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Everafter Acres

Happily Ever After isn’t always perfect, but dark knights can be illuminating. A wryly humorous fall-themed fairy tale, first published in Luna Station Quarterly.Carolyn Kephart is the author of the acclaimed epic fantasy THE RYEL SAGA: A TALE OF LOVE AND MAGIC and the contemporary magic realism novel QUEEN OF TIME. This short story is part of the collection PENTANGLE: FIVE POINTED FABLES.Logan Tanner shook the red dust of West Texas off his boots at the age of eighteen and hasn't looked back. When his father has a stroke, Logan is temporarily forced to return home and take over the family ranch. He still feels responsible for his mother's death when he was twelve, and has never gotten over the guilt. Now he's faced with having to protect his twelve year old daughter Katie and his sister and her friend Megan Flynn. It's nearly more than one man can handle. He can't wait to get back to Dallas.Megan Flynn immediately falls in love with Morris Springs, Texas, population 976, when she delivers Logan's runaway daughter to his doorstep. Raised as a city girl, Megan has a dream of a few acres, a few champion Blue Heelers, and a small-town veterinary practice. The only thing standing between her and her dream is one stubborn, reluctant cowboy with an overprotective streak as wide as the West Texas prairie. But her stubborn streak is a match for his any day. And she's determined to prove it.Blame it on Texas is a story of the power of love to overcome any adversity, the strength of family and friendship, and the joy that comes with being part of something bigger than yourself.
Views: 275

Lost Gods

A young man descends into Purgatory to save his wife and unborn child in this gorgeous, illustrated tale of wonder and terror from the mind of master storyteller and acclaimed artist Brom Fresh out of jail and eager to start a new life, Chet Moran and his pregnant wife, Trish, leave town to begin again. But an ancient evil is looming, and what seems like a safe haven may not be all it appears . . . Snared and murdered by a vile, arcane horror, Chet quickly learns that pain and death are not unique to the living. Now the lives and very souls of his wife and unborn child are at stake. To save them, he must journey into the bowels of purgatory in search of a sacred key promised to restore the natural order of life and death. Alone, confused, and damned, Chet steels himself against the unfathomable terrors awaiting him as he descends into death’s stygian blackness. With Lost Gods, Brom’s gritty and visceral prose takes us on a haunting, harrowing journey into the depths of the underworld. Thrust into a realm of madness and chaos, where ancient gods and demons battle over the dead, and where cabals of souls conspire to overthrow their masters, Chet plays a dangerous game, risking eternal damnation to save his family.
Views: 268

When There's Smoke, There's Fire

"Sometimes, it's not the people who change; it's the mask that falls off."A short story from the prize winning author of "Resolution"."Drive carefully, there’s a frost again tonight.”A teenager asks his domineering father if he can borrow the car with dramatic consequences."Drive is an edgy flash fiction contemporary family life story with a dash of mystery and a conclusion that lingers in your thoughts long after you’ve read ‘The End’." MDG
Views: 252

Slewfoot

Set in Colonial New England, Slewfoot is a tale of magic and mystery, of triumph and terror as only dark fantasist Brom can tell it.Connecticut, 1666. An ancient spirit awakens in a dark wood. The wildfolk call him Father, slayer, protector. The colonists call him Slewfoot, demon, devil.To Abitha, a recently widowed outcast, alone and vulnerable in her pious village, he is the only one she can turn to for help. Together, they ignite a battle between pagan and Puritan – one that threatens to destroy the entire village, leaving nothing but ashes and bloodshed in their wake. "If it is a devil you seek, then it is a devil you shall have!"This terrifying tale of bewitchery features more than two dozen of Brom's haunting paintings, fully immersing readers in this wild and unforgiving world.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Views: 247

The Sister's Tale

A novel of orphans and widows, terror and hope, and the relationships that hold us together when things fall apart.With murder dominating the news, the respected wife of a New Brunswick sea captain is drawn into the case of a British home child whose bad luck has turned worse. Mortified that she must purchase the girl in a pauper auction to save her from the lechery of wealthy townsmen, Josephine Galloway finds herself suddenly the proprietor of a boarding house kept afloat by the sweat and tears of a curious and not completely compatible collection of women, including this English teenager, Flora Salford. Flora's place in her new "family" cannot be complete until she rescues the missing person in her life, the only one who understands the trials she has come through and fresh horrors met since they were separated years before.Reconnecting with characters of Beth Powning's beloved The Sea Captain's Wife, The Sister'sTale is a story of women...
Views: 218

Last Laughter

A wicked court jester gets his comeuppance in this cautionary tale, first published in Silver Blade Fantasy Quarterly.Carolyn Kephart is the author of the acclaimed epic fantasy THE RYEL SAGA: A TALE OF LOVE AND MAGIC and the contemporary magic realism novel QUEEN OF TIME. 'Last Laughter' is part of the collection PENTANGLE: FIVE POINTED FABLES.The revised edition of Hacker School, now a trilogy with the addition of two new stories. In a dystopian world, who will decide the future of mankind?After the Great Chaos, Jake's tribe decides it's time to expand from their hidden valley and once more deal with other societies.David's tribe is trying to gather technology and reconstruct some of the technical marvels that once existed. They are violently opposed by anti-scavengers that wait for promised help from now vanished bureaucracies.Charlene is mostly healed from her many battles. She's surprised by what may be a way to survive. Does this hacker really offer a small chance of escape? Maybe human rights hacktivism is in her future. Probably not. Is it foolish to trust someone just because he remembers how to laugh?Hacker School is a three act prelude to the cyberhug.me series. "Your life is a burning match. Ignite a bonfire." - Allan R. Wallace
Views: 218

The Kind Gods

Did the old gods really die? A warrior seeks answers at the burial-mound of his greatest enemy in this Norse-themed elegy, first published in Bewildering Stories.Carolyn Kephart is the author of the acclaimed epic fantasy THE RYEL SAGA: A TALE OF LOVE AND MAGIC and the contemporary magic realism novel QUEEN OF TIME.'The Kind Gods' is part of the collection PENTANGLE: FIVE POINTED FABLES.Did the old gods really die? A warrior seeks answers at the burial-mound of his greatest enemy in this autumnal Norse-themed elegy, first published in Bewildering Stories.Carolyn Kephart is the author of the acclaimed epic fantasy duology WYSARD and LORD BROTHER, available in a single volume as THE RYEL SAGA: A TALE OF LOVE AND MAGIC. Her magic realism novel QUEEN OF TIME explores Hadrian's Wall, Mayan ruins, and the repercussions of reincarnation. Visit her website at carolynkephart.com to read first chapters.About the author: Early life as a military brat gave Carolyn Kephart an appreciation of nomadic lifestyles, a fascination with world cultures, and close-up insights into the warrior mentality and its manifestations, all of which influence her work. She loves things that nourish the spirit and widen the mind.
Views: 213

The Child Thief

Peter is quick, daring, and full of mischief—and like all boys, he loves to play, though his games often end in blood. His eyes are sparkling gold, and when he graces you with his smile you are his friend for life, but his promised land is not Neverland. Fourteen-year-old Nick would have been murdered by the drug dealers preying on his family had Peter not saved him. Now the irresistibly charismatic wild boy wants Nick to follow him to a secret place of great adventure, where magic is alive and you never grow old. Even though he is wary of Peter's crazy talk of faeries and monsters, Nick agrees. After all, New York City is no longer safe for him, and what more could he possibly lose? There is always more to lose. Accompanying Peter to a gray and ravished island that was once a lush, enchanted paradise, Nick finds himself unwittingly recruited for a war that has raged for centuries—one where he must learn to fight or die among the "Devils," Peter's savage tribe of lost and stolen children. There, Peter's dark past is revealed: left to wolves as an infant, despised and hunted, Peter moves restlessly between the worlds of faerie and man. The Child Thief is a leader of bloodthirsty children, a brave friend, and a creature driven to do whatever he must to stop the "Flesh-eaters" and save the last, wild magic in this dying land.
Views: 191

The Desolations of Devil's Acre

The fate of peculiardom hangs in the balance in this epic conclusion to the #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. The last thing Jacob Portman saw before the world went dark was a terrible, familiar face. Suddenly, he and Noor are back in the place where everything began - his grandfather's house. Jacob doesn't know how they escaped from V's loop to find themselves in Florida. But he does know one thing for certain: Caul has returned. After a narrow getaway from a blood-thirsty hollow, Jacob and Noor reunite with Miss Peregrine and the peculiar children in Devil's Acre. The Acre is being plagued by desolations - weather fronts of ash and blood and bone - a terrible portent of Caul's amassing army. Risen from the Library of Souls and more powerful than ever, Caul and his apocalyptic agenda seem unstoppable. Only one hope remains - deliver Noor to the meeting place of the seven prophesied ones. If they can decipher its secret location. Jacob and his friends will face deadly enemies and race through history's most dangerous loops in this thrilling page-turner, the final adventure in the beloved Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. Praise for the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series: 'The popularity of the Miss Peregrine's book series cannot be overstated' Entertainment Weekly 'Creepy in the best way possible' The Guardian 'Readers searching for the next Harry Potter may want to visit Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' CNN 'A thrilling, Tim Burton-esque tale with haunting photographs' USA Today
Views: 168

The Best Mistake Ever! and Other Stories

Now available as an eBook! Richard Scarry presents three humorous tales about happily resolved misunderstandings in the busy world of Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat.
Views: 146

The Black Colonel

The Black Colonel is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by James Milne is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of James Milne then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.
Views: 122

Best Little Word Book Ever

Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, and Goldbug guide children on a point-and-learn journey through the words around them.From the Hardcover edition.
Views: 116

A Vineyard Christmas

In the midst of a Christmas blizzard: A baby on the doorstep. It's taken a long time and a little heartache, but Annie Sutton is finally following her dream of living on Martha's Vineyard. She fell in love with the island's singular beauty while using it as a setting for two of her novels. In her cozy rented cottage on Chappaquiddick, she's settling in for her first Vineyard winter—complete with a fierce nor'easter on the way, forecast to bring high winds and deep snow. But the blizzard also brings something unexpected to Annie's front porch: a basket, encircled by a ribbon, containing a baby girl. The note reads: "I named her Bella, after my grandmother. Please help her, because I can't." Adopted as a child, Annie is grateful for wonderful parents who raised her as their own. Yet she also hopes to spare little Bella the feelings of abandonment that still haunt her. And so, rather than take the baby to the police, Annie decides to keep her and try to...
Views: 72