The Ontarrin Galaxy is a rough and tumble place. Young Dar Meltom knows this for fact. As the half breed offspring of an unlikely joining between an Earthling male and a Satiren female, he knows about fighting. Having spent his childhood on Erotis 3 getting into fights because he was different, Dar’s only solace comes from watching the stars. He dreams to be among them someday.The Ontarrin Galaxy is a rough and tumble place. Young Dar Meltom knows this for fact. As the half breed offspring of an incredibly unlikely joining between an Earthling male and a Satiren female, he knows what fighting is all about. Having spent his childhood on Erotis 3 getting into fights because he was different, Dar’s only solace comes from watching the stars. He’s crazy about them. He dreams about them, and secretly wishes to be among them.His mother, Denrika, knows her son is at a disadvantage. Living in a purebred society, his chances for getting a job after he graduates school are slim. Until one day, a large alien strolls into the general store where she works. His name is Gwog, and he’s captain of the space freighter Cunik. Little does he know, Denrika will convince him that he needs another crew member—a seventeen year old half breed with his head in the stars.Dar joins the crew of the Cunik and quickly learns that space life isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. After being on board only a few days, he’s stricken with Skrinnian fever and nearly dies. Gwog and Karnis nurse him back to health, and then he learns more important lessons about death, pirates, love, and the value of the friends he’s made. Until such time as he’s on his own, Dar absorbs everything Gwog teaches him. Then, one night, a game of Sirrixian poker changes his life forever… This is Book 1 of Dar's Adventures in Space. Views: 519
Junior and Pinto: A Boy and His Car, by Clancy Smith.Dead Land grifter Junior and his equally gritty car, Pinto, are on their last leg when then reach a remote human outpost on the eastern coast. But just because he bartered his way inside, doesn't mean the con and his car will make it out in one piece.This is the fifth chapter of the post-apocalyptic anthology, Dead Land, currently being developed for an unprecedented multi-media book. If you're an illustrator, animator, a website or game developer, or otherwise interested in being a part of this project, please contact Richard at [email protected]:Richard CunninghamDavid SechrestKalju LeeCurran AltshulClancy Smith Views: 518
All Things Return is the story of two young men who, though separated by twenty-five years, hundreds of miles, and the fear of certain death if found by a vengeful criminal cartel, strive to overcome almost insurmountable obstacles and reclaim the father/son relationship denied to them for so long.All Things Return is the story of two young men caught up in the mayhem created by an international criminal cartel willing to destroy an innocent man’s life for selfish gain. Howard Douglas vows to seek revenge against a member of the cartel as he goes searching for a son he never before knew existed. Terrance Butler, a young man living in Kansas while working as a newspaper reporter, has no idea that a two decades old criminal vendetta is heading his way. Learning that he has become the target of the cartel, Terrance plans his escape. Yet things are not as they seem. Terrance discovers that finding out the truth about his past requires him to face his fears, trusting that the unknown past he has sought for so long will show him the way. Views: 518
Quicksand is a short story about how a couple deals with the sudden loss of their child. We all deal with tragedy in different ways, but there is only one way to get out of quicksand.My entry to Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal Author Quest, published with kind permission of the Jim Henson Company.In the world of the Dark Crystal, stones can move and plants can sing. The Skeksis rule from the Castle of the Crystal, while the natural wizards called ur-Mystics work from afar to prevent the land from faltering. Set thousands of trines before the events of the film, PLAGUE OF LIGHT is the story of the search for a cure to an arcane contagion that has infected the people of Thra.Cory and Loora are both rebellious Woodland Gelflings who have been sent to Aughra to sort out their problems with authority. She enlists them on a quest to find a cure for the plague that has already infected their parents.Meanwhile, Gobber and Lemny are nuffing more than trav'ling merchants, carrying odds and evens to sell from their old cart, when they spot sumfing funny falling from the sky . . . Views: 518
a novella by Josh Spilker:more information can be found at www.kuboapress.wordpress.com‘Kurungabaa’ is a Dharawal word for the Australian pelican, a handsome bird with a peculiar way of gliding low over the waves. We have chosen it to express respect for the Dharawal country where we love to surf, to celebrate the continuing culture of the Dharawal people, and to acknowledge the memory of the Dharawal people’s ancestors.Kurungabaa is a not-for-profit volunteer publication, and is published bi-annually (June and December) as a hard copy by the generosity of subscribers and donors. Digital versions of the earlier and current editions are available from 2011 onwards, check the better-known online stores.Kurungabaa publishes diverse genres including poetry, fiction, reflective and scholarly essays, memoirs, review essays, and interviews. Four pages each issue are made available for a photo essay or series of art reproductions by a single photographer or artist.Emerging writers from coastlines around the world are encouraged to submit their work. Several pages will be dedicated to emerging authors in each issue. Editorial and writing assistance can be arranged, if requested.Indigenous writers, surfers and artists are encouraged to join in kurungabaa’s production, both as members of the editorial collective and as contributors. Every issue aims to contain material on surfing-related Indigenous history, culture and politics.More info and submissions to kurungabaa.net Views: 518
Something strange lurks in a vacuum-sealed bell jar in a wealthy eccentric's parlor, feeding on the unearthly sounds his musical mercenaries create. When suicide attempt survivor Aerie Walker passes his audition, her life takes a major turn for the weird.Aerie Walker should be famous or dead or both by now, just like her idol, bassist Scott LaFaro, who in 1961, at the peak of his fame, died in a fiery wreck in upstate New York. She plays upright bass too, and plays it very well. Won awards and acclaim, but could never manage a living. When her odyssey in professional jazz ends with spoiled dreams and a failed suicide attempt in Tokyo, she retreats to Ithaca, NY where she hopes to pursue a new career in the culinary arts. One night after work, a 'musicians wanted' posting catches her eye. She takes her bass out of storage and to a bizarre jam session in the wilds of Connecticut Hill. She ends up joining the oddest of ensembles, playing atonal, improvised music for a mysterious bell jar, but never in public. Musical alchemy, patron Aaron Levine calls it. The thing in the jar does interesting things to carbon when the right sort of dissonance sends it resonating. This strange 'music' disturbs John and Cindy, the God-fearing couple who live next door, to the core of their souls. The hellish racket seems to draw the oddest creatures out of the forest. Cindy even thinks they might be demons. Pastor Mac, her illicit lover, agrees to intervene, cashing in a favor from an old friend who runs Last Hope Ministries, a commando deliverance outfit specializing in high tech, large caliber exorcisms. When Aaron goes away on business, the band, pining for recognition, brings the show to town, bell jar and all. The gig proves disastrous, freeing the entity in the bell jar, wreaking havoc on the alchemist's designs and nipping Aerie's musical comeback in the bud. But in the process, cuckold John becomes a fan, accomplice and secret admirer of Aerie's. And he alone has the inclination and ability to jam the gears of a potentially deadly deliverance. Sonant celebrates music and nature and the mysteries of the heart, riding the ‘Slipstream’ between gritty contemporary fantasy and magical realism. Views: 518
A selection of older poems that Kennie wrote about his failed relationships."Though short in length, Two-Fisted Tweets is long on creative wit and humor that will have you laughing well after the final line has been read."Renee C. Fountain, BookFetish. Views: 518
Sixteen poems about portages, thunderstorms, and long sunny days, the experience of canoeing in summer.These sixteen poems celebrate canoeing lakes and rivers in that brightest of all times. The include poems about sun and wind, afternoon thunderstorms, bugs, love, and dry, dry riverbeds. And, yes, that wonderful moment when the sun is high, you’re on the lake, and you get a tailwind.This is part of the series, Canoeing Poems: A Year in Four Volumes. Views: 518
Called “A new Narnia for the tween set” by the New York Times and perfect for fans of the His Dark Materials series, The Emerald Atlas brims with humor and action as it charts Kate, Michael, and Emma's extraordinary adventures through an unforgettable, enchanted world.
These three siblings have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage.
Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they could possibly imagine. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of devastating power, an evil they know nothing about.
Until now.
Before long, Kate, Michael, and Emma are on a journey through time to dangerous and secret corners of the world...a journey of allies and enemies, of magic and mayhem. And—if an ancient prophesy is correct—what they do can change history, and it is up to them to set things right.
From the Hardcover edition. Views: 518
Harriet Scott Chessman takes us into the world of Mary Cassatt's early Impressionist paintings through Mary's sister Lydia, whom the author sees as Cassatt's most inspiring muse. Chessman hauntingly brings to life Paris in 1880, with its thriving art world. The novel's subtle power rises out of a sustained inquiry into art's relation to the ragged world of desire and mortality. Ill with Bright's disease and conscious of her approaching death, Lydia contemplates her world narrowing. With the rising emotional tension between the loving sisters, between one who sees and one who is seen, Lydia asks moving questions about love and art's capacity to remember. Chessman illuminates Cassatt's brilliant paintings and creates a compelling portrait of the brave and memorable model who inhabits them with such grace. Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper includes five full-color plates, the entire group of paintings Mary Cassatt made of her sister. Views: 518
Malver turns to his father."You must stay hidden son. For if she sees you, she will be frightened off," his father says as both of them divert their eyes back to the young female sitting by the river.His heart sings out to hers. A longing he has never felt before.Malver turns to his father."You must stay hidden son. For if she sees you, she will be frightened off," his father says as both of them divert their eyes back to the young female sitting by the river.His heart sings out to hers. A longing he has never felt before. He feels the need to touch her. It builds as her face turns more his way. His father lightly taps his shoulder. He turns and notices the leader guards walking towards them. The one stops beside Malvar.Did you mate her yet?He drifts his eyes back to the young beauty. His sigh tells the guards his answer.You have been coming here for four months now, yet you have not sedduced her to mate you. Views: 518
Corben Jatthew gets it done. That's Corben's motto, and he's built a successful consulting business by following it, but when he takes the Stopwatch case, he soon finds he's running out of time. Can Corben get it done? Find out in Stopwatch, a short story.The year is 2048 and Liristan has declared war on the Allied powers. While Canadian Prime Minister Alistair Tillman is doing his best to placate his enemies and assist his friends, there's a traitor on the Hill. He enlists nineteen year old, rookie M.P. Jonathan Tremblay and the beautiful Legislative Assistant, Alexandra Sinclair to help him unmask the enemy within. But what they find is more shocking than they ever could have imagined and the pair of political sleuths must quickly learn to navigate the dangerous game of politics to stay ahead - and stay alive. Views: 518
Lenny Everson offers his ten best short poems, for people with limited time and skeptical minds.After uncounted decades of writing poems, Lenny has sifted out his ten best short ones, so that readers won't have to spend more than fifteen minutes reading them. Views: 517
Gwen has only ever known life as a priestess of the High Serpent King, Belial the Glorious. Specially trained as a wraith dancer assassin, Gwen is preparing for a life dispensing justice in the name of her dragon gods when she successfully repels an attack by the Resistance upon Belial’s temple. Suddenly catapulted to a position of status, Gwen is chosen to assassinate Ezekiah, the Prophet“I never wanted to be a killer—an assassin—a Wraith Dancer. But as a priestess of the High Serpent King, Belial, I had little choice in the matter. Still, despite my inward desire for a life of perfect peace, it must be said that I was one of the best. Blood had splattered across the front of my tunic. At my feet lay the body of an infidel called Peka; his throat sliced open from ear to ear; the bones of his left thigh and right arm shattered. He had come with a group of rebels hoping to desecrate Belial’s temple here in Babale. I could not allow that.”Gwen has only ever known life as a priestess of the High Serpent King, Belial the Glorious. Specially trained as a wraith dancer assassin, Gwen is preparing for a life dispensing justice in the name of her dragon gods when she successfully repels an attack by the Resistance upon Belial’s temple. Suddenly catapulted to a position of status, Gwen is chosen to assassinate Ezekiah, the prophet of the Resistance. But when she’s captured, Gwen is shown the dark side of the dragons and their utopian society and the unsuspected kindness of the man she was meant to kill. She wants to remain faithful to the Serpent Kings, but her doubts are growing, and her time with Ezekiah has awakened feelings within her she never thought to have. Moreover, in Gwen’s absence, something has happened to make this wraith dancer a costly liability to the dragons, and she cannot be allowed to live any longer. Views: 517
