A strange story about a woman that shows the secret of the universe through a magic trick.I was asked to be a guest speaker at an elementary school and this idea came form the kids from Mr. Barnhurst's 5th grade class.John is a farmer but after a distant relative died he was asked to attend the reading of the will. He was bequeathed a house, land and treasure! But there's a catch. Gypsys want the treasure and there will be consequences if they don't get it. Read what happens in this short story.

Two men play a deadly game of poker. A SHORT HORROR STORY for fans of the macabre and poker!HERE THERE BE DRAGONSAnders Tomason already found a magic sword and clashed with his evil uncle in SWORD BEARER. Now he returns in WIND RIDER -- and continues his struggle with the evil chemical forces that threaten his world, enlisting, in the process, the help of the dragons.NOTE: This novel is the second volume of the series RETURN OF THE DRAGONS. This novel, WIND RIDER (book 2), as well as its prequel SWORD BEARER (book 1), is also available collected into one volume in the RETURN OF THE DRAGONS (Omnibus) edition.

This discombobulated collection of poetry embodies many, many years of my existence, beginning with a confused young man to an even more confused older man. These poems are my attempt at understanding my life, my world, and myself.Joe is living in a post-apocalyptic world which is mostly reclaimed by nature. After the war human race almost got extinct. Nobody knows why the war started. One day people start to kill each other for no reason. In short world became a place for mad men. In this world a mysterious plague is spreading and infected are turning into ape like people. Joe need to survive the increasing natural threats along with the problems created by the mad people.

A chilling alternative history short story detailing the rise to power of a modern demagogue in America from the perspective of a non-descript British family.A chilling alternative history short story detailing the rise to power of a modern demagogue in America from the perspective of a non-descript British family. As the infringements of liberty and freedom progress past the borders of America, directly impacting on Britain the societal changes force the family to assess their actions and a decision as to how far they will go to hide in anonymity within a regime they cannot begin to condone.

Tinsel the Christmas ElfStory List & Activities:-Tinsel the Christmas Elf-Christmas Activity-Christmas in Peru-The Gift of Christmas-Meghan’s New Christmas Traditions-Christmas in a New Town-Plus Christmas Jokes!Tinsel the Christmas Elf!Christmas is almost here and the excitement is all around. The twinkling Christmas lights and the aroma of freshly baked cookies fills the air. You and your child will enjoy these special Christmas stories for kids. Each story is about Tinsel the Christmas Elf and his fun-filled adventures. Tinsel loves Christmas more than any other elf and wants to spread the holiday cheer with all the boys and girls in the world!These stories are great for early & beginning readers, reading aloud at home, and bedtime stories.-2,500+ words-Cute Christmas stories for kids-Perfect for early and beginner readers-Funny and hilarious Christmas jokes included-Bright and colorful images for early and younger readersThese stories are great for quick bedtime stories and cute tales to be read aloud with friends and family!Fun for the entire family!Kids and children can practice their reading skills and enjoy the holiday season. These special Christmas stories are sure to get you and your family in the Christmas spirit. The hilarious Christmas jokes will have everyone laughing!Story List & Activities:-Tinsel the Christmas Elf-Christmas Activity-Christmas in Peru-The Gift of Christmas-Meghan’s New Christmas Traditions-Christmas in a New Town-Plus Christmas Jokes!Best-Selling Children's Book Author, Arnie LightningArnie Lightning is a best-selling children's book author with a straightforward goal. He wants his work to create a positive impact in the lives of others through children's books. Learning morals, lessons, and good character can start at a young age. Arnie's books reflect this. By providing a comfortable and entertaining environment, learning can be a fun activity!Scroll up and click 'buy' to make some special Christmas memories with your child!MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hawaii has its secrets. From goth clubs to insane dolphin activists that wear full-body dolphin suits, Aloha Mannequins will open the eyes of any tourist. A dark comedy novella.Chiwara lived much of her immortal life watching over the people of Bambara in Mali, Africa. The antelope goddess would spend months taking care of these people through her protection and her food. Many years had she spent bringing up the villages to as they are but when white men threaten to take everything she loves, Chiwara plans to sabotage the others and keep her people the way they were.

Set during the War of 1812, Amelia Samuels is being forced into a loveless marriage by her father. When she has nobody left to turn to, she befriends the village stranger, Patrick Buchahan. Together the two discover the reason behind her unwanted engagement, but perhaps a little too late.While the nation fights in The War of 1812, Amelia Samuels fights her own battle. Her father is forcing her to marry Thomas Van Martin, the son of the wealthiest man in Millersport. Thomas is everything she's against in a man and the last thing she wants is for him to be her husband. When she has nobody to turn to, she befriends Patrick Buchanan, the village stranger. After falling in love, Amelia and Patrick discover the reason behind her unwanted engagement but Amelia finds herself in grave danger before she can make things right.Amelia's Story is about a village seeking the truth. It's what happens when one man's mistakes effects the entire community. Though the residents of Millersport never learn the complete truth, the readers of this story will know exactly what happened that frightful night of August 25, 1813.

Erick Spangler, a long-sought lawbreaker, loved stage plays but they turned out to be his undoing. He was recognized by a theater fan and reported to the police. You'll be amazed to witness the various creative ideas the police used to bring this arch criminal to justice. This story may also introduce to many the details of the hitherto little-known details of the Heinous Crimes Act of 1838.In this cyberpunk Christmas tale genetically selected children compete and kill for the chance to win Christmas. In a simulated, yet antiquated future playground called Daycare, Ceep, an omniscient computer,responsible for creating deadly gangs of urchins who desire to reap the rewards of Christmas, encourages his creations to use their enhanced genetic skills to destroy one another and take the Christmas tree for their own. Only the strongest survive, or do they? When Chronos, the leader of his gang, discovers his love for one of the most detested members of his group is stronger than his love for his creator, he can't help but try to save her from ultimate destruction.

In Episode One, Galaxy must defend the life of a famed holofilm director from a mysterious assassin on a barren, hostile world.As adventurers of the grand cosmos, Mr. Jason Space and Captain Helena Galaxy seek to discover new worlds and new adventures and to have fun while doing it. They will never do paid mercenary work, no matter how good the offer, for they are explorers and not mercenaries. They will complete every mission they undertake, no matter how much trouble it gets them into. And they will never give up, regardless of whatever menacing aliens or dangerous obstacles they run into.When Galaxy travels to the uninhabited world of Magna 5, she goes there only to find rare rocks she and Space can sell to geologists for money to help fuel their travels across the universe. But when Galaxy finds herself alone up against an old-fashioned assassin who is trying to kill a famed holofilm director, and with a meteor on its way to devastate the planet's surface, Galaxy must race against time to stop the assassin and get off Magna 5 before it is too late.

The blue guitar, and the tunes played on it, are, in this collection of poems, symbolic of change. There are a myriad of changes in a person's life, and the blue guitar plays in the background to most of them. This is an interesting and reader-friendly collection, suitable for all ages."Things as they are," said poet Wallace Stevens in a poem called, "The Man With the Blue Guitar" (1937), "are changed upon the blue guitar." This is a book of changes. Changes to life, love, and our universe. Changes in war, religion, and truth. And in every one, a blue guitar is present, for the blue guitar is the symbol of changes. Good changes, bad changes, and just changes. Written in rhyme, the short poems in this book inspire both thought and laughter.

*Alternate Cover Edition can be found here. * The world of Pooh is the Thousand Acre Wood of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga, Christopher Robin, and more. He is a whimsical philosopher, staunch friend, plump, and fond of honey. He calls himself a Bear of Very Little Brain, but is wise and loving. Delicate paintings loved by centuries of children.

Robert Graves recounts the life of William Palmer: surgeon, racehorse owner...a confessed forger who got girls into trouble, doped horses, robbed a few people...but was he a prisoner? Based on an actual trial that took place in 1856, this novel, like Graves' Wife to Mr. Milton and I, Claudius, has all the immediacy and spiciness of contemporary Victorian life. It is told through interviews with Palmer's friends and enemies. This book has humor, social significance and passion, and makes absorbing and scintillating reading.

Send the messengers for the Faery Courts. This is the end. The Summer King is missing; the Dark Court is bleeding; and a stranger walks the streets of Huntsdale, his presence signifying the deaths of powerful fey. Aislinn tends to the Summer Court, searching for her absent king and yearning for Seth. Torn between his new queen and his old love, Keenan works from afar to strengthen his court against the coming war. Donia longs for fiery passion even as she coolly readies the Winter Court for battle. And Seth, sworn brother of the Dark King and heir to the High Queen, is about to make a mistake that could cost his life. Love, despair, and betrayal ignite the Faery Courts, and in the final conflict, some will win...and some will lose everything. The thrilling conclusion to Melissa Marr's New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series will leave readers breathless.

A sharp-witted knockdown of America's love affair with positive thinking and an urgent call for a new commitment to realism Americans are a "positive" people—cheerful, optimistic, and upbeat: this is our reputation as well as our self-image. But more than a temperament, being positive, we are told, is the key to success and prosperity. In this utterly original take on the American frame of mind, Barbara Ehrenreich traces the strange career of our sunny outlook from its origins as a marginal nineteenth-century healing technique to its enshrinement as a dominant, almost mandatory, cultural attitude. Evangelical mega-churches preach the good news that you only have to want something to get it, because God wants to "prosper" you. The medical profession prescribes positive thinking for its presumed health benefits. Academia has made room for new departments of "positive psychology" and the "science of happiness." Nowhere, though, has bright-siding taken firmer root than within the business community, where, as Ehrenreich shows, the refusal even to consider negative outcomes—like mortgage defaults—contributed directly to the current economic crisis. With the mythbusting powers for which she is acclaimed, Ehrenreich exposes the downside of America's penchant for positive thinking: On a personal level, it leads to self-blame and a morbid preoccupation with stamping out "negative" thoughts. On a national level, it's brought us an era of irrational optimism resulting in disaster. This is Ehrenreich at her provocative best—poking holes in conventional wisdom and faux science, and ending with a call for existential clarity and courage.

Using twenty-one drawings from the work of Gustave Dor-, the most successful illustrator of the 19th century, Walter Moers has created a wondrous and utterly delightful tale. In a world between legend and dream, in a time between childhood and adulthood, A Wild Ride Through the Night describes the exhilarating and comic adventures of 12-year-old Gustave, a boy who aspires one day to be a great artist. But before he can achieve this, Gustave must first tackle Mysterious Giants and a Siamese Twins Tornado; he also finds himself encountering the Greatest Monster of All, freeing a maiden from the claws of a dragon, riding through a forest full of ghosts, navigating a Galactic Gully and meeting a dream princess, a talking horse, scantily-clad Amazons and even his own self. Having made a wager with death for nothing less than his life and his soul, he must travel from the earth to the moon and back in a single night.

Ethan Blackwood has a dark destiny that will make him the next Blackwood Crow. He’s being haunted by his past and is slowly morphing into the man he never wanted to be. Every decision he’s made to get to this point in his life has been a misstep, and he’s desperate to get turned in the right direction before it’s too late. He doesn’t know how, until he runs into a clumsy little beauty who has decided he is hers, and she is his. What he needs to do is stay steady and figure out a way to get rid of the ghost from his past, but Leah is making it hard to think straight. But the closer she gets to him, the more danger she’s in, because the ghost from his past will do anything to keep Ethan’s destiny intact—even hurt the girl he’s falling for. Leah Hawthorne isn’t great at many things, but she can tell when a man is good or bad, and Ethan Blackwood is a bad boy with a heart of gold. He’s crazy. Everyone in town knows that much. He talks to himself too much to be sane, but she’s up for being his friend. And the more she gets to know him, the more she thinks he might just be the man to handle her quirks. But he’s a slippery little fish and hard to catch, and now she’s thinking he isn’t as crazy as everyone thinks. Choosing him means putting her life in peril, and there is no doubt her future will be changed forever, but maybe that’s just what this bored, small-town girl needs…a little danger and a lot of love for one hot-as-hell, Harley riding, outlaw Blackwood Crow. Content Warning: Explicit love scenes, naughty language, and piles of sexy shifter secrets. Intended for mature audiences.

Sara Donati's debut novel, Into the Wilderness, was hailed as "epic in scope, emotionally intense...an enrapturing, grand adventure" * (BookPage)  and "a captivating saga...definitely the romance of the year when it comes to transcending genre boundaries" (Booklist)*. Author Diana Gabaldon called it "one of those rare stories that let you breathe the air of another time, and leave your footprints on the snow of a wild, strange place." Now, in her second novel, this award-winning master storyteller once again blends fact and fiction, and re-creates her beloved characters from Into the Wilderness in an eloquent, enthralling tale of romance and adventure. Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner have settled into their life together at the edge of the New-York wilderness in the winter of 1794 when Elizabeth gives birth to healthy twins. But soon the events in Canada draw Nathaniel far away from his new family. Word has reached them that Nathaniel's father has been arrested by crown officials in British Canada. Nathaniel reluctantly leaves Hidden Wolf Mountain to set out for the distant city, determined to see his father freed. Instead Nathaniel is imprisoned and finds himself in imminent danger of being hanged as an American spy. In a desperate bid to save her husband, Elizabeth bundles her infants and sets out on the long trek to Montreal. Accompanied by her stepdaughter, Hannah, their wise friend Curiosity Freeman, and Runs-from-Bears, a Mohawk warrior and lifelong friend of Nathaniel's, Elizabeth journeys through the snowy wilderness and across treacherous waterways. But she soon discovers that freeing Nathaniel will take every ounce of her courage and inventiveness. It is a struggle that threatens her with the loss of what she loves most: her children. Torn apart, the Bonners must embark on yet another perilous voyage...this time all the way across the ocean to the heart of Scotland, where a wealthy earl claims kinship with Nathaniel's father, Hawkeye. In his heart, the Mahican tribe of Hawkeye's youth is the truest kin he will ever know, just as Nathaniel will always remain loyal to the Mohawk nation. But with this journey a whole new world opens up to Nathaniel and Elizabeth--and a destiny they could never have imagined awaits them.... A sweeping epic of romance and adventure, Dawn on a Distant Shore establishes Sara Donati as one of today's most gifted storytellers. With well-drawn characters and an evocative love story that is intricately woven into the rich history of our nation's past, this extraordinary novel will enthrall readers like few others--and sweep them away to a whole other time and place. A sweeping epic of romance and adventure, Dawn on a Distant Shore establishes Sara Donati as one of today's most gifted storytellers. With well-drawn characters and an evocative love story that is intricately woven into the history of our nation's past, this extraordinary novel will enthrall readers like few others--and sweep them away to a whole other time and place. --> From the Hardcover edition.

Hilarious new series from Queen of Teen – laugh your tights off at the (VERY) amateur dramatic antics of Talullah and her bonkers mates. Boys, snogging and bad acting guaranteed! Picture the scene: Dother Hall performing arts college somewhere Up North, surrounded by rolling dales, bearded cheesemaking villagers (male and female) and wildlife of the squirrely-type. On the whole, it’s not quite the showbiz experience Tallulah was expecting… but once her mates turn up and they start their ‘FAME! I’m gonna liiiiive foreeeeeever, I’m gonna fill my tiiiiights’ summer course things are bound to perk up. Especially when the boys arrive. (When DO the boys arrive?) Six weeks of parent-free freedom. BOY freedom. Freedom of expression… cos it’s the THEATRE dahling, the theatre!!

One small town girl with a bright future. One smokejumper with a dark past. One summer that will forever change them both. They’re going . . . Up In Flames. Elle’s life couldn’t possibly get any more small town than it already is. She was raised in the same home as the two generations before her were, her family owns the iconic downtown cafe, and she’s been dating the pastor’s son since she was allowed to go on her first date at sixteen. Cole’s life couldn’t possibly get any larger. He’s tried. Roaming from town to town for the past three summers as a smokejumper, Cole dreads the thought of putting down roots. The only thing he avoids more than that is settling down with one woman, especially when there are as many willing women as there are trees in the forest he jumps out of planes to save. Elle Montgomery’s life is going one way. And Cole Carson’s is going the opposite. There’s no reason their paths should ever intersect, even in a small town in central Washington. But summer in the Methow Valley has other plans for Elle and Cole. After an awkward run-in at the local swimming hole, Elle tries to keep away from the guy who looks at her like she’s already lying beneath him in bed. She fails. Cole is about as successful at staying away from the girl who seems immune to his charms. As the summer heats up, and tensions between Elle and Cole run high, he begins to realize there’s more he’s attracted to than Elle’s body, and she discovers there’s a lot more to the man that jumps out of planes into raging forest fires than meets the eye. UP IN FLAMES is a New Adult Romance intended for mature readers due to steamy content and saucy language.

Will she accept his offer before the clock strikes midnight? Sophie Beckett never dreamed she'd be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton's famed masquerade ball—or that "Prince Charming" would be waiting there for her! Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But now, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she feels like royalty. Alas, she knows all enchantments must end when the clock strikes midnight. Who was that extraordinary woman? Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other—except, perhaps this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid's garb whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most disagreeable situation. He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. Yet, if he offers his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance for a fairy tale love? Alternate cover for ISBN 0380815583 / 9780380815586

Ever since Soren was kidnapped and taken to the St. Aegolius School for Orphaned Owls, he has longed to see his sister, Eglantine, again. Now Eglantine is back in Soren's life, but she's been through an ordeal too terrible for words. And Ezylryb, Soren's mentor, has disappeared. Deep within Soren's gizzard, something more powerful than knowledge tells him there's a connection between these mysterious events. In order to rescue Ezylryb, Soren must embark upon a perilous quest. It will bring him face-to-face with a force more dangerous than anything the rulers of St. Aggie's could have devised-and a truth that threatens to destroy the owl kingdom.