Juno Quinn lives in a world of perfection. Any deviation from the norm, no matter how miniscule, is met with prejudice and Judgment. No mutant shall be allowed to live. But when Juno finds a mysterious object on a beach near her home town of Krakelyn–an object she thinks is a remnant of the equally mysterious Forerunners–the young woman quickly finds her world completely flipped on its head.From the author of "Dinosauria"Thou shalt not suffer a mutant to live . . .Juno Quinn lives in a world of perfection. Any deviation from the norm, no matter how miniscule, is met with prejudice and Judgment. No mutant shall be allowed to live. But when Juno finds a mysterious object on a beach near her home town of Krakelyn–an object she thinks is a remnant of the equally mysterious Forerunners–the young woman quickly finds her world completely flipped on its head. Ideals previously considered to be blasphemous are now the norm, and the definition of what was once “human” may have to be rewritten . . .

"It must have been the mistletoe!" In Our Christmas Wedding, a surprise Christmas Eve wedding turns the Snowflake Senior Center into Romance Central.This 4,717-word story is 26 pages long.Lily works the night shift at a radio station, taking calls from forlorn and damaged souls who can't sleep. She knows their pain and they find solace in her comforting words. The city is ruthless; nameless creatures roam the streets and prey on the lost and innocent. As she leaves work one night at the crest of dawn, Lily comes face-to-face with depravity. She is a survivor at heart, but she is unfairly outnumbered and surrenders to her fate. From the shadows an ally emerges, the mysterious and alluring, Wolf. After coming to Lily's aid, he takes her to shelter. The immediate danger has passed, but the incident is far from over. Wolf tells Lily she is not prey, and sets off into the night with her by his side to set a wrong right. What she sees when entering the dark heart of the city will change her existence forever. Has Wolf taken on a force too big? Will Lily survive the night?

Two years after graduating from the academy, Hannah Stowe's life is pretty damned good. Except for one thing. But even though her heart squeezes every time she thinks about the sexy Keltair male, Liam Fallow, she won't allow herself to miss him. How could she possibly have time, when her career is right on track?Two years after graduating from the academy, Hannah Stowe's life is pretty damned good. Except for one thing. But even though her heart squeezes every time she thinks about the sexy Keltair male, Liam Fallow, she won't allow herself to miss him. How could she possibly have time, when her career is right on track?She's been offered the position of Lieutenant Commander aboard the brand new, state-of-the-art spaceship The Odyssey. It's an incredible opportunity, bringing her one step closer to commanding a Level 10 starship. Everything is going according to plan.Until she realizes her new boss is none other than Liam himself.I’m a professional, she reminds herself over and over. It shouldn't matter that her new commander is the only man she's ever loved. The only man to ever break her heart. He may believe she’s simply going to obey. But unfortunately for him, he’s going to find that she's not the starry-eyed cadet she once was.**** "To Challenge a Warrior" is Part One of a 5-part serialized novel that follows the relationship of Hannah and Liam after graduating from the Starflight Academy. ****Check out the entire series:Book 1- To Challenge a WarriorBook 2- To Obey a WarriorBook 3- To Wound a WarriorBook 4- To Forgive a WarriorBook 5- To Save a Warrior

Twenty two tales of horror and mystery unearth dark secrets and terrible truths. From serial killers to short-order cooks, disillusioned office workers to child prodigies, the members of this braying human menagerie are on a collision course with the end times – and one another. Ashton Raze’s debut short story collection weaves a series of narratives into a creepy, tangled, darkly comic whole.“Reality made this factual. The monsters weren’t the undead, the wolfmen or the creeping horrors. The monsters were living; they were alive. They lived among the population, waiting, watching and then, when they were content to watch no longer… they snapped.”A shot is fired. Passengers on the Underground get too close for comfort. A stoic grandmother reaches out to her estranged granddaughter through her first computer. A familiar drive home takes an unfamiliar turn – literally. A Hollywood effects artist discovers that even heroes have a dark side.Twenty two tales of horror and mystery unearth dark secrets and terrible truths. From serial killers to short-order cooks, disillusioned office workers to child prodigies, the members of this braying human menagerie are on a collision course with the end times – and one another. Ashton Raze’s debut short story collection weaves a series of narratives into a creepy, tangled, darkly comic whole.

A Novella from the world of Kitra, featuring the Onlashian dragons: Imperial Captain Marteen leads a suicide mission into enemy territory, certain of failure before he had even met the Allied Forces.Yellow Dani, junior commander in the Allied Forces, rescues the only surviving Imperial soldier from the carnage. Will Marteen end up as the dragon's prisoner, or his supper?Captain Marteen has spent most of his life following orders. Forced into the Imperial Army as a young man, with the only way out being retirement or death, he has given up all hope of ever being able to develop his gifts as a healer. Now he finds himself part of a group of soldiers and mages on loan to the King of Essa, taking part in an attempted invasion of the northern countries of Ranmor. His habit of always questioning orders lands him in the lead of a mixed group of Imperial and Essian soldiers ordered into enemy territory to ambush the approaching Allied forces. This he immediately recognises as a suicide mission.The yellow dragon, Daninackan, is second in command of the Onlashian military healers travelling with the Allied forces to confront the invaders. Others write off his unease at the approaching confrontation as pre-battle nerves, but Dani cannot rid himself of the feeling that something is very wrong - which is how he ends up pulling the only surviving Imperial soldier off a burning hill.But what must he do with the man now?Marteen is not sure if he is the dragon's prisoner, or supper, and can only wait to find out his fate.

Theirs is a tale of forbidden love. A man who has trained his whole life to see the world only as it is falls in love with a woman who sees the world as it can be.Seven authors, seven visions, seven short stories make up Murder, Mayhem, Monsters, and Mistletletoe. Rae Ford, Rodney Hall, C.R. Garmen, Michelle Rabe, Lindy Spencer, Jamie Sheffield, and Brenda Tetreault share their stories in this winter-themed anthology.Cold Burn - From The Luminosi Brotherhood Series - by Rae Ford. A surprise from Chicago Detective Tyson Roberts' distant past distracts him from his preparation for the team's expedition to Antarctica. The question is, is this distraction a blessing or a curse?"Mr. John – by Rodney Hall. DetectiveJohn Peterson stared through the blinding snow. He had to ask himself if what he saw was real, or if he was losing his mind.A Perfect Christmas – by C.R. Garmen. A short and sweet reminder of the virtue of giving during the holidays.Another First for Christmas – by Michelle Rabe. New vampire Eric Kincade faces his first holiday season with fangs.Above the Bridge – by Lindy Spencer. There's a huge difference between life above the bridge and below it...except for Karma. From her, there's no escape.Now is the Winter – by Jamie Sheffield. Richie Gloucester is a spoiled man-child on a trip away from the cold of a Manhattan winter to the tropics, with murder in his heart. His plans, and life, take a bizarre turn when he meets an unlikely heroine who helps him take control of his life ... literally.Merry Christmas, Baby – by Brenda Tetreault. Christmas is a time of love and magic. But sometimes love needs a helping hand.

People are dying, but no doctor will come. One man wants desperately to help, but the dark secret of his past prevents him from doing anything other than praying, which is the best thing he could do. Mike Maltby's third adventure in a small isolated town buried in a high mountain pass in Idaho.TeaserA clear mist drowned the yard before me, the amount of times I had been here when it’s been misty but it’s never been this bad before, I continued into the yard, walking briskly to where my horse was stabled, the mist was starting to freak me out now, I continued to look around to find if anyone else was here and upon doing so I noticed that the mare and foal wasn’t in the paddock where they are usually kept, I glanced down at my wrist to see what time it was and noticed that my watch had stopped and looked liked it was also misted up, the mist was playing tricks on my eyes, forming shapes and making me believe there was something there but every time I ran over to the spot, there was nothing there. Ever since I had stabled my horse here I always thought there was something creepy about this place even in the daytime never mind in the mist, it’s sort of one of those mists that you would see in a horror movie a really creepy type. By this time I had reached the back of the stallion stables and was just about to check up on Keano, looking over the stable door I saw him laying down in the corner back to me, he looked like he was asleep, so peaceful as I approached him I noticed something wasn’t right, I couldn’t see his auburn chest steadily rising and falling, I started to panic, I took a quick step towards him and was greeted by two dark red eyes, I froze to the spot with the eyes intently watching me, every step I took they followed until they started to approach me, I followed the eyes and was greeted by a grayish outline of what looked like a large dog, it was slowly creeping towards me I continued to walk backwards when my back touched something, I instantly knew that I had been cornered against a wall, it knew it had me and took the opportunity and lunged for me it seemed to disintegrate into thin air but I could swear the eyes lingered for a second more, but I don’t think it was that which freaked me out, I could see out of the corner of my eye there was something sat next to me……

A journey in Poland and Western Ukraine.Now he was finally, physically, going to be in the city that he had written, read and thought about for so long, this city that was neither founded as a Polish city nor in the boundaries of the present -day Polish state yet played a major part in Poland's national life from 1340 right through to modern times. From 1340 to 1773 and from 1920 to 1939-it was nearly all the time under Polish national government. This, he now reflected, comprised the majority of the time from the founding of the city about the year 1250 to the Twenty-first century present. From what he had read the city had also had a crucial position in the culture and history of the Ukraine, where the city was known as Lviv. Just how this all panned out in practice he'd have to wait and see. He had had his interest in Eastern Europe for many years, visiting several countries in the region. So why had he not attempted this particular peregrination before?

A Breath of Fiction is a unique collection of 200 stories, each made up of exactly 200 words. The stories range in mood from serious to enigmatic to poignant to silly. Some closely examine ordinary moments that might easily be overlooked. Others open a window to the fantastic and to the impossible. But all of the stories are concerned with what it means to experience life.A Breath of Fiction is a unique collection, since each of the 200 stories contained in the volume is made up of exactly 200 words. The stories range in mood from serious to enigmatic to poignant to silly. Some stories closely examine ordinary moments that might easily be overlooked in the course of a day or a lifetime. Other stories open a window to the fantastic and to the impossible. But all of the stories are concerned with what it means to experience life. The beauty of these very short stories, grouped into twelve different thematic categories, is that a reader may choose to read as much or as little as they choose at a time. Since these stories were originally posted online (on the blog also titled A Breath of Fiction), they are meant to be accessible for a brief moment of reading, or for a complete immersion in the variety of stories and experiences presented in these pages.

Meredith is a weather presenter with channel 7 news, has a five month old baby and a husband, Sam, who's not pulling his weight. Feeling less than confident after a few negative comments from some of her fans, work colleagues, and even Sam, she decides things have to change, but the choices she makes only seem to make things worse...Meredith has a stressful job as a weather presenter for Channel 7 news. She also has a five month old baby and a husband, Sam, who's not pulling his weight. On top of that, being in the public eye means her outward appearance is continually scrutinised. Feeling less than confident after a few negative comments from some of her fans, work colleagues, and even Sam, she decides things have to change but the choices she makes only seem to make matters worse... Light hearted, romantic fiction.

The third story in the Lost Forest series sees life in the forest carrying on much the same as ever – or perhaps not...Honey Elephants are a rare and special thing and the subject of unwritten history...they also have knees... But this is not the beginning of our story. If a story must have a beginning then this one begins in a tree...The third story in the Lost Forest series sees life in the forest carrying on much the same as ever – or perhaps not...Honey Elephants are a rare and special thing and the subject of unwritten history...they also have knees... But this is not the beginning of our story. If a story must have a beginning then this one begins in a tree...Long before tomorrow when today had not quite become yesterday and somewhere in-between lunch and dinner...two monkeys were sat in a tree... And that would have been that except...except there is an awlful lot more.The stork, for reasons the tree monkeys explain, went on holiday but he flew South instead of North and bumped into some jazz-loving badgers; while he was away, the tree monkeys set off to discover the Honey Elephant's honey yard. Then there are the Sisters of the Sacred Brethren, a group of flightless condors, headed toward the Lost Forest on a pilgrimage....and, completely separately, the Rajastan Dodo is now extinct... But to be fair, no one probably noticed...Eventually they all come together in a chaotic tale of...well...you'll need to read the story to discover just what happens...or doesn't or should have... But as the stork says, “it's a metaphor, isn't it...a fossilised snake, a giant inner tube...no...erm...hominy grits?..oh, a pole..?”“It is the one and the many at the same time...” replied Sister Dor of the Sisters of the Sacred Brethren.The sun began to tire and slip down to the horizon, trying as best it could to cast butterfly shadows on the sand dunes until...in the cooling evening air, it sneezed, lost its balance and fell below the horizon plunging everything into darkness...Oh and don't forget, it is probably a bad idea to feed the badgers honey...And remember, the Honey Elephant is a rare and special thing and the subject of unwritten history...probably just a myth then...

When all of Europe falls to Hitler and England stands alone, Eric Wallace, a young RAF pilot, joins the men and women of England in a fierce, desperate battle against overwhelming odds, as they reach into their roots for courage and face the Nazis in a united act of defiance.Dawn Patrol opens in the present day, with Eric’s wife Edith telling their great grandson Billy about Order of the Dragonfly and the Battle of Britain, and how Edith came to know Eric. Edith was a ferry pilot in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, and flew Spitfires from the manufacturing plant to airfields. The rest of the novel follows the arc of the actual events of the Battle of Britain, as England made its stand against Hitler.The Summer of 1940 begins with Eric’s father and other courageous merchant seamen joining the Royal Navy to escort soldiers from France, in the Miracle of Dunkirk. Hermann Goering becomes a central character, the leader of the German Air Force, ruthlessly subjugating Europe. He is hungry to see the Royal Air Force destroyed, but he is overconfident, and high on morphine, from an injury in 1923. Edith delivers a Spitfire to Eric, and he is smitten by the feisty ferry pilot, even as he is eager to fly a Spitfire for the first time. He is afraid of dying but goes up in the sky nonetheless. Eric also fears becoming distracted by affection on the ground, in case it should make him too cautious in combat. Eric and the Royal Air Force face the German Air Force (the Luftwaffe) who have four times the number of planes. But Eric and the RAF pilots are fighting for their lives, to defend their families and the ones they love. President Roosevelt wants to help, but faces an election, and the Americans do not want another war. However, some Americans, such as the young Rudy Mitchell, come to England to join the Royal Air Force and do what they can to help. Winston Churchill leads the English people in a defiant stand, as England is surrounded, and the people of England send their young pilots in the air, in the hope of defending the skies.

Sweet Amish Romance short story from #1 Best Selling Author Elanor Miller.Katie has dreamed of her first Amish social for as long as she can remember and now that the day has finally arrived, disaster strikes and threatens the big event. With the help of long time friend, Jacob, the day is saved and Katie first social is the best social ever!A Sweet Amish Romance short story from #1 Best Selling Author Elanor Miller.Katie has dreamed of her first Amish social for as long as she can remember. The day has finally arrived, but disaster strikes and threatens the big event.Jacob has always looked at Katie as his sister's best friend, but while working to save the social, he starts to see her as something more.With Jacob's help, Katie's first social is the best social ever . . . and maybe even more!This is a sweet, clean, Amish Romance short story. It is a complete story, but it is also part of the Fairfield Amish Romance series. Be sure to read them all, in any order!

A CLASS ACT IS A FREE SHORT STORYFrom Best Selling Author, Pete HowellsA group of ‘behaviourally disturbed’ teenagers are about to begin “The Trial” as part of their GCSE Speaking and Listening assessment. Despite never having read Romeo and Juliet, Liverpool Jack is determined to give his A* performance as Lawrence Friar…Issue 2: October/November 2012Fiction By:Jim BreyfogleMatthew CastlemanBeth CatoLiz ColterLindsey DuncanFrank DutkiewiczMilo James FowlerSteve HuskKat OtisCover art by Richard H. FayAnd Interior Art by:Laura GivensTeresa TunaleyBook Review:Devil's IslandBy C.M. SaundersThis is Issue 2 of Plasma Frequency, a magazine of speculative fiction. It includes stories of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Includes fabulous art and a book review.Plasma Frequency ISSN 2168-1309 (Print) and ISSN 2168-1317 (Electronic), Issue 2 October/November 2012. Published bimonthly by Plasma Spyglass Press, Vacaville, CaliforniaCopyright 2012 Plasma Spyglass Press

As genetically modified humans try to integrate their society into mainstream America, they are met with superstition and distrust.As genetically modified humans try to integrate their society into mainstream America, they are met with superstition and distrust. Lori and Jason, two genetically modified humans try to integrate their society with mainstream America, and are met with superstition and distrust. Strangers in a hostile America they have to make an impossible escape, as political and social forces try to stop them.

When Cabo the guide dog puppy arrives No.4, no one knows quite what they have let themselves in for.He charms everyone and even makes friends with Diva, the cat.It is a year of tears and laughter, chewed phones and nasty smells...Chaos begins with love. This is a fact that Jackson Tide is rapidly discovering as he negotiates his increasingly chaotic life. Jack's not just a young hitman living in the emerald city of Seattle, but also a college student with dreams of teaching. Now, not only has his girlfriend mysteriously left him, but a powerful organization has hired him to take out a senator. The organization hints that there is more to Jack's past than believed. Questions arise. What is a Ferocity? Who is the enigmatic Mr. Sunset? Why did his girlfriend leave him (and was she cheating on him), can he pass his Humanities test, and is he a sociopath or just unlucky in love? Ferocity is a black comedy adventure thriller in the vein of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity meets David Sedaris meets James Bond. It's a story about relationships in the new millennium and bullets.

This is a short story about Eric how to date his dream lover, Priscilla, who is a famous singer.Eric, a loyal fans of famous singer Priscilla, eventually discover himself not only treat Priscilla as common singer, but also his dream lover too.He always imagines he and she could walk at the beach hand in hand.He try to make her notice during her concert, and also leave many message and photos in her Facebook fan-page.One day, he found that Priscilla had response to his action.................

In this first devastating book of the HADRON series, a small group of citizens take control of their own destinies when Earth's relatively tranquil existence is shattered by a new reality... our galaxy is a hostile, unforgiving place. Can we survive a collapsing civilization before our true enemies even arrive? Find out now by grabbing your free copy of HADRON Dark Matter today!The fight for Man's survival in the galaxy begins now...Since the discovery of dark matter only weeks before, massive electromagnetic storms have been bombarding the Earth. The power grids have been up and down. Cell service, land lines, TV, radio, and even cable have had interruptions. Man is sparsely prepared for the events that are coming.In this first devastating book of the HADRON series, a small group of citizens take control of their own destinies when Earth's relatively tranquil existence is shattered by a new reality... our galaxy is a hostile, unforgiving place. Can we survive a collapsing civilization before our true enemies even arrive? Find out now by grabbing your free copy of HADRON Dark Matter today!

If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? When Napoleon crowned himself Emperor, the magnitude of the spectacle was evident to every witness. But did it matter to, let us say, the Siberian farmer who died shortly thereafter, never hearing of the day? This story of Napoleon’s coronation blends philosophy and history to answer the most profound of existential questions.If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? This ancient philosophical question is not typically associated with Napoleon’s Coronation Day. But perhaps it should be. With the twenty-first century now firmly underway, the meaning, purpose, and raison d’être for life has been repeatedly, violently, relentlessly undermined from all sides. It is said today, quite routinely, that our universe has been around for 13 billion years and that, indeed, the sun is just one of billions of stars in our galaxy, and that our galaxy is just one of billions in the universe. Still more, it is said that each one of these innumerable stars has its own set of planets, leaving our Earth as, to put it gently, just one of many. Indeed, as Freud posited, mankind has suffered three cruel blows upon its “naïve self-love” in modern times. The first came from Copernicus, who showed that the Earth was not the center of the universe, but rather “only a tiny speck in a world-system of a magnitude hardly conceivable.” The second came from Darwin, who theorized that the human species did not have the “peculiar privilege” of having been specially created, but had instead descended from “the animal world.” And the third insufferable blow, Freud proudly stated, had come from himself and his theory that man is not even “master of his own house,” and must live in ignorance of the powerful unconscious forces that motivate his everyday actions. With this backdrop in mind, the Coronation of Napoleon I, the grandest day Europe has ever known, begins to seem trivial and insignificant. It is naturally presumed that a day of such fanfare, jubilation, pomp, and historical importance is, in fact, an inherently special day. But, if Coronation Day were to be put under a microscope, we might find the moment robbed of its preciousness, aimless rather than select. The Eiffel Tower, the Musée du Louvre, and the epithet “City of Love,” all seem forever inseparable from Paris itself. But perhaps this “Paris” is a veneer, behind which is nothing more than a landmass with unimpressive hills, traversed by a meandering river, all resting rather stably atop a vast tectonic plate. In the same manner, it appears God-given that Napoleon Bonaparte was intrinsically greater than other men, and that his title of Emperor of France is as unchallengeable as Newton’s Third Law. But on the other hand, to reference Darwin above, Napoleon is perhaps less a preordained Übermensch than just another “descendant” from the animal kingdom. Immanuel Kant, the greatest philosopher of the German Enlightenment, developed an epistemological theory which speaks to this question. Kant held that the human mind, as it experiences the world, is working actively, tirelessly, to construct meaning from sensory input which is otherwise adrift, purposeless, and nonsensical. The implication here is, of course, that the world does not contain categorical meaning, but that significance only arises when our minds experience this free-floating stimuli and instinctively construct purpose to it. In short, if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, it does not make a sound. “The Coronation of Napoleon I,” however, offers an alternative. As it takes its reader through the magnificent day of Napoleon’s Coronation, the short story examines this legendary crowning from a multitude of perspectives. By the end of the tale, one might become persuaded (or perhaps not), that the joyous cries and triumphant music coming from Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris, on the Second of December, 1804, did, in fact, echo to all corners of the cosmos, even if the mere sounds themselves never extended beyond the city’s borders.

A camping trip with his father turns Robbie Albion’s perceptions of himself and his world upside down as he is forced to engage in an unwitting life-and-death battle to break a family curse that has seen generations of his forefathers their early graves.Following the death of a rival, aboriginal boy, Yuka, is faced with a choice - stay and die, but be laid to a peaceful rest under the tribe's Great Tree, or suffer life-long banishment from his ancestral home. In an attempt to force a choice, the Kadaitcha Man puts a curse on the boy: Should he leave, Yuka will die while still a young man and unless he is buried on the mountain beneath the Great Tree, as is the tribal custom, then he and future generations will be destined to live between this world and the next, never to rest with their ancestors. Yuka’s choice sees him return with his own son many years later in an attempt to break the curse.Over a century later, Robbie Albion journeys to the now cloud-shrouded mountain with his sick father. As Robbie struggles with what he learns about himself, his father becomes increasingly delirious and irrational. Robbie, himself seriously injured, battles against and with various forces of nature to save his father. All the while Robbie is guided by animals that seem to know what he does not, that he has been chosen for this quest.

“[T]his ingenious foray into breaking into a new neighborhood makes for an amusing and appealing story,” raves School Library Journal. Written by the acclaimed author of The Phantom Tollbooth, this Amazon Best Picture Book of the Year is a simply told story about a boy who moves to a new neighborhood and finds a unique way to make friends. With whimsical illustrations by award-winning illustrator G. Brian Karas, here is a read-aloud that's great for storytime, and is sure to be a hit among fans of Juster, Karas, and anyone who is "the new kid on the block." From the Hardcover edition.