Stories: HOW TOOTS WENT TO BED. TOOTS AT THE KINDERGARTEN. THE HAPPY HOUR. ELFIE. PAUL BROWN. PAUL\'S VIEWS AT EIGHT YEARS OF AGE. MAX THE MEDDLER. OUR MAY. A BUBBLE PARTY. SEWING A SEAM. A FOUR-FOOTED FRIEND. NAUGHTY SANDY FLOSSIE\'S HANDS. JAMIE DOON. FIVES. OLIVER TWIST AT HOME. MRS. WHITE\'S FAMILY. BUD AND BUNNIE. DAISY DEAN. THE COMMISSARY. HARRY\'S GUEST. A TIRED VISITOR. MR. SMITH\'S FAMILY. WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH BABY? DADDY TOUGH. BUTTON BLUE. THE STORY OF THE CUCKOO. MAJOR AND BENJAMINA. THE COMMODORE\'S GUESTS. HARVEST FESTIVAL. TOOTS is our baby. He is a queer one too; up early, and always in dread of bed-time. One morning, not long ago, we heard him singing, and on looking for him, found the little rogue in the very middle of our best bed in the guest chamber, where he was playing hand-organ with a long hairpin put through the pretty pillow covers which had just come home from the laundry. There he sat singing a droll medley of "Uncle Ned," "Blessed Desus," and "Down in the Coal Mine." He had been watching two soldiers with a hand-organ, and Toots likes to do everything he sees done. While we were putting the guest-room in order, Toots marched out as a blind man, with his eyes shut and a cane in his hand. This brought him to grief, for he was picked up at the foot of the stairs with two large bumps on his pretty white brow. Toots was quiet then for a little while, a very little while, for as soon as we decided that his bones were all sound and a doctor need not be called, he "played sick," and asked for "shicken brof" and toast. Views: 221
Volume 1 of a collection of short stories about a mystical and wondrous world outside of our own.The Paths of Oraj is a collection of short stories about a mystical and wondrous world outside of our own. These fantasy/adventure stories follow four young characters, two of which are Human and two that are unique creatures of this world. They all, however, must transverse parallel obstacles as they grow and mature in a place where the weak die young and the strong must learn to forge their own paths to achieve their goals. Views: 220
This is the story of what happens when a character begins to talk back to the author . . . not a good plan in the long run! (Watch out for those Woodle Pooves!)This is the story of what happens when a character begins to talk back to the author . . . not a good plan in the long run! (Watch out for those Woodle Pooves!)Authors often say their characters make the decisions in the stories. However, in the end, we all know who's really in charge, right? Views: 219
A Parisian reunionWith the one that got away!Celebrity chef James Harrington never expected to find himself face-to-face with Chloe, his first love, again... Especially with her working as a chambermaid at his luxury hotel! Their chemistry's as strong as ever, but it's clear she's hiding a secret. This Christmas, can James convince Chloe that their love is worth taking a chance on—again? Views: 219
HardPress Classic Books Series Views: 218
Detective Isaac Bell tracks a killer across the nation’s oilfields in this adventure in the #1 New York Times–bestselling historical series.
As Van Dorn private detective Isaac Bell strives to land a government contract to investigate John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil monopoly, the case takes a deadly turn. A sniper begins murdering opponents of Standard Oil, and soon the assassin—shooting with extraordinary accuracy at seemingly impossible long range—kills Bell’s best witness. Then the shooter detonates a terrible explosion that sets the victim’s independent refinery ablaze.
Bell summons his best detectives to hunt down the mysterious killer. But the murders—shootings, poisonings, staged accidents—have just begun as Bell tracks his phantom-like criminal adversary from the “oil fever” regions of Kansas and Texas to Washington, D.C., to the tycoons’ enclave of New York, to Russia’s war-torn Baku oil fields on the Caspian Sea, and back to America for a final, desperate confrontation. And this one will be the most explosive of all. Views: 218
A dark, brilliant novel of astonishing pitch, set in Provincetown, a "spit of shrub and dune" captured here in the rawness and melancholy of the off-season, "Tough Guys Don't Dance" is the story of Tim Madden, an unsuccessful writer addicted to bourbon, cigarettes, and blonde, careless women with money. On the twenty-fourth morning after the decampment of his wife, Patty Lareine, he awakens with a hangover, considerable sexual excitement, and, on his upper arm, a red tattoo bearing a name from the past. Of the night before, he remembers practically nothing. What he soon learns is that the front passenger seat of his Porsche is soaked with blood and that in a secluded corner of his marijuana stash in a nearby woods rests a blonde head, severed at the throat.
Is Madden therefore a murderer? He has no way of knowing. As in many novels of crime, the narrative centers on violence--physical, sexual, and emotional--but these elements move in their orbits through a rich constellation of character as Madden tries to reconstruct the missing hours of a terrible evening. In the course of this in-quiry a bizarre and vividly etched gallery of characters reappears to him as in a dream--ex-prizefighters, sexual junkies, mediums, former cons, a police chief, a world-weary former girl friend, and Mad-den's father, old now but still a Herculean figure, a practitioner of the sternest backroom ethics.
"Tough Guys Don't Dance" represents Mailer at the peak of his powers with a stunningly conceived novel that soon transcends its origins as a mystery to become a relentless search into the recesses and buried virtues of the modern American male. Rarely, as many readers will discern, have the paradoxes ofmachismo and homosexuality been so well explored. Views: 218
2015 Notable Indie Book – Shelf Unbound Magazine.Book one of the Percipience series 2022, revolves around a world-wide threat made by an eco-terrorist organization and the efforts to stop them while at the same time setting up a large scale experiment for sustainable living. The book combines murder, espionage, and revenge into the fictional story while exploring global issues2015 Notable Indie Book – Shelf Unbound Magazine.If you are comfy with just recycling your soda cans and want to continue to believe that your children and grandchildren will have roughly the same experience with this planet as you have had, then the Percipience series is not for you. Through this fast paced eco-fiction series, the author lightly touches on key points of our relationship with the planet and the growing urgency for each of us to take action to avoid a much darker future for our children.The first book in the Percipience series 2022, revolves around a world-wide threat made by an eco-terrorist organization and the efforts to stop them while at the same time setting up a large scale experiment for sustainable living. The book combines murder, espionage, romance and revenge into the fictional story while exploring the urgency of global issues we face in real life.This book, along with the others in the Percipience series are not just meant to entertain and to raise awareness of important issues. They also aim to act as a catalyst to get the reader to think and motivate them to take individual actions to help with these worldwide problems.From the back cover of 2022…Using an uncanny ability to harvest information to predict the future, philanthropist Richard foresees a dark future for the human race. This future is exacerbated by the return of cold-war-like tensions, sophisticated terrorist organizations, and new controls on information flow. He believes he knows what needs to be done to reverse the trend, but can it be achieved in time, even with the resources at his disposal? Should he turn to terrorism to make it work? And if he’s wrong, and his plan backfires, will it mean the end of most, or all, of the human race? Views: 217
The third magical book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Magic Misfits series from acclaimed and wildly popular celebrity Neil Patrick Harris!Theo Stein-Meyer loves being part of the Magic Misfits. Armed with his trusty violin bow, he completes the team with his levitation skills, unflappable calm, and proper manners. But when a girl named Emily begins to spend time with the group, Theo is surprisingly drawn to her. She seems to understand the pull he feels between music and magic, between family and friends.Then a famous ventriloquist arrives in town, and the Misfits are sure he (and his creepy dummy) are up to no good. With their mentor, Mr. Vernon, suddenly called away and tension simmering among the friends, can they come together to stop another member of the villainous Emerald Ring? It's time for Theo to make a choice about where—and with whom—he belongs.Join the Magic Misfits as they discover adventure,... Views: 217
The votes are in! Eccentric seventy-something Vivian Borne—elected county sheriff, to everyone's amazement but her own—springs into action. In her new role, the community playhouse diva appoints daughter Brandy reluctant deputy and makes their spunky shih tzu Sushi a K-9 unit of one. Soon the amateur-sleuths-turned-pro have a challenging case to solve as a series of creepy crimes plague an ill-fated Edgar Allan Poe festival, where a fiend is misguidedly dispensing Poe-etic justice. Small-town Antiqua, known for its quaint main street of antique shops, has set out to celebrate the gothic poet with food, fun, and rare memorabilia, only to have the Master of the Macabre's twisted tales come to deadly life. A purloined tome, a black cat, a musty mausoleum, and mysterious disappearances—these tell the tale of a heartless murderer. But Vivian and Brandy Borne are determined to decipher the cryptic clues to make sure a ravin'-mad killer... Views: 217
A mystery written at the turn of the twentieth century. Views: 217
An entertaining, enlightening look at the art of raising self-reliant, independent children based on one Mum's experiences in Germany.'Warm and companionable . . . I closedAchtung Baby feeling more relaxed and confident. While both my kids were up a tree.' - Helen Brown, Daily MailWhen Sara Zaske moved from Oregon to Berlin with her husband and toddler, she was surprised to discover that German parents give their children a great deal of freedom. In Berlin, kids walk to school by themselves, ride the subway alone, cut food with sharp knives and even play with fire. German parents did not share her parental fears and their children were thriving. Was she doing the opposite of what she intended, which was to raise capable children?Through her own family's often funny experiences as well as interviews with other parents, teachers, and experts, Zaske shares the many unexpected parenting lessons she learned from living in Germany. Achtung Babyreveals that today's Germans know something that other parents don't (or have perhaps forgotten) about raising kids with 'selbstandigkeit' (self-reliance), and provides many new and practical ideas parents everywhere can use to give their own children the freedom they need to grow into responsible, independent adults. Views: 216
I was alone on a yacht when the war wiped out most of the Human race. All life on land had been wiped out, and without food and water, I would soon be sailing the Oceans Of Death. Short Story.This story is not about legal aspects of our emotional presumptions. It’s about the real life consequences of the judgments that we all make about others. Sometimes, the smallest judgment can have tragic consequences. Perhaps that’s why we have been warned against judging.Karen Bronsky lived a enviable life with a successful devoted husband and a darling child. But something caused her to want just a little more from life. Karen must lose part of her life to find what’s really important to her.Jan Murray thought that she had everything that she needed for happiness. She has looks that most young women would envy. She knew it, and flaunted it. She never knew what it was like to be unnoticed by men. But she will learn that true happiness is not found in the adoration of physical appearances.Stan Bronsky is a good man and husband. He is hard driving and successful in business. But he will learn that success can be fleeting and very costly when he experiences a momentary lapse of judgment and character.Robert Louis Gatewood suffered tragic early life experiences and has carried scars that have shaped his thinking and behavior. He will find new direction in an unexpected moment of encounter.As the lives of these four people weave together through what they perceive to be chance circumstances, they will experience a plethora of emotional experiences and share the uncomfortable consequences of being misjudged, or of having misjudged another. Views: 216
