Before long, it was adapted into illustrations, audio recordings, and short films; and that was before it was revised and expanded into a novel!How much do you remember about your childhood?In Penpal, a man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them. Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you'll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him. If you've ever stayed in the woods just a little too long after dark, if you've ever had the feeling that someone or something was trying to hurt you, if you remember the first friend you ever made and how strong that bond was, then Penpal is a story that you won't soon forget, despite how you might try.

    A former military officer haunted by a personal tragedy in his past, the Sandman embarks on a quest for revenge that pits him against friend and country and leads him straight to the heart of the American military establishment.

    

     In less than 24 hours Nate Merritt loses his job, his girlfriend, and his estranged Aunt Edna. But after Edna’s will bequeaths him a historic mansion deep in the backwoods of Louisiana, Nate hatches a daring plan: he’ll renovate the house and flip it for a tidy profit. The fact that Nate doesn’t know anything about home improvement doesn’t deter him at all. Too bad Nate doesn’t realize the mansion in question happens to be haunted. And the ghost who lives there might not be so indiscriminate about Nate’s ability. Humorous and irreverent, The House That Jack Built is a story of learning how to move on into the next chapter of life—as well as a tribute to every disastrous renovation ever attempted by a homeowner. And ghosts. Don’t forget the ghosts.

    Soon after this, Dodie's brother Seth goes missing: the only trace of him is through postcards signed 'Yours in the Lord' addresses from the Soul Life Centre, New York state.When Stella hangs herself, Dodie must leave her baby Jake at home and cross the Atlantic to bring Seth beck from the mysterious Soul Life Centre. But when she arrives, Seth is always one day away from seeing her. She becomes drawn - not always willingly - into the Brothers and Sisters' communal living, meditation, fasting and chanting. Until baby Jake unexpectedly arrives at Soul Life and events take a shocking turn for Dodie.In a parallel narrative, Stella's sister Melanie tells the story of their teenage years in the 1970s and their shared affair with Bogart, a messianic hippy with shrewd ambition. These two compelling stories collide in a series of shocking revelations and an exhilarating conclusion. Heartfelt and frightening, Chosen is Lesley Glaister at the top of her game.

    A striking and emotionally resonant collection, SUBWAY DANCER AND OTHER STORIES is a compilation of stories originally published in some of the most respected literary magazines in the country, including The Antioch Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Glimmer Train and Ploughshares. In the award-winning story “Bloodlines,” two neighbors of different ethnicities are friends in spite of their differences…until an argument about expensive purebred dogs versus mutts from the pound brings the whole neighborhood’s precarious balance crashing down. “Bloodlines” was reprinted in Bark Magazine’s best-selling anthology Dog is My Co-Pilot and was cited in Best American Short Stories. In Witness to Breath, a woman living a dangerous life working on the streets takes in an elderly dog left behind when his owner is killed in a robbery. Despite never having been a dog person, their brief relationship changes her in ways she never could have expected.In Disappearances, a man not fluent in his own emotions tries unsuccessfully to broadside a train in his pickup truck, then spends the rest of the story figuring out the first clue to why he’d try to do such a thing.Among the other riveting and beautifully crafted stories included in this collection, “Five Singing Gardeners and One Dead Stranger” and “Requiem For a Flamer” were nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and “The Man Who Found You in the Woods” was cited in Best American Short Stories. This collection includes an Author’s Note by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

    they just died. Were they ready? The Shock of Your Life grapples with life's biggest question-What happens when we die?

    She was not supposed to slide down drainpipes, play baseball in Central Park, or, worst of all, want to teach. Teaching was for impoverished young relatives, not for the heiress of the Brightingham fortune. When her father suddenly dies, leaving her wicked Uncle Edward as her trustee, she must resist his attempt to force her into a marriage that would bring her misery, no matter what the cost. She decides to leave the world behind. Julietta trades her fashionable dresses and dainty dancing shoes for serviceable travel clothes and sturdy boots. Dying her blond hair brown and donning her glasses, she travels incognito across the country to Grey Eagle, Montana, as Julie Bright, planning to take the position of school teacher, to begin a new life. But the handsome and dedicated young Sheriff, Jack White, takes one look at her and wants to send her packing. She is not what he expected as a teacher for his fledgling town. He knows trouble when he sees it. But for some reason, no matter what his instincts, he cannot make her leave. When the past finally catches up with her, he knows he'd move heaven and earth to keep her safe, and make her stay.

    It is 1,235 words Himmler; Hitler's right hand man has committed suicide to escape persecution after the fall of the Third Reich. What he doesn't realize is he must now face a higher court. God's court. In this story he will meet Jesus and be tried in heaven for crimes against humanity and the final judgment may surprise you..

    Notes from the Northern Lights is a sparkling short story available exclusively in ebook.Wardrobe mistress Ruby Knightly has been sent to Iceland on a very special mission that could save her opera company's opening night. And she's determined that her fear of the dark - and the incoming weather - won't stand in her way.But as Ruby follows her nose across Iceland's wild, volcanic landscape to the warmth of the smokehouses, she will soon discover that there is shelter to be found from even the most turbulent of storms. Particularly if there's romance around the corner...An irresistible winter tale that will melt the coldest of hearts.

    Bluebirds, a novel based on true stories, climaxes in 1940, the world's most dangerous year. A meticulously researched Battle of Britain novel based on the true stories of an East Anglian war hero and the first American volunteer to fire guns against the Nazis, a man who became his friend and brother-in-arms. The Battle of Britain defined the future for Britain, Europe and America. Bluebirds tells the story of four ordinary young men who are thrown together as Hitler plunges the European continent into its darkest hours. Andrew Francis and Gerry Donaldson were born on different sides of the Atlantic just before The Great War. Together with the mildly psychotic Bryan Hale, they fly Spitfires through the summer of 1940. Invasion is imminent and England faces almost certain defeat after Hitler’s unstoppable armies slice through France to the Channel coast. Fighter Command risks total destruction as they rise to meet the Fuhrer’s Luftwaffe hordes in what would become The Battle of Britain. Flying with The Few - Review in FlyPast Magazine October 2017 The first part of a proposed trilogy, Bluebirds stands alone as a gripping fictionalised account of The Battle of Britain, documenting how the lives of its four central characters become intertwined. This has clearly been a labour of love for author Melvyn Fickling, who writes with great clarity about the fast-moving events of that pivotal summer, and who imbues his descriptions of flight with boundless enthusiasm. Structured in time-linear format, Melvyn adheres closely to history, creating an increasingly tense atmosphere that becomes all too tragic when the cost of war is realised. The story follows the path of four pilots, starting with the formative years of three of them, and working its way forward, documenting the fears of war in Europe, and how the threat influences the decisions of all. Andrew Francis joins the pre-war RAF - idealistic and well-mannered, he is somewhat shocked at the fiery antics of fellow pilot Bryan Hale, with whom he nevertheless becomes friends. When war erupts, they are joined at Kenley by American pilot Gerry Donaldson, a volunteer facing pressure from British authorities to document his experiences - a propaganda bid to involve the US more closely in the conflict. Eventually Vincent Drew comes under their wing. Troubled by years of childhood abuse and hiding a serious health condition, with Vincent comes tragedy. In an excellent narrative, the author captures the mood of the times - the fear of invasion, the differing attitudes to the enemy, and the carry-on-regardless spirit that kept Britain in the war. FlyPast Magazine - At the heart of aviation heritage.

    Her childhood friend Tracie is a computer expert whose personal vendetta backfires. Eva is a jurist but uses men to hide her pain and mask her childhood tragedy, and her cousin Tina wears a sweet exterior but takes risks that threaten to jeopardize her professional career. Kevin and Aaron are sexy twins who go to great lengths to get the women they want; and Angelo, gorgeous and ambitious, lets nothing stand in his way to accomplish his career goals, even at the expense of friends.Pilar is a beautiful but naive orphan who overnight is catapulted to fame; and Denene, a woman scorned, is determined to wreak havoc in the lives of those she feels has wronged her in some way. From the heart of Los Angeles to the South of France, In Laws and Play Cousins tells a story about love and heartbreak, success and envy and the price it ultimately commands.

    She crafts beautiful, handmade wooden dolls in her workshop in a sleepy seaside town. Every doll is special. Every doll has a name. And every doll has a hidden meaning, from a past Mona has never accepted.Each new doll takes Mona back to a different time entirely - back to Birmingham, in 1972. Back to the thrill of being a young Irish girl in a big city, with a new job and a room of her own in a busy boarding house. Back to her first night out in town, where she meets William, a gentle Irish boy with an easy smile and an open face. Back to their whirlwind marriage, and unexpected pregnancy. And finally, to the tragedy that tore them apart.

    By the end of the night, the parish priest, Father Leo Galvin, is dead.The lives of four teenagers - Tom, Conor, Tess and Nina - who had been drinking beer and smoking in a shed at the back of the house, will never be the same. But one of them carries a secret from that night that he has never shared. The friends go on to lead very different, separate lives - some quiet, others in the media spotlight - but the four remain connected by what happened during the time of the big snow.As the thirty-fifth anniversary of Father Galvin's murder approaches, Conor, now a senior police officer, becomes obsessed with the crime his father failed to solve. He believes that Tom can help identify Father Galvin's killer. But does Tom wish to break his silence? His dilemma draws the four friends back together, forcing them to question their lives and to confront their differences. But only Tom can decide whether Kilmitten's secret will finally be revealed.

    Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in a constant, overwhelming Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets. Then Todd Hewitt unexpectedly stumbles on a spot of complete silence. Which is impossible. And now he’s going to have to run… This new edition marks the 10th anniversary of the award-winning modern classic, soon to be a major motion picture starr