Tom Angleberger's latest, loopiest middle-grade novel begins when M'Lady Luggertuck loosens her corset (it's never been loosened before!), thereby setting off a chain of events in which all the strict rules of Smugwick Manor are abandoned. When, as a result of "the Loosening," the precious family heirloom, the Luggertuck Lump (quite literally a lump), goes missing, the Luggertucks look for someone to blame. Is it Horton Halfpott, the good-natured but lowly kitchen boy who can't tell a lie? Or one of the many colorful cast members in this silly romp of a mystery. Views: 532
Riding along with two young Americans the very week of figuring their dreams are probably going to finish second.James McEwing is an out of work writer nearing his 30's and losing patience for a big break to come along. His best friend of the same age, Gerry Galloway, is a career minor league baseball player looking for a more convincing reason than the prospect of marriage to hook him off the athletic stage.During spring training in Florida, it appears as if the vicissitude of time has finally given the two young men no choice but to submit, pack up, and together drive all the way back home to Pullman, Washington-for good. Along the way, they plan a stop in New England for a relative's 40th birthday bash, followed with a layover in Chicago for a game at Wrigley Field on Major League Baseball's opening day.It was supposed to be a farewell toast; a 3,000 mile road-trip to mark their youth coming to an end. But a clean break just wouldn't play itself out for Big Game James and Gerry G. Life comes back to pedal one more seed of opportunity in exchange for the same old price of persistence and humility. Views: 532
"The Great Guskin" (John Lahr, The New Yorker) shares the approach he uses to help actors land roles, develop them, and keep them alive Harold Guskin is an "acting doctor" whose clients include Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, James Gandolfini, Bridget Fonda, and dozens more. In How to Stop Acting, Guskin reveals the insights and techniques that have worked wonders for beginners as well as stars. Instead of yet another "method," Guskin offers a strategy based on a radically simple and refreshing idea: that the actor's work is not to "create a character" but rather to be continually, personally responsive to the text, wherever his impulse takes him, from first read-through to final performance. From this credo derives an entirely new perspective on auditioning and the challenge of developing a role and keeping it fresh, even over hundreds of performances. Drawing on examples from his clients' work and his own, Guskin presents acting as a constantly... Views: 532
Weird Tales #325 features "From Out of the Crocodile's Mouth," by Darrell Schweitzer; "The Gravedigger's Apprentice," by Alvin Helms; "Our Temporary Supervisor," by Thomas Ligotti; "Where All Things Perish," by Tanith Lee; "The Wizard of Ashes and Rain," by David Sandner, and more. Views: 532
With Signing Their Lives Away (Quirk, 2009), Denise Kiernan and Joseph D'Agnese introduced readers to the 56 statesmen and scoundrels who signed the Declaration of Independence. Now they've turned their attention to 39 men who met in the summer of 1787 and put their names to the U.S. Constitution. Signing Their Rights Away chronicles a moment in U.S. history when our elected officials actually knew how to compromise--and put aside personal gain for the greater good of the nation. These men were just as quirky and flawed as the elected officials we have today: Hugh Williamson believed in aliens, Robert Morris went to prison, John Rutledge attempted suicide (twice!); and Thomas Mifflin was ruined by alcohol. Yet somehow they managed to craft what is now the world's oldest living Constitution. With 39 mini-biographies and a reversible dust jacket (that unfolds into a facsimile of the Constitution), Signing Their Rights Away offers an entertaining and... Views: 532
Detective Dirk Nickel couldn't care less about clowns, but his is a city without laughs where clowns are a dying breed.Then, one day Nickel is framed - branded a 'chuckler' - and the heat is on. Can Nickel uncover who framed him in time, maybe even bring down the city-wide conspiracy against clowns in the bargain... or will the last laugh be on him?Featuring gripping Independent authors from around the world, FUSION is the first collection of short works published by Breakwater Harbor Books. Contributing heart-pumping tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Crime are seven stories that will thrill and rivet you. Authors from across a wide variety of genres, Dee Harrison, Ivan Amberlake, Claire C. Riley, Scott J. Toney, Mindy Haig, Cara Goldthorpe and C.M.T. Stibbe. The Sliver of Abilon – A Mirrorsmith Tale – 'and you thought it was safe to look in the mirror?'Diary of the Gone - Without a girlfriend, bullied by the Principal’s son, and haunted by the dead, Callum Blackwell thinks his life can’t get any worse. But he’s wrong.Life Ever After. Nina's Story: Part one. – When the dead begin to rise, it's time to put your differences aside and run!NovaFall – When the Meteor falls, the essences will come, forging flesh and planetary souls as one.Cybilla. – To claim his Muse, one man must find the gate between the mortal and the immortal worlds.Capturing Perfection – An artist's tale of love, loss and beauty in Renaissance MilanUntil The Ninth Hour – Until a man loses his daughter to a serial killer, until he loses his best friend, until he is down on his luck, Darryl Williams must put all thoughts of retaliation out of his mind.An excerpt from Dee Harrison’s The Sliver of Abilon – A Mirrorsmith Tale Junah Venmark, Master Mirrorsmith, exited the wayportal directly into the seaweed stench of Abilon. The foul odour tickled the back of his throat and he gagged on a rise of bile. Mirrorsmith Guild protocol demanded that he preview his destination before he arrived but it could not prepare him for an assault on his other senses. He vomited onto the trackway, just thankful that there was no-one to witness his most pitiful entrance ever. He loathed the smell of mouldy greens – it stirred up too many reminders of his wretched childhood in the back alleys of Varna, largest city on his homeworld of Vargo – but this was kabbige soup intensified tenfold. When his heaving subsided, Junah sank down onto his rump, trying to ignore the early evening dew which was soaking into his leggings. He pulled a kerchief from his belt-purse, to wipe the spittle from his lips, and cursed this ill-favoured world. Sissik, his wail, chittered and scurried around him like a silver-furred cyclone, mewing her distress. Junah winced when she skipped onto his tender stomach, the better to peer into his face with her large, prosimian eyes. He ran a finger down her spine and she slowly relaxed beneath his touch. Junah ill? She sent. No, I’m fine, Little One he reassured her. He grimaced. The smell caught me out, that’s all. Sissik wrinkled her own nose. Nasty, nasty stink, she concurred. Junah delved into his purse a further time and extracted a couple of lozenges from a packet. A few chews later and he could smell nothing. “Next time I’ll take ‘em before I get here,” he promised out loud. “Not that there’ll be a next time!” Junah clambered to his feet and peeled the sodden fabric from his buttocks. Sissik took her accustomed place on his shoulders, hiding beneath his long, dark hair and curled around his neck like a fur collar. Wails were native to all the worlds of the Regium, even the undeveloped ones like Abilon. Some wails, the silver-furred ones like Sissik, were prized for their ability to generate the acoustic frequencies that Mirrorsmiths depended upon. Others, the plumper, browner ones, made good eating. Whenever Sissik irritated him, which was often, Junah threatened to dye her coat russet. Now, however, she was quiescent, understanding that it was time for work. Views: 532
The Questionable is Queen Victoria's favorite airship, and for good reason. Posh, exclusive, noble: the ship is everything a rich passenger should desire. But as these five Steampunk stories show, not everything is peaceful up in the clouds.Readers of Sidney Sheldon, Danielle Steel and Nora Roberts will enjoy this book. 5 STARS! “Forbidden takes us on an emotional roller coaster which the reader will ride quickly to the end, as this book is impossible to put down.” - Rhoda D'Ettore, Author5 STARS! “A total page turner that grips at your heart strings.” - Gayle Pace, Book Reviewer5 STARS! “I loved it! I was so drawn in from the first page…so romantic…and perfect.” - A. P. Bullard, Triskele Reviews5 STARS! “A gripping and quick read. A weekend page turner.” - Review Girl5 STARS! "Forbidden" is an intelligent and well-crafted masterpiece that thoroughly deserves five stars indeed!” - Adisha KariyawasamBOOK DESCRIPTIONWhen Lady Eleanor Sotheby unexpectedly enters the life of Jayne Clark, a 23-year old waitress from Wichita, Kansas, Jayne's world is turned upside down. Not only is she welcomed into a family that she never knew, but she is thrust headlong into the highest strata of European society. Nothing is too grand in the fairy tale lives of the uber-rich--the spectacular seaside villas, the sleek, chauffeured limousines, the outrageously expensive designer clothes. When Jayne plays her part and learns to fit into this new world, she meets Robert Astor, the man of her dreams. But her feelings for Robert are forbidden. Jayne's heady new life begins to unravel into a dark web of deceit, domination and greed...and she ultimately finds herself confronting an evil that truly has no limits. Views: 532
Dix Dodd, PI has hung out her own shingle, specializing in busting cheaters. The guys back at Jones & Assoc. are laying bets about how soon she’ll fail. Things are looking up when Dix gets hired by Jennifer Weatherby to trail her husband 24-7 for a week, for $10K. But Dix's big payday earns her prime suspect status in a murder investigation by her nemesis, Det. Richard Head (aka Dickhead).Tired of getting no respect at the big P.I. firm where she’s worked for years, Dix Dodd has hung out her own shingle at the ripe age of 40. There are plenty of cheating husbands to go around, and Dix has a knack for busting them. Problem is, it doesn’t always pay so well. Conscious that the guys back at the old firm are laying bets about how soon she’ll come crawling back, she figures she’s got six months to make a go of it. The going gets even tougher when she hires Dylan Foreman. But when he told her about getting fired from his law firm and disbarred for putting common decency before the firm’s interests, she hired him on the spot. In addition to being smart, he’s gorgeous enough to remind her she’s a woman. And at 28, young enough to make her feel like a total cougar. Things start looking up when Dix gets hired by millionaire businessman Ned Weatherby’s wife Jennifer Weatherby, to tail Ned 24/7 for a week, for a cool ten grand. Easy-peasy, right? Wrong! The job lands Dix in the middle of a murder investigation – with her as the prime suspect and her arch-enemy Detective Richard Head (a.k.a., Dickhead, one of the cheating husbands she’d nailed) gunning for her. Dix will need all her ingenuity, as well as the help of Dylan and her oddball cast of supporters to extricate herself from this one. Views: 532
A young woman defies her domineering mother and goes to Wallace, Idaho in search of her grandfather’s history. Instead, she is involved in murder and learns that the bordellos and mines of the past reach into the present, entwining her in a history very much alive. She must face not only private failures and ghosts of old memories, but also betrayal and loss.Cody Marsh's domineering, embittered mother is the only family she has ever known until her grandfather arrives on her doorstep. He brings with him the acceptance and kindness previously missing in Cody's life, and his death a short time after they meet leaves her empty and yearning. Defying her mother for the first time in her life, Cody sets out for the boyhood home of her grandfather -- Wallace, Idaho -- to find connections to him, to find her place in her family, to find peace within herself.Instead, her search lands her at the scene of a double homicide and Cody's discoveries of her grandfather's past become entwined in a history very much alive. The bordellos, politics, and silver mines of the past reach into the present, driving at least one of her new acquaintances to acts of desperation. Cody must find the strength to face not only private failures and the ghosts of old memories, but betrayal that will strike at her newfound courage. Views: 532
From the moment they first met, life would never be the same again. Despite their age difference, Ellen Jackson allowed herself to be swept into the rich and powerful life of Tom Bradley, the CEO and owner of Satinol Cosmetics. They believed nothing could come between them, but they were wrong."TURNED is a book to rival TWILIGHT and VAMPIRE DIARIES, and one that will have you wanting to keep reading until the very last page! If you are into adventure, love and vampires this book is the one for you!" --Vampirebooksite.com The #1 Bestseller!TURNED is book #1 in the #1 Bestselling series THE VAMPIRE JOURNALS, which includes 11 books (and counting). In TURNED (Book #1 of the Vampire Journals), 18 year old Caitlin Paine finds herself uprooted from her nice suburb and forced to attend a dangerous New York City high school when her Mom moves again. The one ray of light in her new surroundings is Jonah, a new classmate who takes an instant liking to her. But before their romance can blossom, Caitlin suddenly finds herself changing. She is overcome by a superhuman strength, a sensitivity to light, a desire to feed--by feelings she does not understand. She seeks answers to what’s happening to her, and her cravings lead her to the wrong place at the wrong time. Her eyes are opened to a hidden world, right beneath her feet, thriving underground in New York City. She finds herself caught between two dangerous covens, right in the middle of a vampire war. It is at this moment that Caitlin meets Caleb, a mysterious and powerful vampire who rescues her from the dark forces. He needs her to help lead him to the legendary lost artifact. And she needs him for answers, and for protection. Together, they will need to answer one crucial question: who was her real father? But Caitlin finds herself caught between two men as something else arises between them: a forbidden love. A love between the races that will risk both of their lives, and will force them to decide whether to risk it all for each other… "TURNED is an ideal story for young readers. Morgan Rice did a good job spinning an interesting twist on what could have been a typical vampire tale. Refreshing and unique, TURNED has the classic elements found in many Young Adult paranormal stories. Book #1 of the Vampire Journals Series focuses around one girl…one extraordinary girl!...TURNED is easy to read but extremely fast-paced....Recommended for anyone who likes to read soft paranormal romances. Rated PG." --The Romance Reviews “TURNED grabbed my attention from the beginning and did not let go….This story is an amazing adventure that is fast paced and action packed from the very beginning. There is not a dull moment to be found. Morgan Rice did an awesome job bringing the reader into the story. She also made it easy to root for Caitlin and want desperately to her succeed in finding her truth….I will be looking forward to the second book in the series.” --Paranormal Romance Guild “Rice does a great job of pulling you into the story from the beginning, utilizing a great descriptive quality that transcends the mere painting of the setting….Nicely written and an extremely fast read, TURNED is a good start to a new vampire series sure to be a hit with readers who are looking for a light, yet entertaining story.” --Black Lagoon Reviews All 11 books in the VAMPIRE JOURNALS are also available for sale. Morgan Rice's new trilogy, ARENA ONE: SLAVERUNNERS (Book #1 of the Survival Trilogy), a post apocalyptic thriller, is also available. And Morgan Rice's #1 Bestselling fantasy series, A QUEST OF HEROES (Book #1 in the Sorcerer's Ring) is now also available--as a FREE download! Views: 532
This short Civil War ghost story, set in the contemporary South, shows how the act of settling a simple bet can sometimes change history.Those who survived the horrible battles of the American Civil War are talked about almost as much as the many thousands who did not. And what about those who should have fought, but didn't? Hardly anyone talks about them, or the many reasons they might have missed the opening volley.The Best Damned Squirrel Dog (Ever) tells one such story. Though the characters and location are fictional, the author's in-depth knowledge of local history brings the story to life and makes this a great read for anyone interested in love, pets, the 150th anniversary of the "great unpleasantness," or the war itself. Views: 531
The 1800 Club is a 21st Century haven for people seeking to escape New York City's frantic pace. Dressed in clothes their ancestors might have worn during the 1800s, members enjoy foods of the period and read periodicals featuring news of a particular date in 1865. However, the 1800 Club also has an astounding secret; Time Travel. Members travel back in time to keep history on track.Chapter I The President Lincoln MissionA probe sent back to record the Gettysburg Address makes a startling discovery: President Lincoln never makes it! The great man came down with a deep depression and could not leave his room. The 1800 club must send someone back in time to correct this problem, and club member William Scott is selected. He is let in on the club’s secret; its ability to time travel and after completing the mission is offered the job of President of the 1800 Club. The mission taught him that going back in time is not always a lark as the people of the past had the same likes and dislikes as us and more than one could be dangerous as he found out himself.Chapter II The Teddy Roosevelt MissionWhat if the charge up San Juan Hill didn’t take place in the Spanish/American War? What if Teddy Roosevelt was not the swash-buckling man the world of today knows and never ran for president? History would take a different course and the world would be a different place. For one, more men would die in the Spanish/American War because he prolonged the conflict by not charging the hill. The dead men’s lives get cut short and they have no children to carry their names. Artists, teachers, doctors and ordinary family men that would have been in their lineage are never to be. Once again a club member must go back in time and fix the glitch. Finding out that one of Roosevelt’s closest friends and advisors was Bat Masterson, our time traveling club member must first make sure that they meet. This entails that he must travel to the Wild West. Views: 531
Bestselling author Kathryn Lasky's newest hit series-a stunning spin-off set among the wolves of Ga'hoole. Faolan has always been an outsider. Exiled as a pup, then shunned by his fellow wolves for his unusual connection to the bears, Faolan has struggled to earn a place in the pack. But a terrible danger is looming on the horizon, and Faolan is the only one who knows how to fight it. Will he be able to claim his rightful place as leader? Unless Faolan can inspire the pack to stand together, it could be the end of the wolves of the beyond. Views: 531
