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The Screenwriting Life by Rich Whiteside


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The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows


John Koenig - 2021
    “ —The Washington Post A truly original book in every sense of the word, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows poetically defines emotions that we all feel but don’t have the words to express—until now. Have you ever wondered about the lives of each person you pass on the street, realizing that everyone is the main character in their own story, each living a life as vivid and complex as your own? That feeling has a name: “sonder.” Or maybe you’ve watched a thunderstorm roll in and felt a primal hunger for disaster, hoping it would shake up your life. That’s called “lachesism.” Or you were looking through old photos and felt a pang of nostalgia for a time you’ve never actually experienced. That’s “anemoia.” If you’ve never heard of these terms before, that’s because they didn’t exist until John Koenig set out to fill the gaps in our language of emotion. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows “creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have,” says John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars. By turns poignant, relatable, and mind-bending, the definitions include whimsical etymologies drawn from languages around the world, interspersed with otherworldly collages and lyrical essays that explore forgotten corners of the human condition—from “astrophe,” the longing to explore beyond the planet Earth, to “zenosyne,” the sense that time keeps getting faster. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is for anyone who enjoys a shift in perspective, pondering the ineffable feelings that make up our lives. With a gorgeous package and beautiful illustrations throughout, this is the perfect gift for creatives, word nerds, and human beings everywhere.

Looking for Jane


Judith Redline Coopey - 2012
    Well, what if you don’t have no people? Or any you know of? What then? Are you doomed?” This is the nagging question of fifteen-year-old Nell’s life. Born with a cleft palate and left a foundling on the doorstep of a convent, she yearns to know her mother, whose name, she knows, was Jane.When the Mother Superior tries to pawn her off to a mean looking farmer and his beaten down wife, Nell opts for the only alternative she can see: she runs away. A chance encounter with a dime novel exhorting the exploits of Calamity Jane, heroine of the west, gives Nell the purpose of her life: to find Calamity Jane, who Nell is convinced is her mother.Her quest takes her down rivers, up rivers and across the Badlands to Deadwood, South Dakota and introduces her to Soot, a big, lovable black dog, and Jeremy Chatterfield, a handsome young Englishman who isn’t particular about how he makes his way, as long as he doesn't have to work for it. Together they trek across the country meeting characters as wonderful and bizarre as the adventure they seek, learning about themselves and the world along the way.

Fractured Light


Nick Cook - 2018
    THEY UNCOVERED A THREAT TO EVERY PERSON ON THE PLANET. NOW AN INVISIBLE ENEMY IS HUNTING THEM DOWN. What would you do if you started to see something lurking in the shadows of our everyday world? That's the reality that Jake Stevens has been pitched into and now he’s questioning his sanity.Jake’s been an outsider in his hometown Stoneham, England, ever since his life was shattered when his father's experiment into dark energy exploded, killing himself and many others.When Jake witnesses a satellite crash-landing, and starts to receive garbled messages that hint at a conspiracy, a chain of events is unleashed that will threaten the very existence of all life on Earth in a dystopian nightmare.Can Jake, and the best friend that he froze out of his life, Chloe Haze, a coding genius who’s heavily entrenched with the underground hacking network, figure out the connections of the mystery that link all the events before it’s too late?Fractured Light is the first volume in the Fractured Light trilogy, and is also part of the Multiverse Chronicles, an epic series of interlinked stories that follows the struggle of humanity to survive across parallel universes. If you love books by Michael Grant and Robert J Crane, or adore series like Stranger Things and Fringe, then this page-turning smart sci-fi thriller, is for you.

Destiny's Champions


D. Levesque - 2020
    Special Race? Why not. Unknown Questlines? A staff that he thinks is so overpowered that he doesn’t even want to chance casting it? Sure. Multiple women, who aren’t even human? Yes please!Jason just wanted to build a cabin in the woods in the newest VRMMORPG. But apparently, the “Gods” of this game had other plans for him. Adventure awaits for no one, especially when it’s coming to look for you.Follow Jason as he explores this new World called Destiny, and see if it’s namesake is what he has been waiting for all his life. But what the real Gods have in store for him isn’t what he expectedJason Morgan hates his life.Three years ago, a car accident landed him in a wheelchair. After two experimental surgeries, he still can’t walk. Now, broke, and living as a ward of the State, Jason wants nothing more than to walk again and to get out of this hellhole of a hospital.Enter Games For Life, a gaming company that runs a massive VRMMORPG system. They invite Jason to test their groundbreaking pod technology. In their gaming World Destiny, time and reality are not what they seem. There, Jason can even walk again! What could possibly go wrong?Maybe Jason should have read the fine print on the contract a little more closely…

Messy Mason


Yonit Werber - 2013
    Mason was messy.He was very messy!He didn't like to clean anything, especially his own room.His mom tried all possible way to convince him to clean his room,But Messy didn't want to.Until one day, something unexpected happened that motivated Masonto do it by himself.

Nanny for the Billionaire (Billionaires of Manhattan #2)


Jenna Brandt - 2019
    It's hard enough to change his life for himself, but suddenly his world is turned upside down when his secret son is literally left on his doorstep. He has no idea how to take care of a four year old child so he turns to a friend of a friend for help.Celeste Allen knows exactly who Roger Boswell is because he nearly destroyed her best friend's relationship. Yet, in the past few months, she's seen him change for the better, so when he asks for her help to find a nanny, she agrees. When no one fits the bill, Roger asks Celeste to fill in temporarily.As the trio start to form a life together, friendship blossoms into something more, but it could be ruined before it has a chance to fully bloom.Can Roger find a way to be the man they all need? Will Celeste decide that being with Roger and his son is what she really wants? And what will happen when the mother of Roger's son returns?From international bestselling author, Jenna Brandt, enjoy a clean billionaire tale filled with epic romantic moments, faith-inspiring characters, lots of laughs, and even a few twists.

A Dying Breed


Peter Hanington - 2016
    William Carver, a veteran but unpredictable BBC hack, is thrown into the unknown when a bomb goes off killing a local official. Warned off the story from every direction, Carver won't give in until he finds the truth.Patrick, a young producer, is sent out on his first foreign assignment to control the wayward Carver, but as the story unravels it looks like the real story lies between the shadowy corridors of the BBC, the perilous streets of Kabul and the dark chambers of Whitehall.Set in a shadowy le-Carré-esque world, A Dying Breed is a gripping novel about journalism in a time of war, about the struggle to tell the stories that need to be told - even if it is much easier not to.

Lieutenant Commander Stud


Chance Carter - 2017
    Some would give their actual lives too.As Lieutenant Commander, their wellbeing was my responsibility.So I drove into town and hired the best interior decorator I could find.Chanel never thought she'd have to decorate a military barracks.I never knew I'd fall so hard for such an innocent, beautiful, delicious girl.And when I say delicious, I mean it.I've tasted every inch of her.She's tasted every inch of me too!I can't get enough of her.I know it's against regulations to have a woman on base, but when someone feels this good, I can't let her out of my sight.Even if that means keeping her within view of the rest of my unit too!A girl on base is highly irregular.But she's a secret we'll all keep!

Children of Prophecy


Glynn Stewart - 2014
    In the time since, the Kingdom of Vishni has known quiet, and the Swarm beyond the mountains has grown in strength and numbers. Now, with the Time of Prophecy at hand, dark forces move to fulfil ancient visions. Two men, born to poverty but bearing the blood of those ancient Mages, will rise to decide the fate of both Swarm and Kingdom as the fires of this ancient conflict rise anew.

Ravenhill (Jackie Shaw, #1)


John Steele - 2017
    He treads a fine line keeping psychotic hard-man Rab Simpson in check while sleeping with gang leader Billy Tyrie’s beautiful wife on the side. When a bomb claims nine lives, he is given the role of the getaway driver in a planned reprisal killing, a key role in a major operation. But Jackie may not be who he seems... Twenty years later, Jackie returns to the city for his father’s funeral after disappearing in mysterious circumstances. He wants to mourn then leave, but when figures from his past emerge, he is left with no choice but to revisit his violent former life. The first in the Jackie Shaw series, RAVENHILL is a gripping début novel from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction. The second in the series, SEVEN SKINS, is coming soon. ‘Tense, unsparing, compassionate and exceptionally well-written, this brilliant thriller brings vividly to life East Belfast in war and peace, its self-appointed community defenders turned brutal predators, and the security forces who struggled to contain them.’ Ruth Dudley Edwards

Jesse's Find


Penny Estelle - 2014
     He spies something hiding in the tall grass. His temper sizzles at the sight of a horse, dead from exertion, and is ready to string up the cowboy that has done this. What Jesse finds is no cowboy at all, but a woman who has been shot and an infant, both, he fears will not make it to his home alive. Jesse didn’t ask for this, but he knew he couldn’t turn his back on them. What he didn’t know was somebody wanted that woman dead and didn’t care who else had to die to get that job done.

The Deathless Quadrilogy (Deathless Saga #1-4)


Chris Fox - 2019
    Its discovery throws into question everything we know about the origins of mankind. Inside lies incredible technology, proof of a culture far more advanced than our own. Something dark lurks within, eager to resume a war as old as mankind. When it is unleashed it heralds the end of our species’ reign. A plague of werewolves spreads across the world. A sunspot larger than anything in recorded history begins to grow. Yet both pale in comparison to the true threat, the evil the werewolves were created to fight. "It's like Indiana Jones went through the Stargate and ended up in Aliens versus Predator." - One of the author's totally biased friends. This collection gathers No Such Thing As Werewolves, No Mere Zombie, Vampires Don't Sparkle, and The Great Pack. It's over 1,500 pages!

The True: An enchanting tale for nature lovers


Amanda Marks - 2019
    Coquetdale, Northumberland. 1725. After the final tragedy of an age-old feud, Sam’s mother disappears. His guilt-ridden search brings unexpected adventure and romance. As a fellow of the secret order of ‘The True’, Sam learns to enhance his affinity with nature, and enigmatic links across time are revealed to him in ancient woodlands. 2000. Isolated hill-farmer, Kate, is cautiously attracted to an intriguing stranger brought to her door by endearing runaway, Joe. The man is certainly odd but not disturbing, unlike her stalker. Further down the dale, Kate’s woodsman cousin, Nick, falls in love with a mysterious young woman who arrives with spring and disappears as summer ends. Middle Wood links these seemingly disparate lives separated by centuries, but is that their only connection? Does the answer lie with The True? "A story is never finished until you can read it in the trees"

A Beginner's Guide To Salad


Jennifer Joyce - 2014
    She doesn’t do diets and she certainly doesn’t do exercise. But all that changes when she’s invited to her school reunion. Bullied at school for being overweight, Ruth’s first reaction is to rip the invitation into a million pieces. But then Ruth hatches a plan. She’ll lose the weight and arrive at the reunion looking gorgeous and glamorous, leaving her old classmates in awe. Especially her former crush, Zack O’Connell. With the help of her friends and a new, unbelievably hot colleague, Ruth begins her transformation. With six months until the reunion, losing weight will be a piece of cake, right?

Christmas at Holly Wreath Inn


Rachael Eliker - 2019
    She slammed the door in his face. Only their mutual dislike of Christmas will bring them together. Billionaire Ethan Wilder has a lot of reasons to hate Christmas, but being dumped by his cheating fiancée and ending up in Holly Wreath, Wyoming to hide out is currently the biggest. The next person on the receiving end of his bad attitude is the waitress serving him cold diner food.Olivia Campbell hates waitressing but has to do something to pay the bills when customers at her bed and breakfast are slow. She puts on a happy face for her daughter, but after her husband walked out on them right before Christmas five years earlier, the season holds painful memories. To make matters worse, she opens her front door to discover her new houseguest is the cantankerous man from the diner with the gorgeous hazel eyes.Living in close quarters should be unbearable, but as they share some of the simple pleasures of the holidays together, Olivia and Ethan find themselves enjoying Christmas for the first time in a long time—but when Olivia discovers just who Ethan is, they’re reminded they come from two very different worlds. Will this Christmas produce a miracle that will keep them together? ★★★ Includes Olivia's secret hot chocolate recipe at the end of Ethan and Olivia's happily ever after★★★