Fire breathes life. Duncan lives in a world where it's kill or be killed, whether that's by his vampire allies or by the Clan's vampire hunters. But he wants something more. He wants freedom. When he stumbles across a rogue fire witch that the Clan has left to die, he knows it's his chance. If he can persuade her to switch sides, together they can unite the vampires and destroy the Clan itself. There's just one catch: Can Duncan convince the witch before she kills him? The Unleashed Creation is a stand-alone prequel novelette to the upcoming The Clan-Vampire Clash, a series of YA paranormal fantasy novels. If you like sinister villains, complicated superheroes, and supernatural suspense, then you'll love Betsy Flak's magical new series. Check out The Unleashed Creation today!

    Now we’re taking it to the next level with an anthology of original short stories from some of the wittiest women writers we know—stories they would only tell their closest friends, most likely from within the haven of a ladies’ room. Inside you’ll find 39 (mostly) true tales by women, for women, about being women—bodily changes, relationships, careers, motherhood, aging, illness, and more—written with the humor and grit that proudly sets In The Powder Room apart.But be forewarned: we’re holding nothing back. We’re revealing our deep dark secrets—because it’s through our most vulnerable and honest moments that we forge the strongest connections and discover we aren’t so alone after all. You have a gimpy boob? Me too. You think glitter is the herpes of the craft world? Me too! You got your fishnet-clad leg stuck to your head on stage in front of thousands of people? Wait…what? OMG. Tell me everything! We are your friends, sisters, mothers, and daughters. Regardless of what life has dished up for you, chances are, we’ve been there and we can relate. We’ll help you laugh it off, or hold your hand until you’re ready to laugh again. And we promise: we’ll always tell you when you have lipstick on your teeth.

    The author writes of an encounter they had with a being called 'Tal' who looked human but claimed to be an alien. The author believes that this person was in fact an alien due to the content of their conversation and the events that lead to and followed it. The author requested we divulge no information about the book that could influence the first reading of it. We will reveal, however, that in the conversation, Tal attempts to show the author how a far more advanced life form would observe and function in the universe. Tal does not describe a technological superiority, but an actual perceptual and physical difference that leads to a fundamentally greater understanding of the world. The conversation covers many topics; including time, the perception of extra dimensions, quantum theory, infinity, and consciousness. Tal uses examples from modern scientific theory, ancient religions, alien worlds and even chess. The author wished to publish this book because they felt that this encounter dramatically changed their life.

    Here are twenty-three original tales—stories of the Old West infused with elements of the fantastic—produced specifically for this volume by many of today’s finest writers. Included are Orson Scott Card’s first “Alvin Maker” story in a decade, and an original adventure by Fred Van Lente, writer of Cowboys & Aliens. Other contributors include Tobias S. Buckell, David Farland, Alan Dean Foster, Jeffrey Ford, Laura Anne Gilman, Rajan Khanna, Mike Resnick, Beth Revis, Fred Van Lente, Walter Jon Williams, Ben H. Winters, Christie Yant, and Charles Yu, with an introduction by editor John Joseph Adams.CONTENTS:01 - Joe R. Lansdale, The Red-Headed Dead02 - Ben H. Winters, The Old Slow Man and his Gold Gun from Space03 - David Farland, Hellfire on the High Frontier04 - Mike Resnick, The Hell-Bound Stagecoach05 - Seanan McGuire, Stingers and Strangers06 - Charles Yu, Bookkeeper, Narrator, Gunslinger07 - Alan Dean Foster, Holy Jingle08 - Beth Revis, The Man With No Heart09 - Alastair Reynolds, Wrecking Party10 - Hugh Howey, Hell from the East11 - Rajan Khanna, Second Hand12 - Orson Scott Card, Alvin and the Apple Tree13 - Elizabeth Bear, Madam Damnable's Sewing Circle14 - Tad Williams, Strong Medicine15 - Jonathan Maberry, Red Dreams16 - Kelley Armstrong, Bamboozled17 - Tobias S. Buckell, Sundown18 - Jeffrey Ford, La Madre del Oro19 - Ken Liu, What I Assume You Shall Assume20 - Laura Anne Gilman, The Devil's Jack21 - Walter Jon Williams, The Golden Age22 - Fred Van Lente, Neversleeps23 - Christie Yant, Dead Man's Hand

    A group of terrorists has taken a senator hostage on Coruscant, and it's up to a crack team of clone commandos to defuse the dangerous situation.

    “The Temptation of Eustace Prudence McAllen,” copyright © 2012 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr.“The Last Master of Aeronautical Winters,” copyright © 2012 by Larry D. Sweazy“Lowstone,” copyright © 2012 by Anton Strout“The Flower of Arizona,” copyright © 2012 by Seanan McGuire“The Ghost in the Doctor,” copyright © 2012 by Brenda Cooper“Surveyor of Mars,” copyright © 2012 by Christopher McKitterick“Coyote, Spider, Bat,” copyright © 2012 by Steven Saus“Maybe Another Time,” copyright © 2012 by Dean Wesley Smith“Renn and the Little Men,” copyright © 2012 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch“Showdown at High Moon,” copyright © 2012 by Jennifer Brozek"The Clockwork Cowboy,” copyright © 2012 by J. Steven York“Black Train,” copyright © 2012 by Jeff Mariotte“Lone Wolf,” copyright © 2012 by Jody Lynn Nye

    Among the stepping stones to the conquest of North America: cannibalism, mummified murderers, sadism, lynch mobs, bad-luck curses, unexplained decapitations, mysterious airships, cults, communes, and more.

    The interlinked stories are set in the late twentieth century, before a wave of anticolonialism crested across India and resulted in Bombay's rechristening. The stories feature everyday characters who face challenges unique to Bombay life, from the schoolboy who forms an unlikely friendship with a street vendor to the retired serviceman whose livelihood is threatened by the city's notorious bureaucracy. Readers familiar with Bombay will reawaken their memories, while those new to the city will experience a taste of its varied flavors.

    She hates the outfit, hates the lamp, and overall hates the gig. It’s not until hot vampire Dean Frye steals her out from under her current master’s nose that she thinks maybe being a genie has its benefits. Dean has one thing and one thing only on his mind when he sends his friend on a quest to seek out a genie lamp. Freedom. Plain and simple. Then he meets Janelle, his genie, and realizes that granting every wish her heart desires is the only wish he wants.

    Laced with fast-paced action, nonstop humor, and spine-tingling horror, Deadman’s Road is your ride to hell, in which a vengeful shaman curses the town by conjuring a seemingly unstoppable army of the undead; an ill-advised shortcut leads to a bees’ nest of terror; a man stands condemned, not for murdering his wife but for raising the Lovecraftian horror that killed her; a woman is attacked by werewolves and left for dead in a ghost town; and a mining camp faces off with a horde of cannibalistic fiends.

    Falling for a hunky but aloof Star Guardian named Mikolos? That was not part of the plan. But when she joins forces with him to retrieve his captain’s stolen orders, they’re soon embroiled in a deadly adventure, one that leaves her and Mikolos depending on each other for their lives. As the reserved Star Guardian comes to respect her, she finds herself wondering if she can have him and still achieve her dream.

    Like an overstuffed stocking on Christmas morning, NPR Holiday Favorites is full of unexpected pleasures and evergreen delights.• David Sedaris contributes his now classic “Santaland Diaries,” his account of his experiences playing Santa’s little helper at Macy’s in New York.• Susan Stamberg sneaks her mother-in-law’s recipe for cranberry relish onto the air—again.• Storyteller Kevin Kling finds an invitation to participate in a production of The Nutcracker too tempting to resist.• Ghanian-born commentator Meri Danquah shares her thoughts on Kwanzaa.• Cowboy poet Baxter Black describes a Christmas cookie with “the denseness of an anvil and the half-life of a radial tire.”• Robert Siegel goes in search of the correct spelling for December’s Jewish holiday.• The Thanksgiving tables are turned on unsuspecting Bostonians in “When Turkeys Attack.”And more...

    'You could find yourself out of the frying pan and into the fire.' Her past denied and dance championship dreams discarded, Cassie Sleight leaves home. In the seemingly idyllic coastal town of Keimera, she starts a career on the English staff of the local high school. Exposure to Mark Talbut, a man struggling to be modern yet threatened by power shifts in the workplace and in society, causes Cassie to assess her reactions as a teacher and a woman. As she does so, the secrets of her past surface. Will that past continue to choreograph Cassie’s present steps? What sort of woman does she become? ‘In and Out of Step' looks at how the world a person lives in shapes that person for good and for bad. It is a story about friendship and family, belonging, alienation, sexual harassment, and change. The title alludes to the way Cassie Sleight uses dance as a way to interpret life and process her reactions to it.

     Three dazzling stories of magic, fantasy, and romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author. Three of the author's most thrilling stories in one fabulous volume... Fire and Ice On the run, a beautiful virgin crosses paths with a sexy ex-assassin. Knightly Dreams The dashing hero of a novel comes to life. Dragonswan A woman must help a shape-shifting dragon trapped between two worlds.

    It got worse from there.The good news? All those people who say they’ve seen little green men were probably telling the truth. The bad news? Those little green men are slave traders . . . and I’m one of their new slaves.Determined to not live the rest of my live in slavery, my cellmates and I decided to try and escape. It was going fairly well until the ship crash-landed on an alien planet that was mostly jungle. And the alien slavers aren’t thrilled with us wrecking their ship.They have laser pistols and I have . . . well, I have a strong desire to not go back into a cage. And then, suddenly, I have so much more.He looks like an angel but fights like a demon.Andar. Leader of the sky warriors, protectors of the world I now find myself on.He’s handsome, covered in feathers, and he has wings. A warrior who rules the skies. And he’s set his intense golden eyes on me.But the slavers won’t give up. They’re determined to recapture me and the others. They think they can take me from the winged warrior who has claimed me as his.They’re wrong.