*Around the World in 80 Men*Scotland*Australia*Italy*Ireland*Hawaii*Brazil*New Zealand*Sweden*FloridaMorgan Holland is a beautiful, young, waitress who has struggled to find her way in life. Unlucky in love and unsure about her future, she has a chance meeting with someone who offers to change her life. Excerpt from book one:Julianne smiled at her apprentice, nodding before taking a sip of wine. “That's the big secret, Morgan. That's all there is to it. Any guy can find a street hooker, they're a dime a dozen, you know this. But women like us,” she pointed her index finger back and forth between the two of them, “no, no, we're not a dime a dozen, child. Like goddamn diamonds, we are."*****Special Note to readers*****Morgan is a high-end call girl. Her clients are gorgeous, wealthy and they know how to please a woman. This contains hot, super hot, boiling lava hot, scenes! Here's what's not going to happen: They gazed at each other longingly, desire filling them to the core. She blushed and offered her hand to his. With her head hung low, the two retreated to the bedroom for some adult time. Here's what will happen: Oh, just kidding, I can't write that here! What are you waiting for??? Click the button and follow Morgan as she goes around the world in 80 men.

    She falls in with the wrong guy in the form of Rob, a heavy drinker who likes his parties and easy women. Their problems come to a head at an early Halloween party when Rob shows his ugly side, leading Jess into the arms of a man she never expected.

    They are not the brainless, rotting creatures we’d been led to expect. Unfortunately for us, they’re just as smart as they were before they died, very fast, much stronger than you or me, and possess no internal editor at all.Claws. Did I mention claws?I kill them for a living, but it’s as much a vocation as a freelance career choice. It helps me, helps my neighborhood, and the people I consider to be my family of choice. What’s more? I’m really good at it.My life had a nice rhythm, and I'd almost gotten used to it, but the military bungled an attempt to wipe out an organized bunch of undead near a major commuting route into DC. The formerly-human survivors relocated. Now they’re less than an hour’s stroll away from where I live.The new Zombie Overlord is smarter, crazier, and much more well-equipped than anyone we'd dealt with in the past. We have something he wants, badly. I know he's going to come and get it and try and wipe us out in the process... men, women, and even the children. I'd seen it done before elsewhere for lesser reasons.This is my home. These are my people, my family. This is personal.

    Colorado Book awards in the Suspense/Thriller category and Colorado Authors' League in the Adult Fiction category.*** Former lawman Mex Anderson is trying to cope with the horrific murders of his family as best he can. Moving from his small, Mexican town to the snowy mountains of Colorado has helped, however it seems nothing can ever take away the gut-wrenching pain of his loss. When the head of the drug cartel responsible for the killings approaches him with an offer that would reveal the individuals behind the murders, it might lead to the one thing that would allow Mex to heal: revenge. The Sacrifice: a novel of guilt and redemption that proves there is always hope for tomorrow even in the midst of unconscionable evil. “Peg Brantley’s latest, THE SACRIFICE, accomplishes that rare feat of being both heartfelt and suspenseful. A gripping tale of murder and revenge, it ultimately becomes something much, much more. — Dennis Palumbo, author of the Daniel Rinaldi mystery series “Peg Brantley has done it again. Her third book (after THE MISSINGS and RED TIDE) is another thrill ride, a hyperventilation-inducing thriller about evil and power and endangered innocence. And MAYBE a new (and very interesting) sustaining female character. Mex Anderson may have companionship in the next book or two.” —Timothy Hallinan, Edgar-nominated author of the Poke Rafferty and Junior Bender series

    A rebirth, one might call it. And, she intends to do this spiritual resurrection in a small, abandoned fishing cabin, built over forty years ago by her deceased father.Not quite abandoned…A lethal serial killer has taken up residence in the basement of Sami’s remote cottage, using her father’s carpenter table for a hobby much more sinister than woodcutting.Sequestered deep within forty-two acres of tall pine trees, bristling brooks and fresh water lakes, Sami Saxton is about to fight for her life.The hard truth… nobody will ever hear her scream!"Wickard’s novel colorfully illuminates the two synchronized protagonists, each displaying profound characteristics: Sami has trouble adjusting to her new life and Smitty balances his secret life with his normal one, with a (living) wife and infant daughter at home." ~ Kirkus Reviews

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    Nobody has the faintest idea where she’s gone. She was wearing only a light skirt and T-shirt, didn’t take anything with her, no suitcase, nothing. Simply went out one dark evening and never returned. Some say she went off with another man, because there’d already been talk in the small Somerset village of Petheram that she’s that type of woman – attractive, flirty with it, dressed too provocatively. But her husband, Bruce Tredwin, doesn’t believe a word of the callous whisperings of the locals as they gossip about his outsider wife. So he never gives up searching for her. A fortnight later on a stormy winter’s night he finds her. She’s naked in a place called Flinder’s Field, wandering aimlessly, badly bruised and in total shock. But what she says to him will astound everyone. She says she’s been abducted by aliens, and she was never to be the same again, with tragic consequences… Forty years later and George Lee is coming back to Petheram, the village of his birth. His estranged father has died and there are things his mother would like him to sort out. George hates the village, couldn’t wait to get out and make a life for himself as a writer of cheap and gory thrillers. He notices that Adam Tredwin, Sylvia Tredwin’s son, has also returned to Petheram. As children, the two used to be friends, briefly, before Adam’s father was killed in the 1980s by a hit-and-run driver and Sylvia took him away from the village. But it’s when George begins to tidy out his father’s loft and slowly begins to learn more details about Sylvia Tredwin’s disappearance that he starts to uncover dark secrets and hidden truths – discoveries that will peel back the decades to reveal a labyrinthine world of madness, jealousies, deceit, lies and murder. He little knows his idle quest to find out the truth behind Sylvia Tredwin’s abduction will have profound and dangerous consequences for all concerned.

    On a mission so dangerous no one would touch it. No one but madmen or a band of 50 battle-scarred, steel-hard mercenaries.Their contract: to snatch a deposed president of a seething African state from the clutches of his country's new ruler. Call Them Mercenaries.Call Them The Dogs of War.Call Them The Wild Geese.

    Edward McNally: Captain Wil has command of his own ship, the respect of his crew, and his wife is expecting their first child. But at sea, the winds always become calm just before the storm breaks.The Smell of Death by Tara West: Maggie's unusual powers bring new threats to her already troubled childhood.Safe by Emma Jameson: In Victorian London, a grave robber makes a nice living off the dead, until he opens the wrong crypt.Soulfully Sweet by Shéa MacLeod: As if helping the living isn’t enough of a pain in her divine hindquarters, Branwen (former goddess of love and beauty) is stuck helping the dead on All Hallow’s Eve.May I Go Play? by Heather Marie Adkins: Micah inherits a southern mansion where ancestors long dead relive their violent deaths. And now, they want company...Blehdward, the Vampire who Couldn't Sparkle by Pj Jones: Blehdward desperately wants to fit in with the cool vamps. If only he could learn how to sparkle.Franscesca by Alan Nayes: Break a promise to a feiticeira and you will live to regret it.Soul Eaters by R.G. Porter: Kaitlyn never believed in the existence of other worlds. Now she's in the middle of one where humans aren't the hunters but the hunted.The Eclective is a group of authors dedicated to the premise that The Story is The Thing, and classifications of genre are mostly a matter for bookshelves. While the following stories share a "Haunting" theme, they might variously be filed as Horror, Paranormal, Fantasy, YA, etc., or anything else. Our idea is that the story itself is more important than whatever label somebody feels like giving it, and by bringing our work together in collections like this one, we hope readers may find a story they might like. Even if it is not in "their" genre.

    John watches his wife slip into madness as his son rises from the dead. He realizes they must escape the terrifying infection in order to survive but how can he choose between the insanity consuming his wife and the undying hunger of his son. An appetite for death will come in one form or another and it will be left to John to decide on the hand that feeds.

    Focusing first on the cultures of Central Africa from which the slaves came--Ndembu, Imbangala, Kongo, and others--Sweet identifies specific cultural rites and beliefs that survived their transplantation to the African-Portuguese diaspora, arguing that they did not give way to immediate creolization in the New World but remained distinctly African for some time.Slaves transferred many cultural practices from their homelands to Brazil, including kinship structures, divination rituals, judicial ordeals, ritual burials, dietary restrictions, and secret societies. Sweet demonstrates that the structures of many of these practices remained constant during this early period, although the meanings of the rituals were often transformed as slaves coped with their new environment and status. Religious rituals in particular became potent forms of protest against the institution of slavery and its hardships. In addition, Sweet examines how certain African beliefs and customs challenged and ultimately influenced Brazilian Catholicism.Sweet's analysis sheds new light on African culture in Brazil's slave society while also enriching our understanding of the complex process of creolization and cultural survival.

    To their eternal regret some people have mistaken the screams echoing in the hills as coyotes singing to the moon. When Josey drives his truck down into the valley he quickly learns the horrifying truth. It's not coyotes howling- it's men or what used to be men. Josey discovers that the valley is home to the depraved, the noble, the damned, the innocent, the beautiful, and of course the walking dead. When the least dangerous thing you encounter is an angry rattlesnake you know you've made a wrong turn in Albuquerque.The story is over 110,000 words in length. It's eighteen chapters of adventure, excitement, horror, and thoughtful humor.What kind of zombies are they? There has been an interesting but ultimately pointless debate going on for years about what constitutes a zombie. Is it a dead person who walks around causing mayhem? Or is it someone who is violently insane and seeks only to kill and destroy? Why not both? Nestled in a remote valley, the residents of The Albuquerque Springs Trailer Park have lived out there lives nearly forgotten by the rest of the world. The trailer park is home to dozens of illegal immigrants, a hermit who has turned his back on society, a veteran of World War 2, a grumpy old woman, a family of Meth cookers known to local police officials as the Redneck Gourmets, and a beautiful young woman, are just a few.Life was peaceful, quiet, and boring until a deadly industrial accident killed Juan, one of the illegal immigrants. His friends and neighbors promised to dispose of the victim's body. Unfortunately, he came back and disposed of them- one mouthwatering bite at a time.William Robert Bebb: Who is he? Born in southern California in the 1960’s, William Bebb is a man of many talents. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, he earned scholarships for Forensic Speaking at two universities. William was also Editor of a University of Alabama at Birmingham newspaper from 1989 to 1991. Also, he won numerous awards for extemporaneous and other speeches at intercollegiate competitions across the country.After graduating with a degree in Communication Arts & Broadcasting from The University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1993, he worked in the exciting world of Academia till 1996. Recognized as an invaluable asset, William was recruited to a worldwide television network- where he has prepared programming for millions of people since 1997.

    She arrives in a city she has never visited before and where she knows no one, yet she trusts her ability to figure it out because her adventurous life has prepared her for this biggest of leaps. She carries the wisdom of Solitude, Strength, Style, Flexibility, Heart, Endurance, and Grace in her non-matching luggage collection.Molly’s soul-riveting experiences unfold in surprising ways as she discovers the joys and realities of life as a foreigner in France, falls in love with a sexy Turkish man, moves her cats across the Atlantic, enjoys the rare opportunity of working for a U.S. Ambassador, and creates the life of her dreams in less than two years.Yet when unexpected developments require her to surrender once again, a higher consciousness catches her with a deeper spiritual awakening.The Art of Trapeze™ soars with emotional honesty, delightful humor, unexpected wisdom, and inspiring spiritual perspectives around living life to the fullest when nothing is guaranteed except gravity.Hit #1 on Amazon in Spiritual Self-Help and Memoirs: Adventurers!"Beautifully written, charmingly funny - even hilarious - and remarkably open, honest, and down-to-earth, Ms. McCord has gifted us with a pure example of how life can be such a beautiful, grand adventure..." ~ Starfield Press"In many ways, Molly tells you how to be brutally honest with your own soul and get on with your own life in an extremely courageous way." ~ Rick DiClemente, Author of "The Exquisite Zodiac", Intuitive Astrologer"Molly McCord is not one to sit on the sidelines wondering what life might be like "if only." Following along on her journeys allows us to see what it is like to try something out of our comfort zone, and how amazingly well even the riskier things can turn out. She teaches through example how to trust, how to adjust her thinking so she is putting out the right vibration, how to take necessary risks, and how to regroup if things go awry." ~ Lois Wetzel, MFA, Author*************Book One in the Awakening Consciousness Series! Book Two is "The Modern Heroine's Journey of Consciousness"

     Selena Appelton is a freshman at State College - ready to purse her academic aspirations and ready to put her tragic past behind her. Content on focusing on keeping her scholarship, she tries her best to keep her head in the books and not on the pitfalls of college life - parties, drugs and boys. That is until campus bad boy, Heath Gibson shows interest in her despite her inner resistance. Selena struggles with following her heart, trying to escape her past, not knowing Heath may be the one to heal her scars. This 13,000+ word novelette contains adult content. 18+ only! Fractured is Book One of the Mend Me series - Fractured Shattered (Coming 3/15/14) Scarred (Coming Soon)

    Even worse, he spent much of the past year in the hospital battling leukemia. Then one night a meteor storm devastates the county, cutting off power and phones. One giant rock crashes into Andy's neighborhood, skids up the street, and stops right on Andy’s front lawn. The towering boulder draws the attention of neighbors, the media, the army, and even the new girl from Andy’s art class. He is thrilled at the notoriety, but everything changes when the meteor opens and a towering machine steps out. Separated from his family, Andy must fend for himself and rescue his friends. Join the adventure as Andy meets an alien, devises a plan to stop the invasion, and learns how strong he really is.