Years before the events in DEAD MECH, many of the characters find themselves in one city/state at the same time. Foreshadowing events to come, One Foggy Night is a prequel short to DEAD MECH. Get a peak at Masters, Harlow, Jay Rind, Bisby, Stanislaw, and the Rookie years before their fates are sealed. Blood, sex, action, murder, and moonshine- in the Wasteland anything is possible!Years before the events in DEAD MECH, many of the characters find themselves in one city/state at the same time. Foreshadowing events to come, One Foggy Night is a prequel short to DEAD MECH. Get a peak at Masters, Harlow, Jay Rind, Bisby, Stanislaw, and the Rookie years before their fates are sealed. Blood, sex, action, murder, and moonshine- in the Wasteland anything is possible! Jake Bible lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and two kids. He is the author the Apex Trilogy (DEAD MECH, The Americans, Metal and Ash), Bethany and the Zombie Jesus, Stark- An Illustrated Novella, and the forthcoming YA horror novels Little Dead Man (November 2012) and Intentional Haunting (2013). Check out Friday Night Drabble Party every week! Free drabbles for all!

A classic work from Walter Jon Williams, “Daddy’s World” earned the Nebula Award in 2001.Little Jamie lives with his family in an eerily perfect environment. But cracks begin to appear in Jamie’s world that reveal rifts within his family, and he begins to see the terrifying reality behind the walls of his life, and know that perfection has its price . . .A classic work from Walter Jon Williams, “Daddy’s World” earned the Nebula Award in 2001.Little Jamie lives with his family in an eerily perfect environment, entertained by characters from literature, sung to sleep at night by the Woman in the Moon. But cracks begin to appear in Jamie’s world that reveal rifts within his family, and he begins to see the terrifying reality behind the walls of his life, and to understand that perfection has its price . . .

“Whoa!” says a voice, nearly scaring me to death. “What are you doing here?”Heart pounding, I whip around to see a boy about my age emerging from the trees that form one side of the wooded trail. He has curly light brown hair, a healthy olive glow to his skin that I would kill for, and a few random freckles dotted lightly across his nose. His mouth is drawn up in a cocky grin.....The first in a five-part series, “Never Lost” opens just as sixteen-year-old Harper Johnston is trying to adjust to moving from the suburbs of Chicago to the remote Wisconsin farm town where her mother grew up. Harper is convinced that there is nothing for her in this town, which she sarcastically dubs “Hick Town USA.” All she wants is to go back home to her old house and her old school and her old friends. Then Harper meets Danny, who is unlike any other boy she’s ever met before. There is something different—maybe even magical—about him that Harper can’t quite put her finger on. Then Harper earns Danny’s secret…and decides that moving to Oak Leaf was maybe not such a bad idea, after all….

Think you know space? Journey with our hero as he navigates the infinite enigma that is man's most misunderstood frontier.Join Captain Charlie Crumble and his elite squadron of soldiers as they battle their way through the Alpha-Omega missions. As the Second World War rages all around them, the men separate themselves as they pursue their classified assignment. Their target? A madman of incredible intelligence, with an appetite for the strange and unusual, and pure hatred for the human race. His twisted projects thwart the team as they endeavour to track him down, and right now a pack of savage, mutated Nazi-werewolves are hot on their heels. Blood is everywhere, the death toll is high, and things couldn’t get much worse. That is until the sky rips open and Billy Random appears…

A lone human soldier wanders in a vast desert, almost dying of thirst. He meets a severely wounded orc warrior. What will be the outcome of this encounter?How do you handle a Cup Final when the two teams come from planets with different conditions? Taw Braley, a socially challenged robotics expert, finds out the hard way in this short piece of SF comedy when his football-crazy girlfriend drags him along because a team from Earth is involved. As the hapless Taw does his best to get to grips with the complicated nuances of an interplanetary football match, disaster strikes the robot officials and it's up to Taw to save the day.

Robson had dreamed about nothing else but to become just like the lawyers he watched on television growing up. It wasn't until one fateful night that his dream came crashing down on him.Robson had dreamed about nothing else but to become just like the lawyers he watched on television growing up. It wasn't until one fateful night that his dream came crashing down on him. Desperately trying to make it as an attorney Robson is all but washed up, just a couple of drinks away from living in a permanent drunken stupor. The only thing keeping him afloat and slightly sober is his friend and old college buddy, Derek. But one stormy night could change that forever...

When scandal comes calling and Vicki leaps into the fray, you know it’s gonna be big. This here’s Texas after all.When scandal comes calling and Vicki leaps into the fray, you know it’s gonna be big. This here’s Texas after all.Meet Victoria Bohanan, a twenty-six year-old Dallas debutante turned bartender babe who rejected her father’s saintly sinner ways and struck out on her own. Vicki will earn that twenty dollar tip by guessing the mistress’ name and your favorite drink faster than you can belly up to the bar. That sharp wit has gotten her out of more than one disastrous situation – until the mouth sinks her right into another. When an old high school flame returns to town with a pregnant wife in tow and a pastorate position lodged under his belt, life quickly becomes tangled. This time we’re not talking between the sheets. Sooner than Vicki can down a shot of Jack, her former boy-toy is embroiled in scandal that threatens to implode the megachurch his parents built – and send the gossiping gaggle into a tailspin faster than a quarterback sack on Sunday.Join the fun in book one of the Bartender Babe Chronicles. Light on mystery and long on - well, you know.

“Tonight, we have strawberry and rhubarb pie and a story about the time my friend from high school set fire to our headmaster’s car, or Grasshopper pie and a story about when my Uncle Anthony punched a cop.”While working the graveyard shift at the local greasy spoon, Marnie entertains the customers with stories of her eccentric Aunt Sarah.The collective problem of business today is increasingly attributed to the failure of corporate governance. This means that far too many boards are failing to execute their duties responsibly, both collectively and individually. Despite increasing awareness, there is a general lack of understanding of the principles of effective corporate governance in most quarters.Several non governmental organisations do not observe good corporate governance and this to the collapse of many. There are no set rules that are binding and which establish the ways in which organisations have to govern themselves. Effective governance and accountability begins in one’s organisation, no matter how big or small. This means ensuring that the appropriate processes and structures are in place to direct and manage an organisation’s operations and activities, and to ensure the effectiveness, credibility and viability of the organisation. Increasingly, revelations of deterioration, in quality and transparency have called for the adoption of internationally accepted best practices. Corporate governance encompasses commitment to values and to ethical business conduct to maximize shareholders values on a sustainable basis, while ensuring fairness to all stakeholders including customers or beneficiaries, employees and investors. The harsh economic conditions that prevailed in the country since 2007 have given non governmental organisation a difficult time that required them to have good corporate governance practices.

(This is a short story of approximately 12 pages.)The Medical Society requests the pleasure of your company as it presents the journals of the esteemed vampire and physician, Dr. Dunham. These brief entries chronicle his theories and observations of his immortal progeny, Miss Harper Marwick, and her descent into despair.A retired MLB pitcher finds love and redemption via a hurled can of humble soup. Refusing to obey signals cost him his career, once--but this time--a beanball is exactly what's called for, and the signs all make sense. Making a hero often requires a "zero" to balance the equation. Seeing life from both sides of the fence, the protagonist reconciles his past, finds humility, and creates a new beginning. This story isn't about about baseball, though it makes significant commentary on contemporary status, thereof, and incisively nails what's wrong with the sport...where greed has driven it awry. This narrative is primarily about what's truly important in life--what's solidly pure and what's vacuously hollow--what's important when looming largely in front of us, but insignificant in the rear-view mirror with distance applied. Dreams and aspirations loudly drive us when young, while wisdom softly chuckles from the quiet perch of maturity. Each has its time and purpose.

The Great Turtle and the White Bird is an uplifting short story for readers of all ages.A vast flood covers all the land, leaving behind no place for turtles or birds to lay their eggs or build a nest. An old turtle and one bird discover that of all the creatures who survived, they alone share a concern about the future of their offspring. As a selfless gift for the generations to come, the two unlikely heroes from different worlds work together to create a new land. This short creation fable was written while researching and drafting my historical novel Storykeeper.

The Space Dragons series is about a Morphic SpaceDragon named Evella Noctu who attempts to unite all ofthe remaining Space Dragon Clans into one unified Society.She is met with alliances, betrayal, pirates, space police,telepaths, sorcery, political strife, wars from encroachingempires, and personal issues.The Space Dragons series is about a Morphic SpaceDragon named Evella Noctu who attempts to unite all ofthe remaining Space Dragon Clans into one unified Society.She is met with alliances, betrayal, pirates, space police,telepaths, sorcery, political strife, wars from encroachingempires, and personal issues.This is one of many series that takes place in the Galaxyof Empires Universe.

Gem is one of the unlucky ones, the one child in every seven that Magic forgets. Years later, her Gift finally surfaces, but to claim her Magical inheritance means rewriting her past. Then there’s Buddy, who died one night in a car accident, but is still turning up on Gem’s doorstep, asking for his Fortune to be read, desperately seeking a future when his life is already over.Gem is one of the unlucky ones, the one child in every seven that Magic forgets to bestow a Gift upon. And, as an extra unhappy bonus, she gets to be terrified of birds. Years later when her Gift finally surfaces and she should be happy that Magic didn't forget her after all, she discovers that to claim her Magical inheritance she must revisit and conquer her old childhood fears. Then Gavin, her son, manifests his Magic while little more than a baby, but his peculiar ability to restore youthfulness to the old brings its own problems, not to mention hordes of old people. And worst of all, there’s Buddy, who died one night in a car accident, but is still turning up on Gem’s doorstep, day after day, asking for his Fortune to be read, desperately seeking a future when his life is already over.

The story 23 year old Silvia Greco's journey to make peace in her feuding family while finding direction in her own life. Set in present-day New Jersey, this novel is filled with unforgettable characters, insight and humor. This is the first book featuring the lovable, quirky Greco family. The second book is "Discovery of an Eagle" (2014). Suspense Magazine, Best of 2012!Silvia Greco’s family is anything but peaceful and hasn’t been together in over six years. But when her brother graduates high school, Silvia is drafted into helping her mother organize a family gathering and welcomes the challenge. In her journey to make peace in her quirky, feuding family, she learns that peace isn’t something that’s freely existing but something that needs to be cultivated. In other words, she learns that olive branches don’t grow on trees. Filled with humor and unforgettable characters. Best of 2012, Suspense Magazine!"The author weaves a tale that is a moving and realistic portrayal of a dysfunctional family with enough drama and humorous family situations that will keep the reader engaged and entertained, while providing a witty sense of humor and subtle messages of life lessons to extend the olive branch and learn to live, love and forgive." Jersey Girl Book Reviews"The sequences of Silvia's recollections into the past with her strong willed, born ahead of her time grandmother, the jobs she has held, and lost as it were, are nothing short of brilliant." Chapters and Chats Book Reviews"Grace's intimate knowledge of her subject shows in her frank and open style of writing, which invites the reader into the lives of the Greco family, as though they were long lost friends and therefore there is no need to stand on ceremony, or pretend that things are not just as they are. An amazingly perceptive, cleanly written and well told story, marks Grace Mattioli's debut novel." Fiction-books.biz Book Reviews“The author…manages to make us care about this family. All of the Grecos…are entertaining and their quirks are endearing. OLIVE BRANCHES DON'T GROW ON TREES is a very real drama that gets to the heart of the conflict within the Greco family.” Indie Reader ReviewsSuspense Magazine, Best of 2012

This hilarious, true short story, is a real life account of an amazing weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix.If you've ever wanted to be wisked away on a hilarious, slighty drunken, crazy weekend, fly on a helicopter, meet wonderful people, drink lots of French wine, wake up in a strange woman's apartment, party around the clock all while watching the F1 Grand Prix, then this short story is for you.They say that truth is stranger than fiction.This hilarious true short story, won't take you long to read, but it all actually happened.If you've ever wanted to be wisked away on a hilarious, slighty drunken, crazy weekend, fly into town on a helicopter, meet wonderful interesting people, drink lots of French wine, wake up in a strange woman's apartment, party around the clock all while watching the F1 Grand Prix, then this short story is for you.An ideal read for a train journey or for the daily commute!

Xander de Hunter is a rising star on Catamondo's kick-boxing circuit and has dreams of becoming a Purrtector, but in Seattle, Xander must face his biggest fear – water.Xander de Hunter is a rising star on Catamondo's kick-boxing circuit and has dreams of becoming a Purrtector. After a match in Seattle, he is asked to help find Merlin's littermate, Cha-Cha, a white Norwegian beauty, who is missing. With Merlin's assistance, they follow Cha-Cha's trail into the Puget Sound where Xander must face his biggest fear – water.

John Wayne was dead, had been for about five years now. But that didn’t mean there still couldn’t be a Duke.Thanksgiving…A time of the year when families come together.A time of the year when we give thanks, for all the blessings in our lives. And, the Duke has a lot to be thankful for, this year.He is thankful that he has never been caught.He is thankful that he has a new identity.He is thankful that his stepdaughter doesn't know he's coming.And when he arrives, for Thanksgiving dinner, he'll make her pay.

Grab a story your preteen can sink their tooth into! Suzie Snaggletooth uses her intelligence and creativity to become a super detective and give the kids of Richmond Hill a chance to save their summer.Suzie Snaggletooth is on a mission to save summer. That mission becomes clear when the bikes of her friends start to disappear. She uses her intelligence and creativity to become a super detective and give the kids of Richmond Hill a chance to rescue their bikes and their summer. She gets on the case to help her friends and falls into a mystery that deepens with each missing bike. Suzie and her best friends must count on each other while they pursue the trail as it twists and turns through their neighborhood and beyond. They find out detective work isn't easy, but it can be fun, especially if you like adventure mixed with double-scoops of your favorite ice cream. It also tests their limits and the strength of true friendship.

After being betrayed by someone he thought he loved, Seth leaves for college hoping to get a new start. But leaving his past behind is more complicated than he expected, and underneath his upbeat attitude, Seth struggles with opening up to people. Then he meets Greyson. Seth is instantly drawn to Greyson and his sweet and charming personality. But even though he feels a strong connection with Greyson, Seth’s still hesitant to open his heart to love. With the help of his best friend Callie, Seth realizes he needs to overcome his fear of commitment. But will he be able to finally admit how he truly feels about Greyson?

An unthinkable betrayal threatens everyone Rory loves in the third installment of our dark, thrilling Shadowlands series from New York Times best-selling author Kate Brian. Rory Miller didn't just fall in love with Tristan Parrish. She fell in love with the idea of forever. He was the one who told her the truth about her existence in Juniper Landing: that her mortal life is over, and she will now spend eternity on the island, helping others in limbo move on. But like Juniper Landing, a bright island with dark secrets, Tristan is too good to be true. The mysterious, heartbreakingly beautiful boy Rory thought she knew is responsible for unthinkable evil-sending good souls to the Shadowlands in order to get himself a second chance at life on Earth. He has already claimed Rory's friend Aaron and her own father, but when SPOILER Tristan sends her sister, Darcy, to the Shadowlands, too, Rory decides to take matters into her own hands. She will do anything to save her family, even if it means going to hell and back.

A Vintage Shorts “Short Story Month” Selection Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist Dave Eggers displays his emotional range in this quiet tour-de-force from How We Are Hungry, the often funny and masterful collection of short fiction.  After giving up responsibility, in her usual passive way, of much that has been of importance in her life—her adopted children, a condo, financial security—Rita pays for a guided hike to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.  An ebook Short.

The wisest, richest, funniest, and most moving novel in years from Don DeLillo, one of the great American novelists of our time—an ode to language, at the heart of our humanity, a meditation on death, and an embrace of life. Jeffrey Lockhart’s father, Ross, is a billionaire in his sixties, with a younger wife, Artis Martineau, whose health is failing. Ross is the primary investor in a remote and secret compound where death is exquisitely controlled and bodies are preserved until a future time when biomedical advances and new technologies can return them to a life of transcendent promise. Jeff joins Ross and Artis at the compound to say “an uncertain farewell” to her as she surrenders her body. “We are born without choosing to be. Should we have to die in the same manner? Isn’t it a human glory to refuse to accept a certain fate?” These are the questions that haunt the novel and its memorable characters, and it is Ross Lockhart, most particularly, who feels a deep need to enter another dimension and awake to a new world. For his son, this is indefensible. Jeff, the book’s narrator, is committed to living, to experiencing “the mingled astonishments of our time, here, on earth.” Don DeLillo’s seductive, spectacularly observed and brilliant new novel weighs the darkness of the world—terrorism, floods, fires, famine, plague—against the beauty and humanity of everyday life; love, awe, “the intimate touch of earth and sun.” Zero K is glorious.