Essay- From Outgoing to Mom

      Steve Lake
     Essay- From Outgoing to Mom

An ode to my son.An ode to my son.Being the party girl, the driven girl was all put to a brisk halt one night.The choices we make in life may change them for the better and here is my tale, my letter, my thoughts.

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    The Ark Angel Ronald's Quest for Chaos

      Jonathan Antony Strickland
     The Ark Angel Ronald's Quest for Chaos

The world is in danger of becoming dull and boring. Evil has gone and the goody-two-shoes have taken over. Without evil all creativity will be lost. The music charts will fill up with boy-bands and rock and roll will die out. This will not do!There is only one explanation for this horrendous occurrence. Satan must have gone soft. But the Ark angel Ronald has plans to change Satan back!The world is in danger of becoming dull and boring. Evil has gone and the goody-two-shoes have taken over. Without evil all creativity will be lost. The music charts will fill up with boy-bands and rock and roll will die out. This will not do!There is only one explanation for this horrendous occurrence. Satan must have gone soft. But the Ark angel Ronald has plans to change Satan back to his old evil loving self. However his quest to convince Satan will not be easy. This is his story.This was actually the first story I wrote, way back in "I think" 1999. It contains adult humour and some violence (though in truth it#s silly, over the top violence).If you have read this story then why not leave a smashwords star review of what you think of it!

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    Catch of the Day

      Simon Haynes
     Catch of the Day

Ken and Steve reluctantly give up their lawnmowing duties for a weekend of fishing, booze and male bonding. Unfortunately the fish aren't biting, supplies are running low and worst of all ... the beer just ran out.Then, without warning, an alien colony ship arrives in orbit, and that's when Ken's problems REALLY start.A 4000 word short story by the author of the Hal Spacejock series.'Potatoes to Gold' is a short story set in the late 1890s, during the West Australian gold rush, and offers an insight into the living conditions that outback pioneering families endured. The story is told from the perspective of a bright, young girl, Cathleen Sophia, who reveals her love of the outback and her devotion to her grandmother, Bridget. And her fear of having to leave them both. Throughout this piece of historical fiction, Bridget's story is also revealed which tells of an Irish girl who is sent to Australia at the age of twelve and spends the remainder of her life adapting to the loss and hardship her new home presents. Her joy and hope and reason for living lie in her granddaughter, Cathleen Sophia, but what happens when inevitable circumstances force yet another change.'Potatoes to Gold' is inspired by the author's great great-grandmother who was sent to Australia from Ireland at the age of twelve. She died in 1898 in Cue, Western Australia.

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    The Big White Coffin

      Brendan Gerad O'Brien
     The Big White Coffin

From the collection Dreamin’ Dreams; A humourous short story in 2,400 words.For years we blamed Pat Hurley - he was the one who told us about the cannibals.I was seven, going on eight and Pat was already eight, so he was the oldest and we believed him.The next day two men came to our house and the tall one bent down and gave a grin that showed a mouthful of enormous teeth ...‘I’ve traded my old enemies for just this one…’ The axe thundered home. ‘I miss the old ones.’Every man has a past, none more so than Draven Reinhardt. Abandoning his old life to settle down as a villager, he struggles to fit in, let alone hold down a job. When opportunity offers the much needed coin, Draven is torn between a promise and a purpose. But, what’s one last job if you’ve already got blood on your hands?‘From Man to Man’ is the story of how one man can change – or not – for the best. Prequel to the upcoming novel ‘It Began With Ashes’, the short (6400 words) introduces the reader to a world of suspense, intrigue, and action.BONUS MATERIAL:Exclusive preview chapter from ‘It Began With Ashes’.

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    The Very Best of Socially Awkward Penguin

      Steve Evans
     The Very Best of Socially Awkward Penguin

"It's only funny when it happens to someone else"Meet Socially Awkward Penguin. Just your average everyday flightless bird that's trying to make his way in this ever confusing world. Yet along the way, he seems to find every socially awkward moment and situation that has ever existed (plus a few new ones!) which is awkward for him, but funny for us!"It's only funny when it happens to someone else"Meet Socially Awkward Penguin. Just your average everyday flightless bird that's trying to make his way in this ever confusing world. Yet along the way, he seems to find every socially awkward moment and situation that has ever existed (plus a few new ones!) which is awkward for him, but funny for us!So sit back and enjoy this premium collection of some of the funniest, most socially awkward moments you'll ever find in one eBook, and just hope you never find yourself in the same situation.Everyone loves a Quikee!Quikees are a new type of eBook designed to deliver maximum entertainment at the lowest possible price. Follow us on twitter @quikees or online at quikees.com to keep up with the news and new eBook releases as they happen. Everyone has time for a quikee!

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    Eight Hour Fiction #1

      Travis Hill
     Eight Hour Fiction #1

Inspired by a JA Konrath challenge to write, edit, create a cover, and publish a short story in eight hours or less. A Career Move - A crash-landed alien tries to find his career path but isn't having much luck...3072 word short storyCapture At The Hive - The Evil Queen Mother has finally captured General Megatron, Defender of the Galaxy. 421 word flash fiction story (children's story)Inspired by a JA Konrath challenge to write, edit, create a cover, and publish a short story in eight hours or less. A Career Move - A crash-landed alien tries to find his career path but isn't having much luck...3072 word short story (teen+ appropriate)Capture At The Hive - The Evil Queen Mother has finally captured General Megatron, Defender of the Galaxy. 421 word flash fiction story (safe for children)

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    Unbalanced Party: Fool Me Cockatrice

      Lee Newman
     Unbalanced Party: Fool Me Cockatrice

The Unbalanced Party are at it again. Contracted to catch a troublesome cockatrice, much to Mordwin's chagrin, the lads find a little more than they bargained for in this fantasy humor tale. Roll for initiative and dive into "Unbalanced Party: Fool Me Cockatrice!"1. The Centre of the Universe:In stilled silenced auditorium, silver shimmering, glass beaded crystal chandelier, jingling, jangling, glancing chiming winded spherical mirror wall, dimly lit; safety lighted exit and entry points, a crackling static, surroundinglit round mirror ball panelled, closed walled room, between dark strange energies, pulling and pushing this way and that.Each corner point the space inside indeterminable, exacting, around the outside, indeterminate, moving points; converging floor and ceiling walls colliding,within holographic cubed and cuboid beyond, encircling inner and outer, each to each other, musical dissonant, consonant accretion to the spheres of influence,each corner point the space inside indeterminable, exacting, around the outside, indeterminate, moving points; converging floor and ceiling walls colliding,within holographic cubed and cuboid beyond, encircling inner and outer, each to each other, consonant accretion to the spheres of influence,musical dissonant, disturbing the silence within, crackling, between and amongst resting and simmering linear lit points snapping, crackling across tearing split breaking points, decaying in direction of travel, and pitch, between formation, annihilation, and transformation. Howling sounds, emanating from who knows where; along a corridor, sounds resoundingone-way, only another, one-way out, another room seen, the outer edge reflected in; in the centre looking out,where flashes of light might leap through, louder and softer shimmering, glaring, blaring, pulling-in and thundering-along,

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    Sole Survivarrrgh

      Michael D. Britton
     Sole Survivarrrgh

Reporter Holly Gooding's first major news story for Channel 8 News takes a turn for the weird when the guy she's sent to interview - the only person to survive a plane crash off the coast of Florida - happens to be a pirate.iHearts - They are really a super active lil clan – some would say hyper – with a heavy stress on “active” – a different kind of support group dedicated to “giving back” and working together for “healthy community”.Very into the historical perspective – they love history; they are that nerdy! – and when they are really into their “zone” – their best thing, actually – they refer themselves as the “Lion Hearts”, reinvented for the virtual, icloud age. Lighting and Leading the way to a better world – they are sorely needed!!!There are many gangs, clicks and other very active groupings all around us today, all too busy doing harm, causing hurt, leading with the negative or ugly, or just de-valuing and obstructing for its’ own sake. Tearing down is easy – building up is the hard part!The ihearts seek to foster “gangs” for good, to lead with the positive and all that is beautiful, to build the positive centers needed for real progress.They are extremely well connected and adept at using all virtual and icloud means to do so – always balancing with the traditional in everything.Their main focus is to respond to the many calls to “do something”, to “say something” in response to what the gang broadly calls “worrisome behavior”.They “get it” that meaningful action is often very difficult and unsettling – that digging beyond the reactionary is essential for meaningful solutions…..….. And that always “being there” in support of the troubled is often the most important response.

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    The Loss of Liberty

      John Willans
     The Loss of Liberty

A humorous story about an old soldier who paddles his own canoe.The Loss of Liberty is a humorous short story about a resourceful old soldier who builds himself a canoe. He and his grandson take it for its maiden voyage with disastrous consequences. The Loss of Liberty is the first book in a trilogy of adventures featuring Arnold Clegghorne and his grandson Michael.

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    Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse

      Victor Gischler
     Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse

Mortimer Tate was a recently divorced insurance salesman when he holed up in a cave on top of a mountain in Tennessee and rode out the end of the world. Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse begins nine years later, when he emerges into a bizarre landscape filled with hollow reminders of an America that no longer exists. The highways are lined with abandoned automobiles; electricity is generated by indentured servants pedaling stationary bicycles. What little civilization remains revolves around Joey Armageddon's Sassy A-Go-Go strip clubs, where the beer is cold, the lap dancers are hot, and the bouncers are armed with M16s. Accompanied by his cowboy sidekick Buffalo Bill, the gorgeous stripper Sheila, and the mountain man Ted, Mortimer journeys to the lost city of Atlanta -- and a showdown that might determine the fate of humanity.

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    Spoticus

      Andrew Francis
     Spoticus

How one boy and an army of children overthrow the worst Prime Minister in British history.When bonkers Colonel Spackman becomes Prime Minister, his England for Adults party set about making sure that children are seen but not heard. But when every teenager in the land disappears overnight, Lewis Spottiswood decides it’s time to make a stand. His freedom march to the Isle of Wight Correction Zone attracts disaffected children from every town they pass. But, with government assassins hot on his trail, can Lewis lead his rebel army to victory?

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    Employment Interview With A Vampire

      J Bennett
     Employment Interview With A Vampire

(Short story) When Deidre finds herself unemployed, she eagerly accepts an interview for a housekeeping position. She’s in for a surprise. Not only is her prospective boss a vampire, but he's also cranky, still ardently votes for Eisenhower and gets dangerous when his prune juice runs low. Can Deidre make it as a vampire's housekeeper? First, she’ll have to survive the interview!And you thought your boss was cold! At the age of 24, Deidre finds herself unemployed with few job skills and a growing pile of overdue bills. When a perky career counselor suggests an open housekeeping position, Deidre knows this could be her only chance for a decent job.She doesn't bother asking many questions...like what the career counselor meant when she said the employer had certain "peculiarities".Deidre is in for a very unpleasant surprise. Not only is her prospective boss a vampire, but he's also cranky, adamantly prefers the telegraph over the telephone and gets dangerous when his prune juice isn't delivered on time. Oh, and he also has a strong fondness for another kind of liquid refreshment, one that he prefers warm and fresh.In this hilarious and satirical short story (approx. 4,300 words), author J. Bennett takes on the wildly popular vampire mythology and gives it a certain grizzled spin. As Deidre will discover, not all vampires are eternally-young , virile romantics who effortlessly keep up with the times. Some of them delight in wearing bow-ties, continue to enthusiastically vote for Eisenhower in each election, and consider the television to be witch magic.Can Deidre make it as a vampire's housekeeper? To find out, she'll first have to survive the job interview!

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    The Farm

      JT Pearson
     The Farm

After a war that nearly wipes everyone out, famine becomes the biggest problem as the toxic aftermath won't allow any growth. All of the plants and animals are nearly gone and people are dwindling. Then scientist come through by setting up farms in the vacant skyscrapers, using artificial sunlight and a sophisticated watering system. This story focuses on the regular schlubs that guard the farm.After a war that nearly wipes everyone out, famine becomes the biggest problem as the toxic aftermath won't allow any growth. All of the plants and animals are nearly gone and people are dwindling. Then scientist come through by setting up farms in the vacant skyscrapers, using artificial sunlight and a sophisticated watering system. This story focuses on the regular schlubs that guard the farm. The only reason that the people that remained survived the famine was because they had slow metabolisms. The remaining society consists of former fatties. Not survival of the fittest, the narrator points out, but survival of the fattest. The two friends get themselves into a bind when one of them is challenged to an honor duel by a mutant.

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    Good as Gold

      Joseph Heller
     Good as Gold

Bruce Gold, a middle-aged, Jewish professor of English literature, finds himself on the brink of a golden career in politics -- and not a moment too soon, as Gold yearns for an opportunity to transform a less-than-picture-perfect life: His children think little of him, his intimidating father endlessly bullies him, and his wife is so oblivious that she doesn't even notice he's left her. As funny as it is sad, Good as Gold is a story of children grown up, parents grown old, and friends and lovers grown apart -- a story that is inimitably Heller.

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    Night Watches

      W. W. Jacobs
     Night Watches

Night Watches - Complete Series is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

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