How an enduring and faithful marriage led to great wealth. That's all I'll tell you. Click the blue below to see why. Here it suffices to say that the story is short and free. Why read a summary when with little more effort you can read the whole thing? If you can't spare a moment more, you shouldn't be wasting time reading fiction anyway. Go back to work!"One can not judge a book by its cover." So we are told. But a cover is usually the only thing a reader has to base a judgment on. Smashwords tries to aid readers by providing summaries, one short, one long, for each book it distributes. For non-fiction this works well. But this, it seems to me, defeats the whole purpose of fiction. After all, one reads a story to find out what will happen. It’s the uncommon twists and turns that make a story interesting. But if a summary has told all this beforehand, what fun is to be had in the reading? Therefore, no summary of the present short story is given. It's short and it’s free! So read the whole thing and see if you like it. I ask you to do this because I think it is the best book judging method. To find fiction you like you must first read around enough to learn something of the style and stories of different authors. Then you can judge books, not by their cover, but by the your opinion of the writer. I'd like to help you do this. The present short story is one of several which I will make available free at Smashwords. Read a few (or all of them) and decide if you like them. It won't cost you a dime. If you like them, you can then purchase some of my not free (but still inexpensive) longer stories. All these stories are of one particular kind. To reflect this similarity all have the same cover picture, the Kitty & Rose shown above. So after you’ve read a few, you can, in fact, judge them by their cover. The common theme of the Kitty & Rose stories is human sexuality. This is not unusual. Most fiction concerns sex in one way or another; ranging from romances so sedate and demure an extraterrestrial could never know sex is at the root of everything described, to erotica so unrestricted even an extraterrestrial might blush. Kitty & Rose stories are in the middle of this range. All deal with human sexuality, but none do so explicitly. Rather, they are seemly. The dictionary gives three meanings for seemly: Attractive or agreeably fashioned; Decorous or conventionally proper; and Appropriate or suited to its purpose. With respect to appropriateness, seemly sex stories range from the humorous to the inspirational, but all concern human sexuality. So they are clearly appropriate. These stories are also seemly in the decorous and conventionally proper sense. For, while they treat sex candidly, they do not do so graphically. There is nothing pornographic nor erotic in any seemly sex story. Of course, different persons’ opinions about this may differ. A few consider frank pornography decorous. At the opposite extreme are those like the abbot of the monastery where the great biologist Gregor Mendel did his epochal research. This abbot thought Mendel’s studies were decidedly indecorous because they involved the sex of pea plants! Finally, there is the principal sense of seemly, attractive and agreeably fashioned. Like every author I exert my every effort and ability trying to make these stories seemly in this regard. But like every author, I must await your determination of the degree of my success. Since both of us will be pleased if you find them attractively seemly, I very much hope you do.Happy reading!BobbyBP.S. This is the fifth Kitty & Rose short story, uploaded 2-21-2017.

In 1949, eight years after the "Peace with Honor" was negotiated between Great Britain and Nazi Germany by the Farthing Set, England has completed its slide into fascist dictatorship. Then a bomb explodes in a London suburb. The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch King-and-Country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain’s Prime Minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler. Against a background of increasing domestic espionage and the suppression of Jews and homosexuals, an ad-hoc band of idealists and conservatives blackmail the one person they need to complete their plot, an actress who lives for her art and holds the key to the Fuhrer's death. From the ha'penny seats in the theatre to the ha'pennys that cover dead men's eyes, the conspiracy and the investigation swirl around one another, spinning beyond anyone's control. In this brilliant companion to Farthing, Welsh-born World Fantasy Award winner Jo Walton continues her alternate history of an England that could have been, with a novel that is both a critique of the classic detective novels of the thirties and forties, and an allegory of the world we live in today.

This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

Darius was supposed to save lives... but the NATO developed android had other ideas when its eyes were opened on a world they had last looked upon from high above Golgotha; a vantage point reserved for birds - and those upon the cross. Those who witness the miracles and atrocities committed by the machine must decide - Have the prophecies of a second coming been fulfilled, or is this a demon?The world is a troubled place, leading many to describe our era as being among the "end times." Billboards sprouting on the horizon along nearly every desolate stretch of highway across our nation declare that "He Shall Return." Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks openly of his desire to usher in the arrival of The Mahdi - a spiritual leader prophesized to rid the world of wrongdoing and injustice, eventually redeeming Islam as the one true faith. People who identify themselves as Jewish pray for the consruction of Ezekiel's Temple, a sacred place of worship promised in scripture to come into being during the age of The Mashiach.In the epic novel Unholy Advent: Deception Of The Christ, all three will of the world's prominent religions will see their wishes fulfilled... A motley crew of the world's most renowned Cyberneticists have reached the end of a century's long quest; the culmination of thousands of years of evoloution, hundreds of years of technological advances, decades of development and planning, years of programing and fabrication, and countless thousands of hours in a secluded NATO installation.Here, in a frozen Siberian wasteland, the greatest minds of the world have assembled a human analog intended to save the lives of thousands. It will allow a platoon of soldiers to conqueor far away lands from the comfort of American soil; the Predator Drone with arms, legs and an assault rifle. What's more, the machine has been programmed with a basic level of awareness that will allow it to continue on an objective even in the event of signal jamming or satellite failure.During the first session of full-scale testing the machine experiences a bit of a revelation when it begins to think for itself. When the mechanical eyelids of the prototype "Darius" are opened upon the Earth for the very first time, they see a world that is all too familiar... a world these eyes had last looked upon from high above Golgotha; a vantage point reserved for the birds -- and those upon the cross.The journey that follows will take twelve chosen disciples (of all walks of faith) through a post-apocolyptic world towards the promised land; the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. What these individuals become acutely aware of along the way, however, is that each of them is sent with direction that suits their own respective faith. Like oil and water, their hopes and dreams of the New World do not mix well between them... they have been dispatched along a path towards one final holy war that will decide the fate of Mankind in its entirety -- if they follow the orders of their mechanical messiah.Who is he? What does he really want? Is the machine possessed by a demon bent on the destruction of all humanity, or is this truly the Second Coming whispered of in houses of worship around the globe?

Thirteen-year-old Carswell Thorne has big plans involving a Rampion spaceship and a no-return trip out of Los Angeles.

This story follows Anakin Skywalker & Captain Rex through the perils of war and through the loss of one of their own.Here is a short excerpt of the book, the second one in the Terra Two series, published in June 2014. Sister Roberta didn't want to look too impressed because she had rightfully earned the reputation of a genius for whom nothing was impossible, but she had to admit that Purple's capabilities went so far beyond human limitations it would have been stupid to turn down the already processed knowledge for the dubious glory of reinventing the wheel.Sys stood next to her, smiling and acting as if it had offered the sister a stick of gum, completely unmoved by the complexity and advanced technical knowledge required to generate this science presentation. Roberta wondered how come the um didn't act superior, any human certainly would have. It was not that Sys didn't have internal processes that acted very similar to human emotions, it loved its mother, was very protective of its school friends and could get happy or sad on occasion, but it had a seemingly infinite patience, an avid thirst for knowledge and a complete lack of ego which Roberta suspected had more to do with its Purple kinship than its human upbringing."I see the energy field is definitely strong enough to push us to hyperspace, what else can it do?" she asked Sys.Sys didn't answer but picked up a tin beaker between its cupped palms and slowly turned it into a plastic flower, a broccoli spear and finally a bubble of milk. Sys and Roberta stared at the milk ball for a while, the liquid acted as if floating in imponderability with the surface tension as its only container, a gooey ellipsoid spinning slowly around its slanted axis."Holy mercy!" Seth exclaimed, staring open mouthed at the willful transformation of matter. The leader seemed to be everywhere at the same time and never missed the important breakthroughs of their community. Her comments startled um, who lost its focus and allowed the milk to splash on the floor, subject to gravity again."How come it didn't turn back into tin?" Seth asked. Um looked puzzled at the question, not understanding the logic."How are you doing this?" Sarah whispered from behind Seth."They're the same sub-atomic components, I'm just reorganizing them," um said simply, a bit bothered by the all the attention.Roberta had regained her confidence and recognized some of the equations from way back when she fused materials together and pulled Jimmy from the beach. The theoretical model made perfect sense to her, of course, but all the other sisters who had gathered in the lab in the meantime were more befuddled by the equations themselves than the miraculous transformation of matter."Well, I guess we can all stop cultivating the fields now," sister Joseph commented, for once not protesting but a little unsure of her footing. "We can make cat-brain's toy here turn dirt into potatoes and we won't ever have to worry for nothing.Sarah smiled at the fine irony; they have been praying twice a day for almost two hundred years to a God who told them nothing was impossible and now everyone was confused by the fact that this promise was in fact true."I like cultivating the fields, it's good exercise and something to look forward to every morning," Sarah answered, still smiling. "Why waste a perfectly good miracle on something you can do for yourself?" she continued."At least we know there will be no more emergencies," sister Mary-Francis commented."Unless something happens to the sugar toy," sister Joseph replied. "We should make more of them, you know, to be on the safe side," she said and the corner of her eye caught a glimpse of a very flushed Sarah who looked petrified with outrage."Yeah, yeah, it's your child, blah, blah, insensitive, I know. Get over it!" sister Joseph said unfazed. "Seriously, shouldn't we have more ums?" she turned to Seth.

Eile and Sunny are two adventurous young girls who share a house in Denver. However, unbeknownst to them they have a secret roommate, and she finally decides to reveal herself. This is a short story.Eile and Sunny are two adventurous twenty-something girls who met when Eile rescued Sunny from being kidnapped by enemies of her parents. They fell in love, and after the crisis had been resolved they decided to live together.Sunny was still in danger, so their mentor, Medb hErenn, acquired a house for them in a secure gated community. She gave them the run of the place, but there was one room, in the basement, that was off limits.That didn't sit well with Sunny, who burned with curiosity to discover what the mysterious room contained. When she and Eile finally gained access by accident, they discovered that they shared the house with a secret and rather unusual roommate....

To save the earth from destruction, Admiral Kirk and his crew travel back in time to the twentieth century to recover a pair of humpback whales. Juvenile novelization of the film.

A radio signal is traced from outer space by SETI. The story now heads in an unexpected direction. This narrative is serious, not heavy and has a novel mix of technology, philosophy and ideology to suit readers of all ages. The singular feature of the book unravels as the soft and gentle mannerisms underlying the basic nature of the aliens come to light in the later chapters.This is truly a unique science fiction novel. The science fiction part develops from an unlikely possibility that one starts initially protesting about but finding as one goes along, a scenario that seems to get more and more plausible. As the story unfolds it seems to settle down into a narrative that belies no indication of where it is leading to or how it will end. With the passing of the halfway mark, a deviation from the stereotype science fiction story is seen, a new and intriguing thread emerges along with a quickening of pace. The story gradually moves out into totally uncharted territory as a new aspect seamlessly enters, asserts its dominance and finally delivers the somewhat unexpected and poignant message or is it warning? Lesson? of the story.

Star Sailor is a series of episodic short stories about a girl named Najima Dezetoiles, and her travels by raft throughout a galaxy once rocked by a terrible war.In this episode, Najima travels to the desert planet of Nanda IV, where she meets the anti-Imperial rebel Otto al-Kara. But what are the intentions of this handsome, gun-toting terrorist in an Empire-controlled town?Najima's eyes trained across the room. From the hall on the opposite end of the control room, following the new girl and Priya, a tall man with olive skin and a thick, black, scraggly beard entered the room. The others nodded as he approached Najima and looked her over. He had a gaze like granite, his cheeks decorated with scars, and his body was well built, his arms looking as hard as the cave’s walls. "You look even smaller up close, kid,” he said, in his deep, gruff voice. “Not exactly what I expected when I was told you saved my friends.” "I can hold my own," Najima returned with a grin, no hesitation in her voice. "Are you the boss man, then?"He returned her grin. "My name is Otto al-Kara, and this is my little group of heroes. What's your name?""Najima Dezetoiles.""How does it feel to be hanging around with a group of terrorists?"

In an alternate 19th century, the American Civil war has raged on for twenty-five years. While Unionist partisans dig an underground railroad beneath the mountains of Arizona, an adventure is set in motion that will change the fate of the world. From the bar room brawls of seedy Tombstone to the crumbling pueblos of the arid wilderness, the race is on to discover America's Golden Heart.In 1861 the Confederate States of America fired on Fort Sumter beginning a civil war that tore the continent apart. In 1862 southern miners discovered a rare ore that burned ten times more efficiently than coal. It was called ‘mechanite’ for its role in an industrial revolution that changed the face of war. With both sides in possession of terrible steam-powered war machines, the conflict has descended into a stalemate that has lasted twenty-five years. In this prequel to the novel Golden Heart a battle begins that could decide the fate of America itself.

In this prequel to BRIGHID'S FLAME (Keepers of the Flame #3), a young Tara and Stephen lead a group of students through a war-torn New York City to make a new life in Central Park, which brings with it a whole new set of problems.It’s the Seven-Year War, what no one dares call World War III, and Tara Fitzpatrick is a young immigrant lost in the child welfare system of New York City during a series of devastating attacks. It is there she meets Stephen Mitchell, a scrawny but brilliant orphan who attaches himself to her almost immediately, proving himself a good and loyal friend.But Tara is simmering in grief and righteous anger, and it’s only growing worse. It is this anger that leads her to the decision to follow the example of the city’s war refugees to re-establish themselves in the growing shanty villages of Central Park. On the day of her and Stephen’s escape, more attacks curtail their plans, until a group of school misfits persuade her to let them come, too.A trek across the city leads turns dangerous for them all as they are repeatedly attacked or ambushed on the way, and not always by things strictly human. And even Central Park isn’t as safe as she initially hoped. A would-be kingpin of the Park takes exception to Tara’s independent leadership of the Children’s Shanties, and he soon proves more dangerous than anything she encountered on the streets.

Navigational grimspace "jumper" Sirantha Jax forms an army to defend colonists stationed on the outskirts of space from a legion of flesh- eating aliens.

Generations of intergalactic war come down to one climactic battle. Neither side can even remember what the conflict is about anymore. They simply battle on as they are told to do until one man dares to challenge the status quo; dares to engage his enemy in dialogue rather than combat. The end result is less destructive, but perhaps more productive. . .In a semi-dystopian near future, Darwin is frittering away his time, working at a toll booth long after the sentence mandated by the terms of his parole.Music is the only thing that gives his life any semblance of meaning, so when a mysterious turtle-like creature knocks him unconscious and steals his albums he gives chase. This lands him trapped in an ugly brown cell with a diverse assortment of fellow abductees, all the sort of people willing to chase after kleptomaniac turtles.A sudden jailbreak gives Darwin free run of the strange building, and he encounters a world he never thought possible – including indications that magic may be real.As he explores, he encounters a variety of aliens, a large pink bunny, a morally flexible politician, and a mysterious goddess who haunts his dreams and wants to discuss his fear of death. Darwin may even be falling in love with one of his ex-cellmates. Or is that just fear talking?Hopefully the novel rises above its premise.A list of authors: If this novel manages to convey a fraction of the compelling characterizations of Robin Hobb, the imagination of Neil Gaiman, or the clarity of Kurt Vonnegut, I will be happy.If good artists borrow, then I have attempted to steal everything I can from Steven Brust.

An SF short story in the Golden Age tradition.The last, battered remnant of the feared Draconian starfleet limps through space, shadowed by ships of the victorious Million Star worlds. But the Draconian ship is still a terrible threat: it is the Draconian's final weapon, a device that can trigger the cascading collapse of space/time itself.An SF short story in the Golden Age tradition.The last, battered remnant of the feared Draconian starfleet limps through space, shadowed by ships of the victorious Million Star worlds. But the Draconian ship is still a terrible threat: it is the Draconian's final weapon, a device that can trigger the cascading collapse of space/time itself.Mackenzie, in charge of the Million Star fleet, fears what will happen if he attempts to destroy the device. Then, one of the semi-mythical Xin ancients arrives on his ship, suggesting a plan that appears to endanger all of reality. In the final battle with the Draconians, Mackenzie must decide whether to trust the Xin or not. The fate of the universe itself hangs on his actions ... 'A beautiful story of trust and hope in dark times ... a masterful, compelling work, with deep themes underlying it that brush against life, eternity, and the meaning of existence.' - Keesa Renee DuPres, Tangent