I spent time looking for a book which would show me how a "raw" story was developed through drafts, with comments received and the changes made. Struggling to find such a work, I decided to create my own, being transparent and honest in the details. Using the story that gained me an offer of a place on a Master's in Creative Writing, SHORT STORY will take you through three drafts of the work.The book details not only the major revisions, feedback given by a professional novelist and an academic, but also has a bunch of tips from my writers toolbox condensed between the drafts. I hope that the process provides something useful for you, be it a tip from the writing toolbox, a look at the editing process, or motivation in knowing that you can do better than I did!

    What would you give up for the people you love? When Megan Taylor, a single mother and artist living on Cape Cod, receives the shocking news that her cancer has returned, she's faced with the most difficult decision she's ever had to make. The love she has for her daughter, Olivia, and her closest friends will be stretched and frayed. Megan's illness reawakens her best friend, Holly Townsend's, torment of a long-held secret and years of betrayal. How does one choose between a daughter and a life-long best friend? Can the secret she has been keeping be revealed after years of lying without destroying everyone in its wake? Meanwhile, fourteen-year-old Olivia's world is falling apart right before her eyes, and there's nothing she can do about it. She finds herself acting in ways she cannot even begin to understand. When her internal struggles turn to dangerous behavior, even the paranormal connection she shares with her mother might not be enough to save her - her life will hang in the balance. Megan's Way is a journey of self discovery and heartfelt emotions, exploring the depth of the mother-daughter bond, and the intricacies of friendship. WINNER, READERS FAVORITE AWARD: Fiction/DramaWINNER, BEACH BOOK AWARD: SpiritualFINALIST, Next Generation Indie Book Awards: New AgeFINALIST, READERS FAVORITE AWARD: Women's FictionHONORABLE MENTION, NEW ENGLAND FILM FESTIVAL: Spirituality***Olivia's story will be continued in LOVING LIVI, Harborside Nights new adult romance series. Sign up for Melissa's newsletter and follow her on her author page here on Amazon to be notified of this release!

    We all know one! They like to groan and grumble, offering their own commentary on the shortcomings of modern life. Whether it is queues at the supermarket, the state of the health system, the price of a pint these days, the hairstyles of teenagers, or the number of Maltesers you actually get in a bag, there is always something that will get their goat. 'The Grumpy Old Git's Guide to Life' is a hilarious celebration of all these grumps, how to identify one, what exactly they find so irritating and why we find their rants quite so amusing.

    The award-winning Scam School Book 1 is available March 14 (Pi day!) on the eReader of your choice. Hear behind-the-scenes secrets about Scam School episodes and listen to bonus techniques with Brian's exclusive audio commentary for every trick featured in the book. Embedded video demonstrations provide an easy way to understand some of the visual aspects of your favorite scams.Ever need to review a trick at the bar before pulling it off in front of an audience? Having the Scam School book on-the-go allows you to easily review tricks, techniques, and presentation ideas in secret before amazing your friends.Each trick has a custom header designed to summarize the type (or class) of trick, the factors involved, and what objects are required to pull it off. Each section that corresponds to a Scam School episode links directly to that episode.

    A once up-and-coming detective, she's been given this beat as punishment after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor.But one night she catches two assignments she doesn't want to part with: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting. Ballard is determined not to give up at dawn. Against orders and her partner's wishes, she works both cases by day while maintaining her shift by night. As the investigations entwine, they pull her closer to her own demons and the reason she won't give up her job, no matter what the department throws at her.

    Pendergast is missing, presumed dead.A SHOCKING RETURNSick with grief, Pendergast's ward, Constance, retreats to her chambers beneath the family mansion at 891 Riverside Drive--only to be taken captive by a shadowy figure from the past.AN INTERNATIONAL MANHUNTProctor, Pendergast's longtime bodyguard, springs to action, chasing Constance's kidnapper through cities, across oceans, and into wastelands unknown.BUT IN A WORLD OF BLACK AND WHITE, NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMSAnd by the time Proctor discovers the truth, a terrifying engine has stirred-and it may already be too late . . .

    Each area has its own team – and rivalry means supporters never mix. Until a Dimwell fan falls for a Dolly Sisters girl.And now an ancient bequest means the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic.Luckily they’re coached by the mysterious Mr Nutt (and no one knows anything much about Mr Nutt, not even Mr Nutt, which worries him, too).As the match approaches, four lives are entangled and changed forever. Because the thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football.As all children know, the way you get into a fantasy world is by accident… You go into the wardrobe, looking for somewhere to hide and – bingo. And that’s how Stephen Briggs found Discworld.In 1990, he wrote to ask Terry if he could stage Wyrd Sisters. That was the first time anyone, anywhere in the world, had dramatised Terry’s work. He had no idea it would go any further than one play (possibly two). But it did. So far, he has now adapted, staged and published twenty-two plays.He and Terry also worked together to produce the original Discworld Maps and Diaries, Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, The Discworld Companion (now called Turtle Recall

    Ivan Farrell is an astronomer, wife Polly a photographer, eight-year-old Charlie a budding biologist and 11-year-old Amanda a talented gymnast. And then one day, unimaginable tragedy strikes.

    But after an enormous explosion at the facility, people in town start turning up dead...and in pieces.Something is loose in Hope Valley. Something big...and fast...and hungry. It has a lot of legs, a nasty disposition and a big appetite. This is one spider you can’t step on.

    Ordered by profession, these short-short stories range from the hilarious to the somber, the absurd to the revelatory. Using real people as the springboard, VanderMeer has created a rich blend of the factual and the imaginary in which everyone gets the secret life they deserve. A luminous little book meant for dipping into one secret life at a time.

    With one convenient proposal, he could have the Southern beauty in his bed and her birthright in his hands. That's only if Bella says yes… FEELING THE HEAT Their long-ago affair ended too abruptly. And Dr. Micah Westmoreland knows Kalina Daniels hasn't forgiven him. But now that they're working side by side, he can't ignore the heat that still burns between them. This time, there will be no question about his motive—he plans to make her his.

     When Derrick Wolf and Kent Campbell were wounded in battle, they thought the war was over for them. And while the war may have been done with them, the army was not. Of No Value is an unvarnished depiction of the absurdity of war and army life in the early 1970s. From the pitiful treatment received at the army's hospitals to the completion of their service, they were scorned and insulted by the military. The contempt continued at home, this time at the hands of their fellow Americans, who spat and called them "baby killers." Of No Value is a memoir spanning the experiences of two soldiers from the time of their combat injuries to their discharge. It not only captures the ludicrous machinations of the military but also depicts the colorful counterculture life of the United States in the early 70s. Both Wolf and Campbell are Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipients. Wolf is also the author of Boys for Men, a best-selling Vietnam memoir.

    If…you spend five nights with me.” Still not recovered from her father’s tragic death, Lady Penelope has to deal with a new disaster: her cousin and new heir have gambled away all she had left from her mother to the worst of rakes.Asher Charmant, the Duke of Kendall, lives by a simple rule: never spend more than five nights with a woman. However, bound by his father’s dying wish, he must leave his rakish ways behind and get married.After their unplanned and very heated kiss at the ball, Penelope would never expect or want to see Asher again. Let alone that the devil himself would ask her for a deal unimaginable for a Lady: spend five nights with him to get her estates back...

    Marcus wants nothing more than to indulge in drink, drugs and women.But when he meets the plot-holders on the Butterfly Lane allotments--Sophia, a charming, but troubled, woman in the midst of a spiritual crisis; Alex, his fiery, Greek neighbour, who covets both Marcus’s plot and a mysterious book that belonged to his grandfather; and Benjamin, a shadowy recluse--the reason for his inheritance becomes clear.