(Short story)"Everybody in the little town of Emery knew who Kinardley was. The few times they would unchain him from the tree for a little exercise; he would take off and be gone for days. During the time he was gone he would get into fights, flirt with the girl dogs and get into people's garbage."

    He grows his own crops, generates his own power and draws fresh water from his own deep aquifer.But when a nearby town's water supply dwindles in the searing Arizona heat, Dale's peaceful existence is threatened.The new mayor and sheriff want every last drop for themselves and they're willing to do whatever it takes to get it.With a crooked local government conspiring against him, Dale will need to stand in defiance or risk losing everything.Includes all three books in The Defending Home Series. Book One: Defiance, Book Two: A House Divided and Book Three: Judgment Day.

    FICTION: Poolside at their motel, the Fab Four fell into conversation with a snappy-dressing local named Bert the Shirt, who listened as the band worked out a harmony to the most beautiful song he’d ever heard--and wouldn’t hear again for over half a century. FACT: That night, the Beatles played an unannounced free concert in the motel bar. Everyone was welcome. Local musicians showed up with guitars and keyboards, and had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of jamming with the Beatles till 4 am. This legendary event has forever after been known to Key West locals as THE PARADISE GIG.FICTION: Next day, hung over and exhausted, the Beatles left for the airport, having somehow lost a stained and battered notebook that held a priceless stash of unrecorded songs. NOW CUT TO THE PRESENT: A beautiful woman is doing a yoga headstand on a Key West beach when she’s abducted by a pair of thugs. An aspiring young singer is offered a recording deal that seems a bit too good to be true. Bad things happen to a couple of one-hit wonders…And old Bert hears a new song that is hauntingly familiar, but that he can’t quite place.Could it possibly be the same song he’d heard at poolside so many years before? Could it be that all the present mayhem circles back through the decades to THE PARADISE GIG? Could the precious, even sacred, Beatles notebook possibly turn up after all these years? Could Bert be the hero who would rediscover that stash of unheard songs for music lovers everywhere—and save a young singer’s life in the process? With Nacho, his intrepid Chihuahua, at his side, and with no one but bumbling detective Pete Amsterdam for an ally, the undaunted Bert the Shirt sets out through the Florida haze to piece it all together, learning along the way how much the world has changed—and how much it has not. In equal parts suspenseful and nostalgic, funny and romantic, this time-bending caper celebrates the power of music and the many tricks of memory, the joys of youth and the comforts of age, and the free and funky spirit of Key West.

    Exactly who are the Cult of the Free? And what connects them to each event? It falls upon Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend, Dr Watson, to determine the motives. But it soon becomes apparent that the clues are almost as difficult to discover as the ancient tombs themselves…--This book was inspired by Abbott's original short story, SHERLOCK HOLMES The Egyptian Ring. It was first published in Songs of the Osirian: Companion and was later included in the paperback edition of SHERLOCK HOLMES A Scandalous Affair.

    From Dakota’s Black Hills to the gold and diamond fields of Southern Africa, Jim O’Rourke and his daughter, Kathleen step from the sailing ship Eudora and take their covered wagon deep inside a vast and ancient wilderness. The land is raw-boned and unforgiving – the men and women who search its heart for wealth, love and adventure, even more so. Smoke from a thousand fires clung to a broken landscape and towering above it, churned from a vast and open wound in the earth’s crust, were those billowing clouds of powdered Kimberlite; as yellow, ochrous fingers they reached upwards for over a thousand feet, deep inside the heart of that darksome Colesberg sky.

    Although engaged to Walter Manning for more than two years, she has lived away from him and worked as a society reporter for the Shawnee Globe. But an unexpected reconnection with the handsome Josh Flynn, her childhood sweetheart, leads to jealousy from Walter. Gwen insists that she loves Walter and would never be so dishonorable as to break off her engagement…Yet she can't brush off the feeling that her lack of enthusiasm and mounting pressure from wedding preparations are pointing her in a different direction—one that would shake her comfortable life to its foundation. Faced with an impossible decision, Gwen must choose between honor and love in this historical romance set in the Oklahoma Territory.

    He has a job he loves, a vivacious, pregnant wife, a young son and a beautiful home in Evergreen, Colorado. Bruce's life is rewarding, full, and his position is seemingly secure. Suddenly, an accident in Reno, Nevada, threatens to snatch away everything he cherishes: his family and his career. Bruce was in command of the ill-fated flight, and the airline and FAA blame him for the catastrophe.Bruce soon finds himself fighting against powerful enemies: the airline's bosses, the government, his wife's wealthy mother, and other unseen but dangerous adversaries. Just when Bruce's situation seems hopeless, help arrives from several sources: David Goldstein, an investigative reporter, reveals that there is much more to the accident than meets the eye. Mike Barrow, a retired Marine colonel and close friend of Bruce's, joins the investigation only to find himself thrust into the corporate intrigue at the highest level. Ava O'Kane, a thirty-eight-year-old executive within the circle of power at the airline, makes a shocking discovery of corruption within the organization and she has to choose between evil and good, love and money.Finally, pushed to the limit, Bruce takes control of his predicament in an unprecedented and decisively violent, though legal manner. It's the only way he can stop the conspiracy. In the process of saving himself, his career and his company, can an airline captain get away with murder?

    Will their secrets destroy them or can they together find a solution?

    She is relieved to find a man willing to take on a pregnant wife, and resolves to make the union work. Even is the man is a bit loud, spends too much time at the pub, and speaks to her as if she had no mind of her own. Robert Killiam works as a bricklayer in the city, and living a solitary life has not does much for his manners. He’s used to folks who speak their mind, and mild-mannered Alice seems happy to go along with whatever he suggests. She’s lovely and kind, but—he thinks—also a bit dull. But the Christmas holiday bring back sad memories for Alice, and she finally puts her foot down. Robert sees something new in this timid woman, and he’s more determined than ever to make her happy. And when the baby suddenly arrives early, he realizes how much this budding family has already changed his life.

    Conor Rafferty joins the Confederate army as a young infantry officer against the wishes of his father who, in his Irish anger, is adamantly opposed to a war with the North. Conor soon finds himself in many of the war’s most consequential battles, leading from the front and risking all inside that deadly space. He serves with distinction in General Robert E. Lee’s celebrated Army of Northern Virginia as it seeks the crowning victory that will end the war and stop the carnage. Along the way, Conor becomes a protégé of fellow Georgian John B. Gordon who eventually rises to command a Confederate army corps. At the conclusion of each chapter, the narrative transitions to the now aged Conor who answers the probing questions of his grandson Aaron, himself a captain in the U.S. Army and scheduled for duty in Europe during World War I. The grandfather and grandson thus spend a week together—a week of sharing, learning, and bonding. That Deadly Space is a compelling tale that portrays the drama, heroism, romance, and tragedy of the Civil War.

    Rejected by her father and his new family, she is shipped off to be raised by relatives she knows solely by reputation, and the reality is even worse than the stories she’s heard. Her hopes for her future fade as they strip away her independence and strive to tame her wild spirit.Pregnant at sixteen, Katharine also knows what it’s like to be left behind. Lonely and lost, she seeks a path back to the simple dreams she once held dear.When their paths intersect, the repercussions shape both of their worlds in ways neither could imagine.