‘Minerva was the Roman goddess of warriors and wisdom. William McGonagall is celebrated as the worst poet in British history. There was something irresistible to me about his name, and the idea that such a brilliant woman might be a distant relative of the buffoonish McGonagall.’ – J.K. RowlingPottermore Presents is a collection of J.K. Rowling’s writing from the Pottermore archives: short reads originally featured on pottermore.com with some exclusive new additions. These eBooks, with writing curated by Pottermore, will take you beyond the Harry Potter stories as J.K. Rowling reveals her inspiration, intricate details of characters’ lives and surprises from the wizarding world.These stories of heroism, hardship and dangerous hobbies profile two of the Harry Potter stories’ most courageous and iconic characters: Minerva McGonagall and Remus Lupin. J.K. Rowling also gives us a peek behind the closed curtains of Sybill Trelawney’s life, and you’ll encounter the reckless, magical-beast-loving Silvanus Kettleburn along the way.Cover art by MinaLima

\'No Muggle Prime Minister has ever set foot in the Ministry of Magic, for reasons most succinctly summed up by ex-Minister Dugald McPhail (term of office 1858-1865): “their puir wee braines couldnae cope wi’ it.”’ – J.K. RowlingPottermore Presents is a collection of J.K. Rowling’s writing: short reads originally featured on pottermore.com with some exclusive new additions. These eBooks, with writing curated by Pottermore, will take you beyond the Harry Potter stories as J.K. Rowling reveals her inspiration, intricate details of characters’ lives and surprises from the wizarding world.These stories of power, politics and pesky poltergeists give you a glimpse into the darker side of the wizarding world, revealing the ruthless roots of Professor Umbridge, the lowdown on the Ministers for Magic and the history of the wizarding prison Azkaban. You will also delve deeper into Horace Slughorn’s early years as Potions master at Hogwarts - and his acquaintance with one Tom Marvolo Riddle.

These are twelve stories that have a "twist;" that is, a surprise at the end. The titles of the stories are Remembering the Anniversary; The Mistrial; A Meal to End All Meals; Judge Me Fair; English Major; The Woman In The Diner; Woman On The Phone; Thou Art A Witch; Voyage To Mars; Betrayer; Brain Transplant; A Reenactment To Justice. You may have already read these stories from other sources.A recovering drug addict who had lost her family, friends and career to a designer drug that nearly killed her, Cil struggled every day just to find enough food to keep her alive while desperately trying to convince potential employers that her days of self-destruction were over. She was fighting the despair that came from yet another employer rejection when she tripped over something on the ground and slammed her head into a transport. When she came back to consciousness, Cil was looking up into the face of a short compact woman with bright red hair and freckles. The woman was wearing the pin of a Kre Master, though Cil could not remember how she knew that was what that pin represented.“My name is P’Hilz. What is your name?”“Huh? Uh, Cil. My name is Cil…. Ma’am”Cil was very pleased with herself for remembering that a master was to be addressed so.“Well Cil, you cracked your head pretty good just now, with your permission, I would like to use my talents to heal you.”“Heal me? My permission? I’m okay ma’am and not worth your trouble even if I were not.”“Nonsense. You are neither okay, nor is there anyone who is not worth helping. May I have your permission to help?”Cil felt dizzy and could tell she was about to lose consciousness again, and she welcomed the thought, but heard herself consent to receive assistance as she slipped back into blessed darkness.

In his first collection of short stories John Grisham takes us back to Ford County, Mississippi, the setting of his first novel, A Time to Kill. Wheelchair-bound Inez Graney and her two older sons, Leon and Butch, take a bizarre road trip through the Mississippi Delta to visit the youngest Graney brother, Raymond, who\'s been locked away on death row for eleven years. It could well be their last visit. Mack Stafford, a hard-drinking and low-grossing run-of-the-mill divorce lawyer, gets a miracle phone call with a completely unexpected offer to settle some old, forgotten cases for more money than he has ever seen. Mack is suddenly bored with the law, fed up with his wife and his life, and makes drastic plans to finally escape. Quiet, dull Sidney, a data collector for an insurance company, perfects his blackjack skills in hopes of bringing down the casino empire of Clanton\'s most ambitious hustler, Bobby Carl Leach, who, among other crimes, has stolen Sidney\'s wife. Three good ol\' boys from rural Ford County begin a journey to the big city of Memphis to give blood to a grievously injured friend. However, they are unable to drive past a beer store as the trip takes longer and longer. The journey comes to an abrupt end when they make a fateful stop at a Memphis strip club. The Quiet Haven Retirement Home is the final stop for the elderly of Clanton. It\'s a sad, languid place with little controversy, until Gilbert arrives. Posing as a low-paid bedpan boy, he is in reality a brilliant stalker with an uncanny ability to sniff out the assets of those "seniors" he professes to love. One of the hazards of litigating against people in a small town is that one day, long after the trial, you will probably come face-to-face with someone you\'ve beaten in a lawsuit. Lawyer Stanley Wade bumps into an old adversary, a man with a long memory, and the encounter becomes a violent ordeal. Clanton is rocked with the rumor that the gay son of a prominent family has finally come home, to die. Of AIDS. Fear permeates the town as gossip runs unabated. But in Lowtown, the colored section of Clanton, the young man finds a soul mate in his final days. Featuring a cast of characters you\'ll never forget, these stories bring Ford County to vivid and colorful life. Often hilarious, frequently moving, and always entertaining, this collection makes it abundantly clear why John Grisham is our most popular storyteller.

At last, a single volume that gathers together all of the short stories featuring Agatha Christie's most famous creation, Hercule Poirot. The dapper, mustache-twirling little Belgian with the egg-shaped head and curious mannerisms has solved some of the most puzzling crimes of the century—and, in his own humble opinion, is "probably the greatest detective in the world." In this complete collection of more than 50 stories, ranging from short tales to novellas, Poirot faces violent murders, poisonings, kidnappings, and thefts—all solved with his characteristic panache. Only Agatha Christie could have devised cases worthy of Hercule Poirot's skill and "little gray cells."

65 Short Stories (Complete and Unabridged)

The story that was never told… Three short stories based off the best selling novels, Wanted, Saved, and Faithful by Kelly Elliott. Step into the future to get a glimpse of some of your favorite characters from the Wanted Series. Take a journey with Gunner and Ellie, Jeff and Ari, and Josh and Heather as they learn to love continues to make them feel wanted, saved, and forever faithful.

This collection includes all of the writer’s earliest short and medium-length fiction (including some previously unpublished stories) covering the years 1952-1955. These fascinating stories include “Beyond Lies the Wub”, “The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford”, “The Variable Man”, and 22 others.

The stories in this collection move from Malaya to America and England, and include some of Maugham's most famous tales; 'Flotsam and Jetsam', the story of an old woman trapped for years in a loveless marriage in the remote rubber plantations; 'The Man with the Scar', and notably the opening story 'The Vessel of Wrath', a tale of the unexpected love that grows between a devout missionary nurse and a drunken reprobate. In this second volume of his collected stories, Maugham illustrates his characteristic wry perception of human foibles and his genius for evoking compelling drama from an acute sense of time and place.

THE ONLY COMPLETE COLLECTION BY THE NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR In this definitive collection of Ernest Hemingway's short stories, readers will delight in the author's most beloved classics such as "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "Hills Like White Elephants," and "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and will discover seven new tales published for the first time in this collection. For Hemingway fans The Complete Short Stories is an invaluable treasury.

This collection by Poppy Z. Brite, author of Exquisite Corpse and Love in Vein, among others, features anew story, Monday's Special. Poppy contributed story notes as well as the Preface.

This final classic collection of stories reveals Somerset Maugham's unique talent for exposing and exploring the bitter realities of human relationships. Brilliant tales of love, infidelity, passion and prejudice, the stories range from 'The Lotus Eater' in which a man has a vision of a life of bliss in the Mediterranean, to the astringent tales of 'The Outstation' and 'The Back of Beyond' in Malaya and South East Asia. Largely set in favourite Maugham country, this colourful collection brilliantly evokes the numbered days of the British Empire.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SALMAN RUSHDIE As well as her eight novels, Angela Carter published four wonderful collections of short stories during her lifetime, and contributed stories to several anthologies. The stories were scattered amongst different publishers, and a couple of the volumes are now out of print. In Burning your Boats they are gathered for the first time; this is a key collection and a major event for Angela Carter aficionados.

Four short stories from bestselling author Stephen Leather, plus opening chapters of six of his bestselling thrillers.Four short stories from bestselling author Stephen Leather, plus opening chapters of six of his bestselling thrillers.The short stories are: Breaking In (where a burglar gets more than he bargained for when he breaks into a London house), Strangers On A Train (where a mugging on a train doesn't go to plan), Inspector Zhang and the Hotel Guest (where the Singaporean detective solves a mystery) and Cat's Eyes (the backstory of a Bangkok go-go dancer).There are also tasters of six of his bestselling novels, including The Chinaman, The Vets and The Birthday Girl.Stephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers. He was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Before that, he was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began writing full time in 1992. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. Two of his books, The Stretch and The Bombmaker, were made into movies.

30 stories Rain -- Fall of Edward Barnard -- Mackintosh -- Red -- Honolulu -- Pool -- Letter -- Before the party -- Force of circumstance -- Outstation -- Yellow streak -- P & O -- Jane -- Round dozen -- Creative impulse -- Miss King -- Hairless Mexican -- Giulia Lazzari -- Traitor -- His Excellency -- Mr. Harrington's washing -- Footprints in the jungle -- Human element -- virtue -- Alien corn -- Book-bag -- Vessel of wrath -- Door of opportunity -- Back of beyond -- Neil MacAdam.

★★★★★ "POWERFUL! Rose Haven creates an intensely romantic world for young and old alike. A place where there is darkness and light, love and hope, and if you dare to go there you will never want to leave."Breeding for dowry was never really his thing...Lord Adam Sonhurst, the seventh Marquess of Norfolk, is notorious for his rakish character. He has no intention of settling down any time soon. In fact, he would prefer downing a glass of poison than getting married. And he firmly believes that love is a dangerous notion that incapacitates a person’s logical reasoning power. His father once fell in love with his mother and he had seen how that love had ruined him! But his mother wants him to produce an heir soon to carry on the family legacy. She has chosen for him a lady of impeccable breeding who would also bring a sizeable dowry. As much as he loathes his mother, Adam knows that she is right. But he refuses to marry the girl of her choice.When circumstances force him to get married to that very girl, he vows to make life hell for her! ★★★★★ "POWERFUL! Rose Haven creates an intensely romantic world for young and old alike. A place where there is darkness and light, love and hope, and if you dare to go there you will never want to leave."

A compilation of Borges short fiction utilizing the translations of Norman Thomas di Giovanni whenever possible. Includes works from: The Aleph & Other Stories A History of Infamy The Book of Sand In Praise of Darkness Doctor Brodie's Report The Garden of Branching Paths Labyrinths The Book of Imaginary Beings

Collection of Chandler's short stories previously printed in Dime Detective, Black Mask, and The Saturday Evening Post in the 1930s. Stories are "Red Wind," "Blackmailers Don't Shoot," "I'll Be Waiting," "Goldfish," and "Guns at Cyrano's."

These seventeen stories, first published in Italian between 1949 and 1986, demonstrate Levi's extraordinary range, taking the reader from the primal resistance of a captured partisan fighter to a middle-aged chemist experimenting with a new paint that wards off evil, to the lustful thoughts of an older man obsessed with a mysterious woman in a seaside villa. In the title story, Levi demonstrates his unerringly tragic understanding of the fragility of the universe through the tale of a pensive astronomer, terrified by the possibility that a long-dormant star might explode and reduce the entire planet to vapor. This remarkable new collection affirms Italo Calvino's conviction that Levi was "one of the most important and gifted writers of our time."

The second in a two volume collection of acclaimed short stories by the author of Empire of the Sun, Crash, Cocaine Nights and Super-Cannes. JG Ballard is firmly established as one of Britain's most highly regarded and influential novelists. However, during his long career he was also a prolific writer of short stories, many of which show the germination of ideas he used in his longer fiction. This, the second book in a two-volume collection, offers a platform from which to view Ballard's other works. Almost all of his novels had their seeds in short stories and this collection provides an extraordinary opportunity to trace the development of one of Britain's most visionary writers.

Edited by Joseph O'Connor (author of Star of the Sea and Ghost Light) New Irish Short Stories is a stunning collection from a fascinating variety of writers, both new and established. Featuring, among many others, William Trevor and Roddy Doyle, Rebecca Miller and Richard Ford, Christine Dwyer Hickey and Colm Toibin, it shows the short story to be a vibrant, thriving form and one that should continue to be celebrated and encouraged. This collection follows the two acclaimed editions David Marcus edited for Faber in 2004-5 and 2006-7.

Featuring two centuries of women's short fiction, ranging from established Queens of the short story like Alice Munro and Angela Carter, to contemporary rising stars like Miranda July and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, this is the biggest and most beautiful collection in print today. Handpicked by one of the nation's favourite novelists, Victoria Hislop - herself a great writer of, and champion for, short stories - and divided thematically into collections on love, loss and the lives of women, there's a story for every mood, mindset and moment in life. CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE: Margaret Atwood, Angela Carter, Emma Donoghue, Daphne Du Maurier, Stella Duffy, Susan Hill, Doris Lessing, Penelope Lively, Katherine Mansfield, Hilary Mantel, Lorrie Moore, Alice Munro, Ali Smith, Muriel Spark, Alice Walker, Jeanette Winterson, Virginia Woolf.

For the first time all 112 of Stephen Crane’s short stories and sketches—including several that have not been included in any previous collection and two that are now in print for the first time—have been brought together in one volume. Critics call Stephen Crane, who is best known for his Civil War novel, The Red Badge of Courage, the first “modern” American writer. Crane was only twenty-eight when he died, but his work had a profound influence on American letters. He helped to kill sentimentality in American writing, giving this country’s fiction renewed strength and dignity as an art form. Crane is considered the American counterpart of such European Nationalists as Zola, Tolstoy, and Flaubert. He refused to bow to the conventions of the day or to popular taste, but wrote about life as he saw it in the closing years of the nineteenth century. And “honest vision of life” was the foundation stone of his artistic aims, and so he sought first-hand experiences and personal involvement in his themes. He lived the life of “The Open Boat” before he wrote the story. His stories of war and conflict, such as “A Mystery of Heroism” and “Virtue in War,” reflect his experiences as a war correspondent. Crane strove for originality in his writing; “his style—tense, darting, abrupt, ironic—blends perfectly with an impressionistic technique to give emotional, psychological, and symbolic significance to a series of astutely observed and richly colored episodes.”  The stories and sketches that were a product of his one-man literary revolution are as “modern” today as ever. This collection includes an authoritative introduction by the editor, in which he evaluates the artistic significance of Crane’s work. The stories ad sketches are presented in chronological order and have been carefully edited to ensure that they are in their original form.

Somerset Maugham is the acknowledged master of the short story, and his full range is represented in this collection. In acclaimed stories such as 'Rain', 'The Letter', 'The Vessel of Wrath' and 'The Alien Corn', Maugham illustrates his wry perception of human weakness and his genius for evoking compelling drama and an acute sense of time and place.

In his introduction to this one hundredth volume of the beloved Best American Short Stories, guest editor T. C. Boyle writes, "The Model T gave way to the Model A and to the Ferrari and the Prius . . . modernism to postmodernism and post-postmodernism. We advance. We progress. We move on. But we are part of a tradition." Boyle's choices of stories reflect a vibrant range of characters, from a numb wife who feels alive only in the presence of violence to a new widower coming to terms with his sudden freedom, from a missing child to a champion speedboat racer. These stories will grab hold and surprise, which according to Boyle is "what the best fiction offers, and there was no shortage of such in this year's selections." Mulling over the question of character likability, series editor Heidi Pitlor asks, "Did I like these characters? I very much liked reading their stories, as did T. C. Boyle." Here are characters who "are living, breathing people who screw up...

14 stories: Rain.--Red.--The letter.--Before the party.--The outstation.--The round dozen.--The hairless Mexican.--Guilia Lazzari.--Mr. Harrington's washing.--The human element.--The alien corn.--The vessel of wrath.--The door of opportunity.--Neil MacAdam.

Two short tales from master storyteller Marsha Ward. A lone woman faces down a "bear" in her remote county home in "Thumps in the Night," and a ten-year-old boy finds a wallet full of cash in "Losers Weepers."What should a ten-year-old boy buy when he finds a wallet full of cash? A bicycle? A horse? Or something more meaningful?Will business traveler Mel Harris's phone call go unanswered because his wife Murial encountered a bear in their kitchen during the night?Enjoy a couple of non-Western short stories from the imagination of master storyteller Marsha Ward, "Thumps in the Night" and "Losers Weepers."

“As our vision becomes more global, our storytelling is stretching in many ways. Stories increasingly change point of view, switch location, and sometimes pack as much material as a short novel might,” writes guest editor Elizabeth Strout. “It’s the variety of voices that most indicates the increasing confluence of cultures involved in making us who we are.” The Best American Short Stories 2013 presents an impressive diversity of writers who dexterously lead us into their corners of the world. In “Miss Lora,” Junot Díaz masterfully puts us in the mind of a teenage boy who throws aside his better sense and pursues an intimate affair with a high school teacher. Sheila Kohler tackles innocence and abuse as a child wanders away from her mother, in thrall to a stranger she believes is the “Magic Man.” Kirstin Valdez Quade’s “Nemecia” depicts the after-effects of a secret, violent family trauma. Joan Wickersham’s “The Tunnel” is a tragic love story about a mother’s declining health and her daughter’s helplessness as she struggles to balance her responsibility to her mother and her own desires. New author Callan Wink’s “Breatharians” unsettles the reader as a farm boy shoulders a grim chore in the wake of his parents’ estrangement. “Elizabeth Strout was a wonderful reader, an author who knows well that the sound of one’s writing is just as important as and indivisible from the content,” writes series editor Heidi Pitlor. “Here are twenty compellingly told, powerfully felt stories about urgent matters with profound consequences.”

In this collection of short stories, bestselling author Marge Piercy brings us glimpses into the lives of everyday women moving through and making sense of their daily internal and external worlds. Keeping to the engaging, accessible language of Piercy’s novels, the collection spans decades of her writing along with a range of locations, ages, and emotional states of her protagonists. From the first-person account of hoarding and a girl’s narrative of sexual and spiritual discovery to the recounting of a past love affair, each story is a tangible, vivid snapshot in a varied and subtly curated gallery of work. Whether grappling with death, familial relationships, friendship, sex, illness, or religion, Piercy’s writing is as passionate, lucid, insightful, and thoughtfully alive as ever.

A collection of twelve exciting and unpredictable short stories that highlight the banality of human interaction in stark relief with the more base forms of mankind's nature, all in extraordinarily exotic settings and scenarios. Some are hilarious and some are dark, but all of them will keep you turning the page and reflecting on the innately relatable flaws and triumphs of the human spirit.What if? What if a note that arrived at your feet every two hours and eleven minutes was all that separated you from utter madness as you floated through the vast recesses of space? What if all that kept you safe from a pride of lions and their murderous tamers was your own wit and will to live? What if your freedom depended on your performance in a motorcycle race? Lonely Out in Space, alternately known as LOiS, is a collection of twelve science fiction and fantasy stories which examine these scenarios, and many more. From colonies on Mars to starship captains trying to solve the mystery of their own horrific past, from pineapple soda to ping pong, from a deep space public radio show to a fight for the last habitable planet, from romance to repulsion, from Titans to Death itself, and from snakes in the grass to lions in a bank, this collection of sci-fi and fantasy short stories is guaranteed to be a unique experience that will keep you guessing what could possibly happen next. Lonely Out in Space shows that no matter how advanced a society or a being may be (or think they are), they'll never fully lose the one thing we all have in common today: our humanity. These twelve stories will thrill you, make you laugh, make you think, and hopefully make you stop, slow down, and appreciate the beauty of the world and the people on our very own planet. Don't take this all for granted. As you'll see in the stories, things could be very different...

Selected Short Stories Featuring Cry Wolf features fifteen diverse short stories, subject matter including space travel, werewolves, cannibalism, and commitment issues. It includes The Dread Wolf's Bane, an exclusive short story set in the world of The Necromancer's Gambit.Selected Short Stories Featuring Cry Wolf features fifteen diverse short stories, subject matter including space travel, werewolves, cannibalism, and commitment issues. It includes The Dread Wolf's Bane, an exclusive short story set in the world of The Necromancer's Gambit.The Gambit: The Dread Wolf's Bane: Knight, a magical detective, intervenes when a young werewolf unable to remember who or what he is, is detained in juvenile hall on the night of a full moon.Canary: Miners struggle to maintain calm after a cave in.Lost In Space: A man prepares to meet his lover in orbit.Frankenstein Modern: A scientist attempts to give a new body to a terminally ill man.E-bort: A woman takes control of her future after she is raped.Undisciplined: A squad rescues a fellow soldier awaiting trial for his crimes, against their personal feelings.Ancestral Memory: Two buddies ponder the possibility of life as data storage, and the meaning of life.First Goodbye: A man searches for a woman he can't leave.Life Imprisonment: A homeless man looks for a way to get a comfortable home.Crickets: Four crickets cower from a spider.Hickbots: A man works alongside robots in the fields.I'm Sorry I Got Caught In Your House: A very awkward run-in at an ex's house.Space Beer: A disgraced pilot annoys his father, and works to develop space-proof beer.S'work: An unattractive man considers his reliance on female companionship-for-pay.Cry Wolf: After surviving the plane crash, a group of travellers ponders love, and resorts to cannibalism.

This first volume of Somerset Maugham's collected short stories includes the famous story 'Rain', the tragedy of the prudish missionary Mr Davidson and Sadie Thompson, the prostitute. The collection contains thirty stories that take us from the islands of the Pacific Ocean to England, France and Spain. They all reveal Maugham's acute and often sardonic observation of human foibles and his particular genius for exposing the bitter reality of human relationships. Somerset Maugham learnt his craft from Maupassant, and these stories display the remarkable talent that made him an unsurpassed storyteller.

This is a continuation of the 8 short stories for children. Included in this is a short section of a short story called 1812 for adults. This version will be the last of the free stories.This is a continuation of the 8 short stories for children. Included in this is a short section of a short story called 1812 for adults.

Short Stories by Elle A. Rose consist of three short stories that will pique both the sci-fi and paranormal reader. Come along as Verick experiences an alternate tradition of Halloween, share a day with Cyrene in the life of a soul collector, and travel through the rabbit hole with Cam and Matt.Frozen- Enter the future with Verick Cedar, a 16 year old boy who will be “Trick or Treating” for the first time. The world as we know it has come to the end, with the invasion of The Xecerptavode, an alien race that infused the land, drained all the fresh water, and forced the humans to live in destitute conditions. Join Verick on what could be his first and last All Hallows Eve.A Grim Tale- Over eight centuries the burden of reaping the dead has become routine for Cyrene. Tonight, the grim reaper sheds a little light into the world of the undead. As she goes about her normal collection, find out what the history books aren’t telling you.The Rabbit Hole-Trick or Treating and costume parties are for the weak hearted. At least Cam and Matt think so. Enduring a haunted house on Halloween should be a walk in the park. Perhaps they should think again. As the boys trudge deeper into The Rabbit Hole, they realize this may not be the excitement they bargained for.Come and become a part of the main attraction. You’ll never leave.

Includes three 'terrorific' short stories.No Way out: Mike takes a bet to go inside a haunted house, will he live long enough to collect?The Price of Friendship: How much is a best friend worth? Joey finds out the hard way.Hobgoblin Horror: Jake volunteers at a retirement home because Shelby works there. So, it's no wonder he's misses Mr. Fitches' warnings about a homicidal hobgoblin-too bad.Includes two free additional short stories.That's three 'terrorific' short stories for one low price.No Way out - Mike takes a bet to go inside a haunted house, but will he live long enough to collect?Also includes:The Price of Friendship - How much is a best friend worth? Joey finds out the hard way.Hobgoblin Horror - Jake only volunteered at the retirement home because Shelby works there. So, it's no wonder he's doesn't hear Mr. Fitches' warnings about a local homicidal hobgoblin-too bad for him.Praise for the Author:"...master of mid-grade horror, M.J.A. Ware's tales are told in a pleasantly chatty first-person style, the voice convincingly that of a young teen put-upon by sisters, brothers, parents, friends and the rest of the world... until the rest of the world jumps in with scares aplenty." -Sheila Deeth, Author, blogger, and reviewer."Writing for (a) younger audience can be tricky, but Michael Ware knows the tricks." - Author, Laura LundAbout the Author:M.J.A. Ware, known as MJ to his friends, lives in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains with his wife and two daughters. When not writing about aliens, monsters and ghosts, he runs a company where he designs award winning video arcades. He's currently polishing his latest novel, Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb, about friends who take on an army of the undead, armed with nothing but Super Soakers--filled with zombie killing juice.

* Grace Paulson’s train wreck of a personal life takes a turn for the better when the elementary school teacher meets a gifted artisan whose handmade jewelry boxes are featured at the local museum. Well-versed in nineteenth century Russian literature, Carl Solomon also happens to be the school janitor.* Grace Paulson’s train wreck of a personal life takes a turn for the better when the elementary school teacher meets a gifted artisan whose handmade jewelry boxes are featured at the local museum. Well-versed in nineteenth century Russian literature, Carl Solomon also happens to be the school janitor.* Following his divorce, Dr. Stanley Gilford, chief of cardiology at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, restructured his life on the guiding principle of maximum gain, minimum pain. So what is the well-heeled doctor doing with Ruby, a high school dropout and waitress at the local greasy spoon, and what are his options visa vie the pallid, five year old boy whose damaged heart beats in three-four time?* A year out of high school, Clarissa, who couldn't even score a date for the senior prom, is into tantric sex, Pablo Neruda and orgasms bordering on divine rapture. And she's still a virgin!* While studing to become a rabbi at a yeshivah in Jersusalem, Peter Ostrowski witnesses a senseless act of violence that causes him to abandon the religious life. When he stumbles across the writings of Leo Pinsker, an equally disaffected seventeenth century, Polish Jew, Peter grasps what needs to be done to salvage his fractured humanity.These are just a few of the situations you will find in this collection of bittersweet short stories, where the characters struggle to manage their lives in a user-unfriendly universe.

WAITING FOR AL ~~~A JOB FOR FRANKIE ~~~RESCUED ~~~A SPECIAL PROM DATEWAITING FOR AL You’re standing on the corner waiting for Al, then decide to step inside Jerry’s bar and hoist a brew while keeping an eye out for Al. You watch this kid trying to come inside, but always, at the last minute, he hesitates, then walks away. You wonder, what’s his problem?A JOB FOR FRANKIE Helen Walker is apprehensive about carrying the locked bag containing a rattlesnake. Usually she carried money to the bank in the bag. But today was different. Her husband, Frankie, was on her mind. Their marriage was shaky. If only he’d get a job things would be different. He said he was making a big score today. A job? Maybe?RESCUED Badly injured in a fall, George Carlson painfully struggled through snowdrifts using dead reckoning in trying to get back to his ranch. An airplane circled above him. Quickly he stamped out a huge SOS in a large patch of snow. He had to be rescued. Turning, he saw people emerging from the edge of the forest; a rescue team? And then he saw the crashed transport airplane.A SPECIAL PROM DATE In her new gown, Amy Martin preened in front of the mirror. Sixteen and going to the senior prom with Jim Roberts, the most handsome boy in the class. She was on cloud nine. The phone call shattered her: Jim broke out with chicken pox! Go to the dance with her dad? Never! Then grandpa called; he has a date for her, nice young fellow. He’ll be right over. Amy groaned.

* Bethany Glaspell approached the first-ever meeting with Great-uncle Vern, a man who returned from the jungles of Vietnam with a Hmong bride and warped personality, much as a cat burglar might plan his next heist, telling no one, neither friend nor family, her intentions.* Bethany Glaspell approached the first-ever meeting with Great-uncle Vern, a man who returned from the jungles of Vietnam with a Hmong bride and warped personality, much as a cat burglar might plan his next heist, telling no one, neither friend nor family, her intentions.* There are five levels of gifted intelligence ranging from bright to profoundly gifted. One in every thirty thousand is 'exceptional', which makes Curtis Stedman, the part-time dishwasher at Nagel’s Bagels, one smart cookie!* Tawana Saunders is writing the great American novel. Problem is, six months into the project, she’s only got a rough draft plus three lousy paragraphs.* Lenny slept with Elsie McGivney, a woman so dim-witted she can't make change or hold down an entry-level job. Lenny bedded the chucklehead but got no sex in the bargain. So why is he going back for more?These are just a few of the situations you will find in this collection of bittersweet short stories, where the characters struggle to manage their lives in a user-unfriendly universe.

Ten short stories of boys in different eras - sailing under Lord Nelson as a powder boy, travelling the east coast of Australia with a dog, father and son interactions, disability, rabbiting in the Depression, refugees - from Afghanistan to Australia,Ireland in St Kevin's time, selling pots and pans to gold diggers in the 1850s, being a tennnis ball boy in 2020 in Monte Carlo.I arrived in this Universe a while back.Initially, you understand, just to sightsee. You know, glide around a little, take in the milky ways and the dusty swirls, all these stars large and small, all these planets green and brown and blue, some with purple plains and sandy deserts, some with gray black mountains draped in trees some and capped in white others, some neither. Many frantic oceans, too, and many placid seas. All very varied and quite pleasing, I must say. Sightseeing.Drifting in for a closer look at some of these planets, I saw roads and wagons and gates and guards and many people, he called them.Drifting in closer still, I saw steady hands under furrowed brows brighten white canvas with color and warmth to capture trees and mountains, painting he called it.I heard symmetry of sound from throats and hands on strings, music he called it.And I saw many feet move in delicate delicious rhythm, dance he called it, and they seemed to enjoy it, these what he called people.And drifting closer still, I heard laments by lovers wronged, I saw seductions soft, and stark betrayals, brutal slayings and happy resurrections.I saw brother helping brother, sister leaving sister, son trusting father, daughter hating mother, or at least that is how he explained these odd happenings to me, my escort. Though, to be honest, I could not see the truth of these events for they had no pattern to them, not like those of their music or dance, he called them.So I turned to him and I asked, “What’s the point, then? Without a pattern?”“It’s hard to explain,” he answered. “And almost impossible to understand without one of those,” indicating a long display of sparkling shapes that looked just like what he called people but that didn’t move. He brought me down and closer.“What are they?” I asked.“They are called bodies,” he said. “You should try one.”We slowly drifted down the line of these shapely shapes all in glistening skin (still drying and cooling, he told me), until we came to the very end of the display where hung a firm and strong male, he called it, cooled and comely in his long white robe. “Touch it,” he suggested.I looked at him. A question. I once heard of these things. I heard there can be danger.“Trust me,” he said.So, perhaps unwisely, I trusted him, and I brushed against the bare, strong arm.On contact there was a shock a jolt a rush and then a screaming wind furiously inhaling and then a brief blackness and then I found myself inside this what he called a male and many things happened all at the same time, too fast, too many, too soon:Every one thing I saw, every blade of grass, every bird, every tree, every pebble—until then simply small pattern-less somethings to me—was absorbed by this body and once inside it each of these almost countless things spawned a response—a sea of responses. Each and every thing. I felt like a weather system. Storm everywhere.

This anthology is comprised of works by talented student writers, grades six through college, who attend the Pickford Community Library's Young Writers Workshop in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula. The sessions are taught by two of the JLB Creatives Publishing team: author and CEO Janet Beasley of Florida, and Dar Bagby of Michigan, illustrator and Senior Editor. The classes are taught via SkypeThe Pickford Community Library, which is centrally located in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, is home to a Young Writers Workshop where students from the area learn the techniques and practices of becoming published authors. They have combined some of their stories in an anthology that includes short stories, essays, and flash fiction. This is the second year the group has published their works on Smashwords. It is published pro bono by JLB Creatives Publishing of Mt. Dora, Florida, home of one of the co-instructors of the group. The other co-instructor is from Michigan's Eastern U.P.. and together they teach their sessions via Skype. The students range in age from grade six to college, and there are sessions geared to both newbies and returning authors. The returning authors are encouraged to write and publish an individual novella. Please also check out this year's novella called Protective Measures by Jessica Arman, the author of one of last year's short stories.

FUSION is the first collection of short works published by Breakwater Harbor Books. Contributing heart-pumping tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Crime are seven stories that will thrill and rivet you. Authors from across a wide variety of genres, Dee Harrison, Ivan Amberlake, Claire C. Riley, Scott J. Toney, Mindy Haig, Cara Goldthorpe and C.M.T. Stibbe.Featuring gripping Independent authors from around the world, FUSION is the first collection of short works published by Breakwater Harbor Books. Contributing heart-pumping tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Crime are seven stories that will thrill and rivet you. Authors from across a wide variety of genres, Dee Harrison, Ivan Amberlake, Claire C. Riley, Scott J. Toney, Mindy Haig, Cara Goldthorpe and C.M.T. Stibbe. The Sliver of Abilon – A Mirrorsmith Tale – 'and you thought it was safe to look in the mirror?'Diary of the Gone - Without a girlfriend, bullied by the Principal’s son, and haunted by the dead, Callum Blackwell thinks his life can’t get any worse. But he’s wrong.Life Ever After. Nina's Story: Part one. – When the dead begin to rise, it's time to put your differences aside and run!NovaFall – When the Meteor falls, the essences will come, forging flesh and planetary souls as one.Cybilla. – To claim his Muse, one man must find the gate between the mortal and the immortal worlds.Capturing Perfection – An artist's tale of love, loss and beauty in Renaissance MilanUntil The Ninth Hour – Until a man loses his daughter to a serial killer, until he loses his best friend, until he is down on his luck, Darryl Williams must put all thoughts of retaliation out of his mind.An excerpt from Dee Harrison’s The Sliver of Abilon – A Mirrorsmith Tale Junah Venmark, Master Mirrorsmith, exited the wayportal directly into the seaweed stench of Abilon. The foul odour tickled the back of his throat and he gagged on a rise of bile. Mirrorsmith Guild protocol demanded that he preview his destination before he arrived but it could not prepare him for an assault on his other senses. He vomited onto the trackway, just thankful that there was no-one to witness his most pitiful entrance ever. He loathed the smell of mouldy greens – it stirred up too many reminders of his wretched childhood in the back alleys of Varna, largest city on his homeworld of Vargo – but this was kabbige soup intensified tenfold. When his heaving subsided, Junah sank down onto his rump, trying to ignore the early evening dew which was soaking into his leggings. He pulled a kerchief from his belt-purse, to wipe the spittle from his lips, and cursed this ill-favoured world. Sissik, his wail, chittered and scurried around him like a silver-furred cyclone, mewing her distress. Junah winced when she skipped onto his tender stomach, the better to peer into his face with her large, prosimian eyes. He ran a finger down her spine and she slowly relaxed beneath his touch. Junah ill? She sent. No, I’m fine, Little One he reassured her. He grimaced. The smell caught me out, that’s all. Sissik wrinkled her own nose. Nasty, nasty stink, she concurred. Junah delved into his purse a further time and extracted a couple of lozenges from a packet. A few chews later and he could smell nothing. “Next time I’ll take ‘em before I get here,” he promised out loud. “Not that there’ll be a next time!” Junah clambered to his feet and peeled the sodden fabric from his buttocks. Sissik took her accustomed place on his shoulders, hiding beneath his long, dark hair and curled around his neck like a fur collar. Wails were native to all the worlds of the Regium, even the undeveloped ones like Abilon. Some wails, the silver-furred ones like Sissik, were prized for their ability to generate the acoustic frequencies that Mirrorsmiths depended upon. Others, the plumper, browner ones, made good eating. Whenever Sissik irritated him, which was often, Junah threatened to dye her coat russet. Now, however, she was quiescent, understanding that it was time for work.

Four short stories from my blog:1. The Winter Man2. Stabbing Spree3. Silent Crimes of Love4. Identity TheftWhile handling my laptop and computer every day, I have grown accustomed to sitting in front of it with a cup of strong coffee, as I wait for it to start up, then to load up applications and finally load the internet. The situation did not get any better, as I have to regularly download stuff from internet and already wasted a lot of money paying so called computer professionals who have been giving me false promises. Sometime or the other, even you must have come across something similar.I have made a list of the most easily performing tasks to remove the problem of slowness from my computer. And with this ebook, you can also say goodbye to the slow computer problem once and for all… Not just blunt instructions: I have combined it with proper guidance so that the most computer illiterate person can handle the daily issues with their computer. With a dedicated section for Windows 7 users and a list of the most efficient freeware available in the market, you can also become like me… self-dependant: "Computeristically"!

Last weekend I was looking through my computer. Over the years I've written short stories on whatever subject that interested me at the moment. Here is a sample for you to enjoy.Last weekend I was looking through my computer. Over the years I've written short stories on whatever subject that interested me at the moment. Here is a sample for you to enjoy. In the properties of each file I found the earliest date recorded on my present computer and listed it. I included it for your information only. I only did minor editing to clean up the stories. I only ask one thing. After you read these stories, please go to the end of the book and click on the link and let me know how you liked each story. A simple GOOD, BAD, TERRIBLE, QUIT POLLUTING THE INTERNET WITH E-BOOKS, or any other comment will let me know which type of stories you like. I don't aim to please, because I write for my enjoyment, whether you like them or not. However, I do listen and sometimes change my mind.Back before I knew about e-books I took a writing course online. One of the questions asked was my goal to get published. Because I knew that the publishing houses controlled writers, I replied that I wanted to collect a thousand rejection slips. The instructor praised me for my attitude because she said that many aspiring writers gave up after rejections by the print publication houses. I failed because I only collected seven before I discovered online publishing at Smashwords. No use banging my head against a brick wall where someones else's preconceived ideas limit my freedom of expression.

The Primary 7's of Campie Primary School (Musselburgh, Scotland) have come together to create a fantastic collection of short stories. If you're interested in adventure, fantasy and imagination then be sure to read this epic book.WARNING! This is a Zed Lab Experiment!"The legacy" description: The death of Simona in a tragic accident in the summer of 2006, seems to have no other explanation that a trivial distraction to the guide. But her husband Roberto is not entirely convinced. After a terrible dream and a strange call, his suspicions are a below. You will indeed alive Erika, an old friend of the victim, who he says he is aware of his important secret. In reality Erika is aware of the minimum part of a terrible truth that has its roots in 1400, in a village of the modenese shocked by the mass at the stake of a woman accused of being a witch. Thanks to a last testimony that Simona had left fearing its own to be killed, and that Bob found himself with the help of Erika, her daughter Cristina discovers all the details of a absurd destiny, the inheritance that from the past came up to her and it threatens to destroy it. But, as her mother, she too will choose the path of rebellion.

This edition includes two short stories: On Camera and Moving Day. On Camera tells the story of Stacy Sterling, an anything-for-a-story reporter told through the eyes of a smitten admirer. Moving Day uncovers the mystery of a neighbor known only on the surface.The new blade, the second of a twin pair, slices skin and lets blood out. There’s hardly even a sting at first, before the foamy shaving cream turns pink, then red, and here’s the sting, for real now, as if let loose by blood. Foam redder still. A pretty deep cut.“Damn.”His right hand passes the razor to his left then dives into a blue box of paper napkins by the basin and brings one—two actually, they tend to cling together—out. He presses them against his skin. A few seconds, then tests by removing. Blood still coming. He dabs the cut a couple of times, but the bleeding does not stop. Precious minutes. “Damn,” again. It will not stop bleeding. He throws the bloodstained napkins in the toilet bowl and grabs another pair from the box. Dabs the cut again. Less blood this time. Finally. Leaves a strip of napkin stuck to the cut to help the blood settle and seal.Then he finishes shaving, more carefully now. The cut still stings and it will show. “Damn,” for a third time. The after shave which smarts like hell. Sizzles the cut, now a small red smile smack in the middle of his right cheek. Looks ridiculous. And still stings.The aftershave reminds him of Alice.Aramis.The scent brings her face along with it. Alice of the long red hair and the many freckles. Of the great smile. Of the wedding bells, or else. Malice Alice. He-said-no-not-right-now-so-she-took-off-and-left-him-to-rot Alice.

This collection of twelve short stories, with subjects ranging from sci-fi to spy thriller, from humour to history and from family to finance is written by the author of the trilogy of novels 'Cashback', 'Their Own Game' and 'Motorbike Men'. An entertaining anthology of easy reading.This collection of twelve short stories, with subjects ranging from sci-fi to spy thriller, from humour to history and from family to finance is written by the author of the trilogy of novels 'Cashback', 'Their Own Game' and 'Motorbike Men', also published by Smashwords. An entertaining anthology of easy reading, four of this omnibus of stories have already been published separately by Smashwords, and widely read.

You could be in one of these stories.There is Gabby who inherits a cat and a new life. Itzy loses her job because of “hands on” kind of boss and finds her mother’s killer through her new job. Aileen finds strength in her loved ones’ when her son goes to jail for murder and Nelson wins the lotto. Each of the fourteen stories is a pleasure read and short enough to be read in one sittingThe game of Life has a way of sneaking unusual plots on us that change life’s direction. It must be played out like the last act of a Broadway play. There is no blueprint and the outcome is uncertain, the players are all there waiting to play their part while anticipating the next move. Most players don’t see what's coming and reject the concept. If they were asked, it’s just Life playing games

A collection of fictional stories designed to entertain you in an afternoon.This is a collection of fiction stories of various subjects designed to entertain you. From being stranded in a raging flood, to escaping pending nuptials, to an attack by civilians with a "strange" illness, plus more. This is a great read for an afternoon.

Short Stories and poems. Humor ,young adult, ghost, romance, and thriller, these range across various genres. Salt 'n Pepper provides tasty reading snacks when there is no time for a full meal.The short stories and poems in Salt 'n Pepper do not need a long description. Simply taste them and see. 'The Jenuine Junkyard Dog' is forty pages, the longest short story in the collection.

Invisible darkness swirls between the stars. Galactic tendrils grasp upon nebulous evil hands—forever binding humanity inside a black sea of unknown. Something is out there. There’s no escaping it. Your dreams whisper the cosmic truth, but you refuse to believe in something…called…DARK MATTER!Sometimes it happens even to the best of us – starting out as a faint black smudge on your floor then spreading into something insidious and gelatinous. You get on your hands and knees to scrape it off, but this mysterious substance somehow adheres to your skin. Washing and scrubbing won’t help as it oozes into your pores; attacking and controlling your mind. You hear whispers, feel hands roving your body, and see apparitions. Dark Matter has taken control, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Your eyes will want to absorb some of the most horrifying stories and poems ever written. Dark Matter demands it!

A collection of short stories for kids featuring elves, gnomes, fairies, leprechauns, dinosaurs, superheroes, and other supernatural themes. These are fantasy tales grounded in reality.This is a collection of six short stories for children. The stories contain ghosts, a creepy old house, dinosaurs, superheroes, elves, fairies, a gnome, and a leprechaun but at it's heart, they are about the child protagonists and the lessons they learn or the changes they bring out. The stories are about the children and what they learn and the change that they can inspire..

Fifteen short and short-short stories. Some humorous, some serious, a few macabre. A very easy read. About 20 pages.When the apocalypse came it was not from the fires of nuclear war or unseen viral plagues, not from an unstoppable asteroid or even the machines rising up in defiance of their human overlords. The Last War, as later generations would come to remember it, was fought between fighter jets and dragons, between companies of sword wielding golems swarming over steel tanks in support of deadly Magicians wielding magical fireballs. It was a war of magic versus science and science lost. A thousand years later Duncan Cade is born without magical abilities into a dystopian world dominated by the Magical. As a young adult he’s a pariah and an outcast because of his condition, an unwanted reminder of a time when their forefather’s wiped non-magical humans from the face of the planet. His life is a constant struggle not only to fit in a society based on magic he doesn’t wield, but also to survive without the simplest of magical abilities. He thinks that he is alone, the only non-magical boy in the entire world. When the magic begins to fade from the world, Duncan is blamed and just escapes the wrath of the Magician police force into the wastelands surrounding the city of New Dallas. He sets out on a quest to find the origin of Magic and soon discovers that not only is he not alone, but the non-magical humans are finally fighting back. The Last War was only the beginning of the apocalypse and young Duncan Cade, a boy born without Magic, is thrust into the middle of the new war against the Magicians.

This collection of twelve short stories, with subjects ranging from sci-fi to spy thriller, from humour to history and from family to finance is written by the author of the trilogy of novels 'Cashback', 'Their Own Game' and 'Motorbike Men'. An entertaining anthology of easy reading.This collection of twelve short stories, with subjects ranging from sci-fi to spy thriller, from humour to history and from family to finance is written by the author of the trilogy of novels 'Cashback', 'Their Own Game' and 'Motorbike Men', also published by Smashwords. An entertaining anthology of easy reading, four of this omnibus of stories have already been published separately by Smashwords, and widely read.

Special discount price!Monsters, magic, goblins, zombies and more. Be prepared to sleep with the lights on. This collection of short stories will have you looking over your shoulder, avoiding mirrors and jumping at the slightest sound.From fiendish creatures hiding in your bathroom mirror to Halloween pranks gone deadly wrong. Each story will scare, delight & surprise.Monster Mashup - Spooky Short Story Ominbus -- with Special Bonus Zombie ShortNow with twelve short stories.Monsters, magic, goblins, zombies, and more. Be prepared to sleep with the lights on. This collection of short stories will have you looking over your shoulder, avoiding mirrors, and jumping at the slightest sound.From fiendish creatures hiding in your bathroom mirror, to Halloween pranks gone deadly wrong. Each story will scare, delight, and surprise. No gore or cursing here, just good ol' spine-chilling fun!Infinite Reflections – When Jessie's sister gets trapped in a haunted mirror, he must figure out how to destroy the creature within. Though, Mom might like it if he gets his sister out first.Bloody Marcy – Mixing a game of Bloody Mary with a practical joke proves to be a deadly combination.Monster in the Mirror - Nate, his little sister, and best buddy Dan, stumble upon a hidden room during a sleep-over. What they find inside is anything but friendly.Death Trap – Mike takes a bet to go inside a haunted house, but will he live long enough to collect?Steven, Space Stowaway – Steven sneaks onboard a spaceship bound for Mars. Just one problem: the Captain has a particularly unpleasant way of dealing with stowaways.The Price of Friendship – How much is a best friend worth? Joey finds out the hard way.Hobgoblin Horror – Jake only volunteered at the retirement home because Shelby works there. So, it's no wonder he's doesn't hear Mr. Fitches' warnings about a local homicidal hobgoblin—too bad for him.Rolling Leprechauns for Change – Leprechauns can have a nasty sense of humor—especially, when they're getting even. Hide-n-Go-Coffin – Playing hide-and-seek in a cemetery is disrespectful. When it happens to be cursed, the results can be deadly, or maybe even worse.Grandpa's Suits – A game of spin-the-bottle with the school pervert isn't a bright idea. Fortunately for Zoey, she's not quite alone.Brother's Keeper – Zack would be wise to spend less time looking for his missing sled and more worrying about what is lurking outside. Too bad, he's not the only one who'll suffer for his single-mindedness.Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb When Life gives you lemons, kill zombies. In this special short story that inspired the upcoming novel, Nate and Misty's town is overrun by the undead and they'll need a little luck to squeeze their way out of this sticky mess.These stories are not recommended for kids under 8.

These are just a few of my short stories I created in my head and turned them into real documents for you to enjoy. I hope you enjoy all three of them, for they are very different from each other.Wothlondia Rising: The Anthology is a collection of prequels that launches the Beginnings series in the Realm of Ashenclaw. The events covered in this collection are intended to introduce you to these characters and give insight into their pasts, their motivations and the distinctive events that place them on their destined paths to become the heroes they were born to be, such as…A Rose in Bloom recounts the thrilling events of a young Rose Thorne, not yet a woman, who is trying to find her way in the city of Oakhaven. Orphaned and discarded, she finds refuge in a kind madam at a local brothel and eventually meets a man who is more than she bargains for.... Maturation Process is the telling tale of the high elf, Elec Stormwhisper, who lives in the overbearing shadow of his father, Keryth. Treated as an outcast and feeling alienated from his own people, he exiles himself for a decade, finding a friend in a strange place and begins to accept his own unique destiny. Will this young and inexperienced elf ever find his true calling? Tears of Blood is the amazing recount of the attacks on the region of Stonehill by the ancient and malevolent undead that are known as Blood Rot Zombies! Saeunn and the barbarians of both Chansuk and Greymoors must find a way to stop the undead infestation before they spread their miasma all across the face of Wothlondia! It is a tale that will forever change the young barbarian woman in more ways than one... Strength of Faith is a tale that places a young acolyte of The Shimmering One, Garius Forge, on a path that tests his spirituality and also places him face to face with a demonic presence that has the power to alter the face of Wothlondia forever! Will his reverence and devotion to his deity be enough to overcome this horrible demon? Reflections is an exploration into the true classifications of self-image. This short and sweet tale tells of the half-ogre barbarian, Orngoth, who begins to realize the true picture of what he is and where he comes from. During a raid with his ogre barbarian kin--the Ironskulls--Orngoth has an impromptu meeting that could forever change his own destiny. Will he see his true self in time or will he continue down the path of reckless endangerment? Distant Familiarity is the tale of three legendary figures in the history of Wothlondia, who are attempting to recover an ancient evil that was stolen away from them. Tiyarnon the High Priest, Rolin Hardbeard and Nimaira Silvershade set out to recover the artifact that has forever altered their former companion Sadreth, twisting him into something altogether evil. Can these ancient heroes find and recover the item before it is reunited with its former host?

The four short stories included in this ebook were selected as finalists for the Best Short Stories of 2013 Award and were published during the month of December, 2013. Fans, well-wishers, and reading enthusiasts have selected this years top short story from among these distinguished finalists.Dear reader,The four short stories included in this ebook were selected as finalists for the Best Short Stories of 2013 Award and were published during the month of December, 2013. Fans, well-wishers, and reading enthusiasts have selected this years top short story from among these distinguished finalists. The results of this readers-choice poll are as follows:1. Dreamer by Janae Schiele2. Bliss by Vanessa Rasanen3. Out of the Shadows by Katrina Umland4. Facing Memories by Deanna WiseburnI hope you enjoy these stories as much as I, our judges, and all the wonderful readers at justinblaney.com did. Your friend,Justin BlaneyEditor of justinblaney.comPS, I included one of my own short stories as a bonus, fifth story at the conclusion of this volume. This is the first in a series called Isfits, which you can discover more about at isfits.com

In every novel there are stories that shouldn't be told in one manuscript. In the first book of The Discord Trilogy, we meet witches, vampires, and governments. Together these characters create a layered and complex world that leaves us wanting more. Discordia is a collection of behind the scene stories that give us a second course at a banquet The Golden Apple of Discord started.For every character in a novel there are stories that couldn't and shouldn't be told in one manuscript. In the first book of The Discord Trilogy, we meet Milunfran witches, vampires in hiding from powerful governments, deposed Dacian vampires, and current rulers of the vampire world, the Noricum. Together these characters create a layered and complex world that leaves us wanting more. But, just because there are stories not told in the novel, doesn't mean they are buried and gone forever. Discordia is a collection of behind the scene stories that give us a second course at a banquet The Golden Apple of Discord started.

Redemption is a fantasy flash fiction collection illustrating God's drama of redemption.Redemption is a fantasy flash fiction collection illustrating God's drama of redemption. The Stories include: 1: The Slaughter2:The Bride3:The Auction4:The Banquet5:The Seal

set in Tsarist Russian milieux — reveal noted author's skills in character, nuance and setting development. Includes "The Black Monk" (1894), "The House with the Mezzanine" (1896), "The Peasants" (1897), "Gooseberries" (1898) and "The Lady with the Toy Dog" (1899).

MYSTERY UNDERGROUNDZOMBIE KING AND OTHER SCARY STORIESMystery Underground is a collection of scary short stories for kids, middle grade readers, and everyone who likes a good scare. The stories combine the monsters and mystery of Goosebumps with the surprise endings of the Twilight Zone. They are the perfect scary stories to read in the dark, around the campfire, or under the covers at night.MYSTERY UNDERGROUNDZOMBIE KING AND OTHER SCARY SHORT STORIESBy Charles David Clasman and David AnthonyMystery Underground is a collection of scary short stories for kids, middle grade readers, and everyone who likes a good scare. The stories combine the monsters and mystery of Goosebumps with the surprise endings of The Twilight Zone. They are the perfect scary stories to read on Halloween, in the dark, around the campfire, or under the covers at night with a flashlight.Be warned. This bloodcurdling book contains eight terrifying tales. Read a scare … if you dare!#1: ZOMBIE KINGBryce doesn’t want to dress up as something silly for Halloween. He wants to be a zombie. He even calls himself the Zombie King. Does he get his wish in the graveyard on a haunted foggy night?#2: GHOST IN THE GRAVEYARDBeneath the eerie glow of the Harvest Moon, Noah and his friends sneak into the cemetery for a game of Ghost in the Graveyard. While getting in is a challenge, getting out may be impossible.#3: SECRET OF THE SINKHOLEBrady, Calvin, and Troy discover a sinkhole in a Florida orange grove. There are police cars and flashing lights all around, but no other people. When they climb into the hole, the boys discover the frightening truth about how—and what—causes sinkholes to form.#4: TAR PIT TERRORThe fossils of many prehistoric animals—from dire wolves to mastodons—have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits. When Liam and Charlotte discover a saber-toothed cat’s paw, they realize that not all fossils want to be found.#5: HAPPY HAIRY BIRTHDAYIt’s Cody Wolf’s birthday and a party waits for him. To get there, he takes a dangerous short cut. Halfway along, a snarling werewolf appears in his path. Cody runs but the werewolf pursues. The chase in on!#6: DEEP GREEN SEAEmma and her family return wearily home after a hurricane. The devastation left behind looks like a zombie apocalypse. But are zombies the scariest things that can rise from the ruin?#7: NO. 13 PENCILJackson is an amazing artist. His drawings of monsters, beasts, and witches are realistic and terrifying. What happens when the creatures come to life?#8: SLEEPING BEAR DOOMMany legends surround the majestic and mysterious Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. What caused the dunes to form? Why do they continue to grow year after year? Are the dunes really devouring the surrounding land like a ravenous beast? Caleb and Katie wonder many things as they begin to climb. Will the answers they find allow them to escape?ALSO AVAILABLEMYSTERY UNDERGROUND: MICHIGAN MONSTERSDive into Terror in the Great Lakes StateMYSTERY UNDERGROUND: FRIGHTENING FLORIDAFear Strikes Florida When the Sunshine State Goes Dark MYSTERY UNDERGROUND: CALIFORNIA CREATURESBeware the Glitter of the Golden State

A dozen remarkable short stories from the author of Little Big Man, offering an absurdist journey through the mind of one of America’s great storytellers Thomas Berger’s first short story collection in almost thirty years showcases the author’s acclaimed wit, intellect, and emotional sureness. His pages teem with larger-than-life characters: Dr. Poon, a Hollywood snake handler in way over his head during a film shoot in Southeast Asia; Charlie, an apartment superintendent who finds a peculiarly powerful plastic pistol; and Vernon, the confused owner of a talking puppy. No matter where Berger takes his readers, his world is full of oddities. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Thomas Berger including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. 

Jean Rhys may be best known as the author of Wide Sargasso Sea and other novels. But she was as accomplished a short story writer as a novelist. The Collected Short Stories brings all of Jean Rhy's stories together in one volume. Informed by the places she lived and the people she knew, these stories, set in London, Paris, and the Caribbean, hold and haunt the reader because they call up emotions, places, atmosphere, even physical sensations, with a powerful freshness. They are, as Ford Madox Ford writes, "extraordinarily distinguished by the rendering of passion."

A trio of short stories for those who love horror. Includes a sneak peak at the author's next novel, Shift, a sci-fi mystery.Dania Sonin's first publication comes in the form of three wonderfully crafted short stories. The theme that ties this together is a little dark, but a perfect start for this young author. Get a quick glimpse into the lives of three men struggling with the world around them. Loneliness and alienation drives them to do unspeakable things.Also included is a preview of Dania's first novel Shift. This sci-fi adventure promises to be action packed. A departure from the macabre, this mystery disguised as a science fiction novel will keep you on the edge of your seats.

The Sonoran Desert in the American Southwest is a place of extremes and contrasts, of beauty and death, of independent spirits and lost souls, of fresh starts and exiles.Three short stories, three different genres, all set in the Sonoran Desert, each with characters in exile of one form or another. One author with a unique perspective and voice.The Sonoran Desert in the American Southwest is a place of extremes and contrasts, of beauty and death, of independent spirits and lost souls, of fresh starts and exiles.Three short stories, three different genres, all set in the Sonoran Desert, each with characters in exile of one form or another. One author with a unique perspective and voice.Cordelia lives alone in a shack miles from civilization, somewhere no one can find her except for a very determined suitor. Raymond shows up every twelve years to consummate his marriage to the bride he'd claimed at her birth. Every twelve years, Cordelia fends off his unwanted advances – by killing him. The smell of death precedes his arrival each time, unless the sweet scent of a freshly fallen 'DESERT RAIN' masks his approach. Horror Bound magazine honored this award-winning story in its 'Best Of 2008-2012' edition. Denny has lost everything in the recession. His business. His Scottsdale home on the side of a mountain with swimming pool and four-car garage. His ambition. His wife. With nothing left to lose but an injured foot, his sanity, or his life, he heads out on a hundred-mile 'DESERT WALK' to find Hope.When the sun goes down and the scorching heat cools down to an uncomfortable swelter, bored teenagers gather to spend the 'DESERT NIGHTS' out by the power lines, drinking beer, hooking up, arguing over the best rock bands of all time. Maybe shoot at some rattlesnakes and jackrabbits. Nothing could possibly go wrong here.What others are saying about SONORAN DREAMS:"Robb Grindstaff is a master storyteller!" —Maria Grazia, Horror Bound Magazine"I don't think there is any genre Robb Grindstaff can't conquer. Some writers excel at characterization, others at plot, and still others are best known for their unique prose style. Robb is a triple threat, and any book with his name on it is bound to be a great read. —S.P. Miskowski, author of Knock Knock"Robb Grindstaff has a wicked sense of humor, a keen eye on the human psyche, and impeccable timing. His prose crackles and doesn't waste a syllable. These stories turn the desert Southwest of Cormac McCarthy into a carnival funhouse." —Pete Morin, author, Diary of a Small Fish"Robb's talent for creating real-life characters and bringing us into their lives is extraordinary, but what marks him apart from so many others writing today is how American his voice is—Robb's writing amuses, charms and yet, when you least expect it, can still challenge and shock." —Alexander McNabb, author, Olives: A Violent Romance"Robb Grindstaff's seamlessly written stories are full of strong characters, rendered with wit and subtlety. Stories unfold gently, judgments are never made, and the reader is left with a story that resonates long after the book is closed. His writing reminds me of John Irving (The World According to Garp; A Prayer for Owen Meany). " —Phillipa Fioretti, author, The Book of Love

★★★★★ "POWERFUL! Rose Haven creates an intensely romantic world for young and old alike. A place where there is darkness and light, love and hope, and if you dare to go there you will never want to leave."Lady Rebecca Thompsons’ chances of landing a good husband have already been diluted because of her late father’s questionable reputation. To make matters worse, she finds herself on the brink of losing her fortune and the estate that she loves more than anything! The man behind all her miseries, Lord Henry Northwall, is also the only man who can give her everything she ever dreamed of; but at what cost? Read on to find out if Lady Rebecca is willing to accept Henry’s scandalous proposal….. ★★★★★ "POWERFUL! Rose Haven creates an intensely romantic world for young and old alike. A place where there is darkness and light, love and hope, and if you dare to go there you will never want to leave."

A look into the lives of five individuals who are struggling with social issues that affect their health and the way they run their lives. Social issues are explored in a fictional setting as the characters struggle with different aspects of life and society.Frightened after finding blood on their carpet, Andrea Wilton agrees to join forces with  Trent Michner's best friend, Brian Strait, in order to discover what happened to Trent and his wife, her best friend. The bad guys are not far behind and do everything in their power to discourage the search.A neighbor is murdered on her doorstep leaving behind the first clue in the search. Andrea and Brian follow one clue after another, all the way to Haiti. More missing people lead them to voodoo ceremonies and throw away children.Andrea grows more confident and begins to look a little more closely at Brian as a true friend. Their confidence in their Lord and in each other grows as they discover the evil that lurks just around the corner.

Short stories by Gurooji1. Don't feel sorry for Salim2. Kaiser3. Kaana thug (One eyed fraud)4. Sachin's injury scare5. Sam and his luck6. Aryan7. Devil's advocate8. Verma Madam9. Gulf Diary - The Beginning10. Nurse Day11. How I met my wifeDon’t feel sorry for SalimMeet Salim Khan, ambitious, good looking and ready to enter the matrimonial world with his beautiful fiancée, Shaheen. After much planning, Salim’s engagement party is approaching and as his parents make the final arrangements and finishing touches, no one knows that this perfect party will turn into the ultimate catastrophe.As the guests congregate at the Khan’s residences, the atmosphere is one of happiness fused with jubilation. The lovely Shaheen and her family arrive, to be greeted warmly by the Khan’s. A welcoming speech is made in her honour and the blissful couple exchange rings. The families and guests are overcome with joy for this beatific couple, who are entering the honeymoon stage of their lives, together. As the DJ, a friend of Salim’s, starts the celebrations with his popular beats, the young crowd is drawn to the dance floor. Salim and Shaheen follow suit and this is when disaster strikes. Salim falls over on the dance floor and hurts his ankle, his pain is very apparent and he cannot walk. As he lies motionless on the sofa, wanting to be seen by a doctor, his friends and relatives all “advise” him on the next best steps. Amidst much confusion and conflicting counsel, Salim grits his teeth through his pain and tries his best to humour his guests, as they tell one tale after another about similar experiences.

The nation's favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its twelfth year.Best British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover – or, more accurately, by its title. This critically acclaimed series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere. The editor's brief is wide ranging, covering anthologies, collections, magazines, newspapers and web sites, looking for the best of the bunch to reprint all in one volume.

The theme of trust, betrayed or fulfilled, runs through this collection of short stories: Parents lead children into peril, husbands abandon wives, wives manipulate husbands, and time undermines all. Love pangs, a favorite subject of the author, take on a new urgency as earthquakes, illnesses, lost wallets, and deaths of distant friends besiege his aging heroes and heroines. One man loves his wife’s twin, and several men love the imagined bliss of their pasts; one woman takes an impotent lover, and another must administer her father’s death. Bourgeois comforts and youthful convictions are tenderly seen as certain to erode: “Man,” as one of these stories concludes, “was not meant to abide in paradise.”

The nation's favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its tenth year.Best British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover – or, more accurately, by its title. This new series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere. The editor's brief is wide ranging, covering anthologies, collections, magazines, newspapers and web sites, looking for the best of the bunch to reprint all in one volume.Featuring: Richard Lawrence Bennett, Luke Brown, David Constantine, Tim Etchells, Nicola Freeman, Amanthi Harris, Andrew Hook, Sonia Hope, Hanif Kureishi, Helen Mort, Jeff Noon, Irenosen Okojie, KJ Orr, Bridget Penney, Diana Powell, David Rose, Sarah Schofield, Adrian Slatcher, NJ Stallard, Robert Stone, Stephen Thompson and Zakia Uddin.

Fifteen short stories, featuring Cinderella Shoes, Analog, Cast, and Traveled Time.Cinderella Shoes contains 15 short stories, including the titular story.Stiletto: An exotic dancer struggles to make a living after encountering a murder-in-progress on the job.Cast: The world is increasingly run by robots, which grow increasingly human.Analog: An ex-Air Force pilot subsists after a weapon disables all modern technology.Weakness: Sergeant Ruocco hanged himself.My Beloved's Eyes: We leave pieces of ourselves with our loved ones- sometimes literally. Reformatory: A juvenile delinquent and her roommate mature in the aftermath of a devastating assault.Capricorn: A man wrecks his life and chases fairy tales, while dealing with his young daughter's impending illness.Behav: Future terrorists recruit a past terrorist.Death Echoes: A detective communes with the dead to close their unsolved cases.Traveled Time: A man examines his life and choices, with the advent of time travel.Genetic Memory: A dog confronts his owner after gaining the ability to speak and reason.Darling, Wendy, M.A.: A girl saves her brothers from their abusive father by masquerading as a gang leader. From a 2009 series of shorts reexamining classic heroines.Eponine: Following her near-death in the streets of Paris, a young woman witnesses the birth of feminism and the industrialization of Europe. From a 2009 series of shorts reexamining classic heroines.Dorothy: Her fantasy was undoubtedly much happier than the reality of her injuries. From a 2009 series of shorts reexamining classic heroines.Cinderella Shoes: A man discovers a new side of himself after acquiring women's clothing.

Evergreen Classic Short Stories for Children brings together some of the most popular and beloved stories by celebrated authors like Guy de Maupassant, James Joyce and Rudyard Kipling, and extracts from classics such as Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby. With a mix of genres including mystery, romance, crime and supernatural, and a host of popular characters such as Tom Sawyer, Sherlock Holmes, Mr Darcy and Jo March, this is the perfect book to immerse yourself in a range of classic literature.Authors featured in this anthology include Agatha Christie, Emily Bronte, Rabindranath Tagore, Emily Dickinson, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edgar Allan Poe among others.

8 Short Stories. Most of them are science fiction and some of them are humorous.8 Short Stories. Most of them are science fiction and some of them are humorous.Proper Care & Feeding of a Gort - Be careful adopting alien pets.Just To See What Happens - Quantum theories come to fruitionAdmirals & Dreadnoughts - The Kingdom has too many AdmiralsA Boy on a River Bank - A time of no heroesThe Devil & King Midus - Maybe you shouldn't listen to advice from demonsThe Good Doctor Stutz - Time traveling (medical) doctor, but no boxWhat Time Is It? - At least an ostrich will remove its head from the sand eventuallyTae Ga-Ku - A boy has strange dreams of a girl getting closer, then she arrives.

A Deal With the Devil is the first collection of short stories by one of today s favorite writers of mystery novels and short stories. The stories in A Deal With the Devils show how even the most mundane things can lead to a whirl of mystery a randy husband, a bingo game on a cruise liner, an ugly bridesmaid dress, a husband jogging with a startlingly beautiful trainer (a dangerous situation at the best of times), and Satan ready to take over people s lives. Viets is the creator of several popular detectives reporter Francesca Vierling, Dead-End Jobs worker Helen Hawthorne, Death Investigator Angela Richman, and Mystery Shopper Josie Marcus. This collection includes two stories in the Dead-End Jobs series and one each about Francesca Vierling and Angela Richman. Two of the stories received Best Short Story Mystery Awards, the Anthony for Red Meat and the Agatha for Wedding Knife. Introduction and prefaces to each story by the author and including a complete Elaine Viets bibliography. Cover design by Gail Cross **

Howdy! I'm Eddie Smith and this is the story of my ninth romantical adventure with my husband, Whit Hall. We're in San Francisco, having a breakfast of scrambled eggs and chicken fried steak, when we get wind of the latest article about us in the paper. Daytona, it seems, now was four billionaires based on that annual list thingie. And we're two of the four. Neither Whit nor I want to know the number we're at. It's not really our money, after all... However, on that same morning, we also find out that some juicy details we've been waiting for have arrived. They're all about the mysterious 1948 trial that our favorite centenarian, Ronnie Grisham, was involved in back in the day. So, we're hopping on Big Bertha and flying back to Daytona Beach to do some checking around. We're hoping to only be gone for a day or two. This should be pretty easy to wrap up......

This collection of short stories by Nicholas Bridgman delves into finding beauty and love in unexpected places, including when young classical musicians develop a passion for jazz and for each other, vacations to the Grand Canyon and Ireland go horribly wrong, a grandfather sends his grandson a gift from beyond the grave, and a man with schizophrenia finds himself incarcerated.This collection of short stories by Nicholas Bridgman delves into finding beauty and love in unexpected places. It begins by following two young classical music proteges who discover their passion for jazz and for each other at a summer music academy, and who meet fifteen years later and have to face the potential relationship they lost. In "No One There to Listen," a family vacation to the Grand Canyon goes horribly wrong, with the family members unable to express their love for each other until it is too late. In "Grandfather's Gift," a man has to lose everything to discover the love behind a gift his grandfather sent him from beyond the grave. In "Lost in the Woods," two American study abroad students in England have a harrowing time lost in a wood on their way home from Dublin, creating an unlikely bond between them. Finally, in "Sleep," a man with schizophrenia traverses the forensic mental health system and finds that sleeping his time away serves as a strangely beautiful coping skill.

Here are the best short fiction stories, short non-fiction pieces and poetry from the Pikihuia Awards for Māori writers 2023 as judged by Emma Espiner, Carol Hirschfeld, Maiki Sherman, Mike Ross, Hēmi Kelly and Robert Sullivan. This competition, run by the Māori Literature Trust and Huia Publishers, is held every two years to promote Māori writers and their work. This year, the awards sought short non-fiction and poetry, along with short fiction, from writers in te reo Māori and English. The competition attracts entries each year from writers of all ages and those who are starting out to seasoned authors. This collection of finalists' work celebrates Māori writing, introduces new talent and gives an opportunity for Māori writers to shine.

Two fantastic shorts show that Jim Grant is a hard man who's not to be messed with.Chasing TailJim Grant teams up with San Francisco bounty hunter Julius Posey to deliver some bad news to a retired drug dealer. Sounds easy enough, until a couple meth-heads get in the way. Staking out a posh pet-grooming establishment to do the deed, Grant is forced to show why he's a tough guy in any violent situation.GrantedDon't ever break into an old woman's house on Yorkshire cop Jim Grant's watch. And if you do break into an old woman's house, don't steal her most meaningful possession.Lowlife thug Chusan Palm never learned that lesson. And now he's paying the price, stuffed in the trunk of Jim Grant's car. His only hope is that all his limbs will be intact when Grant gets done with him. But with Grant's reputation, there's no telling what's going to happen.

These four short stories were written by Jane Godwin Coury, a British ELT writer, who has lived in Brazil for more than 20 years. The stories were inspired by everyday life she has experienced both in Brazil and the UK. The book caters for students of English around the world, who would like to improve their vocabulary by reading and discussing the content with other students.FOUR SHORT STORIES TO USE IN THE ELT CLASSROOM was written for students learning English around the world. The author is from the UK and has lived in Brazil for more than 20 years. The stories were inspired by the author's own experiences and observations in both countries. Two of the stories have already been published in a book written by the author called Exercícios para falar melhor em inglês (Speaking Activities), published by Disal in Brazil. Each story indicates the language level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The length of each story varies from 800 to 2,000 words. In order for students to fully understand the context, there are reading comprehension exercises to do for each story, as well as opportunities for them to use the vocabulary to talk about their own lives. The first story is about an English man called Josh. He tells us about his time growing up in London, his school life and what he does in his early twenties. After reading it, students will be able to talk about their own school experiences, how the education system works in their countries, their family and typical food from their region.In the second story, a Brazilian manicurist is the narrator. She tells us about a client of hers called Maria, who has an interesting job. In the middle of the story, there are 2 questions for students to talk about in pairs to check for reading comprehension and an exercise to encourage them to predict what will happen. The third short story is about a Brazilian woman who works in São Paulo. At the beginning, we learn about her daily routine and then something unusual that happens to her on a particular day. Students will have the opportunity to get to know about Brazilian life, as well as acquire more vocabulary to describe their own daily experiences. The last story takes place in the UK and tells us about Abigail, who meets up with an old acquaintance. Together they unravel a mystery that involves an object buried in a garden. Students will have the chance to retell the story remembering what they read and also predict the ending. The writer hopes that students of English from around the world will enjoy reading these short stories and consequently build up their vocabulary. She also hopes that they will inspire English teachers to encourage their students to read more and discuss or write about what they have understood.

This volume offers a survey of American short fiction in 59 tales that combine classic works with 'different, unexpected gems', which invite readers to explore a wealth of important pieces by women and minority writers. Authors include: Amy Tan, Alice Adams, David Leavitt and Tim O'Brien.

Selena & Alex: Fifteen year old Selena Harris knew from the first moment she met Alex Kelly that she loved her but is Selena hiding a secret that will tear them apart?Apprehensive: Fifteen year old Carson Lucas prepares to take her first step into growing up.Selena & Alex: Fifteen year old Selena Harris knew from the first moment she met Alex Kelly that she loved her but is Selena hiding a secret that will tear them apart?Apprehensive: Fifteen year old Carson Lucas prepares to take her first step into growing up.First Sight: Harmony Hansen had an ordinary life until the last term of year twelve when she met Katarina Wolf. Before long her life is changing in every way but will it ever return to normal.Secret Crush: Tyronne Hastings has been in love with his best friend Penelope Gilbert for three years. Is he destined to be her friend forever or will he find a way to tell her how he feels?The Choice: Piper Jackson thought her relationship with Marcus Jones was rock solid until she met Katie George. Katie stirs up feelings Piper had never felt before and suddenly she’s faced with a choice. Will she make the right one?Confusion: Aster Little has always known she was different to the rest of her classmates but it wasn’t until now she knew just how different she was.Lucy Wilson: Turned into a vampire a year earlier when she and her best friend, Cassandra Riley were jumped, Lucy Wilson has barely begun to get used to her new vampire status when Conor Simpson, a powerful vampire, tracks her down.First Love: Natasha Waterson and Quinn Michele have been together for four years when tragedy strikes. Will Quinn be able to forget her first love or will she haunt her forever?

There is an expression that says: "An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward." In Glass to Sand, this concept is explored by the author, sometimes painfully, others with colorful delight. Kimberly explores millennial themes of heartbreak, self-confidence, and reflections in six short stories including the eponymous finale, preceded by a handful of confection-filled and wistful poems.There is an expression that goes like this: "An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward."In Glass to Sand, this is a concept explored by the author, sometimes painfully, other times with a colorful delight. In the first section of five poems, Kimberly relays themes sprouting from a millennial age and yet universal, like first heartbreak, living a fast life and dealing with the pressures of a society with often-established norms of how a life should be really be lived. The author also makes us of confections as imagery for anything from regret to self-confidence and patience.In the second half of the anthology, the short stories dive deeper into realistic millennial conversations complete with a bearded hipster meeting a self-help reader in a café. The conversations then shift to memories from the author's ancestors about an ill-fated evening waiting for a shiny Ford, and a nightmare stemming from the all-too-common issue of domestic violence. The collection's last eponymous story completes the transition from a reflection of a painful past into a promising contemplation of the future.

Double funerals are a rare thing in a tiny cemetery. Both deceased becoming ghosts even more so. While resident ghosts Clothilde and Robert wait for their new compatriots to emerge from their caskets, the screams coming from below seem tinged with quite a bit more... anger than usual. The promise of "till death do us part" takes on a whole new meaning with the fresh arrivals. Till Death is also available in the collection Unfinished Business, Volume 1.

This short story collection is set in the Santeria habitat. The first three short stories are in the point-of-view of MeShack, Zulu, and Lanore, from the novel Fire Baptized, and serve as a prequel to that story. The last short story is from the point-of-view of Cameo, who lives in the Santeria habitat, and is from the upcoming YA novel Chameleon.Since the 1970s humans have forced supernaturals to live in caged cities known as habitats. Each habitat is themed and organized by a particular religion. All supernaturals are tagged at birth with silver brands embedded in their foreheads identifying them by species: a full moon for Vampires, a crescent moon for Shifters, a pair of wings for Fairies, an X for Mixbreeds, and the list goes on, for each supernatural species has been tagged and categorized by humans. This short story collection is set in the Santeria habitat. The first three short stories are in the point-of-view of MeShack, Zulu, and Lanore, from the novel Fire Baptized, and serve as a prequel to that story. The last short story is from the point-of-view of Cameo, who lives in the Santeria habitat, and is from the upcoming YA novel Chameleon. Love lost, Love found Point of View: MeShack MeShack's mother has been missing for several weeks. Lanore and MeShack search the Santeria habitat for her, only to find something that changes his life forever. The Heart Ripper’s Song Point of View: Zulu All in Santeria speak of Zulu the Heart Ripper. Drug dealers fear him. Women swoon at his feet. Too bad the one woman he wants is not impressed at all by his heart-ripping antics. He’ll have to dig deeper to get her attention. The Vicious Circle Point of View: Lanore Lanore stumbles from one self-destructive choice to another as she struggles to align her mind’s decisions with her body’s wants. An excerpt from Chameleon (YA Paranormal Romance novel set in the Santeria habitat) Cameo lives in a caged supernatural city where all species are tagged at birth with silver brands embedded in their foreheads. Her X brand identifies her as a Mixbreed, but she’s so much more. Like a chameleon, she can shift from one person’s image to another. It’s a great way to make money for a habitat street kid, or Cage Punk as most people call them. Wiz, her street partner-in-crime, finds her jobs to use her abilities. Some jobs entail changing into people to take academic tests. Others require more skill and involve higher risk. So when Wiz asks Cameo to stand in for a Were-wolf teenager who doesn’t want to go to her debutant ball, it seems like just another job, until a corpse is discovered and Wiz is singled out as the killer. Now Cameo has to prove her innocence or lose the only person who’s ever shown her any love and respect.

I was the world greatest financial mind. I had 300,000,000,000 dollars in the bank. I had created "Immortality," the first stem cell pharmaceutical company to take ten years off. I finally was married to a woman named Jane Berber at the age of 33. The only problem was 12 hours after the marriage she'd filed for divorce.I was the world greatest financial mind. I had 300,000,000,000 dollars in the bank. I had created "Immortality," the first stem cell pharmaceutical company to take ten years off. I finally was married to a woman named Jane Berber at the age of 33. The only problem was 12 hours after the marriage she'd filed for divorce.We were married and no sooner had the wedding night passed then did she disappear and send her lawyers. It became clear quickly, the love of my life wanted half of my fortune to spend with the love of her life.

A collection of classic short stories from the award-winning author, Albert Wendt, acknowledged as one of the Pacific's major writers. Albert Wendt's short stories, providing a complex and profound understanding of people and the world, have been read and praised in New Zealand, the Pacific and internationally. This collection brings together his classic stories published in the Flying-Fox in a Freedom Tree and the Birth and Death of the Miracle Man and Other Stories together with exciting, previously uncollected work. '. . . his stories have the tone of timeles, and very savvy, fables.' - New York Times 'A writer of international importance.' - Landfall

New Authors and collections. A deluxe edition of original and classic short stories, packed with monsters, vampires and a host of weird creatures. Tales of shadows and voices in the dark from the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Nathaniel Hawthorne and William Hope Hodgson are cast with previously unpublished stories by some of the best writers of horror today. A dazzling collection of the most gripping tales of horror, vividly told.

Containing four short stories, each one exploring its own themes and darkness.One Small Boy, is a series of very short stories that tell of a relationship that develops between two children in a world that is rapidly changing.