Joseph Albers attempts to save the coal-mining town he’s founded by making a deal at the crossroads - but instead of the devil he'd hoped to meet, he encounters the ancient, ageless god Charley Cat. By the time the parley has ended, the fates of both Joseph and of tiny Piquette, Kentucky will have changed forever.It’s late summer in 1901 and Joseph Albers is a man in trouble: he bet everything on a Kentucky coal mine, but soon after his mine collapsed the family and friends who followed him from Atlanta began falling to smallpox and yellow fever. In a desperate attempt to save what’s left of his town – and his dream of making it big in coal country – Joseph hunkers down at the crossroads, hoping for a midnight meeting with the devil.Instead Joseph encounters the ancient, ageless god Charley Cat, and finds himself surrounded by the demons, legends, and creatures of myth who travel with him. By the time their parley has ended, the fate of Piquette will have changed forever. Views: 783
Dean is faced with the prospect of living alone, after a nasty divorce, only to find an unexpected roommate.NYC Midnight hosts an annual short story writing competition. I competed with over 1,400 writers in the first round of the 2015 writing challenge. Writers are placed random in heats and are given a genre, subject, and character assignment. They then have 8 days to write an original story no longer than 2,500 words. Heat 9, my heat, was assigned Ghost Story for the genre, Agoraphobia for the subject and Divorce Lawyer for the character. I came up with two stories that I liked, Liberty Meadow and Do Us Part. I submitted the former. For your reading pleasure here is the latter.Synopsis: Dean is faced with the prospect of living alone, after a nasty divorce, only to find an unexpected roommate. Views: 783
A Penny Down the Well: A Short Story Collection of Fear contains five short horror tales that put a dark spin on everyday events. In "Down the Drain," Jared learns of his apartment's dark past. "Their Last Ride" shows the danger of cemetery work. "A Penny Down the Well" revives long-buried evils. "The Wheezing Man" uncovers a town's vile secrets. "Our Spirits Out West" dissects human desperation.In the second collection from horror author J. A. Crook, readers will be exposed to a myriad of harrowing tales from one of the most unique minds in horror today. "Down the Drain," is a story where Jared, a new renter at a low-class apartment, is subjected to the apartment's vile past, and is left to encounter the very mystery that terrorized the prior tenant. "Their Last Ride" puts you behind the wheel with Clint, who has happened onto a position with the nearby funeral home, but becomes quickly aware of the harsh demands of driving the dead. "A Penny Down the Well" will shock you as it explores a segment of a bullied child's life, and how a little wish enacts a revenge on his enemies in ways he could have never expected. "The Wheezing Man" corrals you into the strange town of Glencoe, Kentucky, where the Quinn family decides to make a stop to avoid a coming storm, only to step into the very center of something much, much worse. "Our Spirits Out West" will take readers along the old Oregon Trail with the Greyson party, to encounter adventure and hope which inevitably deteriorates into terror and helplessness, begging the question of what darkness we people will resort to in order to survive the worst of the world. These five tales will thrill and horrify you from start to finish, certain to pervade your nightmares for years to come. Views: 783
These are the stories of three boys living in Texas: one growing up, one dreaming, and one fighting to stay alive in the face of destitution. There is second-grader William, 15-year-old Sam, and 21-year-old Seff, all trying to make their way on their own terms. These stories are told with heart, humor, and an uncompromising look at what it meant to grow up in Texas during the 80s and 90s.These are the stories of three boys living in Texas: one growing up, one dreaming, and one fighting to stay alive in the face of destitution and adversity. There's second-grader William, a shy yet imaginative boy who schemes about how to get back at his school-yard bully, Randy. Then there's Sam, a 15-year-old boy who dreams of getting a 1980 Mazda RX-7 for his sixteenth birthday but has to work at a Greek restaurant to fund his dream. Finally, there's Seff, a 21-year-old on the brink of manhood, trying to survive along with his roommate, working as waiters and barely making ends meet. These three stories are told with heart, humor, and an uncompromising look at what it meant to grow up in Texas during the 1980s and 1990s.The writing of Scott Semegran has been praised by bestselling author / Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Davy Rothbart as "Hilarious, poignant, and twisted." Award-winning cartoonist Emily Flake described the fiction of Scott Semegran as "Funny, sweet, dark, and sad, Scott Semegran's stories create a wholly convincing world of love, loss, and fear. His light touch with heavy subjects is a gift, and his forays into silliness are a delight."Scott Semegran lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, four kids, two cats, and a dog. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English. He is a cartoonist and a writer. He can also bend metal with his mind and run really fast, if chased by a pack of wolves. His comic strips have appeared in the following newspapers: The Austin Student, The Funny Times, The Austin American-Statesman, Rocky Mountain Bullhorn, Seven Days, The University of Texas at Dallas Mercury, and The North Austin Bee. His short story "That Little Devil (Que Un Diablito)" appeared in the The Next One Literary Journal from the Texas Tech University Honors College. He is a Kindle bestselling author. Other novels and books by Scott Semegran include The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood, Modicum, The Spectacular Simon Burchwood, and Mr. Grieves the Book. Views: 782
Ellie Quin and Jez have been marooned on WonderLand - a series of domed mini-worlds in which anything and any creature you can imagine can be made; a luxury resort for the universe's rich and famous. Only, it never got a chance to open and now it's kept ticking over by a pair of eccentric technicians.
But all is not as it appears here. Something dark and sinister happened in the past and Ellie has accidentally stumbled across it...and stirred up a hornet's nest.
Meanwhile, The Administration's search for Ellie intensifies. The entire system is quarantined and the noose is tightening as Deacon finally gets the manpower he's requested.
And then there's Mason....getting ever closer to recovering his 'Frankenstein' creation...Ellie.
** Views: 782
What do you do when the Mist Spirits reach for you in the forest glades? How do young hunters learn to hunt? How do you stay out of trouble, to live another day? Where did The People come from?Were Neanderthals the knuckled dragging, hirsute, chest beating, embarrassing cousin of Humans or were they intelligent, forbearing survivalists?What does it take to live in a Neanderthal world?Karen and her friends Jimmy, Doug and David were avid ghost hunters in their town. They were always excited to find a new location that no other ghost hunters had explored. As Karen and her friends were driving around after midnight on a windy night bored of not being able to find a new location, they were about to give up and David said, "Stop! Doug replied, "You scared the crap out of me. I almost ran the car off the road.""Sorry, but I just remembered when I was just a little boy, I used to walk down this old dirt road with my best friend Tommy, and we used to read the writings on the tombstones. Tommy told me that a family of Witches were buried in this unmarked cemetery. Of course, I had nightmares quite frequently that the family of Witches would come out of their graves and kill me someday. But when I got a little older, my friend Tommy told me he made the story up just to scare me since I was so much younger than he was. He knew I was a scaredy cat and would probably have nightmares. Boy was he right, I had so many nightmares about that cemetery that I wouldn't step foot on that dirt road if you gave me a million dollars. Now that I'm so much older now and not afraid of any ghosts, I think it would be pretty cool to check out the cemetery I was so afraid of so long ago," explained David. Views: 782
Story 14 New Species series. It is advisable to read the books in order, to get the most enjoyment from the series.
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Dana is visiting Homeland when she meets a New Species who tugs at her heartstrings. As a widow, she knows firsthand the pain he’s suffering after losing his mate.
Mourn isn’t so certain that talking to a human female will help him heal but he desires her. It’s possible she could become his new reason for living.
927
Candi lost the male she loved, but never forgot him. New Species are her only hope to seek revenge for 927’s death.
A human female claiming to have been reared at Mercile has demanded entry to Homeland. Hero rushes to Medical and comes face-to-face with his past. One look at Candi and the life he’s built since gaining freedom comes crashing down around him. Views: 782
Becoming Sivingdel’s kingpin is no easy task, and ex-boxer Righty Rick’s ascension to this level without incurring a single arrest is even more remarkable. But when several of his top-ranking criminal associates are hauled off to jail in a single catch, he finds his lack of experience with the criminal justice system to be more of a liability than an asset.Becoming Sivingdel’s kingpin is no easy task, and ex-boxer Righty Rick’s ascension to this level without incurring a single arrest is even more remarkable. But when several of his top-ranking criminal associates are hauled off to jail in a single catch, he finds his lack of experience with the criminal justice system to be more of a liability than an asset.Not wanting to turn his back on his men, but leery about waltzing into the police station to attempt a bribe, he vacillates on the correct course of action. His decision is disastrous, leaving him facing state and federal drug trafficking charges and making exposure of his closely guarded identity seem more a matter of when than if.Righty chooses to fight back, unleashing an eruption of violence the likes of which have not been seen in the city for centuries, if ever. But he thinks he sees a course that, at the end of it all, will leave him more firmly in charge than ever before. Views: 782
Sarah is ready for revenge!Her ex-boyfriend is a tattoo artist and a real rear end. Teaming up with Mary, her Dreamdrifter friend, Sarah embarks on a journey to reclaim herself in this 5,000 word short story.The book is designed to teach English learners and young students about prepositions of place. It is about a policeman wh chases a thief through the streets of Hong Kong. The thief is confident of out running the policeman as he came second in the Hong Kong marathon and considers himself a good runner. Little does he know but the policeman chasing him took first place in the same marathon. Views: 781
Wren Noble is dead—she was born that way. Vibrant, unlike other dead things, she craves those rare moments when her twin sister allows her to step inside her body and experience the world of the living.
Lark Noble is alive but often feels she belongs in the muted Shadow Lands—the realm of the dead. Known as the crazy girl who talks to her dead sister, she doesn’t exactly fit in with the living, though a recent suicide attempt and time in a psych ward have proved to her she’s not ready to join her sister in the afterlife.
Now the guy who saved Lark’s life needs her to repay the favor. He and his friends have been marked for death by the malevolent spirit of a vicious and long-dead serial killer, and the twins—who should know better than to mess with the dead—may be their only hope of staying alive. Views: 781
It's clear on Monday, it's sunny on Tuesday, it's bright and cheerful every day of the week... except Adoption Day. Five orphans huddled under London Bridge, careful to stay dry while waiting for their mysterious benefactor. Why wouldn't it stop raining for poor old Mr. Foxworth? What did God have against him?It's clear on Monday, it's sunny on Tuesday, it's bright and cheerful every day of the week... except Adoption Day. Five orphans huddled under London Bridge, careful to stay dry while waiting for their mysterious benefactor. Why wouldn't it stop raining for poor old Mr. Foxworth? What did God have against him? A short story on murder, pudding, and Victorian England Views: 781
Before the beginning, God was lonely.Finally the true tale of the life of God is told. From before the Big Bang through vaguely intelligent design to the present day and onto a rather bleak future The Concise Re-Telling of the Life of God documents the lonely misunderstood life of our all-seeing Lord and how She overcome her inauspicious beginnings and journeyed towards a happy-ish ending.Diamond earrings from Tiffany’s, her own personal nanny, a generous godmother, jaunts to New York, a chrome and hand carved wooden swing set, riding in her father’s 1950 M.G. touring car, or her uncle’s Rolls-Royce to a yacht club or a polo match . . . these are every day people and things in the life of a girl named Emmy. Emmy's father, Mr. Agostini, is a Don Quixote obsessed aristocrat, and her mother, Mrs. Agostini, is a spoiled Southern belle. Emmy is a girl given to fancy, making her life even more colorful. Nevertheless, there is trouble in paradise.Early in the story, Emmy is told by her father that she has her own, personal, guardian angel.The story paints clear and searing portraits of wickedness, cruelty, unconditional love, sacrifice, chivalry, wealth, arrogance, humility, and those ephemeral characteristics of hope and optimism in the face of insurmountable predicaments.The screenplay adaptation (unproduced) of this book has already won a Gold Award at the WorldFest International Film Festival. A Gone With the Wind kind of story set in the era of Madmen (late 1950's). Emmy, the daughter of an eccentric aristocrat and her beloved nanny suffer the whims of an evil socialite. Ages 9 and up. Views: 781
Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s Disease.
Huntington’s is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe’s four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father’s disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching her potential future in her father’s escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young adult life. Does she want to know? What if she’s gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing?
As Joe’s symptoms worsen and he’s eventually stripped of his badge and more, Joe struggles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose, while Katie and her siblings must find the courage to either live a life “at risk” or learn their fate. Views: 780
The second scorching novel in the USA Today bestselling Cartel trilogy from the smash-hit author Lili St Germain.
They say love conquers all.
It's a lie.
Five days a week, I dressed in smart business clothes. I painted my face, and went to work as an accountant. But nothing about my life was normal.
For eight years I had been the property of the Gypsy Brothers Motorcycle Club. I laundered their money so well they'd never let me leave. My only glimmer of light was the man I loved. The man who had saved me.
Dornan.
His love had been the only thing that kept the demons at bay. But he'd become so immersed in the cartel's brutal business that I hardly knew him anymore.
Dornan had been my salvation, but he was also my undoing.
Would he pull me down into the darkness until he destroyed me? Could I save him?
Did I even want to? Views: 780
