They say your 40’s are pretty cool but I’ll never know...My story started in Vegas and, sure as Hellfire, it won’t “stay there.” If I help just one of you young, careerist women out there, that's OK. Only the good die young, you say? Bull. I'm barely-living proof that's a lie.Are you a postmodern ladder-climber? Dread living in perpetual Bridesmaids-Ville? Then read, learn, and "don't."They say misery loves company but that’s not my motive. My probably-already-cold corpse doesn’t need to steer you (dead) wrong. I’m confident there’s plenty of “company” in the Rings of Purgatory, where I’ll spend eternity - no doubt insufficient prayers will be going up for me. But imminent death wouldn’t have been my fate if I could have just faced reality.If I could’ve remembered the old, “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” (maybe had it tattooed somewhere I could see it easily and often) chances are I’d have more just a few months left on earth.But who can resist quick, easy, money, especially when their credit card statements look like mine? Even now, on the computer, beautiful people in banner ads are practically crooning my name, promising a better-paying career, or shadowing me with flickering visions of stuff I’ve window shopped for (but need a better paying job to pay for!). So, back in June with that Vegas bartender? After a few sips of something he concocted, I was all eyes and ears.And all you need to know, to stay safe out there, (or anywhere) is: stick with the bottled drinks. 'Cuz his blasted strawberry slushy recipe turned him from a half-blood hound, into a garnish-skewering, paper-parasol wielding demi-god of pre-mature death.They say, live and learn. I say, learn from me and live longer.

Miranda, ordinary accountant gave a seat at her table to a remarkable woman. The encounter started an extraordinary teacher student relationship that transcended time and altered space. At the end of the apprenticeship Miranda created the elegant vase said to be from previous centuries prior.Jack is a world inside a world. A dream inside a dream. Einstein inside Newton. Hemingway inside Aristophanes. A noun inside a verb. An idea inside an acorn. It is the knot that we call consciousness. Jack exists in a different dimension. Somewhere between reality and fantasy. Between the waking state and sleep. Nightmares on Jack are a reality. They exist. Monsters appear and crawl out from under children’s beds. Time is a prankster and doubles back on you just when you think you have escaped. Jack is especially difficult for children. Who become entranced by their dreams and have trouble separating the world in their mind and the world – out there. On Jack ‘out there’ is an illusion.

Ferocity is the story of Jack Tide, a young hitman trying to pass his college exams, maintain a normal life, find out what happened to his girlfriend who dumped him, and assassinate a senator. It's a black comedy adventure thriller in the vein of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity mixed with David Sedaris mixed with James Bond. A story about negotiating love and explosions in the new age.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.

What a train wreck this Presidency has become. Unemployment, true unemployment, is off the charts, race relations are in the tank, the economy is at best struggling, inflation is soaring, the debt accumulated will never be paid off in this life time or our children’s or grandchildren’s life time.Presidential Leadership comes into play when governing not in the politics of campaigning. And therein lays the problem with Barak Obama: a non-President. He has no leadership abilities and he does not govern. He has said “I am not a dictator…” but if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… it’s a duck. The policies that have come from Obama have come in the form of political (read campaign) pronouncements. The policies that flow from these pronouncements are designed by hard core Leftists in his administration and Congress. There is no debate allowed and consensus is defined by acceptance with no compromise; the ‘my war or the highway mentality

An ex-convict uses running and spirituality to remain on the "straight and narrow."How far would you go for love, or for justice, or for the perfect gearwheel? Thomas Niggle grew up a mudlark, hunting for scrap on the polluted banks of the River Burr. One of the countless poor living in the shadows of Mercer Shackleton’s vast factories, he has dragged himself out of poverty using his mechanical skills. An encounter with Gloria Shackleton, the Mercer’s daughter, offers Niggle the possibility of love, but it also offers something else, deep in the heart of the Mercer’s domain. What hope can the future hold for a boy raised amidst the mud and brass?

Kora is put under a spell, and finds herself trapped on the Waste. A Tower before her, and something terrible behind...But Kora sat unmoving, in great magic. The walls, her home, faded about her. Warmth went; all alone and on a freezing plain, dressed in a tunic, sharp knife in her belt, bow on her shoulder, arrows in a quiver behind. Her eyes gleamed; a pale cold light, ˈlɪmpɪd ɪn ˈdʌlnəsShe looked around. Away, at vision’s limit, a dark shape rose above the plain: a Tower, the only thing in all this barren place: no bird flew, no grass grew. Despite the wool she shivered. Breath-clouds hung in the raw air, ˈsləʊli dɪˈzɒlvɪŋThen in eye’s corner something moved. She turned to gaze across the Waste and saw a Cloud. Far, almost straight behind her as she faced the Tower, it too reared up black and sheer. Unlike the Tower, moving, whirling, wisps trailing their tentacles around a core, ˈtwɪstɪŋ ɪnˈseɪnli

The war is coming… We've been losing drones for over a year now. There was a cyber attack. A major cyber attack. We've been hacked and then hacked again. We don’t know who is responsible. We can’t stop them.The war is coming. A drone war. And it’s all our fault. World War Drone is a Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi Thriller. It is approximately 12,000 words long.The war is coming… We've been losing drones for over a year now. There was a cyber attack. A major cyber attack. We've been hacked and then hacked again. We don’t know who is responsible. We can’t stop them. There are drone attacks happening all over the Middle East, and Asia, and Africa. They are all coordinated and planned and executed to perfection. These attacks are practice. A curtain raiser. We are next. Western civilization. The United States of America. We are in big trouble. The war is coming. A drone war. And it’s all our fault. World War Drone is a Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi Thriller. It is approximately 12,000 words long.

On the eve of the Winter Solstice, Rivan and the immortal Galairel prepare to make their final stand.It's finally here. The Winter Solstice looms, and for the Orphans that means its time to set the wheels in motion. Now they will play dice with their lives in this final bid to win freedom from the elitist tyranny of the Imperial League.This is part 18 of 'To Walk the Path', the serialised final part of 'The Star Plague Journals'. Find earlier installments, as well as the collated editions of the previous two books, on my author's page.

What advice would you give your younger self? What if that advice destroyed your life? What if you could do it all again - only with greater challenges? One man's odd time-traveling alien abduction experience presents him with these questions, and more...Historic Heroines is pleased to release its first original fiction series: Daughter of Sparta by Kristen LePine. In Chapter Three, Gorgo, the daughter of King Cleomenes I, journeys through the Spartan village to meet her friend Phoebe, who is a priestess at the sanctuary of Artemis at Orthia. Each month, Historic Heroines will release a new chapter in the novel.Historic Heroines is an independent publisher of historical fiction and nonfiction that champions the female perspective.

A collection of short stories, poems and 'other scribblings' by Sian Turner. Read 'Hot Under the Collar,' a tale of jealousy and its consequences, 'Poor Law,' the story of young Will Thompson's life in a 1903 Cottage Home (or workhouse for children) and what happens when he is unjustly accused of theft, plus other stories, poems and what the author describes as 'other scribblings.'A collection of short stories, poems and 'other scribblings' by Sian Turner.Read 'Hot Under the Collar,' a tale of jealousy and its consequences, 'Poor Law,' the story of young Will Thompson's life in a 1903 Cottage Home (or workhouse for children) and what happens when he is unjustly accused of theft, 'Watching,' the story of Luke Peterson's ghostly encounter in the woods, plus other stories, poems and what the author describes as 'other scribblings.'

Over the last little while I've felt rather lost, so I decided to document it in poetic form. Which includes:A Chance To Look Back - it'll give you a glimpse into my past in my personal lifeI Use To - it'll give you a glimpse into my past in my poetic lifeWish I Could Find A Home - inspired by Insane Clown Posse & Sugar Slam track titled "Take Me Home"A group of high school students are invited into a secret society to assist with a covert mission to expose the evils at the very core of our society. They risk their lives and the lives of their loved ones as they reach out to others, trying to awaken them to the truth; the truth that requires no proof.The team members form a band and go undercover at a three day festival at the city fairgrounds where they come in contact with a coven of witches bent on their destruction. They befriend one of the witches and with a twist of events none of their lives will ever be the same again.

Period 2 ReadingThe world of the supernatural is a place of intense horror and blood-chilling danger. Dark, twisted monsters stalk among humanity from the shadows, seeking only to devour us. Seems like somebody should make some money from all that, right? Enter Eric Margrave, semi-professional monster hunter (He'd be a professional, but they really don't have a certification process for this sort of thing.). When the things that go bump in the night start actually knocking on the door, he's the one who serves them their walking papers... for a nominal fee. Prices negotiable. No demons, please.In his debut appearance, Eric has entered the exciting world of real-estate, looking to set up a new safehouse. Good news: the house is haunted, and therefore a steal at the current price if you happen to know how to work an exorcism. Bad news... well, the house might be a bit more aggressively haunted than even a freelance slayer of the paranormal is used to...

Tristan Fairholm is an ordinary teenager who would give his own heart to save his brother. Suddenly his life is turned upside down when an earthquake hits his sleepy town of Valley City, North Dakota. He panics, and makes a fatal decision that lands him in court. But no one else felt the earthquake. Is he lying? Or are darker forces at play?Tristan Fairholm is an ordinary teenager who would give his own heart to save his brother. Suddenly his life is turned upside down when an earthquake hits his sleepy town of Valley City, North Dakota. He panics, and makes a fatal decision that lands him in court. While stuck in limbo at Juvie, he is cut off from his family, tormented by bullies, and treated like a criminal. Worst of all, no one believes him. After all, no one else felt the earthquake. Is he lying? Or are darker forces at play? The Last Day of Freedom is the first book in the young adult fantasy series, Natural Order.

Step into your high heels and listen to astronaut Charlie Brick confess his sins in this supernatural tragedy.A complete Novella, no part-two or cliffhanger ending. You can read this for free and know that you will see the whole story.Step into your high heels and listen to astronaut Charlie Brick confess his sins in this supernatural tragedy. Throughout the course of this novella, Brick will deal with feelings of loathing, hate, and loneliness, but what happens when his darkest desires are fulfilled, seemingly by random chance? Will he be able to live with himself after such a supernatural tragedy? Will his failed journey into space continue to haunt him with PTSD-like intesity? Decide for yourself at the end of this drama.A complete Novella, no part-two or cliffhanger ending. You can read this for free and know that you will see the whole story. Also, don't expect any explicit sex or drug use in this story, consider it a PG-13 rating.

A short story. A man wakes up in a seemingly endless white hallway with no memory of who he is, or how he got there.The Orus system’s Orussians had found a brilliant way to harness the power of labor by engineering ant-monkeys, a hard-working and unswervingly loyal slave species—until the uprising.Having further manipulated the genes of her own male ant-monkey, Inoatar, and granting him free will, bioscientist Uriëlla has grievously breached the code of conduct. The barbaric penalty for these acts would not only involve her, but her entire clan as well. As a result, she must wrestle with emancipating Inoatar despite desperately needing him.The uprising, Uriëlla’s actions and their subsequent fallout lead to a struggle of biblical proportions which promises to forever alter Orus civilization.

Previously published in the print anthology *Wish List*. All Lady Prudence wants for Christmas is to keep her family out of the poorhouse. Easily done if her father would stop gambling away what little is left of their fortune. But when Pru arrives at London's most notorious gaming hell to haul her father home, she marches right into its wickedly handsome and utterly infuriating proprietor, Lord Stockton—who has no intention of letting a lady into his establishment. With that wicked man in her way, Pru knows she's going to need nothing short of a miracle to make her Christmas wish come true.

The fifth book in Robert Jordan's internationally bestselling epic fantasy series, THE WHEEL OF TIME, now reissued with a stunning new cover design. The bonds and wards that hold the Great Lord of the Dark are slowly failing, but still his fragile prison holds. The Forsaken, immortal servants of the shadow, weave their snares and tighten their grip upon the realms of men, sure in the knowledge that their master will soon break free... Rand al' Thor, the Dragon Reborn, knows that he must strike at the Enemy, but his forces are divided by treachery and by ambition. Even the Aes Sedai, ancient guardians of the Light, are riven by civil war. Betrayed by his allies, pursued by his enemies and beset by the madness that comes to the male wielders of the One Power, Rand rides out to meet the foe.

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.

The Rand scientific expedition entered the lush wilderness of the Amazon and never returned. Years later, one of its members has stumbled out of the world’s most inhospitable rainforest: a former Special Forces soldier – scarred, mutilated, terrified, and mere hours from death – who went in with one arm missing…and came out with both intact. Unable to comprehend this inexplicable event, the government sends Nathan Rand into this impenetrable secret world of undreamed – of perils to follow the trail of his vanished father…toward mysteries that must be solved at any cost. But the nightmare that is awaiting Nate and his team of scientists and seasoned U.S. Army Rangers dwarfs any danger they anticipated…an ancient, unspoken terror – a power beyond human imagining-that can forever alter the world beyond the dark, lethal confines of the Amazon rainforest for better… and for worse.

He appears out of thin air and vanishes just as quickly. He is Zwilt the Shade, and he is evil. Yet he is no match for his ruler, Vilaya the Sable Quean. Along with their hordes of vermin, these two have devised a plan to conquer Redwall Abbey. And when the Dibbuns go missing, captured one by one, their plan is revealed. Will the Redwallers risk the fate of their Abbey and all of Mossflower Wood to save their precious young ones from imprisonment? Perhaps Buckler, Blademaster of the Long Patrol, can save the day. He has a score of his own to settle. And fear not, these Dibbuns are not as innocent as they appear. After all, they’re from Redwall. A Classroom Guide to the Redwall Series by Brian Jacques Watch a Video

Greed is only the beginning. There will be war. Since fleeing from Clear Sky's camp in the forest, Thunder has safely returned to settle on the moor with Gray Wing. But the rivalries that have plagued the cats for moons are growing stronger. Gray Wing still believes there is a way for both groups to live in peace, while Clear Sky insists that harsh rules and divided territories are the only hope for the future. What started as a misunderstanding between two brothers has spread far and wide--and now every mountain cat, rogue, and kittypet who settles in the forest will be forced to pick a side.