Stepping Out on a Limb

      BobA. Troutt
     Stepping Out on a Limb

Stepping Out on A Limb is a collection of new stories “with refreshing ideas.” A summary of taking the stories one more step or to the edge of exciting reading. The flavor is exciting and the plots are rewarding.ONE NIGHT STANDWhen two strangers meet in an Atlanta bar they indulge in a one night stand. Unknowingly, later on, it will involve them in an experience they never expected. JUNCTION 447, US HIGHWAY 10A surprising event unveiled in this story causes the truths of a group of people to be exposed. The awakening moments spiral out of control and cause them to take a loss.EXIT 537Each of us is on a journey, taking life as it come to us. What lies ahead appears from where we have been, directing our ways as we go. No one knows where the chips will fall. Life is unexpected; you have to be ready at all times.THE WITHERING VINEIn the valley of Uz, near the plains of Omar, a young man name Aaron lived. He was a keeper of the ground and the Lord watched over him. He was truly blessed with an enriched life until trouble came. Would he endure to the end or give up? That is his test.THE CURSE OF THE SCARECROW MURDERSThree young men start off with a bullying incident that leaves a town in ruins. The night fires and the raging flames haunt the night sky and lurk over the town as the smell of death lingers in the air.

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    I was Made in America

      Chad Johnson
     I was Made in America

This is a book of poems about unemployment, the economy, and the 99% vs. 1%.WARNING! This is a Zed Lab Experiment! "The green points" description:An evening in summer to the beginning of the years '80, a teen-ager and one friend of his of a few older years are found on a bench of the public gardens to speak of the future. Alternating serious and joky tones, the two young people share certainties, doubts, hopes and fears, preparing himself to the entry in the adult phase of their lives in a historical period marked by deep social changes, political and of custom that will characterize the years to come in general in Italy and in the world.

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    Johnny and The USed Wonz

      DaNeo Duran
     Johnny and The USed Wonz

This, DaNeo's 2nd 1980s set novel, follows Little Spirit. The USed Wonz are a UK mixed-sex 4-piece rock band touring America. But someone is either out to ruin them or Linda, their delightful booking agent. Highly compelling, the story tells of Johnny's brutal upbringing which developed his ability to handle challenges and explains his romantic obsession with one particular older women.In a dressing room in Wichita minutes before show time Johnny feels like a caged animal. His English band The USed Wonz mightn’t be enjoying the same degree of success Stateside that Little Spirit are in England but they believe they’re doing well. Records and concert tickets are selling. But Johnny knows that the American recording conglomerate that markets and distributes their album could be having a change of heart and might terminate their contract. They need a second album. But Johnny has jeopardised that by gambling the money they’ve been advanced to pay for its recording.Believing he’s ruined his band’s chances of further success he contacts the only person in America who would care.Alone and working late in her office Saturday, Linda the band's delightful agent picks up Johnny’s call. Unfortunately she has problems of her own. The booking agency she’s spent years developing is in trouble. Can she help the band anyway?Johnny and The USed Wonz is DaNeo Duran’s second novel and begins on the day Little Spirit ends. Deeply emotional, Johnny and The USed Wonz takes the reader back to 1970s England when a teenage boy escapes the violence of an alcoholic father. Love the child who grows into a martial artist and musician and who as a young man leads his band into the 1980s towards the promise of success in the USA.Set in the UK and America the writing is both mature and sensitive. As with Little Spirit, aspiring musicians will enjoy Johnny and The USed Wonz as well as fans of romance and drama.

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    Bendio Joules--If Not For You

      Michael Allender
     Bendio Joules--If Not For You

The 1st in a collection of 14 short stories by Abbie Joules about her brother, Bendigo, as they grew up on an east Texas Farm. Ben's life ended tragically in Abbie's company at the age of eighteen, and she is determined that his memory not vanish forever. She as sculpted an image of a bygone era in which her brother stars in riveting tales, filled with humor, adventure and love.Bendigo Joules, raised on a small farm in east Texas in the 40's and 50's, scratched out a life filled with the joys, surprises, trials and love that only an adventurous and giving spirit could produce. His life ended tragically in his sister's company at the age of eighteen, and Abbie Joules is determined that his memory not vanish forever. Fortunately 'words work' is her specialty, and she has sculpted an image of a bygone era in which her brother stars in riveting tales filled with humor, adventure, and the full warmth and foibles that humanity has to offer. You will not soon forget the life of Bendigo or his loving sister, Abbie, nor the many characters she paints with both sensitivity and vivid colors: Price and Pleasure Walker, Booptriska Kazmierski, Ziggy Pugh, Cat-Fish and Fish-Cat, and many others. It is a book for readers of any age who want their day to feel warm, bright and friendly."I figured I was a goner," Corrinth said. "That car was going over the edge of the dump, right down into that filth and--BLEWY! I was going to cook, right along with the rats. Can you imagine? On my first date with Ben?" (from The Rat Stomp)Dirk Palowski snatched up Ziggy and chucked him under his arm like a wiener pig, then ran around the track like a tramp hauling a stolen ham, with all the boys in hot pursuit. For the first time in his life, Ziggy was in demand. (from Five Seconds For A Winner)

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    Me, Johnny, and The Babe

      Mark Wirtshafter
     Me, Johnny, and The Babe

This is the story of two 12-year-old best friends growing up on the mean streets of Philadelphia. It chronicles their friendship and tells the remarkable, untold true story of how Babe Ruth came to their local parish to play in one incredible baseball game. That September day in 1923 would forever change the lives of these two friends.This is the story of two 12-year-old boys who were best friends growing up on the mean streets of the Kensington section of Philadelphia. It chronicles their friendship and the conflicts that they faced. It also tells the remarkable, untold true story of how Babe Ruth came to their local parish to play in one incredible baseball game. On a September day in 1923, Babe Ruth was whisked away from the Yankees game to play charity baseball to raise money to pay off the debt for their field. That day would forever change the lives of these two friends.Coming of age in the era of prohibition two young boys find themselves facing the many challenges and dangers of the inner-city. Their love of baseball is their guiding light and source of hope. The improbable events that unfolded during Babe Ruth’s appearance at Boger Field have been lost in baseball history. From the moment Babe put on the Ascension of Our Lord Parish uniform and took the field against the Lit Brother’s team baseball folklore was made.

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    Daddy Wake Up! (A short story about the toll of death on children!)

      Sian Young
     Daddy Wake Up! (A short story about the toll of death on children!)

A story about a child's grief of the death of her father. And whether she will be loved without him.The works of Amser Studios fit together like a puzzle. To see the timeline of this unique universe, please visit AmserStudios.comI hope that you enjoy this and all other Amser Studios reads and ask that you PLEASE REVIEW on sites like goodreads, amazon, barnes and noble, etc as they are being made free temporarily for your convenience. Thank you.Lucifer's Symphony, the novella set directly after this short story is also available (for free) on Smashwords for a limited time!

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    The Far Pavilions

      M. M. Kaye
     The Far Pavilions

A magnificent romantic/historical/adventure novel set in India at the time of mutiny. The Far Pavilions is a story of 19th Century India, when the thin patina of English rule held down dangerously turbulent undercurrents. It is a story about and English man - Ashton Pelham-Martyn - brought up as a Hindu and his passionate, but dangerous love for an Indian princess. It's a story of divided loyalties, of tender camaraderie, of greedy imperialism and of the clash between east and west. To the burning plains and snow-capped mountains of this great, humming continent, M.M. Kaye brings her quite exceptional gift of immediacy and meticulous historical accuracy, plus her insight into the human heart.

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    The Reason You're Alive

      Matthew Quick
     The Reason You're Alive

The New York Times-bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook offers a timely novel featuring his most fascinating character yet, a Vietnam vet embarking on a quixotic crusade to track down his nemesis from the war. After sixty-eight-year-old David Granger crashes his BMW, medical tests reveal a brain tumor that he readily attributes to his wartime Agent Orange exposure. He wakes up from surgery repeating a name no one in his civilian life has ever heard—that of a Native American soldier whom he was once ordered to discipline. David decides to return something precious he long ago stole from the man he now calls Clayton Fire Bear. It might be the only way to find closure in a world increasingly at odds with the one he served to protect. It might also help him finally recover from his wife’s untimely demise. As David confronts his past to salvage his present, a poignant portrait emerges: that of an opinionated and goodhearted American patriot fighting like hell to stay true to his red, white, and blue heart, even as the country he loves rapidly changes in ways he doesn’t always like or understand. Hanging in the balance are Granger’s distant art-dealing son, Hank; his adoring seven-year-old granddaughter, Ella; and his best friend, Sue, a Vietnamese-American who respects David’s fearless sincerity. Through the controversial, wrenching, and wildly honest David Granger, Matthew Quick offers a no-nonsense but ultimately hopeful view of America’s polarized psyche. By turns irascible and hilarious, insightful and inconvenient, David is a complex, wounded, honorable, and loving man. The Reason You’re Alive examines how the secrets and debts we carry from our past define us; it also challenges us to look beyond our own prejudices and search for the good in us all.

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    Ahead of All Parting

      Rainer Maria Rilke
     Ahead of All Parting

The reputation of Rainer Maria Rilke has grown steadily since his death in 1926; today he is widely considered to be the greatest poet of the twentieth century. This Modern Library edition presents Stephen Mitchell’s acclaimed translations of Rilke, which have won praise for their re-creation of the poet’s rich formal music and depth of thought. “If Rilke had written in English,” Denis Donoghue wrote in The New York Times Book Review, “he would have written in this English.” Ahead of All Parting is an abundant selection of Rilke’s lifework. It contains representative poems from his early collections The Book of Hours and The Book of Pictures; many selections from the revolutionary New Poems, which drew inspiration from Rodin and Cezanne; the hitherto little-known “Requiem for a Friend”; and a generous selection of the late uncollected poems, which constitute some of his finest work. Included too are passages from Rilke’s influential novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, and nine of his brilliant uncollected prose pieces. Finally, the book presents the poet’s two greatest masterpieces in their entirety: the Duino Elegies and The Sonnets to Orpheus. “Rilke’s voice, with its extraordinary combination of formality, power, speed and lightness, can be heard in Mr. Mitchell’s versions more clearly than in any others,” said W. S. Merwin. “His work is masterful.”

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    Wish You Were Here

      Graham Swift
     Wish You Were Here

On an autumn day in 2006, on the Isle of Wight, Jack Luxton—once a Devon farmer, now the proprietor of a seaside caravan park—receives the news that his brother, Tom, not seen for years, has been killed in combat in Iraq. For Jack and his wife, Ellie, this will have unexpected, far-reaching effects. For Jack in particular it means a crucial journey: to receive his brother’s remains and to confront his most secret, troubling memories. A hauntingly intimate, deeply compassionate story about things that touch and test our human core, Wish You Were Here also looks, inevitably, to a wider, afflicted world. Moving toward a fiercely suspenseful climax, it brilliantly transforms the stuff of headlines into heart-wrenching personal truth.

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    Far From Over

      April Lindner
     Far From Over

A captivating digital original companion novella to April Lindner's Love, Lucy. Jesse Palladino is used to moving on. As a street musician backpacking through Europe, he’s never in one place for long. Which is why it’s so surprising he can’t seem to move on from Lucy, the girl he fell for in Florence. They parted ways when Lucy returned home to start college, but every crowded piazza and winding cobblestone street reminds Jesse of the time they spent together. Now staying with a friend in Naples, he can’t help wondering if it’s time to pack up and move on again. But just when his mind is made up, something—or someone—might give him a reason to stay.

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    Last Tales of Mercia 8: Audrey the Slave

      Jayden Woods
     Last Tales of Mercia 8: Audrey the Slave

Audrey schemes to escape from slavery at Lord Richard's castle. But the cruel knight Geoffrey keeps a close watch on her every move. Set in the Dark Ages of Engla-lond, the "Last Tales of Mercia" are ten short stories featuring real historical figures and characters from the "Sons of Mercia" series. Though strongly connected to the series and each other, they can be read independently.A romantic comedy set in a Sci-Fi background, Super Born is the first in a book series that follows the journey of a single mom who develops super powers in her thirties. She goes from dealing with the PTA to dealing with the FBI overnight. If adapting to this change is not enough, she must learn to balance her know life to the seductive new freedom her powers offer. How to use the powers without jeopardizing her daughter and her family? If the rules of man no longer apply to you, what is right and what is wrong? Add to that her discovery that there are more women like her and that they are hunted by those who would use their powers, and she has a confusing blend that makes her wonder if she wants the powers at all.A quirky scientist develops a complex theory as to the source of the power of the Super Born women and contracts with an investigative journalist to help him find them. Before long the journalist becomes enamored with the single mom, known now as the B.I.B., and carries on the search for his own reasons. The women's powers do not go unnoticed by the local politicians and the mob who search for them as well.Alliances form and break leading to a climatic battle of all the forces involved

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    The Prophet: Amos

      Francine Rivers
     The Prophet: Amos

A man of solitude, who felt at home among the hills. A man of conviction, who heard when God called. A man of fortitude, who spoke to a nation unwilling to listen. The Israelites rebelled against God and were devoured by war. But first they were warned by a prophet who refused to be turned away. Amos

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