Jacob's Ladder

A delightful volume of nature stories for young children. Presents the adventures of Mother Eel, the Playful Muskrat, the Snappy Snapping Turtle, and the other Pond People. These stories are full of humor, yet cleverly convey information about the frogs, minnows, and other pond residents and often suggest a moral in a delicate manner which no child could resist. Ideally suited for children ages 5 to 7.

BEAUTY AND THE BLOSSOMS Every one of the field people in Pleasant Valley, and the forest folk as well, was different from his neighbors. For instance, there was Jasper Jay. He was the noisiest chap for miles around. And there was Peter Mink. Without doubt he was the rudest and most rascally fellow in the whole district. Then there was Freddie Firefly, who was the brightest youngster on the farm—at least after dark, when his light flashed across the meadow. So it went. One person was wiser than any of his neighbors; another was stupider; and somebody else was always hungrier. But there was one who was the loveliest. Not only was she beautiful to look upon. She was graceful in flight as well. When one saw her flittering among the flowers it was hard to say which was the daintier—the blossoms or Betsy Butterfly. For that was her name. Whoever gave it to her might have chosen a prettier one. Betsy herself always said that she would have preferred Violet. In the first place, it was the name of a flower. And in the second, her red-and-brown mottled wings had violet tips. However, a person as charming as Betsy Butterfly did not need worry about her name. Had she been named after a dozen flowers she could have been no more attractive. People often said that everybody was happier and better just for having Betsy Butterfly in the neighborhood. And some claimed that even the weather couldn't help being fine when Betsy went abroad. "Why, the sun just has to smile on her!" they would exclaim. But they were really wrong about that. The truth of the matter was that Betsy Butterfly couldn't abide bad weather—not even a cloudy sky. She said she didn't enjoy flying except in the sunshine. So no one ever saw her except on pleasant days. To be sure, a few of the field people turned up their noses at Betsy. They were the jealous ones. And they generally pretended that they did not consider Betsy beautiful at all. "She has too much color," Mehitable Moth remarked one day to Mrs. Ladybug. "Between you and me, I've an idea that it isn't natural. I think she paints her wings!" "I don't doubt it," said Mrs. Ladybug. "I should think she'd be ashamed of herself." And little Mrs. Ladybug pursed up her lips and looked very severe. And then she declared that she didn't see how people could say Betsy was even good-looking, if they had ever noticed her tongue. "Honestly, her tongue's as long as she is!" Mrs. Ladybug gossiped. "But she knows enough to carry it curled up like a watch-spring, so it isn't generally seen.... You just gaze at her closely, some day when she's sipping nectar from a flower, and you'll see that I know what I'm talking about." Now, some of those spiteful remarks may have reached Betsy Butterfly's ears. But she never paid the slightest attention to them. When she met Mehitable Moth or Mrs. Ladybug she always said, "How do you do?" and "Isn't this a lovely day?" in the sweetest tone you could imagine. And of course there was nothing a body could do except to agree with Betsy Butterfly....

A story of the hardy wood-choppers of Vermont, who founded their homes in the Adirondack wilderness. “Eben,” the hero, is a bachelor with an imagination that is a very wilderness of oddities.

He's touring Jew Street. What will he meet?It's all a laugh until: there's half.

a collection of micro-fiction by Chris Deal: more information can be found at www.kuboapress.wordpress.comJohn Elderberry thought he knew who he was and where he came from... until he found himself lost in a town that should not be. Monsters may snarl or smile, but all of them seek whom they may devour. John fights for his life but is losing his mind and soul. He realizes that dying within would be a fate worse than death. He must survive... even if he must perish.

The little hut among the oak trees was dim in the October twilight on the evening of St. Callixtus' Day. It had been used by swineherds, for the earthen floor was puddled by the feet of generations of hogs, and in the corner lay piles of rotting acorns. Outside the mist had filled the forest, and the ways were muffled with fallen leaves, so that the four men who approached the place came as stealthily as shades. They reconnoitred a moment at the entrance, for it was a country of war. "Quarters for the night," said one, and put his shoulder to the door of oak-toppings hinged on strips of cowhide. But he had not taken a step inside before he hastily withdrew. "There is something there," he cried—"something that breathes. A light, Gil." One of the four lit a lantern from his flint and poked it within. It revealed the foul floor and the rotting acorns, and in the far corner, on a bed of withered boughs, something dark which might be a man. They stood still and listened. There was the sound of painful breathing, and then the gasp with which a sick man wakens. A figure disengaged itself from the shadows. Seeing it was but one man, the four pushed inside, and the last pulled the door to behind him. "What have we here?" the leader cried. A man had dragged himself to his feet, a short, square fellow who held himself erect with a grip on a side-post. His eyes were vacant, dazzled by the light and also by pain. He seemed to have had hard usage that day, for his shaggy locks were matted with blood from a sword-cut above his forehead, one arm hung limp, and his tunic was torn and gashed. He had no weapons but a knife which he held blade upwards in the hollow of his big hand. The four who confronted him were as ill-looking a quartet as Duke William's motley host could show. One, the leader, was an unfrocked priest of Rouen; one was a hedge-robber from the western marches who had followed Alan of Brittany; a third had the olive cheeks and the long nose of the south; and the fourth was a heavy German from beyond the Rhine. They were the kites that batten on the offal of war, and the great battle on the seashore having been won by better men, were creeping into the conquered land for the firstfruits of its plunder. "An English porker," cried the leader. "We will have the tusks off him." Indeed, in the wild light the wounded man, with his flat face and forked beard, had the look of a boar cornered by hounds. "'Ware his teeth," said the one they called Gil. "He has a knife in his trotter." The evil faces of the four were growing merry. They were worthless soldiers, but adepts in murder. Loot was their first thought, but after that furtive slaying. There seemed nothing to rob here, but there was weak flesh to make sport of. Gil warily crept on one side, where he held his spear ready. The ex-priest, who had picked up somewhere a round English buckler, gave the orders. "I will run in on him, and take his stroke, so you be ready to close. There is nothing to be feared from the swine. See, he is blooded and faints." The lantern had been set on the ground by the door and revealed only the lower limbs of the four. Their heads were murky in shadow. Their speech was foreign to the wounded man, but he saw their purpose. He was clearly foredone with pain, but his vacant eyes kindled to slow anger, and he shook back his hair so that the bleeding broke out again on his forehead. He was as silent as an old tusker at bay. The ex-priest gave the word and the four closed in on him. He defeated their plan by hurling himself on the leader's shield, so that his weight bore him backwards and he could not use his weapon. The spears on the flanks failed for the same reason, and the two men posted there had well-nigh been the death of each other. The fourth, the one from the south, whose business it had been to support the priest, tripped and fell sprawling beside the lantern.

A former cop turned mercenary tries to rescue survivors of a crashed airplane on an island filled with monsters.Lincoln Island was a dumping ground for failed experiments and government embarassments, thus survival on Lincoln is generally measured in hours.When an aircraft crashes, a mercenary ignores orders to try to rescue the survivors before they are killed by the inhabitants of the island.

The third installment of the saga of the Forgotten Ornament finds the little girl in a far off place where courage and honor are needed at this Christmas.It is a long mystery poem about a very strong delusion of a man who adores an unseen woman.

Set in a former abbey whose owner, Christopher Glowry, is host to visitors who enjoy his hospitality and engage in endless debate. Among these guests are figures recognizable to Peacock’s contemporaries, including characters based on Lord Byron and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Mr. Glowry’s son Scythrop (also modeled on a famous Romantic, Peacock’s friend Percy Bysshe Shelley) locks himself up in a tower where he reads German tragedies and transcendental philosophy and develops a “passion for reforming the world.” Disappointed in love, a sorrowful Scythrop decides the only thing to do is to commit suicide, but circumstances persuade him to instead follow his father in a love of misanthropy and Madeira. Thomas Love Peacock was an English novelist, poet, and official of the East India Company. He was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other’s work. Peacock wrote satirical novels, each with the same basic setting — characters at a table discussing and criticising the philosophical opinions of the day.

Helena was the perfect little girl. Always polite. Always kind. Always hungry.From the author of the horror story collection WE ARE ALL MONSTERS, comes a tale of a tiny terror with an unrelenting craving for human flesh. Can you handle the unnatural abomination that is, HELENA?

Many are called... She alone can save the world and become Death's bride.COBWEB BRIDE (Cobweb Bride Trilogy, Book One) is a history-flavored fantasy novel with romantic elements of the Persephone myth, about Death's ultimatum to the world.Many are called...She alone can save the world and become Death's bride.COBWEB BRIDE (Cobweb Bride Trilogy, Book One) is a history-flavored fantasy novel with romantic elements of the Persephone myth, about Death's ultimatum to the world.What if you killed someone and then fell in love with them?In an alternate Renaissance world, somewhere in an imaginary "pocket" of Europe called the Kingdom of Lethe, Death comes, in the form of a grim Spaniard, to claim his Bride. Until she is found, in a single time-stopping moment all dying stops. There is no relief for the mortally wounded and the terminally ill....Covered in white cobwebs of a thousand snow spiders she lies in the darkness... Her skin is cold as snow... Her eyes frozen... Her gaze, fiercely alive...While kings and emperors send expeditions to search for a suitable Bride for Death, armies of the undead wage an endless war... A black knight roams the forest at the command of his undead father… Spies and political treacheries abound at the imperial Silver Court.... Murdered lovers find themselves locked in the realm of the living...Look closer — through the cobweb filaments of her hair and along each strand shine stars...And one small village girl, Percy—an unwanted, ungainly middle daughter—is faced with the responsibility of granting her dying grandmother the desperate release she needs.As a result, Percy joins the crowds of other young women of the land in a desperate quest to Death's own mysterious holding in the deepest forests of the North…And everyone is trying to stop her.

The first in a series of short stories about the I.S.S. Fenghuang, the last faster-than-light starship in the galaxy, and its crew of rebels determined to reunite humanity.The Heilmann Drive allowed humanity to spread across the stars and prosper for nearly two thousand years. But when the use of the device begins to eat into the fabric of the universe, the People's Interstellar Republic bans all faster-than-light travel. A new age begins, one of isolation and stagnation. This era becomes known as the Fall.One rebel, Captain Seth Garland, steals the last starship in existence. He is now mankind's only hope of re-uniting the stars.The Fallen Goddess: When Captain Garland's crew questions their safety aboard their ship, he goes in search of of an engineer who can repair the Heilmann Drive. His quest leads him to a discovery that will redefine the future of his rebellion and change the destiny of mankind.

The story of two young men,16 & 18. Who make a discovery, that indicates a plot to do serious harm, but harm to whom and by who? There is not a lot to go on. Deep into their research & their father discovers what they are up to; he surprisingly volunteers his services to help out, but then he disappears. Can they find him and come to that stop the plot? Suitable for age 9 -> 109.Darryl is on a quest for peace. His chance at fatherhood was taken from him long ago, and an IED in Iraq ensured he’d never get another. In Big Falls, the McIntyre brothers hire him to keep an eye on their beautiful cousin Sophie in case her criminal ex shows up. He doesn’t expect to fall head over heels.Sophie McIntyre’s life was blown apart by a drug dealing ex who cost her her job and nearly her medical license. She comes to Big Falls because she has nowhere else to go. And the minute she gets there, things start to get better.Is it because of that letter to Santa her Aunt Vidalia convinced her to write? Within days she meets a beautiful man with a deeply wounded soul. And oddly, she finds herself giving him the same advice the town Santa gave to her—try believing again, and if it’s too much to believe, then just try hoping.Love, magic, and miracles ensue.Because this is Big Falls, Oklahoma. Miracles are an everyday occurrence around here. Especially at Christmastime.BELIEVE AGAIN with MAGGIE SHAYNE

Truths will unfold... What is FOEBA? Who saved Grace? How will Brucella's plan unravel? Find out in A Touch of Truth . . .

Bewaji is a 24-year old woman who is hired to investigate a strange case involving an American woman romantically involved with a man living in Nigeria. The presumption is that the woman is a victim of one of the popular "romance scams." Will her suspicions be proven right?After a horrific breakup with Dylan Sloan, the bad boy of the Dixon High Swim team, Charley Rice loses the confident swimmer she once was. Her best friend, Cash Montgomery is the only one who truly knows what happened that night and is a constant source of strength. After a summer of questioning who she wants to be, Charley decides to put the past behind and leave the small town of Grassy Pond to stand on her own two feet again. While Charley is living her life to the fullest at college she meets Joe Olsen and falls head over heels. But one letter is about to change everything and this time Cash isn’t there to help her. Will she be able to escape her past and on her own? Will she run home to Cash? Or will she find comfort in the arms of Joe?

When Alessandra goes to visit a fortune teller at sixteen years old, she has no idea of the repercussions that will haunt her for the rest of her life...After a narrow escape from an evil vampire, the secrets that people closest to her have been hiding come rushing to the surface...Alessandra soon discovers the world as she knew it doesn't exist...and she is not what she thought she was...The prophecy has been foretold...Her destiny has been written...Her fate has been sealed...When Alessandra goes to visit a fortune teller at sixteen years old, she has no idea of the repercussions that will haunt her for the rest of her life...Five years after that life changing night, she meets the evil vampire, Vincent whose fate is tied in with hers according to an ancient prophecy, and she finds herself in a terrifying situation, literally staring death in the face. After a narrow escape, the secrets that people closest to her have been hiding come rushing to the surface...Alessandra soon discovers the world as she knew it doesn't exist...and she is not what she thought she was...Then she meets, James...again. He's gorgeous, dominating, and gets under her skin whether she likes it or not. Alessandra fights the connection she feels with the smouldering immortal, but they seem to be connected by a thread of fate she cannot escape, no matter how hard she tries.Will she succumb to his ruthless pursuit and find the courage to save the immortals and mankind from the vampires?

Against a background of modern corporate culture and a tragic death, this bitter-sweet comedy weaves stories of love and relationships, ambition and folly.Rob Hamilton, a disaffected insurance lawyer, and Toni Haast, a quietly ambitious claims clerk, are sent to Exmouth, a small town on New Zealand's West Coast, to investigate the suspicious death of Artemis Washburn. On family holidays in Exmouth, Rob's father had filled his young son's mind with ideas of the fifth season - the time when things don't quite fit, like rain when it's sunny. As they delve into the truth behind Artemis's death and their relationship develops, Rob and Toni glimpse life in the fifth season. Meanwhile, back in Wellington, the gilded life of Andy Wu, the Dependable Insurance Company’s stellar CEO, starts to tarnish. Can his marriage to Samantha survive his jealousy of Owen Huntly, top salesman and Lothario? Against a background of modern corporate culture and a tragic death, this bitter-sweet comedy weaves stories of love and relationships, ambition and folly.

In the town of El Paso, Texas, something is about to change. The air is shifting and there is nothing that can be done to change it. Sometimes, events are just meant to happen. A young man moves to a new town and falls in love with a young werewolf/witch in her senior year. On the other side, a vampires who grows tired of protecting humans.In the town of El Paso, Texas, something is about to change. The air is shifting and there is nothing that can be done to change it. Sometimes, events are just meant to happen. A young man moves to a new town and falls in love with a young werewolf/witch in her senior year. On the other side, a vampires who grows tired of protecting humans has now decided to turn his hunting into sport. Although these events appear to be completely independent, they are all become parallel soon.

Tail of the Dragon is the first book in the Fallen Trilogy, a fictional account of the fall of Satan and his demons from heaven, their work on Earth, and the ultimate battle that will decide the fate of the universe.Book 1 of the Fallen Angel Trilogy (www.fallenangeltrilogy.com) tells the story of revolution in the Celestial City. A new class of angels in inducted into the Angelic Academy as a pair of renegades leads an uprising against the rule of the Three Kings. Students must choose sides as the conflict reaches a crisis and two best friends find themselves on opposite sides of the struggle.