A family of five invites their good neighbour over for dinner. Things get ugly as someone decides to teach them a lesson they will never forget.Every kid wishes for magic, but not Miriam Mermelstein. She wished for something real, but what turned out to be real, was not what she expected.Magic Sucks is a humorous middle-grade fantasy about miscommunication between young people and adults. Not all of the adults in this story are human.Mom was beaming. “I hate shopping,” she said with passion. “Hmmm. How about a tube of ultra marine blue.” I reached into my sampo and pulled out a tube of ultra marine blue watercolor. Mom took it into her cupped hands, hugging it to her chest. “Paint!” she whispered reverently.“Miriam,” Dad said. He didn’t sound too thrilled about the shopping thing. “Take out a hundred dollar bill.”I did.“My god.” Mom blanched. “The mortgage.”“Not the mortgage, Rose. A ten-year old with an unlimited supply of hundred dollar bills.”“Maybe they’re counterfeit?”“Worse. A ten year old with an unlimited supply of counterfeit hundred dollar bills.” They stopped talking and just stared at each other.“I guess you don’t want to see what else they gave me,” I said.“What!” they both shouted at me.This is a story about a girl, her cat, her parents...and the entire kingdom of Ardu, which is located in the SE corner of Fairyland. Views: 540
Our would be hero is off to a terrible start. Waking up hung over, heading to work like a zombie, and talking to people he doesn't like; a call center customer service rep. Usually, he deals with upset customers, taking insults and angry outbursts with an almost stoic attitude. Until one day, he gets a call from a strange woman claiming to be from another world, and that his world will soon end!The main character has to decide if he should believe the strange woman calling him at work and telling him of impending doom, or if she's just another crazy caller. Slowly he finds more and more that she's not as incoherent and insane sounding as he once thought. Is this woman telling the truth? Is she really from an alternate universe? His supervisor thinks she's crazy, and orders him to stick to business as usual. Should he follow his boss's orders? Or is this his chance at something more? Is this an opportunity for him to finally experience something greater than himself? Views: 538
From a beloved fantasy author comes this fresh feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty about one girl destined for greatness—and the powerful sister ready to protect her by any means necessary. Miriam may be the daughter of Queen Alethia of Tirendell, but she's not a princess. She's the child of Alethia and her previous husband, the King's Champion, who died fighting for the king, and she has no ambitions to rule. When her new baby sister Aurora, heir to the throne, is born, she's ecstatic. She adores the baby, who seems perfect in every way. But on the day of Aurora's christening, an uninvited Dark Fae arrives, prepared to curse her, and Miriam discovers she possesses impossible power.Soon, Miriam is charged with being trained in both magic and combat to act as chief protector to her sister. But shadowy threats are moving closer and closer to their kingdom, and Miriam's dark power may not be enough to save everyone she loves, let alone herself. Views: 529
Julian scratches metal flamenco in a dive where humans and synthetics intermix. A man invites him to play a song for his disabled neighbor. Although he plays he is uncomfortable around her and never sees Lee again. Lee, on the other hand, has her own ideas.Julian scratches metal flamenco in a dive where humans and synthetics intermix. A man invites him to play a song for his disabled neighbor. Although he plays he is uncomfortable around her and never sees Lee again. Lee, nearing death, finds in Julian a new reason to complete her synthetic research. The song he wrote for her becomes a hit, and Julian learns Lee thinks his public performance of the song reciprocates her feelings for him. Views: 527
CD-ROM Edition For reading or research No illustrations, not an audio CD, produced in a Microsoft Word Compatible format for your reading or research.
Website: www.ecauldron.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works License.
Excerpt: He was in Special Operations; analysis was for Intelligence. He simply accepted facts as he found them.
Odeon let Egan choose pastries while he drew coffee and paid the cashier. Once they found an empty table and settled themselves, he said, "Okay, Doctor. Tell me."
"To begin with, most of her injuries are what I understand you Enforcement people call minor. Fractured skull, three broken ribs, assorted cuts, burns, and bruises." Egan frowned. "However, her spinal injury is serious even by your standards, and . . . Captain, did she plan to have children?" Views: 507
Lofty, improbable thoughts. This should never have been a novel. But it is. Sorry. "Decline and Fall of Alternative Civilization" is literary fiction that may appeal to misguided men, unsettled women, disgruntled music enthusiasts and anyone fond of examining the strings from which physicists' yoyos spin.June McClunaghan, a luckless waitress and ex-flight attendant, ends up in Seattle in the early 1990s after a life of post-Joycean, Cubs-style defeat, and learns to play bass guitar at the height of that good ol’ coffee-swilling “Grunge Mania.” She loves coffee, hates grunge, so she and her friend Dedra Fatiuchka try to start a trashy garage band instead. No dice. But… …Dedra, a talented singer and computer geek who is disillusioned with the digital revolution, pranks together an impressively bogus press kit for the band and, in conspiracy with a studio-geek friend, her voice is overdubbed onto the dead tracks of a defunct band (that couldn’t pay their studio bill) and presto! A demo tape! No one the wiser, the whole shebang is sent to the offices of South By SouthWest in Austin, TX as a joke. SXSW, however, respond by offering the band—which doesn’t exist—a high profile showcase at the 1994 edition of the great, ballyhooed music conference. With the help of two guy friends, a guitarist and a drummer, they manage to slap together a functional combo and then embark to the big event only to lose their showcase by running afoul of one of the head festival honchos who pointedly yanks the rug from under them. But… …another disappointment in June’s doggedly optimistic life, they begin the long trek back to Seattle. When inclement weather forces them off the road, June gets caught in a flash flood incident that leaves her stranded and injured in the middle of nowhere. Rescued by a mysterious hot-rodder, she is thrust into yet another post-Joycean world with even more surreal elements. Here she begins to sense that this strange but benevolent character may actually be the fabled “Seattle Capper” himself—the unseen phantom responsible for a history of distributor cap thefts—and the same one who stole their cap in Arizona while the band was enroute to Austin. Views: 504
He calls me his heart. Tells me the only reason he closes his eyes at night is so he can see me in his dreams. Our months apart are torture for both of us, but at least I get to hear his voice every day. Each summer, he's all mine. Every minute he can spare, I'm right beside him, and our families just smile knowingly. Ryan has responsibilities, though. One day, my mafioso prince will be the king. And I will be his queen... Then my brother runs into trouble, and I'm taken as collateral. But the enemy doesn't realize that my brother isn't the one they should worry about. Because, without me, Ryan is heartless. And soon, they will all see what vengeance a Heartless Savage will wreak. Views: 504
Mitch Tacit is Hyperion Dazzle's best friend, and being best friends with the universe's most famous media star requires going to extreme lengths. With Hyperion's new album ready to be released, Mitch uncovers a coup threatening his position as best friend. Thankfully, Mitch has his own network of friends to rely on for support.Mitch Tacit is Hyperion Dazzle's best friend, and being best friends with the universe's most famous media star requires going to extreme lengths. With Hyperion's new album ready to be released, Mitch uncovers a coup threatening his position as best friend. Thankfully, Mitch has his own network of friends to rely on for support, including a hive mind and his employer, the entity responsible for his best friend's persona. Views: 501
A humorous story about an old soldier who paddles his own canoe.The Loss of Liberty is a humorous short story about a resourceful old soldier who builds himself a canoe. He and his grandson take it for its maiden voyage with disastrous consequences. The Loss of Liberty is the first book in a trilogy of adventures featuring Arnold Clegghorne and his grandson Michael. Views: 487
Sutherland Saga Part 5. Having completed his first year at Harvard University in Boston, Scotsman Sloan Stewart begins the summer of 1941 working at an inn with his friends James, Isolde and Sabrina. But entanglements lead to a shocking event that will transform each of them irrevocably. Suffering through deception, war, and personal loss, can Sloan ever surmount the errors of his youth?Set during the time period of World War II, My Father the God may be viewed as a standalone novel or a sequel to Those Who Fought for Us, Part 1 of the Sutherland Saga. Journeying to his first year at Harvard during the summer of 1939, Scotsman Sloan Stewart meets Isolde Channing aboard ship during the transatlantic crossing. An indelible bond forming between the two, Isolde subsequently follows him to Harvard, whereupon the pair meet up with brilliant American James Moorehead. Surviving the complexities of another year at university, the three meet up for summer’s employment at The Orchard Inn, thereby creating the perfect escape from the hardships of school. But the unanticipated arrival of Philadelphian Sabrina Dewhurst foists unforeseen entanglements upon their planned hiatus, eventually resulting in a shocking event toward summer’s end. To make matters worse, war breaks out shortly thereafter, causing emotional wounds to fester as the ever widening war drives each on a different course. By war’s end, each has been indelibly molded by that now long ago event, so much so that there will eventually be shocking repercussions so heinous that none of them will be spared. Who shall lay their demons to rest, and who shall fail, if indeed anyone at all? Views: 483
The long-awaited founding of Valdemar comes to life in this new series from a New York Times bestselling author and beloved fantasist. Within the Eastern Empire, Duke Kordas Valdemar rules a tiny, bucolic Duchy that focuses mostly on horse breeding. Anticipating the day when the Empire’s exploitative and militant leaders would not be content to leave them alone, Korda’s father set out to gather magicians in the hopes of one day finding a way to escape and protect the people of the Duchy from tyranny. Kordas has lived his life looking over his shoulder. The signs in the Empire are increasingly dire. Under the direction of the Emperor, mages have begun to harness the power of dark magics, including blood magic, the powers of the Abyssal Planes, and the binding and "milking" of Elemental creatures. But then one of the Duchy’s mages has a breakthrough. There is a way to place a Gate at a distance so far from... Views: 483
An exclusive short story about what happens before the new adult novel 'How to Catch a (Rock) Star'Lillie is excited. Her boyfriend of two years, Matt, has asked her out to her favourite restaurant, and she can just feel he is going to ask her the big question. But will she ever make it to the date? And will he finally propose? Views: 480
The Girl on the Boat features red-haired, dog-loving Wilhelmina "Billie" Bennet, and the three men, a long-time friend and admirer of Billie, a lily-livered poet who is engaged to Billie at the opening of the tale, and his dashing cousin, who falls for Billie at first sight. All four find themselves on an ocean liner headed for England together, and typically Wodehousian romantic shenanigans ensue. Views: 478
From USA Today / NY Times Bestselling author, Karolyn James, the Brothers of Rock series continues!*A Voice to Love (Fallen Tuesday Book One) (A Brothers of Rock Novel)The Brothers of Rock series continues with Fallen Tuesday!From USA Today / NY Times Bestselling author, Karolyn James, the Brothers of Rock series continues!*A Voice to Love (Fallen Tuesday Book One) (A Brothers of Rock Novel)The Brothers of Rock series continues with Fallen Tuesday!The last thing the lead singer of a rock band wants to hear is that he shouldn’t sing anymore. This is the reality for Luke Nolan, just as Fallen Tuesday is breaking big. With a tour, an album, and money on the line, Luke can’t imagine his life – or his band – not continuing to follow their dream. Even at the expense of his own health.Amy is an expert at hiding. She hides the frustration of working in her uncle’s restaurant. She hides her dreams of having her own place one day. Most of all, she hides the fact that there’s a debt on the restaurant that could cost her and her uncle everything.Together, Luke and Amy share a wild passion that leaves them both breathless. Can their hearts and dreams survive the secrets they’ve been keeping? Views: 477
