Ryunosuke Akutagawa blends a sense of sad inevitability with subtle irony. Reflective and often humorous, these tales reveal an enormous amount about Japanese culture, while the inner struggles of the characters always strike the universal.

Vampin Box SetAt the first induction to the group the facilitator handed out:‘Helpful Hints For Creative Writers’. ‘To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong’. Among other things were - keep writing – don’t edit on the run – when the inspiration stops and the pen rests that is the time to edit and rewrite. This is sound advice for any writer and finally words of wisdom:Practice, Practice, PracticeEnjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy. I hope you enjoy reading these stories.

When Leo Joaquim's cabinmates at a Bible camp learn he is not an athlete, their disappointment gradually escalates to extreme proportions, culminating in a horrifying conspiracy against him. A gripping novel of terror similar to Tryon's first book, The Other.#Knopf.

In jail, Starr couldn't be having a better time of it. Too bad her fun is short lived. When Marla and Shane, her two close friends, go missing, she promises to find out why.After demolishing her father's castle, Starr is sentenced to 90 days in a Romanian jail. There, Starr couldn't be having a better time of it. Too bad her fun is short lived. When Marla and Shane, her two close friends, go missing, she goes to Bangkok and discovers that she has one last investigation she must see through, before going her own way.Meanwhile, the future of the castle's reconstruction is pending the sale of various properties. If she doesn't make the money, she risks more jail time and fines from the ministry.

I’m uneducated in any academic sense, having left school at fifteen. However, when I came down with ME/cfs thirty years ago, I decided to educate myself. Doing so, I realized that so much is wrong with our knowledge and society. This is the first volume of my reasoned rants. You’ll also find here my views on cults and conspiracy theories, and why they happen.Wellington is a werewolf, forever fragmented between his human side and his beastly part. What is he, the Man or the Wolf? And, more important, what does he want to be?This is a secret well-kept in the family, a secret more easily hidden because, being a merchant, he travels quite a lot.One day, at the market, he sees her, a beautiful woman with golden hair and amber eyes. He tries to speak to her but she turns a corner and vanishes into thin air. However, soon he will meet her again and his whole life will change.(About 1110 words.)

When Manuel is hassled by high school basketball player Latrell, he decides to teach Latrell a lesson in humility on the court. Sure, soccer is Manuel's sport not basketball, and Latrell is several inches taller, but Manuel isn't worried. What Latrell doesn't know is that Manuel is something more than human.On the white painted veranda of a post colonial Bombay hotel, two men meet in the stifling heat of the approaching monsoon. They are a generation apart and their ideologies diverge but they share the same turbulent moment in time; a time of upheaval and monumental shift that is changing their world and unveiling the dawn of an uncertain future.But the storm clouds that gather over world events are also forming over their own private worlds as they confront each other with questions of their past and their future; questions they would prefer not to face.

A mysterious rider arrives in the coastal town of Angle River during its winter sleep. Is she just visiting 'the friend of a friend' from the old country or is she "a quiet angel of death with a soft Irish voice" come to tap her victim on the shoulder?"I guess the whole mess must have begun years ago, building up a complex web of loyalty and revenge. I’m sure there was a complex mix of nobility and betrayal and circumstances that made it had to tell which was which. That’s always true of these things, I suppose. For me though, it began the day she rode into town on a beaten up motorcycle." A mysterious rider arrives in the coastal town of Angle River during its winter sleep. Is she just visiting 'the friend of a friend' from the old country or is she "a quiet angel of death with a soft Irish voice" come to tap her victim on the shoulder?

Living a hustlers life on the mean streets of the city ain't easy! Working long hours every day just to survive.But it's even tougher when you've lost a friend on those very same streets. And you're within reach of the one who killed him!There's something in the water, preying on men, women, children and animals along the UK coastline. For two years, Simon, a teenager, has been tasked with providing live bodies for the thing. Like his father before him, he has a natural ability for the work and is even beginning to think he might enjoy it. Then the creature asks for something he cannot give. The life of his sister. He has a window of just a few hours to save both their lives and so begins a bloody journey in search of rescue, revenge and redemption.

In a future where the human race barely survived extinction, 21-year-old Anerius Novengard is a member of an arcane military order of mages. When a comet hazardously flies towards a peaceful space colony, he is given a special initiatory mission to protect a government official who had been the victim of several assassination attempts. What Anerius discovers will forever change his world.An epic scifi short story telling the tale of betrayal and war.In a future where the human race barely survived extinction, 21-year-old Anerius Novengard is a member of an arcane military order of mages. He struggles to avoid falling prey to the dark elements which seek to ensnare him at every turn, being able to overcome their pull by the aid of his love interest and mentor. At the same time that a comet hazardously flies towards a peaceful space colony, he is given a special initiatory mission to protect a government official who had been the victim of several assassination attempts. What Anerius discovers during his mission will forever change his world, and that of those around him. This short read is for fans of space sagas and magic.

Airships, floating cities, and Steampunk adventure. Let the fabulous Nina Swift sweep you into her incredible dystopian future. Join the fabulous Nina Swift ducking and diving her way through a dystopian future via friendship, adventure, betrayal, and assassins. As Nina dives into the mystery of her mother’s past, she discovers the greatest secret of the age.The day after Nina Swift’s twenty-first birthday, she sets out to retrace her famous mother’s final, fatal journey.Within days she’s wanted for murder, arson, manslaughter, and piloting an unlicensed airship. Suddenly, everyone, including the psychopathic Lieutenant Borker, wants a slice of her. Literally.Join the fabulous Nina Swift ducking and diving her way through a dystopian future via friendship, adventure, betrayal, and assassins. As Nina dives into the mystery of her mother’s past, she discovers the greatest secret of the age.Appreciation for Gaia’s Brood:"This is probably the most amazing indie story I’ve ever read. The descriptive words used paint the picture so vividly it’s almost as if I’m watching a movie and the words simply help narrate. Incredible!" Lyrical_love22 (Wattpad fan)“Gaia’s Brood is incredibly well crafted! Can’t stop reading it.” @Alkinea (Author of the Blue and Green Fairy Tales).

Putting together jigsaw puzzles brings unexpected adventures for two cousins. Rachel and Toby discover that keeping a baby dragon, especially one with a tendency to grow larger every day, is no easy task.A short jaunt behind the veil: a journey into the shadowy world that exists underneath and around the world that most humans are aware of. This is a complete setting, with multiple stories planned within it. Each story has the ability to stand on it's own, but will also allow for a complete picture with multiple overlapping characters and stories to be enjoyed. Come and enjoy the world, one story at a time.

Every kid wishes for magic, but not Miriam Mermelstein. She wished for something real, but what turned out to be real, was not what she expected. Magic Sucks is a humorous middle-grade fantasy about miscommunication between young people and adults. Not all of the adults in this story are human. Best for ages 8 to 10.Every kid wishes for magic, but not Miriam Mermelstein. She wished for something real, but what turned out to be real, was not what she expected.Magic Sucks is a humorous middle-grade fantasy about miscommunication between young people and adults. Not all of the adults in this story are human.Mom was beaming. “I hate shopping,” she said with passion. “Hmmm. How about a tube of ultra marine blue.” I reached into my sampo and pulled out a tube of ultra marine blue watercolor. Mom took it into her cupped hands, hugging it to her chest. “Paint!” she whispered reverently.“Miriam,” Dad said. He didn’t sound too thrilled about the shopping thing. “Take out a hundred dollar bill.”I did.“My god.” Mom blanched. “The mortgage.”“Not the mortgage, Rose. A ten-year old with an unlimited supply of hundred dollar bills.”“Maybe they’re counterfeit?”“Worse. A ten year old with an unlimited supply of counterfeit hundred dollar bills.” They stopped talking and just stared at each other.“I guess you don’t want to see what else they gave me,” I said.“What!” they both shouted at me.This is a story about a girl, her cat, her parents...and the entire kingdom of Ardu, which is located in the SE corner of Fairyland.

In this explosive new world of betrayals and shaky alliances, the only Alterant not incarcerated faces an impossible task -- recapture three dangerous, escaped creatures before they slaughter more humans . . . or her. The way Evalle Kincaid sees it, saving mankind from total destruction should have cleared her name. But when words uttered in the heat of combat are twisted against her, she's blamed for the prison break of three dangerous Alterants. She has one chance to clear the cloud of suspicion hanging over her . . . for good. All she has to do is recapture the escapees. But deals with gods and goddesses are tricky at best, and now the lives of all Beladors, and the safety of innocent humans, rides on Evalle's success. The only person she can ask for help wants to see her dead.

In the second book in New York Times  and USA Today  bestselling author Molly McAdams’ Thatch series, Knox Alexander must convince his long-time love Harlow Evans that they’re meant to be together. He promised to wait for her. She told him he was wasting his time. Not waiting for him ended up being the biggest mistake of her life. When they were younger, Knox Alexander swore to Harlow Evans that he would wait for her to turn eighteen so they could be together. But that was three and a half years away, and Harlow couldn’t ask him to give up all the fun and thrills of going away to college for her. As the years passed, Knox remained a constant in her life—whether she liked it or not—but when her eighteenth birthday came around, Harlow’s heart belonged to someone else. Every day for the last four years, Harlow has been haunted by that fateful choice. And though he may appear unaffected by what happened in their past, Knox has always tried to fill the void Harlow left. But when he comes stumbling back into her life and refuses to leave, will Harlow finally let him into her heart…?

A classic story of moral struggle in an age of turbulent social change and the final book in Chinua Achebe’s The African Trilogy When Obi Okonkwo, grandson of Okonkwo, the main character in Things Fall Apart returns to Nigeria from England in the 1950s, his foreign education separates him from his African roots. No Longer at Ease, the third and concluding novel in Chinua Achebe’s The African Trilogy, depicts the uncertainties that beset the nation of Nigeria, as independence from colonial rule loomed near. In Obi Okonkwo’s experiences, the ambiguities, pitfalls, and temptations of a rapidly evolving society are revealed. He is part of a ruling Nigerian elite whose corruption he finds repugnant. His fate, however, overtakes him as he finds himself trapped between the expectation of his family, his village—both representations of the traditional world of his ancestors—and the colonial world.  A story of a man lost in cultural limbo, and a nation entering a new age of disillusionment, No Longer at Ease is a powerful metaphor for his generation of young Nigerians. **Review "Chinua Achebe is a magical writer — one of the greatest of the twentieth century." — Margaret Atwood "It is a measure of Achebe's creative gift that he has no need whatsoever for prose fireworks to light the flame of his intense drama. Wothry of particular attention are the characters. Achebe doesn't create his people with fastidiously detailed line drawings: instead, he relies on a few short strokes that highlight whatever prominent features will bring the total personlaity into three-dimensional life." — Time "The power of majesty of Chinua Achebe's work has, literally, opened the world to generations of readers. He is an ambassador of art, and a profound recorder of the human condition." — Michael Dorris "He is one of the few writers of our time who has touched us with a code of values that will never be ironic. This great voice." — Michael Ondaatje From the Trade Paperback edition. From the Publisher The story of a man whose foreign education has separated him from his African roots and made him parts of a ruling elite whose corruption he finds repugnant. More than thirty years after it was first written, this novel remains a brilliant statement on the challenges still facing African society.

The scion of a coal-mining empire sides against his family in the bloody fight to unionize Colorado’s mines in this gripping sequel to *King Coal* The son of a prominent coal magnate, Hal Warner is horrified by the dangerous working conditions, long hours, and starvation wages endured by the men who toil in his family’s mines. He tries to rouse other members of his privileged class to a similar state of indignation, but soon faces a much more severe test of his progressivism. When a labor group organizes a massive strike and the mining companies respond with punishing brutality, Hal’s commitment to the cause of reform becomes a matter of life and death. The Coal War is Upton Sinclair’s searing follow-up to King Coal. Based on events surrounding the Ludlow Massacre of 1914, it dramatizes one of the most significant conflicts between labor and capital in American history and offers an unflinching look at the shocking realities of a miner’s life in the early twentieth century. Published posthumously, this powerful and tragic novel is one of Sinclair’s finest. This ebook has been authorized by the estate of Upton Sinclair.

Madeline Deveridge is aware of the whispers behind her back, the rumors that she dispatched her husband to the next world and concealed her crime. But she has a far more pressing problem than her reputation as the Wicked Widow. It's impossible to believe that her late husband is haunting her and her aunt, but something odd is happening, and Madeline doesn't dare take chances. Summoning the brilliant, reclusive Artemas Hunt, secret owner of London's favorite pleasure pavilions and master of arcane talents, she blackmails him into providing help. As soon as the bargain is struck, Artemas and Madeline find their arrangement complicated by searing desire, and the frightening recognition that the ghost poses a very real danger. Now they must plunge into a world of intrigue and ancient mysteries, where a calculating killer--and a tantalizing passion--will not be denied.

If you had to name a statue, any statue, odds are good you'd mention the Statue of Liberty. Have you seen her? She's in New York. She's holding a torch. And she's in mid-stride, moving forward. But why? In this fascinating, fun take on nonfiction, Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris investigate a seemingly small trait of America's most emblematic statue. What they find is about more than history, more than art. What they find in the Statue of Liberty's right foot is the powerful message of acceptance that is essential to an entire country's creation. A Junior Library Guild selection

These poetic, inspiring essays offer remarkable insights into the world of a gifted woman who was deaf and blind. Keller relates her impressions, perceived through the senses and imagination, of the world's beauty and promise.

Thomas Mann's final novel recounts the strange and entranced career of the gifted swindler, Felix Krull, through his childhood and early manhood. Krull is a man unhampered by moral precepts that govern the conduct of ordinary mortals, and this natural lack of scruple, coupled with his formidable mental and physical endowments, enables him to develop the arts of subterfuge and deception with astonishing success and to rise swiftly from poverty to affluence. Following Krull along the shady paths his nature has destined him to take, the reader moves through a world peopled by bizarre characters from the lowest to the highest reaches of European society. Chameleon-like, Krull readily adapts himself to the situation of the moment, and so adept in the practices of chicanery does he become that his victims almost seem to count themselves privileged. And so it is too with the women who encounter the irresistible Krull, for where Krull is, the normal laws of human behavior are in suspense. Originally the character of Felix Krull appeared in a short story Mann wrote in 1911. The story wasn't published until 1936, in the book Stories of Three Decades along with 23 other stories written from 1896 to 1929, the year in which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Much later, he expanded the original story into a novel, managing to finish and publish Part 1, "The Early Years," of the Confessions of Felix Krull to great public success. Due to Mann's death in 1955 the saga of the morally flexible and irresistible con-man remains unfinished.

Adam Griffey is living two lives. By day, he teaches literature. At night, he steals it. Adam is a plagiarist, an expert reader with an eye for great works. He prowls simulated worlds perusing virtual texts, looking for the next big thing. And when he finds it, he memorizes it page by page, line by line, word for word. And then he brings it back to his world. But what happens when these virtual worlds begin to seem more real than his own? What happens when the people within them mean more to him than flesh and blood? What happens when a living thing falls in love with someone who does not actually exist?