic martyr? Enter a world where angels, demons, ghosts, aliens, and volcanoes are bound together by prophesy.Jeremy Chikalto claimed for years he can look behind the air. When an angel delivers a cryptic message about the Apocalypse, a series of strange events draws Jeremy closer and closer to the core of things. What if a third entity was vying for power with God and the Devil? Why are Earth and the distant planet Watico so similar? When Jeremy crosses over to the Haze, the line between light and dark blurs. Who is he? What is he? Can a crude prince become a cosmic martyr? Enter a world where angels, demons, ghosts, aliens, and volcanoes are bound together by prophesy. Views: 677
Ireland – 1838Aine and Keegan set up magical devices which would aid the Irish during the famine. Before these protections were finished, Keegan was murdered.On the day her seventh daughter is born, Aine activates the magical devices with Birth magic, and then Death—her death magic.Shocked, the daughters find themselves orphaned with mysterious magic working around them.Ireland – 1838Aine’s O’Byrne’s gift of foresight had shown her the coming famine in Ireland that would destroy the potato crop. She saw the millions of Irish that would perish during this time. Desperate to alleviate some of her people’s peril, she and her husband Keegan set up magical devices that would aid the Irish. Before all these protections could be finished, Keegan was senselessly murdered.Keegan’s death brought Aine a lot of gut wrenching sorrow—and maybe a little madness. Aine finishes the protections, but realizes that she does not have the strength to survive the birth of her child.On the day of Haley’s arrival, Aine activates the magical devices with Birth and then Death magic—her death magic.Shocked, the six daughters find themselves orphaned with mysterious magic’s working around them. They will have to learn how to deal with their own budding magic, the needy villagers, and the upcoming famine.With the help of Druantia herself—and some special friends—the sisters will find the courage, the daring, and the determination to battle all the odds set up against them. They learn about freedom—the cost of freedom—life’s ironies, and the bonding of sisterhood. Views: 677
a collection of short fiction by Nigel Bird: more information can be found at www.kuboapress.wordpress.comAccording to ancient Mohawk legends, in severe winters the long dormant Stone-Coats/Ice Giants awaken and feed. As predicted by some climate modeling, a few areas on Earth are cooling instead of becoming warmer. When climate change brings year-long snow to the Adirondack Mountains of New York, the reclusive Iroquois Mohawk tribe that guards against monster emergence enlists the aid of Ed Rumsfeld, a seventh grade history teacher with recently gained telepathic abilities (see the first story of this series). Can the Stone-Coats be stopped? And what do genetically altered intelligent ants and a Mohican NSA agent have to do with it? Steeped in scientific rationale and Mohawk culture, this novella/short novel is the second story of an ongoing fantasy/sci-fi series that chronicles an increasingly unstable world in which nasty natural, technological and mythical forces are unleashed in response to climate change and other human induced problems. Views: 677
An award-winning and inspiring novel. When Jessica's dreams are shattered, she puts herself back together—and learns to dream bigger than ever before.
Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She's not comforted by the news that she'll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run?
As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don't know what to say, act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she weren't now keenly aware that she'd done the same thing herself to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she's missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her.
With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that's not enough for her now. She doesn't just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her.
Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award Views: 677
