Every story has its roots in the mundane. But it's the simple rendering of the profound and profound rendering of the simple which lends all these tales a unique flavor. Each story will suck you in with the simplicity of the plot, depiction of wide, and at times, disparate range of emotions and undoubtedly, the brilliance of the narrative. As far as story-telling goes, Masala Chay is piping hot, and of course: addictive.In this second venture, the characters come even more alive. By the time you start to read about them, you have visualized each and every person you know. Each story comes with a flavor of its own, which is unique to it. Every story gives a feel of the relation you have been in, at some point of time. If it wasn't for these moments life wouldn't be complete and if it wasn't for this book, you will never go back to revisit these memories. These stories will make you laugh, with their innocence, leave your eyes moist with the dark emotions.Every human has a list within them, lists of things they did, they never did or still dream of doing. These short stories are all about that. In short, if you want to know why this book should be part of your collection? Because no matter what these stories bring out from within you, they will make you react to each situation in them as if it's your own

    From his first published story in the Paris Review in 1968, Salter's work in the form has been universally acclaimed: five have appeared in O. Henry collections, Dusk and Other Stories won the 1989 PEN/Faulkner Award, and more recently he was the recipient of PEN USA's 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2010 REA Prize for the short story, and the 2012 PEN/Malamud Award. Each indelible narrative in the Collected Stories is marked by Salter's great literary grace, his ability to show the subtleties of a character or situation with precision, and his equally assured ability to command reversals of fortune or shocking revelations. The stories concern men and women in their most intimate moments, struggling with loss, desire, or the burden of memory. A fallen rider lies in a field, alone but for the knowledge that these may be her last twenty minutes. A man assisting in his wife's suicide is devastated by the aftermath. Two New York attorneys on a trip to Italy discover that their recent wealth affords them the possibility of a higher life, the reality of which is somewhat sordid. A young woman is unable to share a life-changing piece of news with her closest friends.

    Protagonists in the other stories range from a teenage girl to an old woman with the theme of family and love and unseen possibilities in the Christmas season.This collection contains six stories of mysticism, hope and charm, a Christmas gift to readers.

    But Neil Gaiman, of all of his fans, seems to be the one who tangles most directly with Bowie-as-superhuman. First, he made Bowie the obvious visual reference for his version of Lucifer in the Sandman series. But more recently, in last year’s Trigger Warning, Gaiman included a story called “The Return of the Thin White Duke,” which he has now made available on his site.The story has a symbiotic relationship with some gorgeous Yoshitaka Amano paintings, which you can see here, but it also spins off into its own direction, giving Bowie a worth origin story worthy. Gaiman uses the Thin White Duke persona as a starting point, writing his way into the type of person who could embrace such an alter ego. And though the author refers to the story as “unabashedly fan fiction,” after a few paragraphs he makes the character his own, and creates yet another pocket universe for the Duke to test his bravery, create stars, and forge a new life for himself. It both is and isn’t Bowie, as Gaiman uses the idea of self-creation as the core of a story that could be about any one of us.

    Its mystifying source is a haunting tale told by locals.Professor O’Kelly believes an archaeologist’s job is to make known only what can be proved. He is undeterred by ghost stories, idle speculation, and caution. Much to the chagrin of the living souls in County Meath. As well as those entombed in the sacred darkness of Newgrange itself. They’re determined to protect the secret of the light, guarded for more than five thousand years. And they know O’Kelly is coming for it.

    as long as the accident is truly accidental. Hugo Award Nominee

    With her bright green eyes and short red hair, she looks like an Irish pixie. But she is no soft touch. In this exclusive short story, Ireland's most fearless detective hunts down a priest-killer in county Cork.

    In this piece, Syx is fighting the possibility of depression due to carelessness on her end, while indulging in the most freeing period of her existence. Life has never been more complicated, yet she's never felt so alive in all of her days. Her most shameful moment of weakness happens to be the most gratifying and beneficial experience that she just can't seem to shake. Tag along as Syx continues on her journey through the city. ******THIS IS A NOVELETTE!******

    Positioned beneath a statue of Leto, the goddess of motherhood, the crime is weighted with meaning and, Ellen discovers, remarkably similar to one from a decade past.Ellen's professional duty is to protect the child, but she's not equipped to contend with a killer. As she races to connect the dots, she knows her time is running out. And the stakes are high: if she fails, another mother is sure to make the ultimate sacrifice.

    

    Dive into the second collection of Behind Dark Doors, filled with stories of suspense, horror, paranormal and supernatural, from the dark mind of short story award-winning author Susan May.SCENIC ROUTEWhen a young family stop overnight at a quaint country bed-and-breakfast what they don’t know is that something is wrong in Broken Springs, population 402.HIDE-AND-SEEKHenry doesn't like playing hide-and-seek because his siblings don’t play nicely. Until the day he discovers there are worse things than being found. Not being found.HARASSMENT DAYDammit, thinks Edwin, when he sees those people have followed him onto the train and they’ve even gotten off at his station. What can he do to be rid of them for good?THE MONSTER RULESWhen Harry’s best friend shares the Monster Rules he learns how to stay safe at night until he's awoken by strange, scratching noises. Luckily, he knows what to do.WHERE WE ONCE WERETamara dreamed of visiting her distant ancestors' 1897-time line for her PhD research paper. What she discovers is a family secret two hundred years in the making.DESPERATETwo agitated women run into freeway traffic. Both are horrifically injured and should be dead, but they’re determined to get to the other side. What awaits them there?⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Short stories at their best"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "5.0 out of 5 stars It totally lived up to the hype!"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "I absolutely loved this collection!"

    The king found her as a child, the lone survivor of a poor village slaughtered by the Red Fever. Suddenly she became a princess of Runa Realm, the first of nine orphans adopted by the king.By her eighteenth year, Maelyn rules over Runa and a family of nine sisters. But some call the princesses frauds and imposters, a handful of urchins raised into royalty. Even Uncle Jarrod, the High King of Grunwold, seems determined to prove that Maelyn no longer deserves to be a princess. With a family losing faith in her, and a kingdom growing dangerously hostile, even Maelyn begins to wonder if she is truly a real princess. And if her riches will turn to rags once again….The Nine Princesses Novellas is a series that chronicles the adventures of an unconventional family of princesses, the struggles they face in a kingdom often hostile to their humble origins, and the day-to-day dramas of nine young women whose personalities often clash like swords. Fans of Gail Carson Levine and Shannon Hale would enjoy this young-adult series. Recommended for ages 12 and up.

    

    Until now, however, her slim but remarkable achievement as a writer of short stories has remained largely hidden, with her work tucked away in the pages of the periodicals—such as Partisan Review, The New Yorker, and The New York Review of Books—in which it originally appeared. This first collection of Hardwick’s short fiction reveals her brilliance as a stylist and as an observer of contemporary life. A young woman returns from New York to her childhood Kentucky home and discovers the world of difference within her. A girl’s boyfriend is not quite good enough, his “silvery eyes, light and cool, revealing nothing except pure possibility, like a coin in hand.” A magazine editor’s life falls strangely to pieces after she loses both her husband and her job. Individual lives and the life of New York, the setting or backdrop for most of these stories, are strikingly and memorably depicted in Hardwick’s beautiful and razor-sharp prose.

    Straddling the border between civilization and the wild, they all struggle to make sense of their loneliness and longings in the stark and often isolating enclaves they call home—golden fields and white-veiled woods, dilapidated farmhouses and makeshift trailers, icy rivers and still lakes that rouse the imagination, tether the heart, and inhabit the soul.In “Creek Dippers,” a teenage girl vows to escape the fate that has trapped her eccentric, rough-living mother. “Maggie in the Trees” explores the aftershocks of a man who surrenders to his passion for a wild, damaged woman—his longtime friend’s partner. In “God’s Country,” an elderly woman is unexpectedly reminded of a forbidden youthful passion and the chance she did not take. Returning to her childhood house when her mother falls ill, a daughter grapples with her own sense of belonging in “The Women Where I’m From.”In striking prose powerful in its clarity and purity, MacArthur effortlessly renders characters cleaved to the land that has defined them—men and women, young and old, whose lives are inextricably intertwined with each other and tied to the fierce and beautiful natural world that surrounds them.