Best of
Short-Stories

2019

The Moth Presents Occasional Magic: True Stories about Defying the Impossible


Catherine Burns - 2019
    Inside, storytellers from around the world share times when, in the face of seemingly impossible situations, they found moments of beauty, wonder, and clarity that shed light on their lives and helped them find a path forward.From a fifteen-year-old saving a life in Chicago to a mother of triplets trekking to the North Pole to a ninety-year-old Russian man recalling his standoff with the KGB, these storytellers attest to the variety and richness of the human experience, and the shared threads that connect us all. With honesty and humor, they stare down their fear, embrace uncertainty, and encourage us all to be more authentic, vulnerable, and alive.

Exhalation


Ted Chiang - 2019
    In "Exhalation," an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications that are literally universal. In "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom," the ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radically new examination of the concepts of choice and free will.Including stories being published for the first time as well as some of his rare and classic uncollected work, Exhalation is Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic—revelatory.

Sabrina & Corina: Stories


Kali Fajardo-Anstine - 2019
    Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s magnetic story collection breathes life into her Latina characters of indigenous ancestry and the land they inhabit. Set against the remarkable backdrop of Denver, Colorado–a place that is as fierce as it is exquisite–these women navigate the land the way they navigate their lives: with caution, grace, and quiet force. In “Sugar Babies,” ancestry and heritage are hidden inside the earth but tend to rise during land disputes. “Any Further West” follows a sex worker and her daughter as they leave their ancestral home in southern Colorado only to find a foreign and hostile land in California. In “Tomi,” a woman leaves prison and finds herself in a gentrified city that is a shadow of the one she remembers from her childhood. And in the title story, “Sabrina & Corina,” a Denver family falls into a cycle of violence against women, coming together only through ritual.Sabrina & Corina is a moving narrative of unrelenting feminine power and an exploration of the universal experiences of abandonment, heritage, and an eternal sense of home.

Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption


Daniel Jones - 2019
    A man's promising fourth date ends in the emergency room. A female lawyer with bipolar disorder experiences the highs and lows of dating. A widower hesitates about introducing his children to his new girlfriend. A divorcée in her seventies looks back at the beauty and rubble of past relationships.These are just a few of the people who tell their stories in Modern Love, Revised and Updated, featuring dozens of the most memorable essays to run in The New York Times "Modern Love" column since its debut in 2004.Some of the stories are unconventional, while others hit close to home. Some reveal the way technology has changed dating forever; others explore the timeless struggles experienced by anyone who has ever searched for love. But all of the stories are, above everything else, honest. Together, they tell the larger story of how relationships begin, often fail, and--when we're lucky--endure.Edited by longtime "Modern Love" editor Daniel Jones and featuring a diverse selection of contributors--including Mindy Hung, Trey Ellis, Ann Hood, Deborah Copaken, Terri Cheney, and more--this is the perfect book for anyone who's loved, lost, stalked an ex on social media, or pined for true romance: In other words, anyone interested in the endlessly complicated workings of the human heart.

Long Story Short


Jodi Taylor - 2019
    **Includes brand-new St Mary's short story When Did You Last See Your Father? and original introductions from the author**From riotous misbehaviour in Victorian London to ingenious feats of scientific invention (powdered water - just add water!), and from a chaotic Nativity play starring a vengeful Angel Gabriel to an illegal expedition to Mars, Jodi Taylor knows how to spin a good yarn. --- Christmas Past The Farrells are together at last for their first St Mary's Christmas, a time of riotous misbehaviour and the traditional illegal Christmas jump - this time to Victorian London.Battersea Barricades A glimpse into the past of some of your St Mary's favourites characters in the throes of Civil Uprisings.The Steam-Pump Jump St Mary's Max is injured and tied to Sick Bay but obviously a good historian would never let that get in her way. Step forward, Mr Markham...And Now For Something Completely Different Who would the St Mary's team be to turn down a little Christmas expedition to Mars? An illegal Christmas jump is traditional, after all. When Did You Last See Your Father? Have you ever wondered how things would go if Max's husband met Max's father? This is the story of what can happen if St Mary's doesn't like someone...Desiccated Water Professor Rapson breaks astonishing new ground with his latest feat of scientific invention. Markham and the Anal Probing When Markham disappears in the middle of nowhere, Max jumps to the logical conclusion - alien abduction. Little Donkey A chaotic Nativity play like no other, starring a donkey intent on eating the baby Jesus and a vengeful Angel Gabriel.

The Scarlett Bell FBI Series: Books 1-5


Dan Padavona - 2019
    Have you met Scarlett Bell? She's the expert profiler the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit calls upon to catch the nation's deadliest serial killers. Cunning, beautiful, deadly. And hunted. Someone wants Scarlett Bell dead. When a teenage girl is brutally murdered in an idyllic lake community, the local sheriff calls upon Scarlett Bell to find the murderer. Another girl goes missing, and the special agent must stop the killer before time runs out. The killer is a ghost, a phantom hiding in plain sight, and Scarlett must untangle a confusing web of evidence if she hopes to track him down. But Scarlett is the killer's next target.

Proud


Juno DawsonJess Vallance - 2019
    Each story has an illustration by an artist identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Compiled by Juno Dawson, author of THIS BOOK IS GAY and CLEAN.A celebration of LGBTQ+ talent, PROUD is a thought-provoking, funny, emotional read.Contributors: Steve Antony, Dean Atta, Kate Alizadeh, Fox Benwell, Alex Bertie, Caroline Bird, Fatti Burke, Tanya Byrne, Moïra Fowley-Doyle, Frank Duffy, Simon James Green, Leo Greenfield, Saffa Khan, Karen Lawler, David Levithan, Priyanka Meenakshi, Alice Oseman, Michael Lee Richardson, David Roberts, Cynthia So, Kay Staples, Jessica Vallance, Kristen Van Dam and Kameron White.Following A CHANGE IS GONNA COME, winner of the YA BOOK PRIZE SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2018

Essays and Fictions


Brad Phillips - 2019
    By confusing ideas around fiction and autobiography, Phillips writes with painful sincerity about shame, addiction, trauma, and the more troubling outreaches of sexual desire, with wit that is at odds with the subject matter. "Searingly honest, brilliant and disturbing . Brad Phillips peels back the skin and bone and stares right into the human soul." —Anthony Bourdain"Brad Phillips says, at the beginning of this incredible book, that honesty eludes him. Obviously, that’s a lie. When you read Brad Phillips, you understand why nice women write love letters to men on death row." —Sarah Nicole Prickett"Last week, Giancarlo Di Trapano turned me on to Suicidal Realism, a short memoir by the Canadian painter Brad Phillips. It’s not exactly an edifying book. Phillips’s main themes are drugs and sex, in that order: “People who like to get fucked up with other people are not people I like to get fucked up with.” But Phillips has a watchful intelligence and self-knowledge, and an impatient sincerity, that sneak up on you (or at least, snuck up on me). He doesn’t ask to be liked, even by his groupies, but he does want to communicate: “I’m not interested in the ones who are drawn to the creator of the work, I’m interested in the ones who are drawn to the content.” —The Paris Review

636 Harry Potter Spells, Facts And Trivia - The Ultimate Wizard Training Guide For Magic (Unofficial Guide Book 4)


Michael Fry - 2019
    There’s facts from the whole Harry Potter series that you’ll SERIOUSLY love. You can test your HP knowledge by answering the Trivia questions to see if you pass with Outstanding grades. ★★You’ll learn things such as:★★ -How to pronounce a spell and its ancient roots -Who invented the spell -Why muggles can't cook potions -What happened to characters such as Winky, Cho Chang, Viktor Krum and Neville -How many fouls in a Quidditch game -What Dumbledore’s scar is above his left knee -How many Sickles in a Galleon -And MUCH MUCH more! So if you want to feel a bit of nostalgia from your favorite magical world or just need that perfect gift to give to a Harry Potter addict scroll up and click 'Add to cart' Now!!

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America


Ibi ZoboiJustina Ireland - 2019
    From a spectrum of backgrounds—urban and rural, wealthy and poor, mixed race, immigrants, and more—Black Enough showcases diversity within diversity.Whether it’s New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds writing about #blackboyjoy or Newberry Honor-winning author Renee Watson talking about black girls at camp in Portland, or emerging author Jay Coles’s story about two cowboys kissing in the south—Black Enough is an essential collection full of captivating coming-of-age stories about what it’s like to be young and black in America.

Alex Rider: Secret Weapon


Anthony Horowitz - 2019
    From a routine visit to the dentist that turns into a chase through the streets of London, to a school trip with a deadly twist, no day has ever been ordinary for the teenage super-spy. This collection of seven thrilling adventures features familiar and new assailants from the best-loved world of Alex Rider, and also includes three, brand new and action-packed adventures.

For He Can Creep


Siobhan Carroll - 2019
    Luke's Hospital for Lunatics believing God has commissioned him to write The Divine Poem. But years earlier, he made a bargain with Satan and the devil has come to collect his due--a poem that will bring about the apocalypse.Saving Smart's soul, and the rest of the world, falls to Jeoffry, the poet's demon-fighting cat and a creature of cunning Satan would be a fool to underestimate...At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Press Rewind: An Equilibrium Short


Christina C. Jones - 2019
    But that doesn't always mean the end.

Moving On


Cathy Bramley - 2019
     Gina Moss is proud of herself: she's just had the most amicable divorce ever. No arguments, no fuss, no drama. It means she has plenty of time and energy for her thriving childminding business too. Welcome Cottage is both home and workplace for Gina. It sits just on the edge of The Evergreens - a grand if slightly run-down Victorian residence to three octogenarians who have far too much fun for their age: Violet, Delphine and Bing.But a tragedy puts her older friends at risk of eviction - and Gina in charge of the battle to save them. It might be her first fight, but it's one that Gina is determined not to lose... A Patchwork Family is a heart-warming novel told in four parts, following the challenges and triumphs faced by Gina Moss as she swaps an easy life for a happy one. This is the first part. ***** Praise for Cathy Bramley from some of your other favourite authors: 'Delightful!' Katie Fforde'A page-turner of a story' Milly Johnson'Delightfully warm with plenty of twists and turns' Trisha Ashley'The perfect romantic tale, to warm your heart and make you smile' Ali McNamara

Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea


Sarah Pinsker - 2019
    The journey is the thing as Pinsker weaves music, memory, technology, history, mystery, love, loss, and even multiple selves on generation ships and cruise ships, on highways and high seas, in murder houses and treehouses. They feature runaways, fiddle-playing astronauts, and retired time travelers; they are weird, wired, hopeful, haunting, and deeply human. They are often described as beautiful but Pinsker also knows that the heart wants what the heart wants and that is not always right, or easy.

Summer Frost


Blake Crouch - 2019
    Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision—veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?Blake Crouch’s Summer Frost is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

Friendsgiving: A Short


Nako - 2019
    Jillian Sayles saw the concept one random night where insomnia was present while strolling Pinterest. She asked her friends to fly in for dinner and surprisingly, everyone obliged. This short story by National Best-Selling Author, Nako is pleasantly sweet and to the point. NAKO sheds light and emphasis on the importance of friendship centered around black women. If reading short stories are not your thing, please pass over this story. Happy Thanksgiving!

In the Heart of the Fire


Dean Koontz - 2019
    Until Nameless arrives—a vigilante whose past is a mystery and whose future is written in blood.Anyone who crosses Sheriff Russell Soakes is dead, missing, or warned. One of them is a single mother trying to protect her children but bracing herself for the worst. Nameless fears the outcome. He’s seen it in his visions. Now it’s time to teach the depraved Soakes a lesson in fear. But in turning predators into prey, will Nameless unearth a few secrets of his own?From #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz comes In the Heart of the Fire, part of Nameless, a riveting collection of short stories about a vigilante nomad, stripped of his memories and commissioned to kill. Follow him in each story, which can be read or listened to in a single sitting.

Laughter at the Academy


Seanan McGuire - 2019
    Now, for the first time, that fiction has been gathered together in one place, ready to be enjoyed one twisting, tangled tale at a time. Her work crosses genres and subverts expectations.Meet the mad scientists of “Laughter at the Academy” and “The Tolling of Pavlov’s Bells.” Glory in the potential of a Halloween that never ends. Follow two very different alphabets in “Frontier ABCs” and “From A to Z in the Book of Changes.” Get “Lost,” dress yourself “In Skeleton Leaves,” and remember how to fly. All this and more is waiting for you within the pages of this decade-spanning collection, including several pieces that have never before been reprinted. Stories about mermaids, robots, dolls, and Deep Ones are all here, ready for you to dive in. This is a box of strange surprises dredged up from the depths of the sea, each one polished and prepared for your enjoyment. So take a chance, and allow yourself to be surprised.Enjoy.

The Flower Girl


Eliza Lawley - 2019
    But when illness comes to claim him, she’s left orphaned and alone, with no-one to turn to for help. Saved only by one man’s kindness, Gracie is thrust into a new life as a housemaid for the Reeves family, where she becomes firm friends with the young and charming Charley. Just as Gracie finds happiness and safety with the Reeves, fate deals her another devasting blow. Outcast once more with nothing but her wits to protect her from the harsh London winter, Gracie must now find her own way in the world; or die trying.

Bombay Balchao


Jane Borges - 2019
    Looking for safe harbour, livelihood, and a new place to call home. Communities congregated around churches and markets, sharing lord and land with the native East Indians. The young among them were nudged on to the path of marriage, procreation and godliness, though noble intentions were often ambushed by errant love and plain and simple lust. As in the story of Annette and Benji (and Joe) or Michael and Merlyn (and Ellena).Lovers and haters, friends and family, married men and determined singles, churchgoers and abstainers, Bombay Balchão is a tangled tale of ordinary lives – of a woman who loses her husband to a dockyard explosion and turns to bootlegging, a teen romance that drowns like a paper boat, a social misfit rescued by his addiction to crosswords, a wife who tries to exorcise the spirit of her dead mother-in-law from her husband, a rebellious young woman who spurns true love for the abandonment of dance. Ordinary, except when seen through their own eyes. Then, it’s legend.Set in Cavel, a tiny Catholic neighbourhood on Bombay’s D’Lima Street, this delightful debut novel is painted with many shades of history and memory, laughter and melancholy, sunshine and silver rain.

Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory


Raphael Bob-Waksberg - 2019
    In "A Most Blessed and Auspicious Occasion," a young couple planning a wedding is forced to deal with interfering relatives dictating the appropriate number of ritual goat sacrifices. "Missed Connection--m4w" is the tragicomic tale of a pair of lonely commuters eternally failing to make that longed-for contact. The members of a rock band in "Up-and-Comers" discover they suddenly have superpowers--but only when they're drunk. And in "The Serial Monogamist's Guide to Important New York City Landmarks," a woman maps her history of romantic failures based on the places she and her significant others visited together.Equally at home with the surreal and the painfully relatable (or both at once), Bob-Waksberg delivers a killer combination of humor, romance, whimsy, cultural commentary, and crushing emotional vulnerability. The resulting collection is a punchy, perfect bloody valentine.

A Thrill of Hope


Diane Greenwood Muir - 2019
    easy. Especially a busy Christmas season. Parties, kids, decorations, kids, pictures, kids, vacation, kids. It's going to take every single adult in Polly's house to pull off a successful holiday. Fortunately, they're up to the task. Doug Randall is still fretting over what to do with his future. He enlists Polly and Henry's help when he comes up with another great idea. He doesn't want Polly to find a body in the building they investigate, but a mystery emerges when he peels wallpaper away from a gigantic painting. Bellingwood's history hasn't given up all its secrets yet and the latest spooky tale stirs memories that had been long-forgotten. Henry's sister, Lonnie, remembers going to the library on her way home from school simply to avoid the old building and she didn't even know the whole story. Once she found out, the creepy factor made more sense. Everything is wrapped up in the joy and excitement of the season. There is nothing quite as wonderful as sharing the holiday with your friends.

A New Year's Kiss: A Short


Nako - 2019
    First Lady Destiny Simms is hosting a NYE’s service at her church and invites Ashley, who she met by barging into her home during the Thanksgiving holiday. With nothing else to do, she decides to go.  It was there that she was inspired to make 2020 the best year of her life.  What she didn't expect is to run into Patrick Need. He looked different, or was he always that handsome? In this holiday short, Ashley is determined to lay the foundation of a promising year.  Will she allow fear to overpower her faith another year? Is she worthy of love after her divorce? Find out in "A New Year's Kiss"  This is a short story, so short that you can finish it one sitting. If you aren’t interested in reading a short, please do not download. Happy New Year from NAKO!

The Girl Who Steals Christmas


C.G. Drews - 2019
    It's set a week before Moxie meets Sam. Available for free on author's blog.Last year Christmas didn’t happen because their mother had just died...It's a hot miserable December and the De Lainey family are actively ignoring the festive season, but when Moxie finds her little sister's screwed up letter to Santa in the bin, she decides to bully Christmas to life. Includes various sibling dramas, a too-small tent, and confusion between Santa and a potato.

Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction


Joshua WhiteheadDavid Alexander Robertson - 2019
    Love After the End is a new young adult anthology edited by Joshua Whitehead (Lambda Literary Award winner, Jonny Appleseed) featuring short stories by Indigenous authors with Two-Spirit & Queer heroes, in utopian and dystopian settings.This is a sequel to the popular anthology, Love Beyond Body Space and Time (2019 AILA Youth Honor Book), and features several of the same authors returning, along with new voices!

Meant for your Love


AshleyNicole - 2019
    Can it? A one night stand, an engagement and a wedding, all within the space between New Year’s and Valentine’s day. Could it be love? If so, is it meant to be?

The Girl in the Plane


Katherine Center - 2019
    This audio edition is read by the author.

Boulevard Wren and Other Stories


Blindboy Boatclub - 2019
    Ireland's most acclaimed satirist is back with a second collection of short stories to provoke, unsettle and illuminate.Roving through the centuries, from the barren fields of the Famine-struck West to the hyperreal adscape of our technocratic present, the second collection of short stories from Blindboy Boatclub is a wild and exhilarating hike along the knotted paths of the Irish subconscious.From the time-travelling effects of tweed suits, to a vengeful farmer who hypnotises old people into believing they're cows after his farm is turned into a nursing home, these stories are characteristically surreal, yet littered with moments of profound insight and quiet devastation.

Emergency Skin


N.K. Jemisin - 2019
    The mission comes with a warning: a graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind—hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out eons ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.N. K. Jemisin’s Emergency Skin is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

The Quiet Boy


Nick Antosca - 2019
    There were only the Wolfs, who lived together in a cave above a town. Big Wolf, Middle Wolf, and Little Wolf. Big Wolf was a brute. Little Wolf was timid. Middle Wolf was the peacemaker.

Pay Me


Ilona Andrews - 2019
    A deleted scene involving Catalina & Arabella. Timeline: Takes place during Emerald Blaze, with no spoilers for the book, and is told through Catalina's perspective.

The Last Christmas: A Mistletoe Miracle


Aubreé Pynn - 2019
    Her only concern is to get through the holiday without making her family worry while taking in all she can. But when her ex heads home she's forced to feel things she thought she was over. At the top of the things she thought she was over is Ramir Patterson. Ramir Patterson has been successful in every avenue of his life but love. After failing twice at it he's decided to focus on his business and making a legacy that would hopefully out live him. But the more time goes on he's starting to face the fact that the life he dreamed of with the woman he's dreamed of sharing it with may never happen. That's until Valencia crosses his path again. Now that Ramir and Valencia are back on each other's radar can the love they once shared be rekindled or will life end everything where it stands? Find out in The Last Christmas: A Mistletoe Miracle.

Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell


Nathan Ballingrud - 2019
    In his first collection, North American Lake Monsters, Nathan Ballingrud carved out a distinctly singular place in American fiction with his “piercing and merciless” (Toronto Globe and Mail) portrayals of the monsters that haunt our lives—both real and imagined: “What Nathan Ballingrud does in North American Lake Monsters is to reinvigorate the horror tradition” (Los Angeles Review of Books). Now, in Wounds, Ballingrud follows up with an even more confounding, strange, and utterly entrancing collection of six stories, including one new novella. From the eerie dread descending upon a New Orleans dive bartender after a cell phone is left behind in a rollicking bar fight in “The Visible Filth” to the search for the map of hell in “The Butcher’s Table,” Ballingrud’s beautifully crafted stories are riveting in their quietly terrifying depictions of the murky line between the known and the unknown.

Lady Gold Investigates


Lee Strauss - 2019
    Ginger Reed, aka Lady Gold, and her adventurous sister-in-law Felicia taking on clients who've got all sorts of troubles. This first volume consists of The Case of the Boy who Vanished and The Case of the Missing Fox Stole.A companion series to Ginger Gold Mysteries, each volume is approximately 20 thousand words or 80 pages. A bite size read perfect for a transit commute home, time spent waiting at an appointment, or to settle into sleep at night. Get your coffee, tea or glass of wine and snuggle in!

Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance


Bethany C. MorrowRay Stoeve - 2019
    Maybe you speak your truth and drop the mic, or maybe you take it with you when you leave.This anthology features fictional stories--in poems, prose, and art--that reflect a slice of the varied and limitless ways that readers like you resist every day. TAKE THE MIC's powerful collection of stories features work by literary luminaries and emerging talent alike, including Newbery-winner Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestseller Samira Ahmed, anthologist and contributor Bethany C. Morrow, Darcie Little Badger, Keah Brown, Laura Silverman, L.D. Lewis, Sofia Quintero, Ray Stoeve, Yamile Mendez, and Connie Sun, with cover and interior art by Richie Pope.

A Misunderstanding


Ilona Andrews - 2019
    Some days just suck, especially when your Grandma and your cousins take matters into their own hands, and then you have to take these matters away from them, because the family can’t afford to be sued and your House is not made of money. Timeline: A deleted scene from Sapphire Flames, told through Arabella's perspective.

Amish Neighbors: Stories From The Heart Collection


Tattie Maggard - 2019
    10 Stories of Love, Faith, and Family "Like Amish soup for the soul."From the author of the bestselling Amish romance series Forbidden Amish Love comes Amish Neighbors, a short story romance collection from the heart.Ten stories under one cover.

On The Use Of Shape-Shifters In Warfare


Marko Kloos - 2019
    Forbidden by international accords to engage in combat, the "dog soldiers" lend their skills to the regular Army units, sniffing out IEDs and guarding the troops against things that go bump in the night. Sergeant Decker and his 300th comrade, Sergeant Sobieski, are assigned to a Forward Operating Base deep in the mountains of Afghanistan when they have to face a local threat far more dangerous than roadside bombs or insurgent ambushes.

Horsepower & Medicine


Charles de Lint - 2019
    Her best friend, Santana Corn Eyes, knows about the project, as does a ghost who visits her, silently urging her on. Yirah says the spirit is that of her departed uncle, but Santana is worried. Why would a ghost be crossing over to this world? Maybe it’s not such a good idea to get a a dead man’s motorbike running again. And if Yirah does succeed, will she be patient enough to learn how to safely handle it? Set in the Painted Hills near Santo del Vado Viejo, this original short story is loosely connected to de Lint’s acclaimed novel, The Wind in His Heart. “One of the most original fantasy writers currently working.”—Booklist “Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint’s vivid, original world. No one does it better.”—Alice Hoffman “De Lint creates an entirely organic mythology that seems as real as the folklore from which it draws.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review “De Lint is a romantic; he believes in the great things, faith, hope, and charity (especially if love is included in that last), but he also believes in the power of magic—or at least the magic of fiction—to open our eyes to a larger world.”—Edmonton Journal “It’s hard not to feel encouraged to be a better person after reading a book by Ottawa’s Charles de Lint.”—Halifax Chronicle Herald “If Ottawa-area author Charles de Lint didn't create the contemporary fantasy, he certainly defined it. …writer-musician-artist-folklorist de Lint has lifted our accepted reality and tipped it just enough sideways to show the possibilities that lie beneath the surface… Unlike most fantasy writers who deal with battles between ultimate good and evil, de Lint concentrates on smaller, very personal conflicts. Perhaps this is what makes him accessible to the non-fantasy audience as well as the hard-core fans. Perhaps it's just damned fine writing.” —Quill & Quire “In de Lint's capable hands, modern fantasy becomes something other than escapism. It becomes folk song, the stuff of urban myth.” ―The Phoenix Gazette

Everything My Mother Taught Me


Alice Hoffman - 2019
    Adeline vows to never speak again. But that’s not her only secret. After her mother takes a housekeeping job at a lighthouse off the tip of Cape Ann, a local woman vanishes. The key to the mystery lies with Adeline, the silent witness. New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic Alice Hoffman crafts a beautiful, heart-wrenching short story.Alice Hoffman’s Everything My Mother Taught Me is part of Inheritance, a collection of five stories about secrets, unspoken desires, and dangerous revelations between loved ones. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single setting. By yourself, behind closed doors, or shared with someone you trust.

Radicalized


Cory Doctorow - 2019
    Radicalized is the story of a desperate husband, a darknet forum and the birth of a violent uprising against the US health care system.The final story, The Masque of the Red Death, tracks an uber-wealthy survivalist and his followers as they hole up and attempt to ride out the collapse of society.

Foxfire, Wolfskin and other stories of shapeshifting women


Sharon Blackie - 2019
    These stories are about coming to terms with our animal natures, exploring the ways in which we might renegotiate our fractured relationship with the natural world, and uncovering the wildness - and wilderness - within. Beautifully illustrated by Helen Nicholson, Foxfire, Wolfskin and Other Stories of Shapeshifting Women is her first collection of short stories. All are either reimaginings of older tales, or contain characters, beings and motifs which appear in older tales.

Salt Slow


Julia Armfield - 2019
    Throughout the collection, women become insects, men turn to stone, a city becomes insomniac and bodies are picked apart to make up better ones. The mundane worlds of schools and sea side towns are invaded and transformed by the physical, creating a landscape which is constantly shifting to hold on to the bodies of its inhabitants. Blending the mythic and the fantastic, the collection considers characters in motion – turning away, turning back or simply turning into something new.From the winner of The White Review Short Story Prize 2018, salt slow is an extraordinary collection of short stories that are sure to dazzle and shock.

Full Throttle


Joe Hill - 2019
    . . and other horrors that lurk in the water’s shivery depths. And tension shimmers in the sweltering heat of the Nevada desert as a faceless trucker finds himself caught in a sinister dance with a tribe of motorcycle outlaws in “Throttle,” co-written with Stephen King.

Give her Love. Give her Power. (Hussle & Heart Book 1)


Grey Huffington - 2019
     The Hussle and Heart series, dedicated to the late Nipsey Hussle, travels to the slums of Channing City and places a magnifying glass on the lives of the biggest hustlers with the biggest hearts.

When We Were Warriors


Emma Carroll - 2019
    . .Evacuation to an old house with forbidden rooms and dark secrets . . .An animal rescue service . . .Set in World War Two, Emma Carroll explores the resilience, resourcefulness and inventiveness of children when their lives fall to pieces. Introducing some compelling new characters, as well as revisiting some familiar settings, these adventures are sure to win over new readers, as well as fans of old favourites such as Letters from the Lighthouse and Frost Hollow Hall.'It's impossible to stop reading.' The Times'Carroll is a remarkable writer.' Daily Mail'Compelling storytelling.' BookTrust'Immediate and appealing.' Books for Keeps

Homesick: Stories


Nino Cipri - 2019
    In stories that foreground queer relationships and transgender or nonbinary characters, Cipri delivers the origin story for a superhero team comprised of murdered girls; a housecleaner discovering an impossible ocean in her least-favorite clients’ house; a man haunted by keys that appear suddenly in his throat; and a team of scientists and activists discovering the remains of a long-extinct species of intelligent weasels. In the spirit of Laura van den Berg, Emily Geminder, Chaya Bhuvaneswar, and other winners of the Dzanc Short Story Collection Prize, Nino Cipri’s debut collection announces the arrival of a brilliant and wonderfully unpredictable writer with a gift for turning the short story on its ear.

Seasons: Desert Sketches


Ellen Meloy - 2019
    Every few months, she would travel to their Salt Lake City studios from her red rock home of Bluff to read an essay or two. With understated humor and sharp insight, Meloy would illuminate facets of human connection to nature and challenge listeners to examine the world anew. Seasons: Desert Sketches is a compilation of these essays, transcribed from their original cassette tape recordings. Whether Meloy is pondering geese in Desolation Canyon or people at the local post office, readers will delight in her signature wit and charm—and feel the pull of the desert she loves and defends. With a foreword by Annie Proulx.

The Beadworkers


Beth Piatote - 2019
    An eleven-year-old girl narrates the unfolding of the Fish Wars in the 1960s, as her family is gradually drawn to the front lines of the conflict. In 1890, as tensions escalate at Wounded Knee, two young men at college, one French and the other Lakota, each contemplate a death in the family. In the final, haunting piece, a Nez Perce/Cayuse family is torn apart as they debate the fate of ancestral remains in a moving revision of the Greek tragedy Antigone.Formally inventive, witty, and generous, the works in this singular debut collection draw on Indigenous aesthetics and forms to offer a powerful, sustaining vision of Native life in the Americas.

Letter to Father


Bhagat Singh - 2019
    His father had requested the courts to look into evidences that would prove his son’s innocence, but the letter only goes on to show why Bhagat Singh is a true revolutionary who paved a new path for Indian Independence.

Autumncrow


Cameron Chaney - 2019
    Enjoy your stay! But first, a few words of warning: Stay out of the forest. Never venture out after dark. And don't stare too long into the shadows... you may not like what you see. Have a pleasant visit. We hope it won't be your last...Author Cameron Chaney presents seven new tales of All Hallows terror, along with his newly revised novella "There Are Monsters Here", in print for the very first time!

Seducing the Boss


K. Alex Walker - 2019
    Yet, the morning after a particularly drunken Christmas party, she finds herself waking up in a man’s bed. A man who happens to be her sexy employee, Carson Hollister. And Carson’s fifteen years her junior.What was supposed to not go past the drunken party turns into an agreement—they continue a casual sexual relationship for twelve days until Christmas Eve. After that, they part ways. No feelings and a clean break.Easier said than done.Carson has no problem agreeing to the arrangement…except, in those twelve days, he’s planning to make Tamika fall for him. For him, their Christmas after-party hookup was nothing short of divine intervention; he’s wanted her for years but always kept a professional distance.He can give her what she thinks is the only thing he wants from her—screaming mornings, steamy evenings, and erotic nights in her office, his loft, his car…wherever. But, when it’s all said and done, she’ll realize age truly is nothing more than a number when it comes to what he can do to her body, and what he can be in her life. Warning: This standalone novel 30K contains graphic language and sexual scenarios. For mature readers only.

As the Last I May Know


S.L. Huang - 2019
    An alternate history short story looking at decisions and consequences, and what it takes to pull the trigger.Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.

We Live Inside Your Eyes


Kealan Patrick Burke - 2019
    To anyone else, the remains of the woman with the goat skull head is a warning. To a lonely young boy looking for escape, it is a god of salvation. At its feet lay tattered old notebooks, scattered stories, tales of strange encounters, of broken people and monstrous things, and of corrupt hearts and evil minds. In order to complete his transfiguration, the boy must read these stories, but he has no idea the fate that awaits him.WE LIVE INSIDE YOUR EYES is the much anticipated new collection from Bram Stoker Award-winning horror author Kealan Patrick Burke, featuring previously uncollected stories and two brand new tales written especially for this collection, the short story "You Have Nothing to Fear From Me", and the novelette "The House on Abigail Lane." With story notes by the author.

No Such Thing as a Snow Day: A Collection of Reader-Submitted Medical Stories


Kerry Hamm - 2019
    First responders share unique baby names, we hear stories about clueless newbies, bitter veterans, and patients with good intentions but bad ideas. We also hear more about the not-so-happy side of this industry. Grab a blanket, a mug of hot chocolate, and cozy up in front of the fire to catch up with submissions from people like you!

Bloodlust Blonde


Steve Higgs - 2019
    Oh, and she’s a boy. When a name from her past suddenly surfaces, Jane knows that she is the only one that could solve the case. With the detectives unavailable and a tearfully desperate client, there is no choice but to pretend she knows what she is doing and answer the cry for help, but is she really dressed for fighting vampires? Her client has a time-sensitive problem – she was bitten by a vampire last night and swears she can feel her canines growing. With no time to lose and a boyfriend at home making dinner, Jane begins a race against time to save the client and stop the transformation, but does the client even know what she wants? Cross-dressing isn’t always glamorous. This book is part is a long-running series that follows the cases undertaken by the Blue Moon Investigation agency. The stories do not contain cussing or graphic descriptions of sex or violence but do allude to both. There is nothing R rated but I would not let my nine-year-old niece read them.

Hexarchate Stories


Yoon Ha Lee - 2019
    Clarke-nominated author Yoon Ha Lee comes a collection of stories set in the world of the best-selling Ninefox Gambit. Showcasing Lee’s extraordinary imagination, this collection takes you to the very beginnings of the hexarchate’s history and reveals new never-before-seen stories.

Small is Big - Volume 3


Rafaa Dalvi - 2019
    You’re thirteen now. I was eight when I got married. You’ll never look this beautiful ever again.”“I will Ammi, when I wear a school uniform.”If you like thrillers, this micro tale is for you-I always assumed that my neighbour’s daughter knew the word ‘Eight’ only until my dog went missing and she said ‘Nine’.And if you like six-word stories, this tale is for you-Woke up in hospital. Failed again.In fact, there are 100 such small tales that will have a big impact on you.So what are you waiting for? Scroll to the top of this page, buy the book and start reading today.Rafaa's micro tales are absolute gems. The journey is short but its impact is everlasting. This one deserves to be read by all.Sanhita BaruahAuthor of ‘The Art of Grieving’ and ‘The Art of Letting Go’Are you interested in unconventional storytelling? How about a story where the beginning, middle and the end are on the same page? A narrative that makes you frown on page 1, nod in agreement on page 2 and chuckle on page 3?How about reading short fiction then? I highly recommend Small is Big by Rafaa Dalvi. The long and short of fiction in endearing small portions!Rickie KhoslaAuthor of ‘The Imperative Subterfuge’ and ‘Pretty Vile Girl’The book has something for everyone. It has humor – a few of slap stick variety, playing on puns, it has punch where you get a most unexpected twist, it has philosophy, it has romance and it has horror – stories that chill your spine.T.F. CarthickAuthor of ‘Carthick’s Unfairy Tales’ and ‘More Unfairy Tales’About the Author:Rafaa Dalvi tries to escape from the mundane with words and contemplates about befriending the voices in his head. He dreams about changing the world, one smile at a time.Already published numerous times, his stories can be read in the anthologies – Curtain Call (editor), Kaleidoscope, Myriad Tales, and many more. He has also written three volumes of ‘Small is Big’, which is a collection of 100 micro tales. He’s the recipient of Indian Bloggers League Booker Prize 2013.

Hiraeth: Partition stories from 1947


Shivani Salil - 2019
    The place they called home was not a geographical zone but an emotion. Most just locked their doors and left as if they were going on a vacation. They ended up as refugees in a foreign land with a yearning for a home they could never return to. That yearning is what Hiraeth stands for. The writer belongs to a family of such refugees. This short story collection is her tribute to them and to all refugees, on both sides of the border. These are the stories of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances. It’s a chronicling of their spirit, their hard work and their resilience as they made peace with their past.

YOURS LEGALLY: a collection of short stories


Sonia Sahijwani - 2019
    

Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight


Aliette de Bodard - 2019
    Aliette de Bodard, multiple award winner and author of The Tea Master and the Detective, now brings readers fourteen dazzling tales that showcase the richly textured worldbuilding and beloved characters that have brought her so much acclaim.Come discover the breadth and endless invention of her universes, ranging from a dark Gothic Paris devastated by a magical war; to the multiple award-winning Xuya, a far-future space opera inspired by Vietnamese culture where scholars administrate planets and sentient spaceships are part of families.In the Nebula award and Locus award winning "Immersion", a young girl working in a restaurant on a colonized space station crosses paths with an older woman who has cast off her own identity. In the novelette "Children of Thorns, Children of Water", a shapeshifting dragon infiltrating a ruined mansion finds more than he's bargained for when his partner is snatched by eerie, child-like creatures. And in the award-winning "Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight", three very different people--a scholar, an engineer, and a spaceship--all must deal with the loss of a woman who was the cornerstone of their world. This collection includes a never-before seen 20,000-word novella, "Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness", set in Bodard's alternative dark Paris. Limited: 1250 signed numbered hardcover copiesTable of Contents: Introduction The Shipmaker The Jaguar House, in Shadow Scattered Along the River of Heaven Immersion June The Waiting Stars Memorials The Breath of War The Days of the War, as Red as Blood, as Dark as Bile The Dust Queen Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight A Salvaging of Ghosts Pearl Children of Thorns, Children of Water Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness (original novella) Story Notes

Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks


Jason Reynolds - 2019
    With a school bus falling from the sky. But no one saw it happen. They were all too busy— Talking about boogers. Stealing pocket change. Skateboarding. Wiping out. Braving up. Executing complicated handshakes. Planning an escape. Making jokes. Lotioning up. Finding comfort. But mostly, too busy walking home. Jason Reynolds conjures ten tales (one per block) about what happens after the dismissal bell rings, and brilliantly weaves them into one wickedly funny, piercingly poignant look at the detours we face on the walk home, and in life.

Common People: An Anthology of Working Class Writers


Kit de WaalLisa McInerney - 2019
    Common People will see writers who have made that leap reach back to give a helping hand to those coming up behind.We read because we want to experience lives and emotions beyond our own, to learn, to see with others’ eyes – without new working class voices, without the vital reflection of real lives, or role models for working class readers and writers, literature will be poorer.Working-class stories are not always tales of the underprivileged and dispossessed. Common People is a collection of essays, poems and memoir written in celebration, not apology: these are narratives rich in barbed humor, reflecting the depth and texture of working-class life, the joy and sorrow, the solidarity and the differences, the everyday wisdom and poetry of the woman at the bus stop, the waiter, the hairdresser. Here, Kit de Waal brings together thirty-three established and emerging writers who invite you to experience the world through their eyes, their voices loud and clear as they reclaim and redefine what it means to be working class. Original Pieces Contributed by:Damian BarrMalorie Blackman OBELisa BlowerJill DawsonLouise DoughtyStuart MaconieChris McCruddenLisa McInerneyPaul McVeighDaljit NagraDr Dave O’BrienCathy RentzenbrinkAnita SethiAdelle StripeTony WalshAlex Wheatleand more

Summer Nights in Lantern Square


Helen Rolfe - 2019
    Previously a high flyer in the city, she now runs her small business, Tied Up With String, from her cottage in Lantern Square.Her handmade gifts and care packages are the perfect way to show someone you care, and while her brown paper packages bring a smile to customers across the miles, Hannah also makes sure to deliver a special something to the people closer to home... But as Butterbury glows with the sunshine and sparkling lights of the Summer Fair, Hannah finds herself facing old memories, familiar faces, and perhaps even a new romance... *** Step into the cosy community of Lantern Square... A delightfully heartwarming story told in four parts - perfect for fans of Holly Hepburn and Cathy Bramley

Sing Your Sadness Deep


Laura Mauro - 2019
    Human and humane tales of beauty, strangeness, and transformation told in prose as precise and sparing as a surgeon’s knife. A major new talent!Featuring "Looking for Laika," winner of the British Fantasy Award, and "Sun Dogs," a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award.

Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom


Sylvia Plath - 2019
    'It is the kingdom of the frozen will,' comes the reply. 'There is no going back.'Sylvia Plath's strange, dark tale of independence over infanticide, written not long after she herself left home, grapples with mortality in motion.Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.

Last of Her Name


Mimi Lok - 2019
    Set in a wide range of time periods and locales, including 80s UK suburbia, WWII Hong Kong and urban California, LAST OF HER NAME features an eclectic cast of outsiders: among them, an elderly housebreaker, wounded lovers, and kung-fu fighting teenage girls. "Last of Her Name is a mesmerizing and deeply felt debut that affirms all that is great about short fiction. Lok’s collection brings startling intimacy to her characters, all of them struggling with dislocation and belonging. “Woman in the Closet,” has to be considered a new classic. I can’t think of a collection that better speaks to this moment of global movement and collective rupture from homes and history, and the struggle to find meaning despite it all.” — DAVE EGGERS, author of The Parade “What a basket of jewels! Each of these stories is elegant, poignant and multi-faceted. A true pleasure.” — GISH JEN, author of The Girl at the Baggage Claim“A truly beautiful and wide ranging collection. There is love, longing, grief, displacement, endurance. And from the gut punch of the opening story to the wonderful novella that anchors the book, not a word is wasted. So many lines spoke directly in my ear: “Night after night they sleep, but rarely at the same time. Without knowing it they take turns watching each other.” A book to stay up with, a book that will make you not want to sleep..”— PETER ORNER, author of Maggie Brown & Others "Assured and keenly observed stories about the devastations—large and small—that transpire between people. Rendered in prose that's no-nonsense, darkly funny, and lovely all at once, Lok’s stories carry quiet but undeniable impact. This is a book that stays with you long after you've put it down. It makes you wonder, as good books should, what on earth is going on in each of our brains." — RACHEL KHONG, author of Goodbye, Vitamin

Afsaane - A Collection of Short Stories


Ameya Bondre - 2019
    A handmade book on music to be gifted. A pair of mud-brown tea cups without handles. A shelf to hoard dying memories. A little home tucked away in a remote village. A haunting voice after boarding an empty bus... The images on the cover belong to people whose stories are packed in this book: A man who meets his lost friend in a new world. A seeker who resists everyone to reach an unwanted place. Lovers that separate, only to find some hope. A failed artist who finds another voice. A new entrant in a home who creates turmoil. A cheated girl who makes a desperate call. A shattered man who pegs on a sudden dreamy trip. With eleven stories of unrequited love, hope, acceptance, heart breaks or just needs, ‘Afsaane’ will tug at your heartstrings and open windows to people that experience unusual situations in far too usual lives.

Marigold - the Golden Memories


Manali Debroy - 2019
    I make mistakes. I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best," and I couldn't agree more. Life is like a paradox of love and pain that may never leave each other, but in the end, the coexistence is worth the journey. Striving for the best is human nature, but are you really prepared for the roller-coaster rides or do you give up?

A Good Heretic


Becky Chambers - 2019
    The setting here is the Galactic Commons, an interstellar, interspecies union established for ease of trade and travel. As FTL is illegal, transportation between systems is facilitated through a vast network of constructed wormholes. Though all GC species are represented in the tunneling profession, their work is impossible without the mathematical contributions of the Sianat, a reclusive race who intentionally infect themselves with a virus that enhances specific cognitive abilities (at the cost of shortening their lifespan). Infected Sianat are properly called “Pairs,” and think of themselves as plural entities. Their pronoun usage reflects this.In The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, we’re introduced to mainstream Sianat culture through Ohan, a Navigator aboard a tunneling ship. However, we receive a glimpse of an alternate Sianat way of life through the character Mas, who we meet briefly late in the book. This is her story.

England's Finest: Stories


Christopher Fowler - 2019
    Until now. Arthur Bryant remembers these lost cases as if they were yesterday. Unfortunately, he doesn’t remember yesterday, so the newly revealed facts could come as a surprise to everyone, including his exasperated partner John May.Here, then, is the truth about the Covent Garden opera diva and the seventh reindeer, the body that falls from the Tate Gallery, the ordinary London street corner where strange accidents keep occurring, the consul’s son discovered buried in the unit’s basement, the corpse pulled from a swamp of Chinese dinners, a Hallowe’en crime in the Post Office Tower, and the impossible death that’s the fault of a forgotten London legend. All of the unit’s oddest characters are here, plus the detectives’ long-suffering sergeant Janice Longbright gets to reveal her own forgotten mystery.These twelve crimes must be solved without the help of modern technology, mainly because nobody knows how to use it. Expect misunderstood clues, lost evidence, arguments about Dickens, churches, pubs and disorderly conduct from the investigative officers they laughingly call ‘England’s Finest’!

Canvas of Life


Rabb Jyot - 2019
    In some way, the essence of the stories address the age-old question of what it means to be human.Therefore, you will easily correlate with the confusion of Lauren as she experiences changes within herself & continuously sees a man in her dream for no specific reason. You will feel excited to unravel the mystery faced by Rachit when he finds a strange draft research paper, which immediately attracts him. You will experience the shock of Nandita when she suddenly watches something in the pages of a book and blurts, 'this is impossible'. You will understand the suffering of Aaron caused by his repeated nightmares & his disappearance to some remote location.Book is available on Amazon. Order your copy.

And They Were Never Heard From Again: A Yarnsworld Tale


Benedict Patrick - 2019
     Especially at night. Felton takes his younger brother for a walk through the Magpie King’s forest, hoping to change his life for the better. Things do not go as planned. And They Were Never Heard From Again is set in Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld, and is the perfect introduction to the world readers are calling a ‘delightfully weird, dark fairytale’. Grab your copy today, and discover new reasons to be afraid of the dark.

The Town That Feared Dusk


Calvin Demmer - 2019
    She begins searching the tabloid's archives for a story that can get her career back on track. A strange bridge, with an abnormally high rate of suicides, seems like the perfect place to start. She journeys to the little town, eager to investigate, but encounters a tale far more sinister than she ever expected… Paperback includes two bonus tales set in the same world as The Town That Feared Dusk: 'A Gift from the Bridge' and 'From Dusk till Death'.

A Little Christmas Magic: A Holiday Short


Danielle Burton - 2019
    In fact, she's probably had the worst luck. This Christmas will be no different. She's convinced of it. Little dis she know, all it would take was a simple wish to change her luck, and perhaps grant her with a little Christmas magic...

GLEEM


Freddy Carrasco - 2019
    It blinds and reveals, hurts and heals.Brace yourself for what you’ll find on the other side of. . . GLEEM!

Moccasin Square Gardens: Short Stories


Richard Van Camp - 2019
    These stories are filled with in-laws, outlaws and common-laws. Get ready for illegal wrestling moves (“The Camel Clutch”), pinky promises, a doctored casino, extraterrestrials or “Sky People,” love, lust and prayers for peace.While this is Van Camp’s most hilarious short story collection, it’s also haunted by the lurking presence of the Wheetago, human-devouring monsters of legend that have returned due to global warming and the greed of humanity. The stories in Moccasin Square Gardens show that medicine power always comes with a price.To counteract this darkness, Van Camp weaves a funny and loving portrayal of the Tłı̨chǫ Dene and other communities of the North, drawing from oral history techniques to perfectly capture the character and texture of everyday small-town life. “Moccasin Square Gardens” is the nickname of a dance hall in the town of Fort Smith that serves as a meeting place for a small but diverse community. In the same way, the collection functions as a meeting place for an assortment of characters, from shamans and time-travelling goddess warriors to pop-culture-obsessed pencil pushers, to con artists, archivists and men who just need to grow up, all seeking some form of connection.

Short Horror Stories Vol. 2


Kathryn St. John-Shin - 2019
    At a friend’s funeral, a guest learns that the dead can also fall victim to the living’s selfish acts. And death stalks an old hotel, when a desk clerk receives an unusual room service call...Scare Street is proud to present the best in bone-chilling supernatural horror. This volume contains three macabre morsels for your reading pleasure. Each terrifying tale is guaranteed to send shivers down your spine. But before you start reading, be sure to check the closets, look under the bed, and lock your doors.Because when darkness falls, who knows what horrors could be lurking in plain sight?

The Wicked Wolves of Windsor: and other fairytales


Byrd Nash - 2019
     "A Dash of Magic, and a Hint of Wicked." From the landscapes of medieval castles, modern skyscrapers, and Regency ballrooms, this short story collection features strong female leads and women saving themselves.  "A literary glass of bourbon after a long day." A powerful debut book by Byrd Nash. WARNING: This collection draws upon the original fairytale source material and is Grimm-esque. It will not be suitable for all readers. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ THE FAIRYTALE SHORT STORIES The Wicked Wolves of Windsor “I’m not going to eat you,” said the wolf as he kept pace with the bicycle. “I only want to talk.” Between the wicked wolves of the Wild Hunt and her violent father, Doireann needs all of her wits to survive. A dark retelling of Red Riding Hood in a magical fantasy England, post WWI. The Queen’s Favorite Feeling the rough scaliness of his hand, the queen could only whisper, “The witch lies, sire. Who knows what mischief she wanted to cause between us?” Queen Elaine and her talking horse must speak the truth to free themselves from a monster. An empowering tale of surviving domestic violence set in a medieval landscape. A Society of Heartless Women Murder, betrayal, and revenge is in fashion in this Jane Austen horror satire set in Regency Bath, England. Granny Starseed Between drownings and gunfire, when will granny leave? A hippy witch and her talking raven upset the lives of her family when she comes to visit their suburban home. Milking Time A magical fantasy set in Regency England, where a not-so-ordinary farm girl duels a sorcerer. The Prince Learns a Lesson A graduate student is given an impossible task: transform a spoiled prince within three days. A contemporary magical fairytale. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Pūrākau: Māori Myths Retold by Māori Writers


Witi Ihimaera - 2019
    Ka mua, ka muri . . .Ancient Māori creation myths, portrayals of larger-than-life heroes and tales of engrossing magical beings have endured through the ages. Some hail back to Hawaiki, some are firmly grounded in New Zealand and its landscape. Through countless generations, the stories have been reshaped and passed on. This new collection presents a wide range of traditional myths that have been retold by some of our best Māori wordsmiths. The writers have added their own creativity, perspectives and sometimes wonderfully unexpected twists, bringing new life and energy to these rich, spellbinding and significant taonga.Take a fresh look at Papatūānuku, a wild ride with Māui, or have a creepy encounter with Ruruhi-Kerepo, for these and many more mythical figures await you.Explore the past, from it shape the future . . . The contributors are: Jacqueline Carter, David Geary, Patricia Grace, Briar Grace-Smith, Whiti Hereaka, Keri Hulme, Witi Ihimaera, Kelly Joseph, Hēmi Kelly, Nic Low, Tina Makereti, Kelly Ana Morey, Paula Morris, Frazer Rangihuna, Renee, Robert Sullivan, Apirana Taylor, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, Clayton Te Kohe, Hone Tuwhare, Briar Wood.

Tiny Love: The Complete Stories


Larry Brown - 2019
    He was a singular American treasure." —Tim McGrawA career-spanning collection, Tiny Love brings together for the first time the stories of Larry Brown’s previous collections along with those never before gathered. The self-taught Brown has long had a cult following, and this collection comes with an intimate and heartfelt appreciation by novelist Jonathan Miles. We see Brown's early forays into genre fiction and the horror story, then develop his fictional gaze closer to home, on the people and landscapes of Lafayette County, Mississippi. And what’s astonishing here is the odyssey these stories chart: Brown’s self-education as a writer and the incredible artistic journey he navigated from “Plant Growin’ Problems” to “A Roadside Resurrection.” This is the whole of Larry Brown, the arc laid bare, both an amazing story collection and the fullest portrait we’ll see of one of the South’s most singular artists.

Snow White Learns Witchcraft


Theodora Goss - 2019
    The tasks assigned a bookish boy lead him to fateful encounters with lizards, owls, trolls and a feisty, sarcastic cat. A bear wedding is cause for celebration, the spinning wheel and the tower in the briar hedge get to tell their own stories, and a kitchenmaid finds out that a lost princess is more than she seems. The sea witch reveals what she hoped to gain when she took the mermaid’s voice. A wiser Snow White sets out to craft herself a new tale. In these eight stories and twenty-three poems, World Fantasy Award winner Theodora Goss retells and recasts fairy tales by Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Oscar Wilde. Sometimes harrowing, sometimes hilarious, always lyrical, the works gathered in SNOW WHITE LEARNS WITCHCRAFT re-center and empower the women at the heart of these timeless narratives.

Small Kingdoms & Other Stories


Charlaine Harris - 2019
    Killing a man does take time though; so does disposing the body . . . if you do it right.After three relatively quiet years at Travis High School, it seems Anne is in danger of being exposed—even the baseball coach knows more about her former life than she ever imagined. Now, she must find out who else holds her secrets and who wants her to pay for them. . .without letting it make her tardy again. Anne still has a school to run, parents to manage, and a few students who might benefit from her unique—and deadly—experience.Collected together for the first time in Small Kingdoms and Other Stories, “Small Kingdoms,” “Sarah Smiles,” “Small Chances,” and “Small Signs” are sure to delight fans of Charlaine Harris.

Beneath the Bed and Other Scary Stories


Max Brallier - 2019
    With easy-to-read text, a short-story format, and full-color artwork on every spread, these books will boost reading confidence and fluency. Acorn books plant a love of reading and help readers grow!What is hiding under the bed? What is scratching at the window? Find out in New York Times bestselling author Max Brallier's scary stories collection. These five spine-chilling stories will have beginning readers everywhere begging to stay up late to read (with the light on!). With authentically scary, easy-to-read text and creepy, full-color artwork throughout, this book is perfect for young children who crave lite scares. This is also THE book to share at sleepovers or around a campfire. It will send SHIVERS down your spine!

Malcriada & Other Stories


Lorraine Avila - 2019
    Mal porque tengo miedo. Miedo porque yo era como t�, llena de ideas y verdad, y por mi sabidur�a lo perd� todo. T� no eres Malcriada. Lo que pasa es que tu sabes demasiado." __In the middle of the Caribbean Sea, aboard an illegal voyage from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, a twelve year old learns her name; a former cacao farmer finds a constellation on his lover's thighs; best friends become strangers and find the essence of themselves in the face of deception; an old man exchanges his homeland for a New York City bodega storefront; preteen boys grapple with authority; female cousins come to terms with their first shared sexual experience; an alcoholic woman finds serenity at the bottom of the sea; feminism is deconstructed by opposing views; on the back of a motorcycle, self-awareness is found; and a woman discovers that healing is a series of choices.__ "My mother didn't teach me dependency, I want to yell and enunciate. I cannot force myself to need you. Mami taught me to use my tongue like a sword, and I haven't sharpened it in years. Too afraid, I find myself, to pain him, to say things that might strike him the wrong way. Some feelings just don't translate. " __ " You know that Malcriadas can love the world awake."

Deadly Women Volume 7: 20 Shocking True Crime Cases of Women Who Kill


Robert Keller - 2019
    She could get them to do anything for her. Even commit murder.Rachel Wade: The battle was over a man who was hardly worth the trouble. It would end with one young woman dead and the other in prison for a very long time.Stella Nickell: A case of product tampering leaves two people dead. But who slipped cyanide into the Excedrin pills. Could it be someone connected to one of the victims?Kimberly McCarthy: Once she’d been an honor student but a meth addition had turned Kimberly into a killer, targeting the elderly to feed her habit.Maggie Young: A military wife fears for her children’s immortal souls in the godless modern world. Her solution to the problem? Horrific, multiple murder.Corrine Sykes: A young African American maid is accused of killing her wealthy, white employer and ends up in the electric chair. But was Corrine Sykes really guilty?Eva Coo: Eva was convinced that her clever murder-for-profit scheme could not fail. One small detail would prove her undoing.Michele Kalina: Michelle had warned her family never to open a certain closet in the home. When 19-year-old Elizabeth broke that rule, a dreadful secret was revealed. Plus 12 more horrific true murder cases. Scroll up to grab a copy of Deadly Women Volume 7. Book Series by Robert Keller Most of my works cover serial killers, while the “Murder Most Vile” series covers individual true crime stories. These are the main collections; American Monsters 50 American Serial Killers You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Murder Most Vile Human Monsters British Monsters Australian Monsters Canadian Monsters German Monsters Cannibal Killers Plus various other standalone books, including the The Deadly Dozen, which is available as a free download on Amazon, and Serial Killers Unsolved, which you can get for free when signing up to my mailing list. Robert Keller’s True Crime eBook Categories: Serial Killers True Crime Serial Killer Biographies Murder and Mayhem True Murder Cases Serial Killer Case Files True Crime Short Stories

Orange World and Other Stories


Karen Russell - 2019
    In"Bog Girl", a revelatory story about first love, a young man falls in love with a two thousand year old girl that he's extracted from a mass of peat in a Northern European bog. In "The Prospectors," two opportunistic young women fleeing the depression strike out for new territory, and find themselves fighting for their lives. In the brilliant, hilarious title story, a new mother desperate to ensure her infant's safety strikes a diabolical deal, agreeing to breastfeed the devil in exchange for his protection. The landscape in which these stories unfold is a feral, slippery, purgatorial space, bracketed by the void--yet within it Russell captures the exquisite beauty and tenderness of ordinary life. Orange World is a miracle of storytelling from a true modern master.

Manchester Happened


Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi - 2019
    'Let me buy you a cup of tea... what are you doing in England?' 'Do these children of yours speak any Luganda?' 'Did you know that man Idi Amin?' But perhaps the most difficult question of all is the one they ask themselves: 'You mean this is England?' Told with empathy, humour and compassion, these vibrant, kaleidoscopic stories re-imagine the journey of Ugandans who choose to make England their home. Weaving between Manchester and Kampala, this dazzling, polyphonic collection will captivate anyone who has ever wondered what it means to truly belong.

Yellowstone Bigfoot Campfire Stories


Rusty Wilson - 2019
    Or better yet, read them at night by headlamp while camped in one of the park’s beautiful campgrounds, listening to wolves howling in the distance—and are you sure it’s really wolves? Fly-fishing guide Rusty Wilson, known as the World's Greatest Bigfoot Story Teller, has spent years collecting these tales from his clients around the campfire, stories guaranteed to make sure you won‘t want to go out after dark. Come read about a most unusual occupation in Yellowstone’s harsh winters—join an ambitious couple who decide to start a bed and breakfast in the park only to discover they’re not particularly wanted—go along on a fantastic vision quest deep in the heart of Yellowstone’s highest mountains—come soak in the eerie Boiling River at night—ride along with a snowplow driver for a most unique experience on Yellowstone’s wintry roads—witness a Bigfoot tragedy in the making near Old Faithful—experience strange inexplicable events while hiking in the backcountry—help a wildlife biologist with a most unusual and hair-raising task—then read about the strange Yellowstone Fog and the secrets it holds. But be sure you’re not alone in the woods while reading these stories, and whatever you do, don’t go hiking by yourself! Another great book from Rusty Wilson, Bigfoot expert and storyteller—tales for both the Bigfoot believer and those who just enjoy a good story.

This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love.


Jennifer Wortman - 2019
    This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love. contains thirteen stories, full-length and flash, that explore love—sexual, platonic, filial, and beyond—in its gritty and beguiling forms. A small-town teenager pursues an eccentric pinball wizard after her grandfather’s move to her home shakes up her parents’ marriage; a chronic depressive turns to a TV animal psychic in hopes of mending her relationship with her dog-loving dad; a middle-aged recovering alcoholic goes back to college and becomes fixated on his stern professor. As characters in various stages of life try to navigate love, they court obsession, madness, and transcendence.

Hello World


Peter Cawdron - 2019
    This collection of sixteen short stories and novellas, including four previously unpublished stories, will take you out of this world. Featuring... * Hello World * The Man Who Remembered Today * Mirror, Mirror * Butch & Sundance * Killer * Revolution * Lost Stars * Natural * Heil Hitler * The End * Don't Tell * Abraham * More to Learn * Suffer the Children * Deja Vu * The Darkness Between the Stars

Ten Tales of a Dark Tomorrow


Kevin A. Kuhn - 2019
    In the spirit of that iconic, timeless show, these mysterious and gripping narratives explore parallel worlds, faraway planets, dystopian societies, and unsettling reality.•A toddler shifts through parallel worlds, changing into different versions of herself. What would a mother do for her daughter?•A chef finds an alternate food source on a remote world. When the new chef arrives, will he be forced to reveal a horrific secret?•A twelve-year-old Earth girl is randomly chosen to rule the galaxy. Why are galactic administrators so desperate to stop her?•Humanity is on trial, annihilation at stake. Can an underdog alien lawyer save us?•Time seems to stand still as a young boy bikes with his troubled friend. Is the friend causing this phenomenon—and what if he doesn’t stop it?Explore space and time—and confront humanity’s deepest fears—with Ten Tales of a Dark Tomorrow.

The NYPD’s Flying Circus: Cops, Crime & Chaos (Tell All NYPD Books)


Vic Ferrari - 2019
    A police force that large is going to have more than a few colorful characters and unbelievable stories. Retired NYPD Detective Vic Ferrari takes you behind the scenes as he peels back the onion, revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly of the New York City Police Department. The NYPD's Flying Circus picks up where NYPD: Through the Looking Glass left off in this controversial tell-all sequel. The NYPD’s Flying Circus is an introspective, behind-the-scenes look into the New York City Police Department. Cops, crime and chaos are sarcastically woven together through the eyes of a retired NYPD detective, exposing the funnier side of the NYPD—a fascinating history lesson wrapped in personal anecdotes covering a twenty-year law enforcement career. If you enjoy Live PD, are fascinated with police work, or ever wondered what it was like to be a member of the NYPD, you’ve picked up the right book.

The Devil Tavern


Cassandra Clare - 2019
    May Chain of Gold Extra Content from cassandraclare.com

Murder Most Vile: Volume 26: 18 Shocking True Cases


Robert Keller - 2019
    She was, however, claiming self-defense.Blood Money: It was a seemingly uncrackable case, with no trace evidence and a solid alibi for the prime suspect. Dogged police work would unlock the puzzle.Unfriended: A social media spat turns ugly and escalates into threats and accusations. Soon it will spill over into the real world. With deadly consequences.Trust No One: When Toni met Harold through a Christian dating site she thought she had found her ideal man. But when something seems too good to be true, it usually is.Grosse Pointe Bob: Why give up half your fortune in a divorce when $20,000 to a mentally challenged hitman frees you of all marital obligations?Motive and Opportunity: When a custody battle turns bitter, an estranged husband recruits his mother and father to help him carry out a truly horrendous crime.Million Dollar Murder: A billionaire Swiss banker with plenty of enemies is found shot to death, wearing a latex S & M outfit. Who killed him and why?Bad Intentions: A young woman vanishes from a suburban street in broad daylight. What happened to her is the stuff of nightmares.Plus 10 more riveting true crime cases.

Clovenhoof's Diary: December


Heide Goody - 2019
     Jeremy Clovenhoof has spent six years living the quiet life after losing his job as Lord of Hell and now he’s partying hard because it’s the school holidays. Whether it’s his increasingly complex girlfriend situation, his creative attempts at Christmas on a budget or an over-decorated tree that will take things very personally, Clovenhoof will make this a Christmas for everybody to remember. Join Clovenhoof as he continues his year-long journey to tackle the big issues in life.

Caring For Justice


M.A. Comley - 2019
     Someone is intent on attacking pensioners in their own homes. Can Lorne and Pete put an end to these heinous crimes? Or will someone else intervene to give the investigation a helping hand? Other books and novellas in this series are: Cruel Justice #1 in Police Procedurals and1# Women Sleuths. Impeding Justice #1 in Police Procedurals Final justice #1 Action and Adventure Foul Justice #1 Hard-Boiled Mysteries Guaranteed Justice #1 Women Sleuths Ultimate Justice - #2 Women Sleuths Virtual Justice - #1 Hard Boiled #2 Psychological Thrillers Hostile Justice - #1 Police Procedural Tortured Justice - #1 Vigilante Justice Rough Justice - #1 Women Sleuths Dubious Justice - #1 British Detectives Calculated Justice - #2 Action and Adventure Twisted Justice - #1 Women Sleuths Prime Justice - #2 Police Procedural Shameful Justice - #1 Women Sleuths Immoral Justice - #2 British Detectives Toxic Justice - #2 Hard-Boiled Mysteries Overdue Justice - Final book. Short stories to accompany the series involving Lorne and Pete are: Blind Justice - introduction novella to the series. It's a Dog's Life - 20,000 word novella Merry Widow - a short story Justice at Christmas - a 10,000 word short story. Unfair Justice - a 10,000 word short story Mortal Justice - a 15,000 word novella. Irrational Justice - 10,000 word short story. Seeking Justice - 15,000 word novella.

Justice at Christmas 2


M.A. Comley - 2019
    Or is he? DI Lorne Simpkins investigates the murder of a man wearing a Santa suit in the week leading up to Christmas. Why was he inside Jilly Cartwright’s home? Ho...Ho...How did he die and who killed him?This is a Justice short story of 15000 words.

Clovenhoof's Diary: June


Heide Goody - 2019
    Sutton Coldfield’s crazy mayor is tightening her grip on the town and, with her army of Angel Brigade bullies on her side, she’s winning. It’s time for Clovenhoof and his friends to go underground – literally! Join Clovenhoof as he continues his year-long journey to tackle the big issues in life.