An old dog dispenses wisdom (whether you want it or not) and reminisces about her halcyon puppyhood with the human family she lost long ago.In Junk Shop: a Dog Memoir by Jennifer Erickson we are presented with a story that offers some wistful and nostalgic wisdom from a dog that proves it knows as much about being human as any body else. -Judge, 2nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards

Living next door to the local senior center, ten-year-old Henry finds refuge from the school bully among the quirky retirees. He grieves the loss of Ernest; his elderly friend and mentor. Unbeknownst to Henry, Ernest’s spirit lingers nearby. The ghost watches over the boy while attempting to guide his aged friends to the evidence that will incriminate the men responsible for his death.Living next door to the local senior center, ten-year-old Henry finds refuge from the school bully among the quirky retirees. He grieves the loss of Ernest; his elderly friend and mentor. Unbeknownst to Henry, Ernest’s ghost lingers nearby. The spirit watches over the boy while attempting to guide his aged friends to the evidence that will incriminate the men responsible for his death.The only person capable of seeing Ernest in his spectral form is Betty, his befuddled wife. But given that Betty suffers from dementia, no one believes her clairvoyant claims. Sal, a disabled veteran with a talent for finding clever uses for ordinary objects, has vowed to help his late friend’s widow however he can. He is joined by Betty’s friend Phyllis; a hoarder whose colossal handbag contains an abundance of ordinary objects, plus a tiny dog with a knack for locating items within the enormous bag. Hunted by desperate criminals and driven by supernatural forces, can Henry and this group of elderly misfits solve a deadly mystery before it is too late?

I don't really know what to say about this. It's only a small portion of my poetry. I loved writing every single poem in here.A war is brewing...Heartbroken and lost, Sadie left her family when she was only sixteen to fight evil. Years of searching out and destroying the vermin of the supernatural world have left her ruthless and jaded, and powerful.Sadie’s success has made her a target, and a series of cryptic warnings leaves her questioning what is being asked of her. But nothing in her past has prepared her for the obstacles she now faces in trying to rid the world of a resurrected evil that no one saw coming. She finally comes home for the chance to re-discover her first love, Aiden. Does she have the power to restore Aiden’s memories and hold on to her love for him, while battling for humanity—and her life?

Sally Edwards didn't have many friends in school because she was always teased of her looks. When Prom Night finally arrived and she was asked to the Prom by the most popular guy in school she thought she was on top of the world, but it was all a lie. When she found out the guy of her dreams and his friends made a laughing stock out of her at Prom Night she was out for revenge.Sally Edwards didn't have many friends at Gravendale High School. Whenever Sally tried out for sports she would be picked on by her classmates because she was a tomboy. Sally had buck teeth and matted hair and slurred her speech. She also wore the same clothes to school every day. Sally was poor and was being raised by her alcoholic grandfather who didn't have long to live, maybe weeks at best.When her classmates got wind of the passing of her grandfather the following week they started picking on her pretty hard. Classmates would say things like "I can see why your grandfather died so soon. It's because you're so ugly and stupid. Just the looks of you helped shorten his life."Sally was boiling inside and had nowhere to turn or seek comfort in the arms of her parents. Sally's parents were both killed in a home invasion and the only living relative she had was her alcoholic grandfather. Sally's dreams of having a loving family, was shattered by the pull of a trigger.Sally never got much food to eat from her grandfather, because he was always spending what little money he had on alcohol. In her grandfathers mind alcohol is the only friend he had and cared about. Sally had to revert to going through neighbors trash cans for her daily meals. Sometimes the neighbors’ felt sorry for her and would welcome her into their home and feed her, but what little the neighbors did for her still didn't heal the wounds she was bottling up inside her broken heart and the years of being picked on from her classmates. Things were about to come to a head with her classmates that would turn deadly for them all.

Have you ever said something to someone that you wish you take back? James 3:6 says that the "tongue is a fire". We've all had those moments when we've said something that hurt someone we care about. Once the words are out of your mouth it's impossible to take them back.Sorta like when you open your mouth your tongue shoots out of your mouth, lands about 15 feet in front of you and slithers awayImagine that God allowed you to take a trip to heaven and tour His palace. Somehow you were transported to heaven. There you stood at the doors to His palace. They looked pretty cool. You knocked on the door and God opened it up and said to you, “Welcome, . I have been expecting you. I understand you want a tour of my palace”. You are just a little shaky, Okay, you are like really totally freaked out because you are standing in the presence of God. You try to answer Him but the words aren’t coming out quite right. “Uh. . . Yeah. . . Duh. . . How. . . Uh. . Um. . are you?. . . I am f...fine. I’d lllike to take a loo...loo...look around.” After you finally get those words out, He starts leading you down a long white hallway with hundreds of doors on each side. As you walk past the rooms you read the signs over the doors. “Angel Parts Room . . . Fish Parts Room . . . Shrubbery Design Room . . . Things that Have Furry Tails Design Room . . . Furry Tails Closet. . .Linens. . . Bathroom #999999999999999999999999991. You keep walking and pass a “You’re Here” map, showing where you are in God’s huge palace. You continue to walk and read the signs over the doors. Archangel Michael’s Room . . . Lucifer’s Room (now a storage closet) . . . Extra Planets Storage Room. . . Orphan Moons Room . . . Galaxy Designs that didn't work Room . . . Human-Type-People Design Room.James 3:6 says that the "tongue is a fire...It corrupts the whole body,and sets the whole course of one’s life on fire". Sounds Kinda scary. Sounds like the tongue can cause a lot of bad stuff. We've all had those moments when we've said something that hurt someone we care about. Once the words are out of your mouth it's impossible to take them back. Sorta like when you open your mouth your tongue shoots out of your mouth, lands about 15 feet in front of you and slithers away like an inch worm. And no matter how hard you try to catch it you can't catch it. Just like words that you shouldn't have said

Megan Scott recognizes one of two notorious prison escapees and follows him through the Old Port of Montreal, convinced that her photographic evidence will lead to his capture. Just as the escapee disappears aboard a yacht in the marina, another man forces Megan aboard the same yacht at knifepoint.Gagged, tied, and terrified, she witnesses a murder. Will she be next?Megan Scott’s car takes a hit—literally—when a pedestrian is shoved onto the hood. Even worse, the man is one of two notorious prison escapees on the loose in Montreal. Megan chases the felon through the Old Port, convinced that her photographic evidence will lead to his capture.Just as the escapee disappears aboard a yacht in the marina, another man forces Megan aboard the same yacht at knifepoint. Gagged, tied, and terrified, she witnesses a murder.Will she be next?"I'm hooked!" (Amazon reviewer)"plenty of action and tension" (Amazon reviewer)"gets your pulse racing" (Amazon reviewer)Books in the Megan Scott/Michael Elliott Mystery series:False Impressions (Book #1)Fatal Whispers (Book #2)Timely Escape (A Short Story prequel to Icy Silence - Book #3)Icy Silence (Book #3)Dark Deeds (Book #4)To get the latest information on Sandra's books and events, visit www.sandranikolai.com and subscribe to her newsletter.

"You are now a discard. We have no further use for you in play. You are free to walk the Bounds, but it will be against the rules for you to enter play in any world. If you succeed in returning Home, then you may enter play again in the normal manner." When Jamie unwittingly discovers the sinister, dark-cloaked Them playing games with humans' lives, he is cast out to the boundaries of the worlds. Clinging to Their promise that if he can get Home he is free, he becomes an unwilling Random Factor in Their deadly, eternal game. Jamie travels alone until he teams up with Helen and Joris, determined to beat Them at Their own game. But Their rules don't allow Homeward Bounders to work together.

Perhaps the best book to emerge from the Vietnam War -- reissued alongside five other jewels of the Flamingo backlist from the 1970s. First published in1973, this intensely personal novel about one foot soldier's tour of duty in Vietnam established Tim O'Brien's reputation as the outstanding chronicler of the Vietnam experience for a generation of Americans. From basic training to the front line and back again, he takes the reader on an unforgettable journey -- walking the minefields of My Lai, fighting the heat and the snipers in an alien land, crawling into the ghostly tunnels -- as he explores the ambiguities of manhood and morality in a war no one believes in. **

From Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli (Maniac Magee, Stargirl) comes the "moving and memorable" (*Kirkus Reviews, * starred) story of a girl searching for happiness inside the walls of a prison. Cammie O'Reilly lives at the Hancock County Prison--not as a prisoner, she's the warden's daughter. She spends the mornings hanging out with shoplifters and reformed arsonists in the women's excercise yard, which gives Cammie a certain cache with her school friends. But even though Cammie's free to leave the prison, she's still stuck. And sad, and really mad. Her mother died saving her from harm when she was just a baby. You wouldn't think you could miss something you never had, but on the eve of her thirteenth birthday, the thing Cammie most wants is a mom. A prison might not be the best place to search for a mother, but Cammie is determined and she's willing to work with what she's got. "Jerry Spinelli again proves why he's the king of storytellers" (Shelf Awarenss, starred) in this tale of a girl who learns that heroes can come in surprising disguises, and that even if we don't always get what we want, sometimes we really do get what we need. "This book is never boring and never predictable. Fame, good and bad fortune, friendship and mental illness all make their way into [Cammie's] narrative."--The New York Times Book Review Praise for the works of Jerry Spinelli: "Spinelli is a poet of the prepubescent. . . . No writer guides his young characters, and his readers, past these pitfalls and challenges and toward their futures with more compassion." --The New York Times "It's almost unreal how much the children's book still resonates." --Bustle.com on Maniac Magee

James Patterson's winning follow-up to the #1 New York Times bestseller Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life--which the LA Times called "a perfectly pitched novel"--is another riotous and heartwarming story about living large. After sixth grade, the very worst year of his life, Rafe Khatchadorian thinks he has it made in seventh grade. He's been accepted to art school in the big city and imagines a math-and-history-free fun zone.Wrong! It's more competitive than Rafe ever expected, and to score big in class, he needs to find a way to turn his boring life into the inspiration for a work of art. His method? Operation: Get a Life! Anything he's never done before, he's going to do it, from learning to play poker to going to a modern art museum. But when his newest mission uncovers secrets about the family Rafe's never known, he has to decide if he's ready to have his world turned upside down. (Includes over 100 illustrations.)

From Annie Proulx—the Pulitzer Prize­ and National Book Award-­winning author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain—comes an ecological masterwork, five years in the writing: an epic, dazzling, violent, magnificently dramatic novel about the taking down of the world's forests.In the late seventeenth century two penniless young Frenchmen, René Sel and Charles Duquet, arrive in New France. Bound to a feudal lord, a "seigneur," for three years in exchange for land, they become wood-cutters—barkskins. René suffers extraordinary hardship, oppressed by the forest he is charged with clearing. He is forced to marry a Mi'kmaw woman and their descendants live trapped between two inimical cultures. But Duquet, crafty and ruthless, runs away from the seigneur, becomes a fur trader, then sets up a timber business. Proulx tells the stories of the descendants of Sel and Duquet over three hundred years—their travels across...

The price of freedom is everything. When forced to choose between safety with the dragon organization Talon and being hunted forever as an outcast, Ember Hill chose to stand with Riley and his band of rogue dragons rather than become an assassin for Talon. She’s lost any contact with her twin brother, Dante, a Talon devotee, as well as Garret, the former-enemy soldier who challenged her beliefs about her human side. As Ember and Riley hide and regroup to fight another day, Garret journeys alone to the United Kingdom, birthplace of the ancient and secret Order of St. George, to spy on his former brothers and uncover deadly and shocking secrets that will shake the foundations of dragons and dragonslayers alike and place them all in imminent danger as Talon’s new order rises.

Isabella Spaga is about to reluctantly walk down the aisle with Mr. Dangerously Wrong...but not if dashing vampire Chance has anything to say about it. As a favor to Bones, Chance has come to derail this wedding of beauty to the beast. Now if only he can keep his hands off the bride. From New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress world, it’s the wedding of the season...that everyone wants to miss. (Originally appeared in Weddings From Hell anthology)

Is it possible to expose Chicago’s hottest player—without getting played? This is the story I've been waiting for all my life, and its name is Malcolm Kyle Preston Logan Saint. Don’t be fooled by that last name though. There’s nothing holy about the man except the hell his parties raise. The hottest entrepreneur Chicago has ever known, he’s a man’s man with too much money to spend and too many women vying for his attention. Mysterious. Privileged. Legendary. His entire life he’s been surrounded by the press as they dig for tidbits to see if his fairytale life is for real or all mirrors and social media lies. Since he hit the scene, his secrets have been his and his alone to keep. And that’s where I come in. Assigned to investigate Saint and reveal his elusive personality, I’m determined to make him the story that will change my career. But I never imagined he would change my life. Bit by bit, I start to wonder if I'm the one discovering him...or if he's uncovering me. What happens when the man they call Saint, makes you want to sin?

During the Alaskan gold rush, a woman pursues a destiny that will change the world in this alternate-history novel from a sci-fi legend. In the tradition of Robert Heinlein (Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land), multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner Joe Haldeman set a new standard for military science fiction and hard sci-fi with The Forever War and his phenomenal Worlds series.  Now the Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master dabbles brilliantly in alternate-history fiction with the world-altering adventures of a remarkable woman during the gold rush in late nineteenth-century Alaska. Sent from her Georgia home to Philadelphia to escape the carnage of the Civil War, Rosa Coleman studied astronomy and mathematics, ultimately settling into a new life as the wife of a wealthy man and mother of young Daniel. But when she discovers an unforgiveable secret about her reprobate husband, Rosa takes the boy and flees to the West on a desperate escape that takes them from Dodge City to San Francisco one step ahead of the Pinkertons hired to bring them back home. On the run in a strange and exhilarating new world, Rosa and Daniel find a haven where they might never be found: the wilds of Alaska among the dreamers drawn to its magnificent wilderness by the promise of gold. It is here that her spiritual guide first appears to Rosa in the form of a raven—an incarnation of the trickster god of Native American and Eskimo lore—suggesting that her destiny lies not in sparkling riches but in something far greater. This mystical harbinger has come from a distant, alien place, and will set her on an astonishing course . . . A magnificent blending of historical and speculative fiction, Joe Haldeman’s Guardian is a breathtaking departure for the author whom Peter Straub calls “one of our most aware, comprehensive, and necessary writers” and David Brin praises as “one of the best prophetic writers of our times.”

Presenting a new original science fiction story, “The Rotten Beast,” by author Mary E. Pearson, which takes place in the same near-future world of The Jenna Fox Chronicles. In “The Rotten Beast,” a sixteen-year-old girl named Allys, living in a near future version of the U.S., is vehemently opposed to the way scientists are meddling with human and artificial life. In fact, she blames such scientific overreaching for the illness which is killing her. When she awakens one day to find that her parents have gone against her wishes and had an illegal operation performed to save her life and restore her body, she is furious and must come to terms with this new chance at life, which she didn’t ask for and didn’t think she wanted.

The last few days have been the darkest of Sally’s life. After experiencing the joy of finding her mate, she now suffers the pain of losing everything she holds dear. Both the Romanian and Serbian packs have been captured, ripping Sally’s soul mate away from her almost as soon as she had found him. Her best friend and the emotional glue that usually holds Sally together, Jacque Pierce, lies writhing in a restless coma, having been put down by Desdemona’s dark magic. Jennifer Adams, the unshakable one, has revealed to her friends and her mate that she is pregnant, but the Fates have marked her unborn baby for death. Though she rails against the darkness, deep inside Jen knows that Decebel’s baby must die as payment for her own life, and the knowledge is tearing her soul to pieces. Cypher, King of the Warlocks, has claimed Jacque’s mother as his mate and agreed to help Desdemona open a door that would release a horde of demons from beyond the Veil. Though her world is crashing down around her, Sally holds out hope. The Great Luna is not sitting idly by. She has commanded the Fey council to call upon the packs—all of them. And though Cypher looks for a way to open the Veil for Desdemona, he struggles to protect Lilly and the wolves at the same time. Peri, the ever-courageous High Fae, and a contingent of the remaining females of the Romanian and Serbian packs, push on through the rough Carpathian Mountains. Though they are bound to the human realm, they continue to search for a way to cross over to the land of the Fey. Meanwhile, in reluctant obedience to the Great Luna, the Fey council sends representatives to the far corners of the globe, meeting with the pack Alphas. The Fey must convince the Alphas of every pack to lay aside their petty territorial squabbles and battles of dominance. If they refuse, both the humans and the supernatural races will fall at Mona’s feet. Sally holds to a shred of hope. Though Vasile, Decebel, and their pack mates endure the torture of the In-Between, living their worst nightmares over and over, Sally holds. Though she knows that it is only a matter of time before their wolves take over, she holds. Sally knows that if the males die, then so too will their mates who have performed the Blood Rites, including her best friends Jen and Jacque. Yet she holds. If the males lose themselves to their wolves and turn feral, so too do their mates. Still she holds. Though Vasile, the strongest Alpha in their history to unite the wolves, is lost beyond the Veil, Sally holds. Though Decebel, the only other wolf besides Vaile strong enough to unite the packs, suffers beyond the Veil, Sally will hold. No one is left to unite their race, and defeat Desdemona. Yet Sally still holds. She holds out hope that the Great Luna will not abandon them, cannot abandon them. Throughout the centuries, the Great Luna has always provided a gypsy healer to the packs, especially in times of great need. Now Sally is that healer. Sally fears what role she has to play in the defeat of Desdemona, but she will play it. Though heaven and hell unite against her, she WILL play it. For too long the supernatural races have lived in separation, warring amongst themselves, allowing trivial power plays and selfish disputes to keep them from uniting. That separation has made them weak. Now, being summoned as a collective force to the same land, will they come? Will they come in numbers greater than have been seen in centuries? Will they destroy each other and save Mona the trouble, or will they finally unite and fight as one?

Hi. My name is John Cleaver, and I hunt monsters. I used to do it alone, and then for a while I did it with a team of government specialists, and then the monsters found us and killed almost everyone, and now I hunt them alone again.This is my story.In this thrilling installment in the John Wayne Cleaver series, Dan Wells brings his beloved antihero into a final confrontation with the Withered. Nothing Left to Lose is a conclusion that is both completely compelling and completely unexpected.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Lanie Heron isn't looking for love-no surprise, considering her last serious relationship nearly got her killed. So when Lanie propositions Hop Kincaid, all she wants is one wild night with the hot-as-hell biker who patrols with the Chaos Motorcycle Club . . . For Hop, Lanie has always been untouchable. She's too polished and too classy for his taste. But when she gives Hop the once-over with her bedroom eyes and offers him a night in paradise, he can't say no. And he doesn't regret it when he finds that Lanie is the best thing that's ever happened to him-in or out of bed. Now the trick will be to convince her of that.

Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn't shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people's survival hangs in the balance. To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls' destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever. The exciting adventure prequel to Malinda Lo's highly acclaimed novel Ash is overflowing with lush Chinese influences and details inspired by the I Ching, and is filled with action and romance.

After saving the world from his fiendish father's side of the family, Cal Leandros and his stalwart half-brother Niko have settled down with new digs and a new gig-bodyguard and detective work. And in New York City, where preternatural beings stalk the streets just like normal folk, business is good. Their latest case has them going undercover for the Kin-the werewolf Mafia. A low-level Kin boss thinks a rival is setting him up for a fall, and wants proof. The place to start is the back room of Moonshine-a gambling club for non-humans. Cal thinks it's a simple in-and-out job. But Cal is very, very wrong. Cal and Niko are being set up themselves-and the people behind it have a bite much worse than their bark...