Click The Cover To Order! She was everything her mother told her not to be, and still, it hadn’t made a difference. Raised in a highly conservative family with the tumult of propriety everywhere she turned, it was difficult to win. She dressed well, had impeccable manners, and a dowry large enough to capture preeminent suitors... and still, it wasn’t enough. She wanted something more, something different. One day, he came to her door, roses in one hand and a marriage propo

The cabins were old, older than any other building I’d ever seen. Even though there were some slats in the siding missing, and I was sure a strong wind could topple them easily, I was grateful. I’d been on this route for at least two hours, avoiding the dedicated trail, desperately trying to find a place to hide. Wintertime is no time to be out in the elements unprotected, but I would rather fight the specters of snow and ice, with the threat of losing my fingers and toes

Liza led me from Twain's Inn, through the fog of Purgatory, to just outside Hell's Gate. "Well, this is as far as I go. Enjoy your trip to Hell. I'm sure it will be great fun for you." There was a twinkle in her eye and a gentle smirk on her lips as she walked back into the fog. I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's the same feeling you get after an enema... a little knotted, a little gassy, and the most uncomfortable sensation that you

"Do you believe in True Love?" he asked, pausing for what he hoped would be a small effect. "Not the kind of love they show you in the movies where everything is perfect and sunshine. I mean True Love. You know, the kind of love that's hard-won, the kind you can only find with one other person on the whole planet?" His gaze drifted away aimlessly. "The kind of love that lasts through all the nonsense the world can dish out and never goes away? The kind of love that

Twenty-four children between five and seven years old and four adults. What could possibly go wrong? “The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round…” I never thought I could enjoy a song less than “Baby Shark,” but here it was, in surround sound, volume on stun, in in various octaves. The drive from the school to the zoo was only eight miles. Still, I think I heard that chorus at least twelve dozen times because repetition, evidently, is the fou

Click The Cover To Order! It was the usual crowd you’d see at these sorts of events; rack selections from Old Navy, Macey’s, L.L. Bean, and a few custom jobs from Rodeo Drive. Stereotypes were frequently assumed; few lived outside of what their costumes described. Occasionally, you’d find one or two who managed a bit of authentic sheen, but it was rare. As they milled about, over-imbibing and over-exaggerating, popular lyrics could be recognized by anyone who’d attended i

Artwork by Michael Kucharski Click The Cover To Order! In a modest forest at the edge of a riverbank, some distance from the blackened kingdom, lived a man who understood life in ways few others could comprehend. He escaped from the tyrant decades ago when he saw the oncoming storm of his wrath. The man lived in concert with the world, moving from one sunset to the next in harmony with nature and the spirit of growth. He shared his life with two beautiful dogs who chose hi

Click The Cover To Order! At five seconds, things were a little foggy. I'm not sure how much time passed by or exactly how I got there... I wouldn't figure out the details until much later... but I can say that the first fifteen seconds of my life after death were exactly as I imagined they would be. The corridor where I stood was foggy from my feet to my knees. I couldn't actually see or feel solid ground beneath me, or my feet, for that matter... but somehow, I knew

PROLOGUE Metal exploded all around them. Glass shattered. The shards impaled the unaware, smearing the afternoon sun with the...