Fans of fluffy romance novels and that all-too-familiar, over-hyped, edge-of-the-seat crap should steer clear. This is life at its most jaded. Offense Mechanisms is proud to present Bleach | Blackout by David S. Grant, two novels about drugs, sex, revenge, the corporate crunch, and the inevitable unpleasantness of life and death.Caroline's life is on track. She's about to get her nursing degree and she's engaged to rich, handsome Trevor. But, before they get married, Trevor wants Caroline to spend the summer in Louisiana, getting to know her father, who's never been in her life. She reluctantly agrees and heads south, deep into bayou country where she meets Cade. Charming and handsome, he's pulling out all the stops to convince her that he's the man for her, not Trevor. As she becomes frightened by a series of strange accidents that began after her arrival, she learns that the woman haunting her dreams is actually a long-dead family member come to warn her about the men in her life. Caroline soon realizes that if she doesn't solve the mysteries from the past, they could permanently alter her future.

This first issue of ChamberFour.com's literary magazine, C4, features all-new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by award winners, first-timers and talented writers from around the globe. Comedy, drama, suspense, thrills, chills and plain old outstanding writing---Issue #1 has it all, DRM-free and free to download.Short story excerpt:She remembered her initial excursion onto the ice, being run into by a boy playing hockey at the end of the rink. Actually, she hardly remembered the collision at all. What she remembered mostly, and held onto, was how nice he had been afterwards, lifting her up, brushing her off, apologizing profusely and asking again and again if she was all right as he held her arm and skated with her to the quiet safety at the far edge of the ice.

This is a narrative of the lost sonnets of the Irish poets of the 1800's and additional Irish cultures with links for readers to investigate on their own.Sometimes we all received messages in our dreams. My dreams lately is to study the culture of my Irish heritage. As I was researching I came across beautiful sonnets of the 1800's poets and thought such art should not be lost. So I gather them together, along with some knowledge and links to publish a short books with links to have readers be able to discover these lost sonnets and cherish them with your loved ones. Enjoy.

Three friends from college set out to change the world but in very different ways. Their efforts put them at odds and Pastor Pat Preston is soon in danger of losing his freedom, family, and hope. Aided by the Alliance, a legal organization defending religious freedom, Pat and his former college classmate Matt Branson, must face off against a former friend who challenges everything Pat believes.Three friends say good-bye after graduation from Princeton. Each is bound by high ideals and a resolute ambition to change the world . . . but unable to anticipate the dramatic events that will bring them back together.Each Sunday, Pastor Pat Preston stands behind the pulpit of his Nashville megachurch, hoping to change the world by proclaiming biblical truth.Newly appointed U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Knox Smith is out to change the world one arrest at a time. He is determined to mandate equality and wipe out intolerance by criminalizing hate speech. And he will prosecute anyone who discriminates against the new legal classes of people he has helped create . . . even Pat Preston.Standing between them is their friend Matt Branson, who now works in the Justice Department.Aided by the Alliance, a legal organization dedicated to defending religious freedom, Pastor Pat fights to hold onto his faith, his family--and his mind.Can Pastor Pat and religious freedom survive this frightening world John Knox Smith is working to create?

Delectus is a short and eclectic anthology ideal for passing the time while you're stuck in line at the bank or bogged down in traffic. Mainstream to westerns, Delectus is well worth a read.Barbie says, “I saw a bloody lady. Do you want to be scared Tiffany?” Tiffany says, “Sure why not, I’ve come this far, might as well, see what you are talking about.” Barbie says, “Well follow me, I will show you, what it means to be scared.” The girls go on their way. It’s getting dark, all of the sudden.The full moon is out. There’s even, dog’s howling at the moon. Tiffany says, “Man is it just me, or did it get dark awful fast?” Eve says, “I think it did get dark, a lot faster than normal.”

Join Thomas in his search to make sense of fragments of conversations and letters from his English students. A short story for lovers of quotations, fables, and anyone who has ever been a teacher or a student.Kayla Covington is a Private Eye for all occasions on the alien world of Pheros. She is the one you hire to find what you have lost, to glean information on a rival to use against them, or to discreetly remove something that could cause embarrassment. She thought she had seen and heard it all, that was until she was hired to infiltrate a secret society to uncover their secrets and steal their prized artifact. Now the only question that she cares about is, will she make it out of this alive?

A collection of one hundred poems of different forms and lengths.Have a seat before the fire place of old Peter Perry's cabin as he opens the first of seven Journals. The Journals were in an old leather trunk soaked with storm water from a flood that entered his little cabin in Alaska. A young man named Patrick encourages old Peter to restore the wet Journals by retelling the story associated with each one. As old Peter Perry leaned back in his rocking chair he opens his mouth by saying, "it began here in Alaska, it was here where I discovered FAITH ON ICE". Old Peter began his story in San Diego CA as a youth with a hunger and endeavor to be a fisherman as his grandfather. Yet God had something else planned for Peter as he started his journey toward the north, toward the Alaska frontier, it was there where he found the old rugged cross.

With the same ebullient storytelling, luxuriant prose, and irrepressible eroticism he brought to The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts and Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord, Louis de Bernières continues his chronicle of Cochadebajo, the Andean village where macho philosophers, defrocked priests, and reformed (though hardly inactive) prostitutes cohabit in cheerful anarchy. But this unruly utopia is imperiled when the demon-harried Cardinal Guzmán decides to inaugurate a new Inquisition, with Cochadebajo as its ultimate target.        On his side, the Cardinal has an army of fanatics who are all too willing to destroy bodies in order to save souls. The Cochadebajeros have precious little ammunition, unless you count chef Dolores's incendiary Chicken of a True Man, and a civil defense that deems nothing more crucial than the act of love. Part epic, part farce, The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzmán confirms de Bernières's reputation as England's answer to Gabriel García Márquez.

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Anne Tyler's The Beginner's Goodbye. In the small town of Larksville, the Pike family is hopelessly out of step with the daily rhythms of life after the tragic, accidental death of six-year-old Janie Rose. Mrs. Pike seldom speaks, blaming herself, while Mr. Pike is forced to come out of his long, comfortable silence. Then there is ten-year-old Simon, who is suddenly without a baby sister -- and without understanding why she's gone. Those closest to this shattered family must learn to comfort them -- and confront their own private shadows of hidden grief. If time cannot draw them out of the dark, then love may be their only hope....