In a peaceful California town a normal woman with a mentally challenged twin brother gets drawn into a series of dark crimes with a pair of identical twins. At the same time and across town, an unlikely adversary is struggling with his own problems. When he collides with the three twins and ends their mayhem, the first indications of a potential detective emerge. Book one of a four-part series.In the peaceful California town of Palmdale, an attractive blonde named Miranda, desperate to support her mentally disabled twin brother, Mickey, falls in love with a “bad boy” named Don. Don also happens to be a twin, but one whose feelings toward his sibling, Mac, are the opposite of those Miranda holds for her twin. In fact, Don wishes Mac dead.While in prison, Don makes an intriguing discovery and hatches an elaborate plot that could solve both his girlfriend’s financial plight and his own need for murderous revenge. Since Don’s behind bars, it’s up to Miranda to spearhead the con and also to enlist look-alike Mac through her powers of seduction. She’s a quick study, with very cooperative partners—too cooperative, and soon she’s locked in a high-stakes love triangle that can only end with a deadly choice. The trio continues to perpetrate a series of crimes the likes of which Palmdale has never before experienced. But an unlikely adversary steps in to stop their mayhem. On the other side of town, living with his struggling mother in a run-down house, a young teenage boy nicknamed “Stump” is quickly learning harsh truths about the adult world in his daily fight for survival and dignity. When Stump and the Three Deadly Twins cross paths, his innocence dies…and a detective is born.(Note:) Watch for next book in series -to be released somewhere around the January , 2016If you download this book for free and like it the author would appreciate you coming back to leave a Review for the benefit of others.

In one story meet Remy and Theo as six year olds trying to meet Father Christmas and in the other see them come to terms with being the guardians of Blackwood during their first Christmas as such.In one story meet Remy and Theo as six year olds trying to meet Father Christmas and in the other see them come to terms with being the guardians of Blackwood during their first Christmas as such.The Haward Mysteries is a set of Contemporary Fantasy, short stories and bargain priced novels full of magic and mystery with a side of CSI thrown in. Follow the Agatha Christie style whodunits of the novels, delve into the artfully rendered sorcerous science of the magical crimes and explore the enchanted world of the Haward Twins as they face supernatural trials in both their professional and private lives.Stockings was released in Dec 2011 as a Christmas gift for fans of the Haward Mysteries, check the tags for more in the series.

In our modern era of vanishing morality, benchmark Christian principles seem all but forgotten. But what happens to those who honor the law of man above the Law of Christ? Does His Blood still cover them? What reason is there to put Christ's Law first?In our modern era of vanishing morality, benchmark Christian principles seem all but forgotten. But what happens to those who honor the law of man above the Law of Christ? Does His Blood still cover them? What reason is there to put Christ's Law first? "The Bleeding Love" attempts to answers these important questions in this charming work of fiction, while at the same time coming up with a delightful and completely fictional, surprise happy ending. NOTE: This is the unedited version. It appears just as it did online, as it was being written.

Rival antiquities experts Tyler St. James and Kane Pendleton find themselves in the middle of the Colombian wilderness, being shot at by an unseen sniper. It seems safer to team up, at least temporarily, in the search for a fabulous gold chalice. But while Tyler and Kane's rivalry has always kept them distant enemies, their forced partnership brings them together in ways neither ever expected.

In 1942, eleven-year-old Milada is taken from her home in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, along with other blond, blue-eyed children to a Lebensborn center in Poland. There she is trained to be a "proper German" for adoption by a German family, and all the while she struggles to remember her true identity.

"The story of a King who was bitten in his nightmare and cursed by a spider, and the heroes and villains who worked together to lift the curse and vanquish the spider forever, and all the great feats and deeds of arms that happened in between.”"The King desired adventure; I could give it to him. He wanted to vanquish imaginary foes in his sleep. That was possible. He wanted to visit the land of Nür, where gods were born. I would take him there. In retrospect, I was merely granting the king’s own wishes and helping him realize his greatest dream: to live in an imaginary world where there was constantly something interesting to do, where there was always something grandiose to achieve, where there was always a cause to uphold, and people who needed to be saved." -Mad Glare, Author of the World's Troubles(K:TOD is a reference book for Fall of the Minotaur King, The Zombie Princess and upcoming DOOMED TO PREVAIL books by Dave Devine.)

Alonso Petersen didn't know what he expected to find inside his grandma's photo-album, but it certainly wasn't unicorns.Arrested for sharing his faith a young convert named Tychicus lays bruised, broken and discouraged in a Roman cell. In the darkness he hears a voice say, "my name is Paul and God sent you here. You are here to learn about your new found Savior while you help me write a letter to the believers in Ephesus. Take an imaginary journey and spend nine days with the Apostle Paul and Tychicus while imprisoned in Rome. While there meet Gregory, Mr. Gruff, Lucius and Angel as God brings these characters into their lives to help accomplish the writing of the Epistle to the Ephesians. Come stay in the Prison of Freedom.

Omar Bakhoum, a man with many lives and many names, leaves his vast and mysterious empire behind to join a dangerous airship expedition to the glaciers of Europa. There, he hopes to find a mythical island where he can continue his studies of the aether mist that reveals the souls of the dead to unlock the secrets of immortality.Omar Bakhoum, a man with many lives and many names, leaves his vast and mysterious empire behind to join a dangerous airship expedition to the glaciers of Europa. There, he hopes to find a mythical island where he can continue his studies of the aether mist that reveals the souls of the dead to unlock the secrets of immortality. But howling storms, rampaging beasts, and a deadly samurai stand between him and his goal. Armed only with an aetherium blade, Omar has more than a weapon, he has an army. Locked within the sword are the souls of countless warriors and scholars, each of whom lend Omar their knowledge or skills when asked... or when forced. But when Omar is accused of murder over the north sea, his quest for answers may end in a watery grave. Welcome to the world of AETHERIUM, where strange machines sail the seas and the skies, enormous prehistoric beasts roam the earth, and the restless dead whisper to the living. Similar to our own world in the sixteenth century, AETHERIUM explores a reality in which many of the megafauna did not die out, including terror birds and saber-toothed cats, and in which a devastating Ice Age continues to ravage Europe while Africa enjoys cool rains and the Sahara is no desert at all. But strangest of all may be the science of seeing, hearing, and controlling the souls of the dead using a golden metal with many names: sunsteel, orichalcum, and... AETHERIUM!

Do you remember how fun snow days were? Do you recall the magic that snow brings? Here’s a coming of age tale of a specific ‘end of the world’ snow day, that ended up turning into something completely different.“For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil” (1Timothy 6:10)“The lust for gold is a root of a whole lot more evil.” (Unknown miner, California, 1849)Seventeen year old Thomas Schmidt loves his beer. But too much of it one night and a tragic fight at the local Gasthaus sends him fleeing from his tiny village in 1830s Germany. He is so desperate to outrun the avenger (Rudolph Stein) pursuing him that Thomas becomes an indentured servant to buy passage to America. Eventually, their misadventure leads Thomas and Rudolph to the 1849 California Gold Rush.There they join one from China, an ex-slave, and a veteran of other gold strikes and find the lust for gold can result in more pain and death than happiness.Their lost treasure of family left behind eats away at Thomas's and Rudolph's souls until they at last send for them.Fool’s Gold is Book One of the Turning Point Series. The series covers three events that shaped America to make it what it is today: the 1849 California Gold Rush, which brought emigrants from around the world to California and began an exodus from the eastern United States westward; the decline and fall of the British Empire and Ottoman Empire, which had ruled much of the world for centuries; and America’s entry into wars in Cuba and the Philippines, which began over a century of foreign intervention. Book Two is The Prince of Alexandria.Book Three is The Wolf Is Crying to Be Heard.

The holidays are drawing near in 1932 Chicago. The streets are lined with glittering lights. And Alexandra is falling desperately in love. But the young man who’s captured her heart has a dark secret that threatens to tear them apart. However, with a little help from Alexandra’s mob-obsessed sister, lots of secret letters, and a love deeper than the bottomless oceans, they just might make it.In 1932 Chicago, a quiet high school student finds herself being pursued by, falling in love with, and risking everything to be with a roguishly handsome young man who harbors a terrible secret through no fault of his own. He's the son of one of the newest and most prominent mobsters in New York City. Alexandra’s out window shopping when she gets caught in the rain with Mason, a stunning stranger who breathes vibrant life into her soul with things like a late night escape to the top of the city’s water tower and meaningful little notes left hidden inside her pocket each time she sees him. And with this breath of life comes an undying love that will be tested greatly on both sides, when his darkest secret is spilt and spread all over the city by a jealous rival who will do anything to drive Mason away from his beloved Alexandra. One by one, everybody turns against them as this secret spreads, threatening to drive Mason away. But still, he comes for her. So, as the love they share becomes impossibly complicated and absolutely forbidden, Alexandra is forced to ask herself, how far will she go for true love?

This story should be used with caution, not taken internally, and avoided by those who have a congenital lack of humor, who take themselves and the world too seriously, and those looking for something serious to read. This little saga pokes fun at bureaucracy, paperwork, heroes, and the latest fad in looming environmental crises. Find out how to save the world in six easy lessons, or not.No trees were harmed or paperwork filed in the creation of this document, but the author has done it again: wasting precious cyberspace with another piece of silly drivel. So take another romp through the fickle world of Foible, where a sense of humor is your only weapon against incomprehension. There is no redeeming value in this story whatsoever, except perhaps to make you smile. At least there are no Princesses involved this time. Follow an Official Investigator to the hamlet of Happytown to prevent the emergence of a Prophesied Hero, but what happens next would even flummox Prophecy itself.

When Jason’s parents are involved in a high speed crash, Jason knows it wasn't just an accident - someone wants them dead. Can he save not only himself but those closest to him?Jason Shaw, the fourteen year old son of a Seattle police detective, struggles to understand the mystery of the high speed car crash that killed his mother and left his father in a coma. With just his best friend Ben to help him Jason tries to make sense of the clues his father left behind but they make no sense and he’s not sure who he can trust within the police department. As he gets closer to solving the mystery and identifying those involved, he puts himself and those close to him in danger. Can Jason act quickly enough to save not only himself, but also his father and his best friend from those that want them dead?

It’s raining in Port Isabel and everyone’s indoors except Larry Monkey, who wanders the old stone town to be alone. And it’s a good thing, because trouble’s brewing and he might be the only one able to stop it. Flossy's seen something too and goes to investigate, sword in hand. If the pirates are back they’ll want revenge. But Flossy’s not afraid because she’s amongst friends, mostly anyway.It’s raining in Port Isabel and everyone’s indoors except Larry Monkey, a brilliant young chimp deeply troubled by the past. He wanders the winding laneways of the old stone town to be alone. And it’s a good thing, because trouble’s brewing and he might be the only one able to stop it. Flossy Fairweather, a remarkable girl with courage beyond her years, has seen something lurking in the shadows too and goes to investigate, sword in hand. It could be a trap and if the pirates are back they’ll want revenge. But Flossy’s not afraid because she’s amongst friends, mostly anyway.By the end of the next ice age, all that remains of the once great, world-spanning human civilisation are myths and ancient, inexplicable artefacts lying at the feet of melting glaciers. Thanks to the red-hot Heat Tree reefs that keep the ice at bay, the lands above the Gulf of Mexico are some of the few places still warm enough to support life. On the western shores of the Gulf is Port Isabel, a town conceived and built by owls who mysteriously vanished hundreds of years before without even bothering to say goodbye. The animals that live there are industrious, peaceful and vegetarian; except for those that aren't, which is where all the trouble starts.Mark Douglas Stafford is an award winning writer living in Sydney, Australia. His novels, fables and short stories are adored by children and adults alike.

Grace and Gary work together. They also plan to play together. That's all I'll tell you. Click the blue below to see why. Here it suffices to say that the story is short and free. Why read a summary when with little more effort you can read the whole thing? If you can't spare a moment more, you shouldn't be wasting time reading fiction anyway. Go back to work!"One can not judge a book by its cover." So we are told. But a cover is usually the only thing a reader has to base a judgment on. Smashwords tries to aid readers by providing summaries, one short, one long, for each book it distributes. For non-fiction this works well. But this, it seems to me, defeats the whole purpose of fiction. After all, one reads a story to find out what will happen. It’s the uncommon twists and turns that make a story interesting. But if a summary has told all this beforehand, what fun is to be had in the reading? Therefore, no summary of the present short story is given. It's short and it’s free! So read the whole thing and see if you like it. I ask you to do this because I think it is the best book judging method. To find fiction you like you must first read around enough to learn something of the style and stories of different authors. Then you can judge books, not by their cover, but by the your opinion of the writer. I'd like to help you do this. The present short story is one of several which I will make available free at Smashwords. Read a few (or all of them) and decide if you like them. It won't cost you a dime. If you like them, you can then purchase some of my not free (but still inexpensive) longer stories. All these stories are of one particular kind. To reflect this similarity all have the same cover picture, the Kitty & Rose shown above. So after you’ve read a few, you can, in fact, judge them by their cover. The common theme of the Kitty & Rose stories is human sexuality. This is not unusual. Most fiction concerns sex in one way or another; ranging from romances so sedate and demure an extraterrestrial could never know sex is at the root of everything described, to erotica so unrestricted even an extraterrestrial might blush. Kitty & Rose stories are in the middle of this range. All deal with human sexuality, but none do so explicitly. Rather, they are seemly. The dictionary gives three meanings for seemly: Attractive or agreeably fashioned; Decorous or conventionally proper; and Appropriate or suited to its purpose. With respect to appropriateness, seemly sex stories range from the humorous to the inspirational, but all concern human sexuality. So they are clearly appropriate. These stories are also seemly in the decorous and conventionally proper sense. For, while they treat sex candidly, they do not do so graphically. There is nothing pornographic nor erotic in any seemly sex story. Of course, different persons’ opinions about this may differ. A few consider frank pornography decorous. At the opposite extreme are those like the abbot of the monastery where the great biologist Gregor Mendel did his epochal research. This abbot thought Mendel’s studies were decidedly indecorous because they involved the sex of pea plants! Finally, there is the principal sense of seemly, attractive and agreeably fashioned. Like every author I exert my every effort and ability trying to make these stories seemly in this regard. But like every author, I must await your determination of the degree of my success. Since both of us will be pleased if you find them attractively seemly, I very much hope you do.Happy reading!BobbyBP.S. This is Kitty & Rose story #7, uploaded 2-23-17.

Soldiers of Christ is part two of a two-part set which begins humbly and ends with all the force a Christian author dares to bring to bear. Soldiers of Christ is the compliment to Dare To Dream. Christ prayed that we may all be one. Dare To Dream and Soldiers of Christ together are a modern response to Christ's prayer for unity within the Christian family (John 17).I dedicate this collection to the loyal citizens of the United States of America who call themselves Christians. Too many have died so that we all could call ourselves free.Soldiers of Christ is part two of a two-part set which begins humbly and ends with all the force a Christian author dares to bring to bear. Soldiers of Christ is the compliment to Dare To Dream. Dare To Dream will be a surprise and comfort to all Christians. Christ prayed that we may all be one. Dare To Dream and Soldiers of Christ together are a modern response to Christ's prayer for unity within the Christian family (John 17)."May this nation, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, bythe people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.‟Abraham Lincoln – Gettysburg Address, 1863Stand and defend the family and the country we make up today. Love our country. It is worth saving. We may have our grandchildren around us some day and they will look at us with admiration knowing we did what we had to do to save this country for them and their descendants. May ‘We the People’ continue to exist as one nation under God if not for us, for them.

Winston's life has changed drastically in the last few months. Demise, moving, new faces, love; the teenage years can be trying. He's doing his best though, and today is the day when he's finally going to change things. In science class, over formaldehyde and frog legs, he'll say what he's feeling. Strange how life sometimes makes things more difficult than that.If nobody tells you, how can you know? You can guess, you can assume, but without anyone to share your assumptions with, how can you be sure you've guessed right? The arrival of the twins tore a massive hole in Stephen's young life. Uprooted from London to a self-sufficient smallholding in Yorkshire, taken out of school, ignored by his mother, unable to bond with his submissive father, Stephen is truly alone. Then, just before he turns sixteen, his father falls ill and Stephen has to take on a man's role in the wider world. And now, for the first time, his assumptions are challenged.RAZORBACK is a story of the weird and the unnatural. From the author of PATASOLA.

Ordinary was never a word associated with Tabitha. She graduated high school at 12 and received her doctorate at 19. Now she is faced with a whole new reality that bridges into the fantastic. Has she lost her mind? Or does magic really exist?Posed with a choice between life and death, the Elementals are Chosen to uphold the balance. They fight the Agents of the Void, bent on the utter destruction and chaos of everything that the Elements have built since the beginning of time. Tabitha is one in a long line of doomed Elementals struggling, not only in their fight against the Void, but in finding their place in the world. When Tabitha makes her choice, what will happen to her reality?

Sheltering Down Under is a meditation on the nuclear issue written from a bomb shelter in South Australia. In this essay, the spotlight is on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the nuclear tests of 1953, the Cold War, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Tokaimura (the accident before Fukushima).Analogies and extended metaphors are drawn between the United States and the Brigadier in John Cheever's short story "The Brigadier and the Golf Widow" and Australia and New Zealand as the de facto bomb shelters for the Northern Hemisphere.