Slingshot is a mystery – about a missing aviatrix, a conspiracy, a true-believer. Slingshot is an adventure – about following a dream, the ocean-deep, outer space. Slingshot is about constructing the first space launch-loop stretching 2,000 km between Baker and Jarvis Islands in the Equatorial Pacific. It’s about high finance, intrigue, unlimited ambition, heroism, fanaticism, betrayal…and about opening space to the common person. With a cast of 69, Slingshot takes you from Seattle’s world financial district, to the ocean bottom at 5,000 feet off Baker Island, to the edge of space 80 km above. You play with dolphins and battle sharks. You fly and sail and dive, you work and play and love across the vast panorama of an Equatorial Pacific being put to leash to serve humanity’s surge into outer space. While its accurate science and precise engineering will appeal to hard science fiction buffs, Slingshot’s major focus is the grand journey, the opening of outer space to the common person by men and women who loom larger than life as they work, play, and love.

    This is the opener of a planned Cade Chase series. It is a crime thriller set in the fictional Rockledge, an impoverished town in the center of Appalachia, more precisely in extreme southwest Virginia.The main character, Cade Chase, recently retired from the military. He has given insufficient thought to life afterward. He accedes to the urgings of a longtime friend and former JAG officer, to come to the town of Rockledge. He leaves Florida and heads to Rockledge uncertain that this move is wise.On his first morning in Rockledge he runs across a hillbilly octogenarian named Dale Carter, who tells him finding a place to live will be tough. So Carter invites him to have a look at a home, one of three, he owns on a mountainside "out in the valley." The home he shows Cade is one of the grandest Cade has ever seen. Carter tells Cade the house is his if he wants it. Seems joining the military was the defining event of Dale's life. Without the military's 'gifts' he wouldn't have amassed the wealth he possesses. But he stipulates one condition: help protect him and his wife against what appears to be a dangerous crew of squatters camping in the woods on or near his property.Cade is instantly fond of Dale, and agrees to help him. This agreement sets the story in motion. There's plenty of action from that point onward. Yes, it's a thrilling story involving crime, but more important, it's a story of the evils of autocratic behavior by political elites. Cade is determined to bring the evildoers down. He quickly learns that extreme southwest Virginia has been a whipping boy for sixty years or more. Cade and a cadre of like-minded people strive to end the trampling of this region of the state. You may find it on Amazon and Kindle books. If searching under my name, you need to search under John M. Vermillion, including the middle initial.Thank you.jmv

    John Spencer comments on this in a provocative manner and ponders possible solutions. Many world leaders would be extremely displeased by his observations and opinions. China’s ruthless expansionism, evidenced by the suppression of democracy in Hong Kong and its bullying threats to Taiwan, is one of many issues discussed. John has closely followed events and trends in our world for many years. The issues that bother many people have intensely concerned him and he wishes to promote further discussion in the search for available solutions. The trend to elect populist leaders without due regard to the consequences is one of his lines of inquiry. Others include the ever-increasing disappearance of freedom, the increasing human overpopulation, along with its aging, and the looming environmental disaster.

    It can happen anywhere and to anyone, if you are caught in a cycle where you simply exist, react to life and never really ‘feel’ life’s amazing vibrancy.In this book, Dancing with The Field: Bringing Joy, Passion and Play into Everyday Life, a new concept is explored around the conscious field that responds to us as we interact with it, with chapters that examine: - The relational field - Creating with this field - Seeing our bodies as doorways to the field - The field in relationships - And much more…Through practical spirituality and firm underpinnings in science and personal experience, Dancing with The Field introduces a framework for life to help people recognize when they are in a state of connection and play with this field and when they are not.If you are on a spiritual path and feel like you need some additional guidance to bring more joy into your life, then this is the book you simply must read now!

    

    It floated alongside the air-car. This time, time instead of sending him mental message, the face spoke out aloud and the whole air-car vibrated with its intensity. "If you are foolish enough to renege on your contract, you will be severely punished. For your sake, I hope you wouldn't do such a thing." When Tarmy made no attempt to respond, the face turned and pressed itself against the millipede-free window. A moment later, Tarmy felt the fat slug entering his mind, the sign that the face was attempting to use its powers to obtain his response by other means. But as the slug dug deeper, Samantha's cover stories began springing out of the corners of his mind. Instead of obtaining Tarmy's agreement, all that the face saw was a burning army transporter surrounded by bodies. Undeterred, the face continued its assault. Samantha had anticipated that Tarmy might come up against an adept, so the mental images of death and destruction flowed unchecked. After failing to break Tarmy's defences, the face removed the slug and tried reason. "You can't win, Mr Tarleton, so why don't you do yourself a favour and cooperate? It will be better for you in the long run. Now, where is the miniature pulse drive engine?" Tarmy realised why the millipedes hadn't been allowed to attack. It was obvious that the Great Ones were hoping to retrieve the engine. When Tarmy didn't respond, the face said, "I am prepared to overlook your desertion if you agree to tell us where the engine is and also honour your contract by showing us how to convert the engine into a bomb."

    Don’t misunderstand—the society itself is not secret—it’s the true nature of the group that is hush-hush.Sugar Mountain is the kind of charming village that tourists adore. If you like small-town charm, quirky shops, and local art, this is the place for you. But when a blood smeared package shows up at the post office and it appears to be linked to a scheme that threatens Heidi Collinsworth’s historic home, the town takes on a sinister vibe. Heidi would lay odds that slimy Mayor Winslow is involved, but even with the enquiring skills of The Sugar Mountain Ladies Historical Society at work, proof is scarce. The new guy in town, Adam Williams, is determined not to get involved in Sugar Mountain’s business. His last job in a big city planning office ruined his life, but Heidi needs his help. No matter how hard he tries to stay detached, Adam finds himself eyeball deep in Heidi’s problems, as well as the needs of her teenage son and a homeless dog. With conflicting theories abound and tensions running high, it’s up to the ladies of the society to don disguises and go undercover. If they’re not careful, the town may fall to a wrecking ball, Heidi may fall for Adam, and the secret society will be exposed. Meet the cast of colorful characters in this charming and zany introduction to a whole new series of romantic, cozy mysteries!

    Against a backdrop of high Edwardian luxury, Natalie Edwardes is poised on the brink of adulthood and, in an age when a woman's destiny is decided by marriage, her beauty, wit and wealth would seem to guarantee her a glittering future. But, isolated by her father's position as a self-made man, Natalie has never felt at ease in a society bound by a maze of conventions. Heart, for her, will always rule head, and so it seems that an encounter with a dashing yet gentle artist-soldier contains all the seeds of her life's happiness. The dance of Natalie's life whirls her from the glittering ballrooms of London and the grand houses of Scotland and Devon, to the Scottish Highlands. But the strictures of polite society are far-reaching and Natalie's happiness is abruptly snatched away. She is forced to compromise her romantic ideals and it is only when the tragedy of the Titanic touches her life, years later, that she discovers what love really means and the heartrending choices it poses. Choices that even the cataclysmic events of 1914-1919 seem unlikely to challenge.

    

    She has an internship with her famous film director uncle, a hit BookTube channel with her actress cousin Sadie and is fully determined to get her world on track as a true adult person, complete with happiness and sparkly love in spades. But nothing is going to plan. She applied to all the wrong colleges, is the only one of her friends still single and is majorly crushing on 23-year-old cinema genius wunderkind Leo Landis, even though he may or may not be breaking up with his girlfriend and may or may not even notice her. But Saoirse's not giving up.She steels herself with hyper-romantic hope and sets out to be her best positive self, which works fabulously until it doesn't and things get complicated. Luckily, life turns in Saoirse's favor as her Hollywood family spins out of control and a sweet and equally quirky street artist, Hector Rojas, spots her magical sparkle and inspires her to see things from a kaleidoscope of angles, even her own beautiful self.Uniquely charming in a Bridget Jones's Diary way with a Cyrano de Bergerac twist, Saoirse Berger takes us on an 18-year-old's hilariously painful journey through love, self-doubt, rejection and the search for belonging as a new adult, ultimately discovering she's already right where she's supposed to be.

    Now, in the summer of 2015, the future looks great for Ben and Anne. Their son Taylor is married to his longtime love, Jenny, and they are expecting their first grandchild. Their daughter, Molly, now almost seventeen, is a beautiful, intelligent teenager.Life has never been better for the Carson family. But that is about to change. The disturbing dreams are back and Ben is terrified. The ultimate evil force has not forgotten what Ben took from him and he is back in human form seeking revenge with the help of a handsome young man who befriends Molly and infiltrates the Carson family. This sequel to The Well House takes the reader on another incredible journey through the depths of the underworld to the gates of hell. Familiar characters return to help Ben on his journey together with a wizard, a shape shifter and a Basque priest.Ben, together with his wife Anne, his dog and his friends encounter terrifying creatures on their arduous journey to defeat evil and save the family. The Well House II: The Revenge is part drama and part fantasy and continues the exciting, unique and thoughtful story of a man's fight against the ultimate evil. Will Ben be victorious again or will he and his family be destroyed?

    Her ten-year journey will include a new relationship, a trek to the highest summit in the contiguous United States, and a poignant hospice experience that will challenge her to rise from the ashes of despair. Catherine decides to leave Boston when a company from the Silicon Valley presents an offer for her very successful website design company. After accepting the buyout, she signs a contract with a Los Angeles based health care corporation to work as a consultant and thus begins her decade-long stay on the west coast. As time passes in her sunny new environment, Catherine grows increasingly homesick despite the thrill of falling in love and her passion for hiking the Southern California trails. Conflicts arise when the desire to return to her native New England dominates her thoughts and she meets Kenny, a young man who is facing his final days. As Catherine sits at Kenny's bedside, she helps him work through his struggles to understand love and devotion while facing the fear of a completed life's journey. Their conversations inspire her to reflect deeply upon her own life, the decisions she has made, and the path she must follow.

    Standing in her way? The Coalition-a secret church organization tasked with the responsibility of taking care of these types of incidents quickly and quietly and by any means necessary. Jennifer decides to file a lawsuit against the priest and the church and seeks out an attorney, Zachary Blake, who handled her late husband's industrial death case. However, through an unfortunate series of events, Zachary has gone from the penthouse to the poorhouse, working out of a dingy one-room office, handling traffic cases. Although Jennifer has misgivings, she reluctantly retains him and, together, they embark on a "David vs. Goliath" legal battle against an organization hell-bent on thwarting their efforts. Zachary hires an investigator, the infamous Micah Love, who travels to Ohio, where he discovers that two families have disappeared after an encounter with the same priest-and the one person who may provide some answers has died under mysterious circumstances. Religion, law, betrayal, mystery, intrigue, faith, and love converge in Michigan for the trial of the century. Will Zachary resurrect his troubled career and obtain the justice Jennifer seeks for her kids? Or will the church and the Coalition and its mysterious leader prevail in covering up the decadent acts of the priest and circumvent justice once again? Will the truth prevail?

    His discovery brings Annabel and her family to the turn of nineteenth-century England hoping to rescue Michele from the Black Witch’s cage. What they discover is that the Black Witch has been forced into an insidious pact with the devil and the devil, with malicious intent, is luring them all into a web of death. Can they escape his grasp?

    Granted, it sounds like an exaggeration, but Silas was more panicked about leaving the house than even the rat. Neither wanted to go. One had a family, the other had social anxiety. Before sunrise, one was going to be freed in a field, the other from custody. One would see worlds he could never dream, the other would have all his worst fears confirmed. Night of the Rat tells the dark and comedic lengths one couple will go to rid their neighborhood of unwanted guests.