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The Hidden Pull: Adventure Tales of Forbidden Harvests, Uneasy Money, and Learning to Tie My Shoes

by Theo Polo

Suffocating from boredom and bureaucracy in a low-level corporate job, he was starved for adventure. By fate or happenstance, a hidden door led him into a secret underground room the likes of which he had never imagined possible. Surrounded by cascading waterfalls of reflected light and oddly sentient plant beings, he knew he'd found his new obsession. There was just one problem: it was all against the law. What follows is a decade-long coming of age journey in an obscure and forbidden indust... more

The States

by Norah Woodsey

Tildy Sullivan is the middle child in an elite yet fading Manhattan family. Her quiet practicality hides her deep, profound longing for childhood summers in western Ireland. She also carries a secret regret. After her mother’s death 8 years ago, she was persuaded to abandon Ireland and the love of a local boy. Now she believes happiness is lost to her. When Tildy volunteers for a lucid dreaming experiment, it gives her all she wants – a life lived for her family during the day and a secret, p... more

AfterLife

by E. Vince

Over-all AfterLife is a novel that explores the problem of human pain and suffering juxtaposed to a good God. The exploration of the theodicy problem progresses on Earth and in Paradise concurrently. The main proposition is that our free will is the foundational cause of the problem. Other premises presented include that God does not ordain our suffering and that God loves us. An angel is the main character who travels between Paradise and Earth to witness the various storylines play out. Bo... more

Equinox

by Michael Geczi

Project manager Nancy Carruthers never met a project she couldn’t manage, starting as a teen and culminating in her husband disappearing 12 years ago and leaving her with a one-year-old and no explanation.

But then an August weekend rolls around, Nancy’s mother has a stroke, and her ex shows up at the door saying he wants to get to know their son.

Nancy doesn’t do overwhelmed. It’s never penetrated the walls.

But one more surprise awa... more

The Reluctant Conductor

by Tim Turner & Moisey Gorbaty

Feeling stifled as a Jew living in a shtetl in pre-WWII Moldova, a young violinist just wants to find love and eventually succeed his father as conductor of the family band and hardware business. History grants his wishes in ways he never dreams but he doesn’t let the horrors defeat him or hate to overcome him.

Dying to Live

by Robert Perrin

When India holds more than just history and culture… It perhaps holds the love of a father that one daughter is terribly missing. The love of a parent is a unique kind of love. It has nothing to do with success or acceptance. It has to do with care and support that is given without conditions. It is a love that is joyfully born, nourished through hardship, and reaffirmed every day and every hour. It is a love entwined with anticipation and fear. In the novel, Dying to Live, Caitlin Clark... more

Trigger Point

by Juliet Rose

Zoey Sanders is completing her internship as a paramedic with the Mountaintop Search and Rescue in the Beartooth Mountain range of Montana, when a new dog handler arrives to join the team. The handler, Micah Byrne, is deaf and he and Zoey form an immediate connection, even though she only knows the sign language alphabet and a few words. They are drawn to each other through friendship, their love of dogs, Search and Rescue, and something deeper. An avalanche ties the team together through an ... more

Epigenesis or serendipity? Shit just happens, doesn’t it?

by Shawanda Stockfelt

Virtue is a highly intelligent 'womanist' from Dominica who has emigrated to the UK for postgraduate studies. A whiz at statistics and an excellent scholar, Virtue is on her way to fulfilling her academic dreams but is derailed by a passionate relationship with 'the-Finnish-Swedish-love-of-her-life', Daavid. The two form an intense and sensuous bond, but their paths to happiness are thwarted by ominous forces... themselves. Their painful struggles play out against the backdrop of a serene Swedis... more

The Honey Tree

by Jo Sparkes

Maggie has always accepted life's constraints: that is, until she witnesses a breathtaking moment of liberation as a butterfly breaks free from a spider's web. And this small, defiant act sparks a fire within her soul. That’s a dangerous thing for a field slave in 1850 Missouri.

As her daughter ascends to the coveted position of personal maid to the Mistress, Maggie's family is thrust into the intricate dynamics of power and privilege within the House. But in the shado... more

Tranquility Bight

by Bahr Burr

A thought experiment in novella form, Tranquility Bight poses a simple question: What would it take for a good person to commit an unforgivable act of evil? For a model community of upstanding citizens, the answer is shocking in its brutal mundanity.

Follow one resident as he navigates a series of events likely to alter both his attitude toward others and his understanding of his own human nature. Will reason triumph, or is a deliberate act of irrational self-sabotage the... more

Finding Imogene

by Teri Case

Frances Jerome has been tormented by the disappearance of her childhood best friend, Imogene, for decades. Despite her best efforts, Frances hasn’t built honest or intimate relationships with anyone since, including her son and daughter, and she’ll never forgive her father for the role he played in Imogene’s disappearance. Worst of all, she blames herself for turning her back on her best friend when she needed her most. After 43 years of remission, Frances’s cancer returns with a vengeance, and ... more

The Red Door and Other Stories

by K.E. Karl

The stories in The Red Door are quirky, humorous, and eclectic. Many of them are short—less than 1,500 words—in various genres: gripping thrillers, mangled fairy tales, ghastly ghost stories, a horrible horror story, scintillating SciFi, and dark RomComs. K. E. Karl, the author of Our Man in Mbabane, writes light, entertaining tales, and short thrillers with a wry sense of humor. Enjoy!

Twisted Love

by Robert Bigaouette

“Twisted Love” is a work of fiction that tells the story of a deadly love triangle resulting from unconquerable obsession. Let's explore the dark recesses of human desire through plot and characterization. Tommy Landis is a young man of Italian and Irish descent who lives in Brooklyn, New York and works at a messenger center in Manhattan. He is an attractive man who seems to hide behind Woody Allen – like glasses and a shield of insecurity. As the story begins, he lives a lonely life, socializi... more

A Quest for Survival

by Robert Perrin

In the midst of everyday challenges in life… There should be no more place for hate. Life is hard as it is, and challenges seem to come at every person nonstop. With a lot going on outside the house, inside each home should be everybody’s refuge. The family, though not perfect, should always be the source of strength, support, and love. But what if the chaos of the outside world is so strong that it destroys the family and the home? This is what happens in the book A Quest for Survival.... more

The Nihilist's Pocket Survival Guide to Modern Society

by Tungyn Cheque

The perfect antidote for Boomer, Millennial, and GenXYZ angst! This handbook is a must read for anyone trying to figure out and negotiate the landscape of work, home, family relationships, debt, dating and all that modern life offers. How best to tackle these challenges? The nihilist offers readers his well-honed suggestions. This survival guide is a satirical masterpiece, offering a much-needed intoxicating cocktail of humorous light-hearted criticism of the times we live in.

The Spirit In My Shoes.

by John Michael Cummings

Featuring twenty-three stories, John Michael Cummings’s debut story collection brims with the vitality and complexity of our shared humanity. In tales that conjure comparisons to John Updike, Raymond Carver, and William Gay, Cummings tells the truth about loneliness, relationships, and the common struggles we all face with prose both precise and vibrant. Cummings’s voice, assured yet questioning, will stay with you long after you’ve finished The Spirit In My Shoes.

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