A new father is visited by his childhood imaginary friend. A woman falls in love with a cartoon character. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse show up at a big-box retail chain. Sometimes humorous, often poignant, and always memorable, the six short stories in this collection may just make you believe impossible things.In this fictionalized case study, Robert Perrine describes what a typical project looks like within information technology. The project begins with the idealistic goals of formalizing best practices for project management. Towards the end the project is just a mad scramble to avoid disaster.The key lesson learned is to study the communications requirements more deeply and delve into the limitations imposed by the "way things are done around here" thinking patterns. Views: 706
When a man receives a seemingly innocuous painting from a recently deceased colleague, he finds himself being pulled inexorably down into the dark depths of insanity.“Lonely Child” is a sci-fi story of a young boy’s wish to be able to walk on our planet’s surface. He was born in zero gravity and has lived there since birth with his parents on a mining and transport vessel supplying Earth. The boy has the opportunity to start talking to school kids his age on the surface and eventually realises that despite how trapped he feels on the ship, to the children on the planet he is the one free and living an adventure. Views: 706
Scott Markham has no recollection of events leading up to his arrival at The Help Clinic. It is Spires’ job to help him to remember, but perhaps Scott doesn’t want to do that. Perhaps the reality of his situation is too much for Scott to bear.Please review my free story.In the sixth episode of Earth, Book One of The Hrwang Incursion, the stakes are higher for Eva as she tries to insinuate herself into the Lord Admiral’s inner circle. Other survivors prepare for war. Wolfgang’s newly found sniper skills are tested and 1804 learns the fateful outcome of its decision.Acting President Hollis takes an experimental rocket the aliens missed into orbit to discuss terms, while Stanley continues to feel helpless and stuck at Hearst.Don’t miss a single episode! Each one can be downloaded for free at www.smashwords.com. Views: 703
On a bright and sunny Easter morning, the young pastor of a small Southern church has planned the perfect marriage proposal. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as smoothly as he hoped.On a bright and sunny Easter morning, the young pastor of a small Southern church has planned the perfect marriage proposal. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as smoothly as he hoped.Anyone who has attended a small-town church in the US on an Easter Sunday can relate to the quirky characters in this short story. Just in time for the spring season, An Eggcellent Proposal is sure to leave a smile on your face. Views: 703
Priscilla Alexander needs to get away from her stressful job as an advertising executive in San Francisco. In addition, her soon-to-be-divorced mom has moved into Priscilla's small condo. Priscilla has come to realize that sometimes escape is the only option."Jetting Away" is a short story prequel to "Outback Love," a contemporary romance novel set in the Australian Outback.Priscilla Alexander needs to get away from her stressful job as an advertising executive in San Francisco. In addition, her soon-to-be divorced mom has moved into Priscilla's small condo. Her mom means well, but her hovering is driving Priscilla crazy. When Priscilla reads a magazine article about vacationing in the Australian Outback, she knows that's where she needs to go to find herself. As Priscilla has come realize, sometimes escape is the only option.Priscilla has been dreaming about meeting a to-die-for hunk in her travels. Will she find the man of her dreams in the Outback?This is a short story prequel to "Outback Love," a contemporary romance novel set in the Australian Outback. Views: 702
A spoor is poisoning the atmosphere of the planet, a plight accelerated by the lunar colony's illicit piracy of atmospheric moisture. The Zemplar of the planetary Alliance argues to launch a military action intended to destroy the fleet of lunar harvest vesselsThe United Kingdom is free of rabies, but the danger is ever-present.Billy Harsley is eleven and hyperactive. School bores him and he longs to have adventures like Huck Finn. He has run away for the third time and is sleeping rough on the marshes near Great Yarmouth, while the police search for him in the town.A German coaster has just tied up in the port, ready to unload, but there are problems on the ship, mechanical and animal. Both the Captain's dogs, unknown to him, have been infected with rabies. As he goes to feed them there is an explosion and the little mongrel, Mukki, escapes while his attention is diverted.Before long both boy and dog are on the same marsh. Add in a meeting with the marsh 'ghost' and the mixture begins to brew. It is soon a question of who will have the last laugh... Views: 702
*“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
–H. P. LOVECRAFT
Welcome to the world of H. P. Lovecraft, the undisputed master of terror. His work has inspired countless nightmares, and this collection of some of his most chilling stories is likely to inspire even more.
Cool Air–An icy apartment hides secrets no man dares unlock.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward–Ward delves into the black arts and resurrects the darkest evil from beyond the grave.
The Terrible Old Man–The intruders seek a fortune but find only death.
Herbert West–Reanimator–Mad experiments yield hideous results in this bloodcurdling tale, the inspiration for the cult film Re-Animator.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth–A small fishing town’s population is obscenely corrupted by a race of fiendish undersea creatures.
The Lurking Fear–An upstate New York clan degenerates into thunder-crazed mole like creatures with a taste for human flesh.
PLUS TEN OTHER SPINE-TINGLING TALES
From the Paperback edition. Views: 702
The more Chike saw the ferry-boats the more he wanted to make the trip to Asaba. But where would he get the money? He did not know. Still, he hoped.
Eleven-year-old Chike longs to cross the Niger River to the city of Asaba, but he doesn’t have the sixpence he needs to pay for the ferry ride. With the help of his friend S.M.O.G., he embarks on a series of adventures to help him get there. Along the way, he is exposed to a range of new experiences that are both thrilling and terrifying, from eating his first skewer of suya under the shade of a mango tree, to visiting the village magician who promises to double the money in his pocket. Once he finally makes it across the river, Chike realizes that life on the other side is far different from his expectations, and he must find the courage within him to make it home.
Chike and the River is a magical tale of boundaries, bravery, and growth, by Chinua Achebe, one of the world’s most beloved and admired storytellers.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 701
Telepaths are heavily regulated, virtual third class citizens, second class if working for the Specialist Psychic Intervention unit, dealing with psychic crimes, and handling Spikes, newly emerged telepaths endangering all around them.Lydia is a SPI telepath. Jack is her Spikebreaker, a mentally compatible police officer. Together they fight, well, mainly each other.An 11,000 word noveletteTelepaths are heavily regulated, virtual third class citizens, second class if working for the Specialist Psychic Intervention unit, dealing with psychic crimes, and handling Spikes, newly emerged telepaths endangering all around them.Lydia is a SPI telepath. Jack is her Spikebreaker, a mentally compatible police officer. Together they fight, well, mainly each other.An 11,000 word novelette. Views: 700
In this new series we're paying tribute to the classic theater experience. We're pairing up two great, similarly themed tales and giving them to you in one easy-to-enjoy bundle. Just like at the box office these adventures are meant to be enjoyed in a single sitting.Tonight's "Action" double feature: "Welcome Home Asshole""Death Waiver"In this new series we're paying tribute to the classic theater experience. We're pairing up two great, similarly themed tales and giving them to you in one easy-to-enjoy bundle. Just like at the box office these adventures are meant to be enjoyed in a single sitting.Tonight's "Action" double feature starts off with one man's attempt to return to his hometown and troubled past and it's called, "Welcome Home Asshole."Our second story finds us smack dab in the middle of the world of mixed martial arts, organized crime, and one man's attempt to do what is right for the only person left on the planet that he loves. Views: 700
See the difference, read #1 bestselling author Jane Smiley in Large Print
About Large Print
All Random House Large Print editions are published in a 16-point typeface
Six years after her Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller, A Thousand Acres, and three years after her witty, acclaimed, and best-selling novel of academe, Moo, Jane Smiley once again demonstrates her extraordinary range and brilliance.
Her new novel, set in the 1850s, speaks to us in a splendidly quirky voice--the strong, wry, no-nonsense voice of Lidie Harkness of Quincy, Illinois, a young woman of courage, good sense, and good heart. It carries us into an America so violently torn apart by the question of slavery that it makes our current political battlegrounds seem a peaceable kingdom.
Lidie is hard to scare. She is almost shockingly alive--a tall, plain girl who rides and shoots and speaks her mind, and whose straightforward ways paradoxically amount to a kind of glamour. We see her at twenty, making a good marriage--to Thomas Newton, a steady, sweet-tempered Yankee who passes through her hometown on a dangerous mission. He belongs to a group of rashly brave New England abolitionists who dedicate themselves to settling the Kansas Territory with like-minded folk to ensure its entering the Union as a Free State.
Lidie packs up and goes with him. And the novel races alongside them into the Territory, into the maelstrom of "Bloody Kansas," where slaveholding Missourians constantly and viciously clash with Free Staters, where wandering youths kill you as soon as look at you--where Lidie becomes even more fervently abolitionist than her husband as the young couple again and again barely escape entrapment in webs of atrocity on both sides of the great question.
And when, suddenly, cold-blooded murder invades her own intimate circle, Lidie doesn't falter. She cuts off her hair, disguises herself as a boy, and rides into Missouri in search of the killers--a woman in a fiercely male world, an abolitionist spy in slave territory. On the run, her life threatened, her wits sharpened, she takes on yet another identity--and, in the very midst of her masquerade, discovers herself.
Lidie grows increasingly important to us as we follow her travels and adventures on the feverish eve of the War Between the States. With its crackling portrayal of a totally individual and wonderfully articulate woman, its storytelling drive, and its powerful recapturing of an almost forgotten part of the American story, this is Jane Smiley at her enthralling and enriching best.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 698
Alexandra, a hard working, young woman is growing her small clothing company in New York, when she starts getting harassing phone calls and emails. When the chance to come face to face with her mystery person comes, the reality of the situation becomes a bigger nightmare than Alex could imagine. The truth about Natalie brings Alex to chose between saving Natalie or herself.When growing her small clothing company in New York, Alexandra starts getting harassing phone calls and emails. When she comes face to face with her stalker, the reality of the situation becomes a bigger nightmare than she could imagine. Alexandra finally faces the decision of the court for the fate of her sister. The choices Alex makes soon makes the light shine on the truth and reveal who the true person is that is responsible for Natalie’s fate. In the end Alex is forced to make choices, which will change her life. Views: 697
**In Kiss Kiss you will find eleven devious, shocking stories from the master of the unpredictable, Roald Dahl. **
What could go wrong when a wife pawns the mink coat that her lover gave her as a parting gift? What happens when a priceless piece of furniture is the subject of a deceitful bargain? Can a wronged woman take revenge on her dead husband?
In these dark, disturbing stories Roald Dahl explores the sinister side of human nature: the cunning, sly, selfish part of each of us that leads us into the territory of the unexpected and unsettling. Stylish, macabre and haunting, these tales will leave you with a delicious feeling of unease.
'Roald Dahl is one of the few writers I know whose work can accurately be described as addictive' *Irish Times*
Roald Dahl, the brilliant and worldwide acclaimed author of *Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda,* and many more classics for children, also wrote scores of short stories for adults. These delightfully disturbing tales have often been filmed and were most recently the inspiration for the West End play, *Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales* by Jeremy Dyson. Roald Dahl's stories continue to make readers shiver today. Views: 697
A mirror reflects my empty expression...If I am filled with sadness, won’t you stay with me?A promise made, now kept decades later. Views: 697
For Gage Woods, being a single dad means making sacrifices, and being a werewolf on top of it all makes secrets a must. As his pack brothers find their true mates, he yearns for his own, but dating is almost as perilous as fighting the rogue jaguar shifters who attack his pack. The moment he decides to give up and focus on his boys, fate steps in, but what if Becca is actually working with the enemy?Becca Jones has always been a loner, and never more alone than today. When her uncle calls her with a dire warning about her boss and only real friend, her world is upended. She's not sure who she can trust anymore, but if she doesn't figure it out soon, it could cost her life.With his special forces background Gage is ready to help Becca fight for the truth. The question is, will it set them free, or put them on a collision course with a disaster that even love can't survive. Views: 697
