Jacob is afraid to go to sleep at night because he knows there's a monster in the wall beside his bed. The problem is no one believes him. Imagine Jacob's surprise when he finds out the monster is real, and that it has been assigned to watch over him!Jacob, like one out of ten children, has dyslexia. He thinks he's not very smart, and worries that he will never be good at school. However, when his new friend teaches him ways to overcome his disability, Jacob goes from the bottom to the top of his class.

One must be careful when choosing a partner for an evening of harmless infidelity. Especially when one is a king who rules over a vast kingdom and is locked in a sham marriage with a queen who wants him dead.If caution is not heeded, a king in such a situation might find himself assassinated. But he also might have his fondest desire fulfilled.A beautiful young dancer’s performance at the royal banquet has pleased her king. To show his gratitude, he offers her the fruits of his kingdom. She may have anything.Anything her heart desires.The King cannot refuse when the dancer asks for a night in his bed. Though it is the first time he will betray his marriage, he feels no guilt for he knows the Queen is, at that very moment, in the arms of another.But this tryst is not as it seems, for the Queen and her lover lust only for the reins of the kingdom. That night, they have set in motion a plan to murder their ruler and steal his throne.The King learns of this plot, but far too late to stop it. The assassination might succeed, but for the actions of a surprising ally, his new bed mate.The beautiful dancer, too, is not as she seems. She alone holds the power to save her king from the traitors, and to restore his kingdom to him. She will do this by presenting him an offer of her own. He may have anything.Anything his heart desires.Originally written as a single chapter in the Wither the Waking World novel The Death You Deserve, Betrayal is a glimpse into the origins of the cursed land of Illengaard, known as the Kingdom of Teardrops.

The United States is fraught with turmoil and unrest unlike anything it has ever experienced before. Across the land true loyalists and patriots strive to find the solution to the ills that plague America. Finally, one lone individual, born into a family that has dedicated itself to serving at the highest level possible for any American, discovers the one solution he knows will be the answer.The United States is fraught with turmoil and unrest unlike anything it has ever experienced before. Political lines have been drawn on various levels and it seems as though soon a new war will be fought within the boundaries of these United States, but will it be more like the Civil War or the Revolutionary War? No one is completely certain. Across the land true loyalists and patriots strive to find the solution to the ills that plague America while the nation's top politicians seem hell-bent on enslaving the citizens they took an oath to protect. Finally, one lone individual, born into a family that has dedicated itself to serving at the highest level possible for any American, discovers the one solution he knows of a certainty will be the solution.

An anthology of prose and poetry written by members of the Kirkham community.Bo Jon is an private investigator who works out of the West. He is native-American, a former-Marine and Green Beret stationed at DMZ and went on to attain his Masters in Economics... Intelligent, wise and cunning he's learned from his heritage a father sitting Chief of his tribe, and many accolades from as a Reservationalist-officer to retiring to live on his ranch, Secato S. A very capable detective. He works out of the Modern day West from Alaska to discover fishery disease to Houston TX to uncover a heist thought impossible. He aids, assists and solves many sorts of crimes that he has the innate ability to solve and apprehend.

Headstrong lady-in-waiting Marjory de Warenne has the looks of an angel.But she has given her heart to the devil: the notorious Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, a man feared on the battlefield-and in matters of seduction. When her guardians choose a more appropriate husband for her, Jory can only dream of her gallant knight-until their passion is rekindled amidst the march of history.

From the Four Letters world, this short story can be read as a standalone, but takes place after book 2 in the series. After a mild case of food poisoning on Christmas Eve, Jade wakes up the next morning in an alternate reality where she was never adopted ... and no longer pregnant.From the Four Letters world, this short story can be read as a standalone, but takes place after book 2 in the series. After a mild case of food poisoning on Christmas Eve, Jade wakes up the next morning in an alternate reality where she was never adopted ... and no longer pregnant. Following a few minor hiccups in the beginning, she manages to bond with her biological family in matching pajamas, spends the afternoon at a park with her dead best friend, and meets her fiancé for the very first time at a festive rock party where they fall in love all over again. Is this dream-like state better than her reality? And will Jade ever want to get out of it?

Following indications of the Enlightened Dragon Society, Clarity Nice notices that the wife of billionaire Dao Bin, Elsie Chu, has purchased an expensive ring, linked to her smartphone. On her own, Clarity finds the role of this luxurious vanity ring, and how knowledge on immortality will be sold with a Health phone built by Dao Bin, Chinese General Tian Yazhou, and conglomerate Owens & Owell.Rejected by socialite Shalia Owell, who has discovered Clarity's false identity as Herbaline employee Darcy Emmers, Clarity becomes agenda and damage control assistant of Elsie Chu, the wife of Singapore billionaire Dao Bin, owner of wireless and telephony company Hunan Enterprises. Disenchanted by a rocky marriage and the lack of influence she has on the business matters of her husband, including the new health phone project to sell longevity services, Elsie Chu has purchased an expensive ring sold by a luxury jeweler, labeled 'Rose Property', which has some wireless equipment built into it to protect her privacy. Convinced that she can take part in her husband's business, she instructs Clarity to spy on Dao Bin and his moneytician Lim Li, to know more about her husband's activity.Sent to the Chinese Embassy and to the Branch of a private bank in Singapore, the Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation, Clarity finds out that Chinese Military officials, led by Western Military Command Theater General Tian Yazhou, have agreed to fund part of the health phone project. Her loyalty siding with the monks of the Enlightened Dragon Society, who are protecting their dossier on immortality, Meridian 57, from Taoist Professor Chang, and from his White Tigress, Madame Wa, an expert of esoteric sexuality, Clarity stays close to Elsie Chu, to find out the storage location of rare earth metals which will be used to assemble the new health phone.Clarity becomes a confidant of Elsie Chu, who has begun instruction as a White Tigress, following the esoteric teachings of Madame Wa. But the cheeky doyenne does not trust her esoteric teacher completely, and she uses her ring in order to stay in touch with a secretive group which keeps her away from sexual esoteric practices, the Privilege Club. The secretive club is the group who issued the vanity ring of Elsie Chu, and instructs her to stay away from Madame Wa and instead carry out the filming of an adult film, 'Golden Lamp of Casa Mollino', to vent out the impulses of her outrageous libido.Enmeshed in the filming of Casa Mollino, which is used by Elsie Chu to involve prominent members of Singapore high society in the funding of her husband's health phone project, Clarity is drawn into the ploy of Elsie Chu. Alone and without any immediate support, she must face the shrewd delegate sent by General Tian Yazhou, Economic and Commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy in Singapore, Jiang Xiong, and the moneytician of Dao Bin, Lim Li, in order to protect the core of Meridian 57, uncover the identities of those behind the vanity ring of Elsie Chu, and find out Taoist knowledge on immortality assembled by Professor Chang, which will be sold with the Hunan health phone, through a joint venture between General Tian Yazhou, Dao Bin and Owens & Owell.

101 blogs written from March 29th 2011 (from www.khorumahmed.com), including: BLOGS, CURSES OF TIME, CONTINUMENTAL, PRIME WORLDS, MATTER-FABRIC and OF THINGS TO COME.Hints of plots to come, adventures to witness and journeys to unfold all in the wake of the next Master of Time. Who will take the seat?BLOGS‘I can honestly say that I am the most laziest person you could ever find. I never attempted to do anything meticulous, nor muster the energy to get something done.’CURSES OF TIME‘The idea was to write something that had a fresh take on what people knew to be Time Travel. It came to me after one scrapped idea to another and then through numerous rewrites and changes in the overall plot.’CONTINUMENTAL‘To create such an extensive universe of brave new marvels and wonders, it would not be the same without its own form of intrinsic qualities ... its own identity.’PRIME WORLDS‘From Earth to Anselopha, an Alliance between the Prime Worlds were formed to enforce Law and Order. Bureaus were put in place to aid each of the worlds of the Continuverse.’MATTER-FABRIC‘With its nature laid bare, ready to be taken unwillingly by force without Bearers. Time will not last forever and with no hope of guidance, time’s endangered nature will come to an end.’OF THINGS TO COME‘In the light of the coming Master, there are those who will stop at nothing to ensure that he is taken down, so that they can command their own rule – Who will take the Seat?’

Amanda sends her husband downstairs to pick up goods from her sister's car. In the few minutes of her husband's absence, Amanda is murdered. The ongoing investigation is presented to Albert, formerly an internationally recognized assassin from Latvia, now serving life in prison, in hope that his past experiences could bring a fresh light on the baffling case.Richard is asked by his wife to go downstairs and pick up countryside goods from her sister's car. As the husband returns, he finds his wife dead on the floor, with numerous stab wounds. Richard was gone for just a couple of minutes. Who could have carried out the crime in such a short time span? And how? The case has baffled the Latvian police force and, as the last resort, Rebecca presents the case to her former lover Albert - an assassin, who is now serving life sentence in prison. She hopes that his wit and expertise will help her solve the case. Meanwhile, Albert sees this as his chance to improve his shattered reputation and possibly make amends for his past.

At last it's Part Two of Three! And more magic awaits in the continuing story of Joe's Christmas. In this second instalment we find out what happens next when the Christmas Wish List is seen by the Manager of the marvellous Returns Dept. From the snowstorm in our world to the magic of another, journey through the night with Neddy and little Joe and meet up with the Old Administrator once more...Wonka and Owner bring you this special Christmas gift, Part Two (of Three) ‘Joe's Christmas’ (fully illustrated). The tale continues as Joe’s Mum wonders how to make it a special Christmas, and with a little bit of magic and falling stars the Manager of the Returns Dept steps in. But even the best magic can run up against it. Is there time to process the wishes? Read on and have a little bit more of that special Christmas Sparkle, with lots of love from Wonka and Owner x

Hunter Drake, Elf sorcerer, and Josephine, Cherokee maiden, should never have met, but when Josephine opens the portal her family guards, their worlds collide—literally. Now Josephine must figure out how to restore balance between Eladi and Ayeli. Will love help her make the right decision? Or will desire betray both worlds?Hunter Drake, Elf sorcerer, and Josephine, Cherokee maiden, should never have met, but when Josephine opens the portal her family has guarded for centuries, their worlds collide—literally. All of a sudden, Josephine is caught up in a war that has overtaken Drake's world...and now it threatens hers. Fairy tales, time portals and Cherokee mythology entwine in this tale of love, adventure, war and duty that spans two worlds. "Strange Path" is a prequel to Michelle Garren Flye's acclaimed Synchronicity Series.

This collection of three flash fiction pieces will bring a smile to your face, and maybe even have you laughing out loud. Just like your dad's plaid shorts that skimp on length, these breezy reads will be perfect for your train ride or next bathroom break.We live in a strange world, filled with strange people. It's also a fast paced world. So indulge yourself with the perfect remedy to all the speedy weirdness with this collection of humorous short stories. Follow the internal turmoil of a man struggling to eat a living dessert. Journey to the hidden depths of the deep sea with some pretty awful parents and an even worse child. Finally, watch a couple of door to door salesmen cross the line of appropriateness. Be ready for the unexpected and the wacky. Be ready for a lot of leg.

At 32, Franz Kane is owner-director of The Healing Place, appealing to an appreciative and ever-growing clientele seeking remedies for stress and formulae for fulfilment. The Healing Place has also been Franz’s escape from the past. But now, as one crisis after another challenges his own priorities, Franz has to decide whether it’s worth risking everything for the truth.THE HEALING PLACE Clare NonhebelSYNOPSISFranz Kane has invested time, money and energy into setting up The Healing Place, a state-of-the-art building with superb facilities, offering an impressive range of holistic therapies and mind-enriching courses to city-dwellers eager to escape the stresses of life.Running such an enterprise has stresses of its own, and not only lighter-hearted errors such as locating Primal Scream Therapy in the next room to Silent Meditation; some serious concerns are beginning to surface. Although Franz promotes inclusive acceptance of every person and every shade of belief, barring religion and obvious cults, there are few people he genuinely trusts. Now two of them - his girlfriend Ella and the psychic, Sharma, a mainstay of The Healing Place - have some challenging questions for Franz.Cracks are beginning to appear in the fabric of the building, and in the persona of Franz himself. He experiences first an outburst of rage against a local vicar, then fear of a sinister stranger who mirrors Franz's own dismissal of moral imperatives, and finally a near-violent impulse against Ella, newly pregnant with his baby.Despite Ella's and Sharma's warnings and encouragement, Franz clings to his image as 'the man with no yesterday,' avoiding every question about his past. But when Sharma takes time out from The Healing Place - in response to a request from local police to help find two kidnapped boys - circumstances begin to force Franz to face himself and his own history.When he makes a sudden decision to go to Ireland, he invites Ella to come with him, on the condition that she asks no questions of him. Trusting his integrity but struggling with fears for Franz and for the future of their unborn Ella begins to find some answers when they visit a convent nursing home where a frail and elderly Catholic priest is dying.But just as they both begin to uncover the past, the future is jeopardised: The Healing Place faces its own baptism of fire, apparently an arson attack by someone who wishes Franz harm.Sharma, who challenged Franz to stop pretending to accept every version of truth as equally valid and to confront his own beliefs and prejudices, is struggling to remain calm as he moves nearer to discovering what has happened to the abducted children. His own children, meanwhile, who had been taken abroad when their mother left him are returning home with an overwhelming need of their own - to be their father's main priority.Reviewing his own priorities, and more aware now of his motivation for founding The Healing Place, Franz has to confront the question of whether the remedies it offers are actually healing anyone.An unexpected source of enlightenment turns up in the form of childhood friend, Patrick, now working in London, who has been looking for Franz under his original name, and a young doctor, Jake. Their shared vision for a new project begins to absorb Franz as well, if he can learn to trust again and work with them as a team.Patrick, who grew up with Franz and knows his extraordinary history, and Ella who until recently only knew him in his recent role as director of The Healing Place, hold between them the key to Franz's own healing.But before they can all move forward, there are still two frightened children to be found, and in the process of standing in for Sharma in one of his classes, Franz begins to understand something of the strange path that Sharma himself has chosen and the hazards he is going through in tracing the abducted boys.At the same time, the vicar and the sinister figure both move into the spotlight and will each make their indelible imprint on the future of The Healing Place, on Franz and Ella and the generation to come.

Thrilling Adventure is an anthology where new characters debut, team ups between existing EBH heroes, and tales that cannot be told in the EBH solo series. This first episode features the team up of Scarlet Tie the openly gay African American hero of Cleveland and Jewish hero the Key-Master and his sidekick, the enigmatic Tyke Teen Of Tomorrow.Thrilling Adventure is an anthology where new characters debut, team ups between existing EBH heroes, and tales that cannot be told in the EBH solo series. This first episode features the team up of Scarlet Tie the openly gay African American hero of Cleveland and Jewish hero the Key-Master. The central theme is extinction and what future efforts might be used to restore extinct species to the planet.

Olivia is the youngest member of a severely dysfunctional family. This is an abbreviated family history of how badly a family can operate at the mercy of an unstable eldest sibling, from the perspective of the youngest member.A dark tale set in the world of Eridia. Jesus Christ XIV has spent his life in thrall to the vampires of Merrimont Castle, hidden deep in the remote monster-haunted land called the Wilds. Unlike the other human servants/livestock, who wistfully dream of a life beyond the castle walls, Jesus Christ XIV secretly wishes to become a vampire himself, a being of grace and culture and eternal beauty. And though Ascensions—the raising of a lowly servant to the ranks of the vampires—are exceedingly rare, it soon becomes clear that Jesus Christ XIV has indeed been chosen for this signal honor. But on the eve of his Ascension, everything is thrown into chaos by the unexpected appearance of the legendary vampire hunter named Hull, the very man the vampires fled to the Wilds to escape…12,100 words.

While Rivan and Galairel go to confront the Congregate's merchant aristocracy, Kelsaro leads her band of revolutionaries on a raid beneath the Imperial Precinct.As Timo and the Orphan fleet close in on the capital, Kel and her allies amongst the underground gangs of Incarnate finally put weeks of planning into action, with a little help from their girl on the inside.'Beneath the Precinct: Reprise' is part of the cyber-fantasy 'To Walk the Path', the final installment of 'The Star Plague Journals'.

Louisa May Alcott's enchanting Christmas stories, presented in a beautiful hardcover edition perfect for giving as a gift. A Merry Christmas collects the best holiday stories of Louisa May Alcott, from the yuletide festivities of Marmee and her 'little women' to the moving 'What Love Can Do'. Deeply influenced by real-life events, including characters based on Alcott's family members and drawing from her experiences participating in the suffrage and abolitionist movements, these stories have the authentic texture and detail of Christmas in nineteenth-century America. Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1832. Her family later moved to Concord, Massachusetts, where Alcott was influenced by their neighbours Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. At a young age, Louisa took on some of the family's financial burdens, working as a domestic, a teacher, and a writer. In 1868 and 1869, fame and fortune came with the publication of Little Women. The author of many novels and an active campaigner for temperance and women's suffrage, Alcott died in 1888.

Meet best friends Fred (Big Dog) and Ted (Little Dog) in P. D. Eastman’s classic Beginner Book. Though one is big and one is little, and one loves green and one loves red, these pup pals—along with their helpful acquaintance, Bird—prove that opposites can be the very best of friends. Originally created by Dr. Seuss, Beginner Books encourage children to read all by themselves, with simple words and illustrations that give clues to their meaning. From the Hardcover edition.

And girl created boy... In the beginning, there was an apple— And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal. Just when Eve thinks she will die—not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy. Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect... won’t he?

She broke the law forged by werewolves and vampires to save him...but can he trust giving his heart to the enemy? Almost a century ago, Angela Lavigne and Alpha werewolf Knox had a shared passion neither could control. Then Angela was turned into a vampire and disappeared.The last thing Knox expects is for Angela to show up on his doorstep on a rescue mission, as sexy and irresistible as ever. And he can sense how much she still wants him, too. She's gone against both their species' rules and trespassed on his land. By law he can keep her as long as he wants--and Knox doesn't intend to let her go ever again.As their desire explodes once again, Knox is more sure than ever that he must claim her forever. But as vampire and werewolf, they are natural born enemies. Can she truly be his destined mate?

As the old gods awaken, the Chromeria is in a race to find its lost Prism, the only man who may be able to stop catastrophe, Gavin Guile. But Gavin's enslaved on a galley, and when he finally escapes, he finds himself in less than friendly hands. Without the ability to draft which has defined him . . . Meanwhile, the Color Prince's army continues its inexorable advance, having swallowed two of the seven satrapies, they now invade the Blood Forest. Andross Guile, thinking his son Gavin lost, tasks his two grandsons with stopping the advance. Kip and his psychopathic half-brother Zymun will compete for the ultimate prize: who will become the next Prism.