Young men with too much money and not enough sense in Cold War Berlin.A short collection of stories set in 1980's Berlin before the wall came down. Quirky, funny, thought provoking by turns, Ewan Alexander Lawrie's book tells how it might well have been, without falling foul of libel laws. Views: 810
Rose, a lowly fisherman's daughter in the crumbling Kingdom of Illiamna, knows nothing of magic, secrets, spies, or sailing ships—not until, dressed as a boy, she is taken under the wing of the kingdom's most mysterious schemer...Who said history had to be boring? Everyone in Illiamna knows the Tale of Benson Rose, a bedtime story beloved by adults and children alike, but few know the story behind their national hero. Would they be surprised to learn that Benson Rose did, in fact, live? Would they be surprised to know he was actually a woman? Raised as a fisherman's daughter in the crumbling Kingdom of Illiamna, Rose knows nothing of magic, secrets, spies, or sailing ships—she is content playing pranks on her neighbors with twin brother Benson at her side. Her idyllic lifestyle is not to last, however, and her tiny village is destroyed, thrusting upon her young shoulders responsibility for her helpless family. In order to protect her mother and sisters in unfriendly lands (fending off thieves, thugs, and an uncle who intends to sell them for gold), Rose must dress as her missing brother. In this disguise, she receives the help of Fenric, a mysterious scribe from the merchant ship Turnagain, and the charismatic Captain Kaille, a man to whom she feels drawn by fate. Little does she know that, with these interactions, she begins the journey that will sweep her into Illiamna's most clandestine intrigues and endear her to time as Benson Rose, the man who saved the kingdom in its darkest days.This is the first in the Rose's Garden and the Sea series. Views: 810
First, he was terrified. When the terror wore off, annoyance filled the vacancy. From pitiful life to no life at all. Wonderful. But, a few days later he realized being turned into a sentient . . . dead . . . thing was, without a doubt, the most fortunate event of his life.Have you ever read a book and thought, "gee I'd really like to know more about all those background characters!" Well we here at Team Pop Culture thought of that; because we're awesome, and we've got you covered. Behold, the Everything Sucks series! All of these short stories are stand-alones, and will make sense even if you haven't read the novel "Pop Culture Sucks, Manifesto of a Vampire" (*cough* it's a great book though *cough*)The series will either introduce you to, or expand on, various characters from the Pop Culture Universe. You'll get peeks at things like: Iris's time in the Underground Gary's life in the late 1940's Stitch, the Speakeasy barkeep And many all new charactersSo whether you're familiar with these guys or not, this is a series you should check out! Views: 810
A collection of modern poetry, from playful and provocative to profound and poignant, through these poems Ben Gilbert shares his unique and refreshing perspective on many aspects of modern living.A collection of modern poetry, from playful and provocative to profound and poignant, through these poems Ben Gilbert shares his unique and refreshing perspective on many aspects of modern living."These masterfully written poems brought warmth to my heart, tears to my eyes and curiosity to my mind. I found myself smiling and amused by his witty take on things. The author is a talented linguist and has played on words effortlessly to inspire and tantalise the minds of his readers. I LOVED this book and have found myself reading parts aloud to whoever was lucky enough to listen. I cannot wait to devour whatever he publishes next." Samantha Kennedy - English Teacher.Most of these poems were written as teaching materials for super bright advanced English language learners when I was teaching English at Shane Global in Hasting, UK. I kept the very rude ones out of the classroom, but to be frank that was only one poem - Atonement. The idiomatic and flexible nature of English, with its ease of rule breaking and change is a difficult thing to teach and poetry is a fine way to show such."People change and language changes with people" Michel Thomas, Linguist. Views: 810
Join Madeline Hatter, daughter of the Mad Hatter of Wonderland, for a positively upside-down day at her father's Mad Hatter of Wonderland's Haberdashery Hat & Tea Shoppe. Read all about it in this exclusive Ever After High short story by Newbery Honor author Shannon Hale. Views: 810
My decisions were always wrong. I needed to get away from London, I wanted to start from scratch in Belfast, escape from the life that I didn’t want.
Working for Probation Service for the whole summer was going to give me the experience that I needed. I always felt much better when I could help people whose lives were shattered.
My parents told me that I wasn't ready and I wouldn't make it through but I was determined to show them that the past was behind me.
I had three months to forget about my bad memories, about the pain and my scars. Then I run straight into him, throwing it all to the wind, falling into a trap of love and lust.
Harry O’Donaghue was a local offender. At our first meeting he gave me the impression that he didn’t care about what I had to say and didn’t want to be evaluated by a stupid young girl like me.
Harry wasn’t an easy subject, either when it came to straight forward conversation about his future or about the crimes that he had committed.
Harry had a secret and everything suddenly became complicated. He was bad to be around, bad for me in every respect, but I still allowed him take me to paradise…
Contemporary Romance novel - contains adult situations, high sexuality, violence, suited for ages 18 and up. This book is the first in a series but can be read as a stand alone.* Views: 810
Teleoperator Clarity Nice investigates two wealthy women lured to marry each other within the Church headed by Cassandra Scafarel in Bahrain, the Church of the Holy Flower. Following indications of a conglomerate with ties to the kingdom, Clarity´s mission is to prevent the partly naked bridal union of the neophytes, who are debating who will be naked and who will wear the broderie wedding dress.Standing on a window-cleaning platform carrying a squeegee, Stevenson Garden Products teleoperator Clarity Nice and Colorado heiress Montana Sterley, investigate two wealthy women lured to join the All-Women Church of spiritual development headed by British expatriate Cassandra Scafarel in the kingdom of Bahrain, the Church of the Holy Flower. Both women investigated by Sensual Intelligence, Jenny Owens and Shalia Owell, have paid the steep Church membership access price of fifty thousand dollars, and Scafarel wants the two lovely single Board Members to get married to each other, one of them naked, the other wearing an intricate broderie mini dress, to vow their faith and fidelity to the Church´s symbol of affluence and beauty, the Rose of Levity.In exchange for becoming members of the Church and gaining access to the Rose of Levity´s practical spiritual knowledge, the two bridal neophytes must sign a power of attorney to Scafarel, leaving their Board of Director seats to the shrewd business woman after their wedding. Clarity´s mission is to prevent the marriage of both women, and return them, clothed or unclothed, to their human sexuality studies at University of Arizona, as per the indications of the Board of Directors of a powerful conglomerate, Owens & Owell, a group where both of the women have their Board seats, with ties to several ministries of the kingdom. Views: 810
How far will you go to keep a secret?A mysterious woman enters author James Buxton’s life at the same time he meets Mia. Fearing the dreaded writer’s block will end his career, James accepts the woman’s invitation to type up her story; exposing Lilly and Suzie’s unspeakable deed since 1942. At finally hearing the secret, how will the truth alter James and Mia’s relationship?How far are you willing to go to keep a secret?James Buxton is summoned to his publicist office. He’s not brave enough to tell her he’s suffering from writer’s block. She tells him to write a romance novel. At first he refuses; explaining he writes crime. She gives him a seductive kiss then says go write me a romance novel. When he arrives at a bed and breakfast hotel, he meets an attractive woman, Mia Garnett. Did fate bring them together or something else? James meets an elderly woman, Eloise, who wants to dictate a romance novel to him. She tells him to take all the credit for the book. The story is about a woman living in the1940’s and her struggles to survive when her husband goes to war. Lilly and her friend Suzie commit a horrific act. They vow to take the unspeakable deed to their grave. As James types the novel, he falls in love with Mia. After a romantic dinner at a restaurant they dance to the juke box with the song queue full. At the end of the night they are informed the jukebox queue hasn’t worked in years. When Mia hears the truth behind Eloise, will the discovery put a rift between her and James forever? Views: 809
A poignant look at the consequences of war and capitalism in an economic recessionFrankenstein.com is the sequel to Resident Fear. Two years on from arresting the serial killer involved, a new challenge faces D.C.I. Renton. The story is once again set in the Northeast of England, but this case appears to be more complicated than expected, compared with the stepwise murders of a serial killer. Several victims have apparently been simultaneously selected for a common purpose, and the perpetrator invites attention from the internet. Renton is in new territory again, and initially struggles to handle this window of the world into his department. Views: 809
Before the Spanish Armada set sail to conquer England, Lieutenant Pedro Garcia showed up in Spain, pawning himself off as an officer of the King. Garcia in fact was a time traveler from modern America, a professor of Spanish language and history who was prepared for an exciting adventure.As a time traveler from the States pretending to be a Spanish officer, Guy King, aka Pedro Garcia, was given command of Spanish soldiers aboard an Armada vessel setting out to conquer the British heretics. Garcia, a former U.S. Marine, was better prepared than most to lead his men, particularly since he knew that disaster lay ahead. He struggled to return his men safely to Spain, and then returned to modern-day America with a motley crew of antique Spanish and British officers. His final choice: To live his life in ancient Spain or in present-day U.S.A.? Views: 809
This is a story about Evelyn a girl living in Noham, a background story of when Evelyn met Julius. Noham is a town at the foot of a mountain in a Kingdom called Hamless. One day a mysterious guest appears and Evelyn's life in town is changed forever.Susie Jackson loved playing dress up in her deceased Aunt Sarah's attic in front of the antique mirror. Susie's father inherited her sister Sarah's Victorian home after her disappearance. Susie always thought her Aunt Sarah was a school teacher. Sarah had no idea that her Aunt practiced Black Magic in the attic. Legend has it that the Sarah bought an antique mirror from a Witch. The Witch told Sarah the mirror has powers of evil. This excited Sarah because she too was a practicing Witch and was only interested in the evil side of Witchcraft. Sarah bought the mirror from the Witch and took it home with her to put in her attic. It is said that on a stormy Halloween night Sarah crossed the line with conjuring up the dead. But the dead didn’t care about Sarah's plans with the dead. So the dead had their own plans for Sarah and those plans were to trap her in the mirror for all eternity. The dead said, "For what you have done you are sentenced to spend all eternity in the mirror with all the rest of the lost souls." Views: 809
Artirius, a northern barbarian, arrives home after a long journey abroad in the south. Upon reaching the eastern coast of the mainland a dream comes to him. The events that unfold after and Artirius's part in them, will not only determine the fate of Norta Masa, but may finally help the barbarian understand who he really is.Artirius had never truly felt at home with his tribe of barbarians on the northern plains of Norta Masa. So, when the opportunity to leave came to him as a younger man, he did. He sojourned for many years, meeting the dwarves, elves and other humans. He even traveled beyond the mainland, to the Untamed Isles in the southern seas.But for all the time he spent away, he could never find a place or role that seemed to fit him. So after nearly ten years, he returned. Upon landing on the Eastern coast, a strange dream haunts him. At first he discounts it as little more than too much drink the night before, but when the dream continues he knows he must seek guidance.From the east he travels to the elven city of Alastrial, to meet with the great wizard Tressnou. There the wizard reveals to Artirius that strange things are occurring throughout Norta Masa and that his dream may have something to do with it. From that point on, Artirius is plunged into events that will determine the fate of all those who live in Norta Masa and will reveal to Artirius who he really is.The Lone Wolf offers spectacular places, interesting characters, and exciting battles, in the author's debut novel. Views: 809
“Among the most indelible American novelists of the last hundred years. . . . [Harrison] remains at the height of his powers.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times on *The River Swimmer*
New York Times best-selling author Jim Harrison is one of America’s most beloved writers, and of all his creations, Brown Dog, a bawdy, reckless, down-on-his-luck Michigan Indian, has earned cult status with readers in the more than two decades since his first appearance. For the first time, Brown Dog gathers all the Brown Dog novellas, including one never-published one, into one volume—the ideal introduction (or reintroduction) to Harrison’s irresistible Everyman.
In these novellas, BD rescues the preserved body of an Indian from Lake Superior’s cold waters; overindulges in food, drink, and women while just scraping by in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; wanders Los Angeles in search of an ersatz Native activist who stole his bearskin; adopts two Native children; and flees the authorities, then returns across the Canadian border aboard an Indian rock band’s tour bus. The collection culminates with He Dog, never before published, which finds BD marginally employed and still looking for love (or sometimes just a few beers and a roll in the hay), as he goes on a road trip from Michigan to Montana and back, arriving home to the prospect of family stability and, perhaps, a chance at redemption.
Brown Dog underscores Harrison’s place as one of America’s most irrepressible writers, and one of the finest practitioners of the novella form.
**Praise for Jim Harrison’s Brown Dog:
“There is broad comedy in the writing, but also tenderness, and never a moment when the reader isn’t rooting for Brown Dog to get it right. . . . We would all be the poorer if deprived of Jim Harrison’s first-rate stories.”—The New York Times Book Review on The Summer He Didn’t Die
“Brown Dog, an old friend to fans of Harrison, . . . boasts the rare ability to reject the frills and artificial complexities of modern life and keep to the basics. . . . Like reading a book describing dear friends.”—Miami Herald on The Farmer’s Daughter
“A 21st-century version of Huck Finn.”—The Charleston Gazette on The Farmer’s Daughter** Views: 808
The Sword And The Dagger is written between the lines of historical fact following the torrid life of Irish pirate Fial McMurrin begging in the year 1796. An Irish lad armed with the love of a woman and his country learns the ways of the Royal Navy and their battle tactics. When the time is right he turns on tyranny. A chance meeting with British Politician William Wilberforce changes his life.In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century the British with an array of coalitions fought the Napoleonic wars, directly after the French revolutionary wars, when Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in France. Napoleon Bonaparte attempted to annex Europe, England and Russia with French sovereignty. This was a time of incredible history. In 1803 England became the United Kingdom with the amalgamation of Ireland after years of bitter bloodshed. The Spanish Inquisition was under democratic scrutiny and eventually abolished. By 1815 the United Kingdom defeated the French in the war of the seventh coalition with allies Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands defining the borders that are now modern Europe. A major factor in this defeat of the French was the superior strength and experience of the Royal Navy. With huge forests of oak, seasoned ship builders and brilliant seaman Britannia ruled the waves.In 1807 British Member of Parliament William Wilberforce was successful in introducing a bill The Slave Trade Act outlawing the carrying of slaves on British ships. It would take until 1833 to have The Slavery Abolition Act passed in the House of Lords which abolished slavery in most of the British Empire just prior to the death of Wilberforce. This period in history also saw the formation of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the start of the industrial revolution. The Irish had struggled through years of war with England and those opposed to British rule as part of the United Kingdom formed the Society of United Irishmen collaborating with the French to bring down the British and regain Irish independence. This story begins in Bantry Bay Ireland in 1796 with the disastrous expedition d'Irelande by the French in an attempt to land French troops on Irish soil. A young farmer's son Fial McMurrin twelve years old witnesses the mayhem with much of the French fleet destroyed by savage storms in Bantry Bay and along the adjacent coastline of Ireland. His parents are killed by the British but Fial McMurrin survives hidden by his parents and found by friends, he is taken to Cork. He is a natural seaman and learns the ways of the Royal Navy. He becomes a notorious pirate when the time is right exploiting weakness he found in ships of the line and their battle tactics. A chance meeting with William Wilberforce changes his life. Views: 808
17-year-old Itzel Loveguard has a secret. The stories she can’t seem to stop writing...sometimes they come true. And now she thinks she may have killed her own father. Itzy is flung on an emotional journey as she struggles to come to terms with her traumatic past – and it leads her into a strange new world of magic and mythology.17-year-old Itzel Loveguard has a secret. The stories she can’t seem to stop writing...sometimes they come true. And now she thinks she may have killed her own father.But she’s not the only one. Her estranged half-brother Oz and his unfailingly charming friend Seth can do things too. And so can the handsome grey-eyed boy, who seems to have stepped right out of Itzy’s dreams and has been travelling to London in search of the mysterious black pulse.Suddenly, Itzy is flung on an emotional journey as she struggles to come to terms with her traumatic past – and it leads her into a strange new world of magic and mythology.Now she finds herself questioning everything she’s ever believed...and wondering who her father thought was coming for her. Views: 808
