An unconventional take on unconditional love. What does god have to do with it?Sometimes wierd literature is at its best when it can create a fantastic visual image in your head, and often, the form of poetry is best suited to that idea.Here is an attempt at creating a few lovecraftian images; a short poem concerning shoggoths, and their horrific drawling shudders.Inspired by the poetry of H.P.Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith.Previously published in the magazine, "Cthulhu Cultus", #12.

A discarded mirror brings more than just everyday reflections. Part of the 'From Elsewhere' collection - six short stories about unearthly visitors.A discarded mirror brings more than just everyday reflections. Who, or what, stares back at Penny as she gazes into an old mirror? Is it a hallucination...or portent of death?Part of the From Elsewhere short story collection - six tales of unearthly visitors.From Elsewhere includes:“The Long View” - One woman’s reflections on the life she has left behind. But is all as it seems?“The Hearing” - A guardian angel is put on trial by the man he is duty bound to protect.“Forbidden” - A story about the most illicit of love affairs: the secret passion between an angel and a demon.“The Foundling” - Who or what exactly has appeared on the doorstep an old woman’s cottage in Ireland?“Grey Eyes In Silver” - A discarded mirror brings more than just everyday reflections.

A short stand alone story with Cora Frost and her possible future. Cora Frost meets a boy who is said to commune with spirits in the form of spiders. After an accident young Jacob Fancher is left in an eternal state of fasting. Blind, he still amazingly weaves brilliant embroidered works. On death's door Jacob Fancher wishes to bestow a gift to Cora. A gift given by the spiders that possess him.A short stand alone story with Cora Frost and her possible future. Cora Frost meets a boy who is said to commune with spirits in the form of spiders. After an accident young Jacob Fancher is left in an eternal state of fasting. Blind, he still amazingly weaves brilliant embroidered works. On death's door Jacob Fancher wishes to bestow a gift to Cora. A gift given by the spiders that possess him.Also included is an excerpt from Cora Frost, The first adventure in the series.

Bayside Passions: Bayside Summers, Book 2

Truth is in the details. This collection of essays addresses in detail uncomfortable, controversial subjects: the mix of culture and religion, scientific determinism, the existence of an absolute ethic, the necessity of free will, the origins of homosexuality, errors in radiometric dating, and the death of Darwinian gradualism. What a surprise it is to find the current worldview to be in error.Man's nature is to live by bias rather than reason. That is the reason that looking at the facts of any issue is important. I suggest that this collection of seven essays looks at familiar and accepted viewpoints with the tools of known facts, reason and logic. I suggest that though my findings are out of sync with the flow of current culture, the facts, the pesky details, show these findings to be correct.My seven essays analyze the following questions in detail:1) Is Western culture's view of natural resource exploitation/extraction Bible-based?2) Is the "scientific" view that the arrangements of tiny "particles" (packets of energy) determine all reality and that, therefore, free will is an illusion no more than an adopted, metaphysical belief? How does an adopted assumption compare with experiential religious faith? Of course, if God exists, experiencing God could be an actual event. Who can argue with another person's experience? And on the other hand, a scientific materialist who believes free will is an illusion must also logically concede that his beliefs and the expression of them are all forced by his physiology and not governed by independent reason and the discipline of logic.3) Do comparisons of biblical teachings with social behaviors among various organisms point to the existence of an absolute ethic?4) Does the appearance of free will in mankind constitute a literal miracle? How does an otherwise determined universe determine that not all things are determined? It cannot. What does that logic indicate about the origin of the ability to alter determined chains of causes and effects?5) Do the facts show that the origins of homosexuality are largely the result of unfortunate parenting, cultural promotion, and/or, in the case of some individuals, bad choices?6) What common environmental conditions produce inconsistencies in radiometric dating? Why do geophysicists, paleontologists, astrophysicists, and other scientists continue to ignore the facts of those inconsistencies? Are the rocks as old as the experts claim?7) Darwin's basic ideas are 2,500 years old. What are the pesky details pointed out in this page by page critique of his On the Origin of Species? What are his consistent errors and self-contradictions? Because paleontological evidence fails to support Darwinian gradualism, what are the new guesses about origins? To my knowledge, no other source aside from this work provides a page by page critique of Darwin's "towering genius". Was he an icon of intellectual progress or possibly "a king without any clothes." You decide.Your choice, because you have the miracle of free will, is to dig into the details of these essays and persist in your pursuit of knowledge or simply explore in order to counterattack and defend your preferred beliefs. And that is important because our biases define who we are. They are a big part of one's identity. Take some time and prove me wrong. I accept reason but you must be reasonable and not violate logic, or perhaps, you can be clever and clandestine. Maybe that would work.Regards, Bob

This is an ecological fairy-tale to make children aware of the inhumane and virulent behaviour exhibited by people towards animals, and to teach them the great necessity of living in harmony with these creatures.The torture of any animal is not fun, and their abuse cannot be considered entertaining.This book is an ecological fairy-tale written by the author and painter Zanna Mela-Florou, a member of an association for the protection of bears. It will make children aware of the inhumane and virulent behaviour exhibited by people towards animals, and will teach children the great necessity of living in harmony with these creatures. It will also teach them that the torture of any animal is not fun, and that their abuse cannot be considered entertaining. In an effort to be precise at her work, the author renders the true anatomical analogies of the animals in her paintings. The dialogues between the animals are based on their behavioral patterns and instincts. This is not simply a fairy-tale. It is a book of education.

And I saw a great multitude of frogs ascending up out of the sea...of did I? Did frogs really rise up and overtake a beach, a neighborhood, the city of Hyannis, and then march right back into the sea? Overactive imagination? Lucid dream? Insanity at 22? In this twisted little tale you can have the answer in just minutes!"The problem with life is that you can toil through the years chasing this illusion, this dream of a life of wealth, leisure, power, sex, and all the other abstract ideals that have driven and tempted people throughout history. By the time you finally lay a hand on that dream, the vision has evolved, the goalposts have moved, and you've broken yourself trying to get as far as you have. You're in too deep to stop by that point, so you juggle what you have while still chasing your new vision of happiness, and life just gets more complex and unstable with each iteration. Some people settle for what they have at some point, some continue this cycle with no end, and others simply break completely, but no one to my knowledge has ever successfully found true happiness by chasing perfection."My own life fell into the first category. I was told at a young age by both my parents and no less than three of my school teachers that I needed to devote my life to finding and holding a good-paying job or risk a life of poverty. So I struggled through twelve brutal semesters of college, immersing myself in all of the subjects considered most attractive to potential employers. I networked with executives and higher-ups at prestigious companies. I expanded my portfolio of engineering experience to buff my résumé. I sacrificed my time, health, and even a few friendships and relationships to claw my way to the top. And finally, I reached out and seized my dream as a powerful player in HASBAM Technologies, a highly profitable technology and systems corporation. Achieving this goal, however, felt hollow somehow. I had all the money I needed, and I tried to continually reassure myself that I was happy, but the happiness was empty and devoid of meaning. There was no higher to climb without selling my soul to management, an occupation even more devoid of meaning, and I couldn't bear giving up this life and throwing away all of the sweat and toil I had poured into it. I took the only option I could bear: live the "perfect" life I had created for myself..."

When life becomes a series of disasters will you still move forward and walk with hope or will you stop the race and end the journey without even trying again?This is a short story about a girl and her losses in life. How she met someone who eventually changed the course of her life and how she had able to handle every circumstances that walked her way.Rape Day Wednesday is an action – adventure love story. General Madid is about to receive a visit from his worst nightmare – Jimmy West. Dear Air Rescue I am Jackie Cots, a nurse for an International Medical Rescue in Somalia. I am writing this letter on behalf of Aisha Hulow, a Somalia woman who lives in the Village of Coato. The lady wants me to tell you about the death of Mary Johnson, who was attacked by soldiers in her medical clinic, repeatedly raped, then shot and left for dead. When the soldiers left, Aisha dragged Mary into her hut where she died several hours later in her arms. Her dying words were to tell Jimmy West, that she still loved him and had never forgotten him. Please find attached a one dollar bill. The lady insists on me sending you the only thing of wealth, she owns. She hopes that you can help her hire someone who can save her little village from these soldiers. It appears that every Wednesday morning, a Renegade General Madid allows his soldiers to come into the village and rape all the women and girls as a treat for loyalty.Please pass on this letter to Jimmy West. Yours truly,Jackie Cots for Aisha Hulow

Snow blankets the cold streets of Orlando. A man from another place – another world – has been sent to see a young boy there. He will also meet the boy’s mother & though duty-bound to complete his mission he will find himself at a crossroads.This is a story about making a choice. This is a story about the past as it is about the present. This is a story about love, & what people might do for it.In the snowy streets of Orlando the lives of a man from another world, and a boy and his mother will collide.The man must seek out the boy and complete his mission, but he sees something in the mother he hasn't seen in a long time.This is his story.

the story of two miss match fairies, ones a trainer of new ruff a round the edge fairies wannabes and the other a new t-fairy in training going out for the first time, you see she's supper charged about this night & getting her first tooth and hoping she'll pass this test.Some people struggle with their emotions. They manifest in some raw and powerful ways. I write to deal with mine. From losing a family member and feeling at your lowest to meeting people that make you happy, it is all a step on this road to seeing what sort of person we will be come in the end. You might not agree with me; life is an open book after all, but to those that can relate. Just keep moving forward, things will get better and you will become better as a result.

When Samantha wakes in a sterile room the only thing she can remember is dying. She now finds herself in a world she doesn't know. A world filled with magic, death, love, friendship, and winged people. She must fight to survive the unknown world as she learns new talents she has never dreamed possible. With the clock ticking on more than one life, she must learn fast.When Samantha wakes in a sterile white room the only thing she can remember is dying. She now finds herself in a world she doesn't know, with people who aren't normal, a young man she is drawn to but doesn't want, no one will explain anything to her and to top it all off they claim her father has been taken and she is needed to help rescue him. The only way to get answers is to find this man they claim is her 'father' before the evil race below kill him. With trepidation Samantha follows Xavier and his friend Axel into a whirlwind adventure of magic, battles and wings to rescue the father she has never known in a world that isn't hers.

This story is the first in the Magical Murphy Farm series. The Murphy Family Farm is an enchanted farm that owes much of its success to an agreement made between the Murphys and the Fairy Folk over a century ago in Ireland.This story is the first in the Magical Murphy Farm series. The Murphy Family Farm is an enchanted farm that owes much of its success to an agreement made between the Murphys and the Fairy Folk over a century ago in Ireland. With over a hundred acres of farm land, the fairies and enchanted creatures work together to help the Murphy Family keep the farm prosperous enough to be generous to the community. The fairy folk call the Murphy Farm Lismore Baile, their words for "Bountiful Home."The wondrous world of Lismore Baile awaits!In this first book, young Brooke Murphy enjoys life living on a her family's centennial farm. The Murphy Family Farm has prospered for over a century, producing better than any farm in the area. Life on a farm couldn't be better for Brooke and her animal friends. One day, she decides to go for a walk in her mother's elaborate garden. On her way there, she finds some magical spectacles that allow her to see fairy folk and magical creatures. Brooke becomes more and more excited during her adventure while learning about the inner workings of the farm she calls home. As she ventures down the hidden path of the garden, she greets the enchanted people of Lismore Baile, a magical realm where fantasy meets reality and the two work together to bring in the harvest. Brooke is given an errand by one of the fairies, one that she has to get done before bed time.Some of the characters she meets include the flower fairies Marigold and Violet. Aurora is another fairy that Brooke meets along the way. Aurora helps keep the farm warm with some special help from her friend Fireglide (a volcano dragon). Everyone has something to do to keep the Murphy Farm thriving, including Brooke.Brooke learns from Lily (possibly the last water nymph of her kind) that fairies and magical creatures have always been a part of the Murphy Family Farm.After so many adventures, how will Brooke get safely home before it gets dark? With time running out, perhaps a little magic is needed. Perfect reader for ages 9+ or great to read to children of any age. Adults will also like this uplifting story. This story emphasizes helping others, being thankful and the rewards for being generous.

Freedom Files Book 3, What if the camera on your phone, computer, TV and security camera were watching you, recording your life? What if your school records, your medical records were no longer protected? What if the people who are controlling our government have crossed the line and everything you’ve ever done will be held against you. This is The Surveillance State and there is nowhere to hide.The Surveillance State is the third book in the "Freedom Files" series, a collection of novelettes about ongoing civil liberty issues. Cameras and microphones are embedded in everything we own, and we gladly gave up some of our freedom for security. Where is the line that we won’t cross, the point where our principals stop us from being monsters? What if the camera on your phone and your computer and your TV and your security camera were watching you, recording your life? What if your school records, your medical records were no longer protected? What if the people who are controlling our government have crossed that line and everything you’ve ever done will be held against you. This is The Surveillance State and there is nowhere to hide.Included at the beginning and the end is the Freedom Files that correlate with this story.

A LIFE WITH NO LIGHT and other stories, contains three flash fictions. The stories deal with extraterrestrials, zombies, and war. Each story is categorized in it's own genre, so the entire book consists of Horror, Sci-fi, and adventure.In this collection of stories, the characters are fighting for their lives. In the adventure story, "A life with no Light", a war erupting in the united states blacks out the sky causing generations to grow up with no light. When the main character's father is drafted for the war, he must fight to keep the rest of his family alive. In the horror, "The Cost of Mercy", Mark's family is thrown into an apocalypse. When a devastating event takes place, Mark must make a huge choice for the good of his family. In the Sci-fi story, "Guinea Pig", Greg wakes up in a mysterious room. With new clothes and no memory of how he got there. With a horrible discovery of abduction, Greg must figure out a way to escape his abductors and return home.

Pepper, a black Dachshund puppy, was found at a rest area in Idaho in the middle of a snowstorm. Fortunately for Pepper, a Native American couple found her and rescued her. But who rescued whom? Their lives were never the same with Pepper's antics and adventures.Sam Sam and Marzipan is an imaginative adventure story as seen through the eyes of a four year old boy. Sam and his faithful off white and ginger cat - Marzipan, live in a magical world where Marzipan not only talks but understands Sam's every thought and is his most loyal friend. Other objects come to life and assume characters as imaginative and creative as only a four year old boy can be. In a world where imagination has no boundaries Sam Sam, creates his own world with - his silly old cat.Sam Sam is Sam's imaginative name - an extension of Sam, and his name when he assumes his world of imagination, which as a sole child, he seeks out regularly.

Land Of Promise is a must read collection of 40 poems that portray Africa as a land of inexhaustible riches and beauty yet crowned with thorns; a land of wonder and thunder. It is a careful blend of art and purpose that reveals an undiluted picture of Africa to the world; an epitome of contemporary creativity featuring some of the poet’s award winning poems.Land Of Promise is a must read collection of 40 poems that portray Africa as a land of inexhaustible riches and beauty yet crowned with thorns; a land of wonder and thunder. It is a careful blend of art and purpose that reveals an undiluted picture of Africa to the world; an epitome of contemporary creativity featuring some of the poet’s award winning poems. Kum Eric Tso’s melodious use of words intricately flows from humorous to gloomy and satirical as he focuses the flash lights on the paradox of Africa, the land of promise in an entertaining yet educative manner. The collection also touches vital topics of life in general that are appealing to every reader.

For over thirty years, Robert Ludlum has been acknowledged as the master of international suspense and intrigue. In 2000, Ludlum managed to raise the bar yet again with his widely acclaimed bestsellers The Prometheus Deception and The Hades Factor, the first novel in his exciting Covert-One series. Now Covert-One is back, in a novel that could only have come from the imagination of the world's greatest storyteller. "What they're going to do, I never would have believed it. It's insanity!" They were the final words spoken by Yuri Danko, an officer in the medical division of Russia's security service, before his body was ripped apart by a spray of assassins' bullets. In possession of Danko's classified papers, Covert-One operative Jon Smith and CIA undercover agent Randi Russell have unearthed a terrifying global conspiracy that threatens to unleash a plague of immeasurable proportions. A Serb terrorist has been dispatched from Russia to spirit hazardous vials of deadly bacteria into the United States. His mission: deliver it to an unknown American government agent-- a shadowy figure whose own motives for acquiring the bioweapon are made all the more unfathomable when both men are found murdered, and the strain is stolen. Now Smith and Russell must track it down, find the madman who possesses it, and stop him before he holds a defenseless world hostage with the power to render the human race extinct. Visit the Covert-One Web site: www.CovertOne.com

From the renowned author of The African Trilogy, a political satire about an unnamed African country navigating a path between violence and corruption As Minister for Culture, former school teacher M. A. Nanga is a man of the people, as cynical as he is charming, and a roguish opportunist. When Odili, an idealistic young teacher, visits his former instructor at the ministry, the division between them is vast. But in the eat-and-let-eat atmosphere, Odili's idealism soon collides with his lusts—and the two men's personal and political tauntings threaten to send their country into chaos. When Odili launches a vicious campaign against his former mentor for the same seat in an election, their mutual animosity drives the country to revolution. Published, prophetically, just days before Nigeria's first attempted coup in 1966, A Man of the People is an essential part of Achebe’s body of work. **

How did Andrea and Dick Cheney fall in love? Join Half-Moon Hollow’s favorite couple for a trip down memory lane—to a time when Mr. Wainwright was newly dead, Jane Jameson was a newbie vampire, and a budding paranormal romance was not yet uncorked… Half-Moon Hollow’s supernatural social event of the season—Zeb’s Titanic-themed werewolf wedding—is coming up, and Dick Cheney (not that Dick Cheney!) needs a date. But Andrea’s had enough of clever, handsome, and rakish to last a lifetime, and Dick Cheney is certainly not the sort of man you bring home to mom (not that Andrea’s deadist parents are speaking to her ever since she dropped out of college and became a blood surrogate.) Shameless, relentless, roguish, with a Stetson-worthy swagger, a naughty sparkle in his eyes, and a constant smirk—oh, and fangs—no, Dick is the last person (er…vampire) Andrea wants to date. But the infuriatingly irresistible man who lives quietly on the edge of a criminal underworld knows exactly what he wants, and once he surprises Andrea with a thrilling hot and dirty kiss behind the paranormal bookshop, she knows what she wants too: Dick. All it takes to ignite their unconventional courtship is a near-undeath experience that confronts Dick with a choice between turning Andrea, losing her forever, or tapping into his countless shady resources).

In DESTINED (Book #4 in the Vampire Journals), Caitlin Paine wakes to discover herself back in time. She finds herself in a cemetery, on the run from a mob of villagers, and seeks refuge in the ancient cloisters of Assisi, in the countryside of Umbria, Italy. There, she learns of her destiny and her mission: to find her father and the ancient vampire Shield needed to save mankind. But Caitlin’s heart still pines for her lost love: Caleb. She desperately needs to know if he has survived their trip back in time. She learns that her mission requires her to go to Florence, but if she wants to pursue matters of the heart, she must go to Venice. She chooses Venice. Caitlin is overwhelmed at what she finds. Venice of the eighteenth century is a surreal place, men and women dressed in elaborate costumes and masks, celebrating an endless, lavish party. She is thrilled to discover and reunite with some of her close friends, and to be welcomed back into their coven. And she is excited to join them in Venice’s Grand Ball, the most important costume dance of the year, where she hopes, once again, to find Caleb. But Caitlin is not the only one who can travel back in time: Kyle soon arrives, too, and is determined to hunt her down and kill her once and for all. Sam, too, arrives, determined to save his sister before it is too late. At the Ball, Caitlin searches everywhere, and finds no sign of Caleb. That is, until the very last dance. She dances with a masked man who takes her heart away, and she feels certain that it is him. But as the partners change, she loses him again. Or does she? Caitlin soon finds herself torn between the two loves of her life, and discovers that she has to be careful what she wishes for. Her joy at finding what she wants might just come mixed with tragedy and heartbreak. In a climactic, action-packed ending, Caitlin finds herself up against true evil, Rome’s ancient vampire coven, and the most powerful vampire coven that ever existed. Surviving will demand all her skills, as she finds herself battling for her very life. She will have to sacrifice more than ever, if she is to save the one she loves…. DESTINED is Book #4 in the Vampire Journals (following TURNED, LOVED and BETRAYED), and yet it also stands alone as a self-contained novel. DESTINED is over 60,000 words.

The world-famous masterpiece by Nobel laureate Thomas Mann -- here in a new translation by Michael Henry Heim Published on the eve of World War I, a decade after Buddenbrooks had established Thomas Mann as a literary celebrity, Death in Venice tells the story of Gustav von Aschenbach, a successful but aging writer who follows his wanderlust to Venice in search of spiritual fulfillment that instead leads to his erotic doom. In the decaying city, besieged by an unnamed epidemic, he becomes obsessed with an exquisite Polish boy, Tadzio. "It is a story of the voluptuousness of doom," Mann wrote. "But the problem I had especially in mind was that of the artist's dignity."