“Proceed to Section Z” is a short story written in a choose-your-own-adventure format. Simultaneously slapstick, literary, and charmingly post-apocalyptic, the story started as a fun thought experiment and wound up inspiring the novel THE MOSTLY WEIRD CHRONICLES OF STEFFAN McFESSEL, also by Ted Wenskus and Marcos Donnelly. Like the free story? Then you'll love the SMASHWORDS novel.By Ted Wenskus and Marcos Donnelly.“Proceed to Section Z” is a parody of the old choose-your-own-adventure format popular in paper books of decades past. This short story, the post-apocalyptic adventures of reluctant hero Steffan McFessel, started as a fun thought experiment and wound up inspiring the novel THE MOSTLY WEIRD CHRONICLES OF STEFFAN McFESSEL, also by Ted Wenskus and Marcos Donnelly.Both literary and slapstick, the work offers two ways to enjoy the plot: (1) by selecting what characters do next at the end of each mini-section and making a one-click jump to the next scene; or (2) by reading straight through all optional scenes to see how the authors mix up the fun and put their characters through their paces.If you enjoy this work, be sure to get your own copy of the full novel (with similar characters but a completely different madcap plot) at Smashwords!

The ‘quiet girl’. The ‘serious girl’. The ‘Oh just ignore her’ girl. There’s always one girl in class like that, isn’t there? Maybe it’s you. Maybe it’s someone else. Maybe you’re glad it’s not you. But maybe, just maybe, the quiet girl’s quiet for a reason. See, she’s got a secret. She sees all your secrets.Maybe you’re lucky the quiet girl’s keeping quietThe ‘quiet girl’.The ‘serious girl’.The ‘Oh just ignore her’ girl.There’s always one girl in class like that, isn’t there?Maybe it’s you.Maybe it’s someone else.Maybe you’re glad it’s not you.But maybe, just maybe, the quiet girl’s quiet for a reason.See, she’s got a secret.She sees all your secrets.

A sequel to the novel Kemamonit. Trapped in the past by an errant spell from her apprentice, Kemamonit battles the barbarian hoards seeking to conquer the Mediterranean.Differel Van Helsing is the 12-year old descendent of Abraham Van Helsing, the conqueror of Dracula and founder of the Caerleon Order, Britain's premier monster-hunting organization. She always knew that one day she would take over as Director from her father, but that wasn't suppose to happen for another nine years.Now her father is dead, and his murderer has made an attempt on her life. She must flee to stay alive, but that cuts her off from any help from her servants and the Order's agents and paramilitary troops. She is on her own; her only ally is a stable cat, while her only hope is her father's mysterious deathbed confession about a secret weapon hidden in the family crypt. She wants to believe him, but how can she be sure it wasn't a delusional dream?More importantly, will she survive long enough to find out?

When teenager George Lock went to live with quirky Great Uncle Harry after both his parents died, he discovered that Harry's house was a fantastic treasure-trove of elf magic, and that a really cute girl lived next-door. Unfortunately there were also Evil dragons and a witch with a taste for humans, and according to the elves it was up to a White Dragon and his Chosen to stop them.Teenaged George Lock didn't know what to expect when he went to live with Great Uncle Harry after both of his parents were killed in an apparent auto accident. The good news was, Harry's suburban Chicago yard was incredible forest and jungle, his huge quirky house was a treasure trove of magic elf books and other artifacts, and a really cute girl lived next-door. The bad news was that the forested backyard hid a portal to another universe that was inhabited by both elves and their more powerful enemies. Through it came immense Evil tainted Horde dragons that threatened all life on Earth, and an even more Evil witch with a taste for humans. According to ancient elf legends it was up to a White Dragon and his Chosen to stop the all-powerful Dark One and his Horde from consuming all life in the multiverse, and according to Harry the Chosen One might be young George.

Raised in a little fishing town, Cairo Goodridge instead opts for a bigger brighter future in the concrete jungle, New York City. Success surrounds him, but all good things have to come to an end. After the cruel hand of mother nature brings destruction and desolation to his new home. He is forced to survive in the new untamed twisted city, were being human just doesn't cut it any more!Joshua Laden is tired of ashram life. Setting out with a group of friends, he goes in search of a mysterious Yogi living in isolation far up into the mountains. It is said that this man has achieved Enlightenment - the divine state of bliss - and not only that, he is willing to share his experience with anyone willing to make the effort to go and find him... A short story

A handful of soldiers make their way through the wilderness in the year 2142 to reach Olympia, the abandoned capital of the fallen state of Washington.In the fallen state of Washington lies a deserted city, Olympia. Empty buildings wait in the frost, pillaged at the end of the 21st century, back when the place tried to survive after the Dissolution of the Union. The city is dead now, and only a handful of elite soldiers have dared make their way through the wilderness to obey orders, to retrieve something rare and precious in the heart of this accursed ruin.

"Claude works as a security guard at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto), and he becomes fascinated with the Henry Moore sculptures on display in the gallery. Then entranced, then possessed with an incredible connection with the personality of each sculpture, then convinced that there is an entity trapped within each sculpture..." From the Challenging Destiny review by James Schellenberg."Claude works as a security guard at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto), and he becomes fascinated with the Henry Moore sculptures on display in the gallery. Then entranced, then possessed with an incredible connection with the personality of each sculpture, then convinced that there is an entity trapped within each sculpture..." From the Challenging Destiny review by James Schellenberg.Schellenberg says of the stories in this collection, using Claude as an example: "I liked these stories a great deal. In particular, Wolf does a good job with endings. Since we get a lot of detail about the internal life of the characters, the structure that leads to the ending is most often an epiphany, a moment where all those internal musings or developments come together in a rush, like a plateau before the next ascent begins. Not an “I feel ripped off” artsy ending, but an artsy ending that the story is nicely tailored for." https://www.challengingdestiny.com/reviews/findingcreatures.htm(A short story selection from the collection Finding Creatures & Other Stories by C. June Wolf, published by Wattle and Daub Books, 2008.)

Three weird short stories: featuring,in the first, the owner of an auto parts junkyard; in the second, immigrants of Romanian descent; and in the third, the inhabitants of a crawl space.A Junkyard Tradition opens with the dismembering of a cat and progresses through to the murder of a thieving wife. The Immigrants follow, with the police investigating the savage killing of an investment counselor, culminating in the detectives assigned to the case awaiting the next full moon. In Under the Master Bedroom, a newly purchased house has some gruesome history that becomes reality for its new owner.

When Kate awakens in Prince Quallen’s secret cave, she’s sure she’s dreaming. Events unfold and adventure follows as Quallen promises to help her get back. Is she really in Kallaryn and if that's the case, will she ever be able to get back home?If there’s one thing fifteen-year-old Kate loves, it’s a good book. Her new favorite series, Quallen’s Quest, follows the Faerie prince in the land of Kallaryn as he goes from one adventure to another. When Kate awakens in Prince Quallen’s secret cave, she’s sure she’s dreaming. Events unfold and adventure follows as the handsome prince promises to help her get back. Is she really in Kallaryn and if that’s the case, will she ever be able to get back home?

Five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War. Stephen King, whose first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974, the year before the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam, is the first hugely popular writer of the TV generation. Images from that war -- and the protests against it -- had flooded America's living rooms for a decade. Hearts in Atlantis, King's newest fiction, is composed of five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War. In Part One, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," eleven-year-old Bobby Garfield discovers a world of predatory malice in his own neighborhood. He also discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror. In the title story, a bunch of college kids get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest...and confront their own collective heart of darkness, where laughter may be no more than the thinly disguised cry of the beast. In "Blind Willie" and "Why We're in Vietnam," two men who grew up with Bobby in suburban Connecticut try to fill the emptiness of the post-Vietnam era in an America which sometimes seems as hollow -- and as haunted -- as their own lives. And in "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," this remarkable book's denouement, Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him. Full of danger, full of suspense, most of all full of heart, Stephen King's new book will take some readers to a place they have never been...and others to a place they have never been able to completely leave.

The New York Times bestselling author of Bared to You, Sylvia Day, draws us into the shadows of a seductive underworld where lycans, vampires and angels vie for supremacy… Elijah Reynolds is the most dominant of lycans, a rare Alpha whose skill on the hunt is surpassed only by his primal sexuality. When the lycans revolt due to the iron fist of angelic rule, he steps into command, becoming both enemy and coveted ally in the conflict between vampires and angels. Vashti is the second most powerful vampire in the world, a lethal beauty with a path of devastation in her wake. Tasked with proposing an alliance between vampires and the lycans who killed her mate, Vash approaches Elijah, whose need to avenge a friend demands Vash’s death even as his passion demands her surrender. Soon, their enmity erodes beneath an all-consuming desire. Elijah has never encountered a woman whose warrior spirit and fierce sexual appetite rivals his own, while Vash is faced with the one man strong enough to be her equal. But as war looms, each must decide where their loyalty lies—with their own kind or with the enemy lover they can no longer live without.  

An angel is sent to Earth on a mission. But falling in love is not part of the plan. Three angels – Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human – are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments. Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. Gabriel and Ivy do everything in their power to intervene, but the bond between Xavier and Bethany seems too strong. The angel’s mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?

Following The Black Elfstone, the second book of the epic four-part conclusion to the Shannara series from one of the acknowledged masters of the fantasy genre. Tensions in the Four Lands are high. The mysterious force that laid waste to Paranor has revealed a more human face. While some gain a new understanding of the invaders and what they are after, others continue their existing quests even as the peril rises. For what looked to be a formidable invading force proves only the forerunner of a much vaster army--one that is now marching against the Four Lands in all its fury.

Ares, god of war, is leading the other dying gods into battle. Which is just fine with Athena. She's ready to wage a war of her own, and she's never liked him anyway. If Athena is lucky, the winning gods will have their immortality restored. If not, at least she'll have killed the bloody lot of them, and she and Hermes can die in peace. Cassandra Weaver is a weapon of fate. The girl who kills gods. But all she wants is for the god she loved and lost to return to life. If she can't have that, then the other gods will burn, starting with his murderer, Aphrodite. The alliance between Cassandra and Athena is fragile. Cassandra suspects Athena lacks the will to truly kill her own family. And Athena fears that Cassandra's hate will get them all killed. The war takes them across the globe, searching for lost gods, old enemies, and Achilles, the greatest warrior the world has ever seen. As the struggle escalates, Athena and Cassandra must find a way to work together. Because if they can't, fates far worse than death await.

The Summer Book

 TOVE JANSSON

 WITH A FOREWORD BY ESTHER FREUD An elderly artist and her six-year-old grand-daughter while away a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland. As the two learn to adjust to each other's fears, whims and yearnings, a fierce yet understated love emerges - one that encompasses not only the summer inhabitants but the very island itself.

Written in a clear, unsentimental style, full of brusque humour, and wisdom, The Summer Book is a profoundly life-affirming story. Tove Jansson captured much of her own life and spirit in the book, which was her favourite of her adult novels. This new edition, with a Foreword by Esther Freud, sees the return of a European literary gem - fresh, authentic and deeply humane. New and beautifully presented edition of a Scandinavian literary classic by Finland's most translated author should appeal to all ages dissolving boundaries between fiction, biography and travel.