Dragons, monsters and strange creatures; All that you thought you knew about them will be forgotten once you glimpse into the strange world hidden in this book.The mysteries and legends of some of the world's most popular fables are retold in four stories in this colourful, fun and imaginative book. You’ll be surprised by what you discover!You should also buy this book if you like surprise, you love colourful pictures, using your imagination makes you happy, you are scared of monsters but want to understand why you shouldn't and you believe that to your kids are the best thing ever!Are you ready? It's time to uncover the mysteries of these monsters and legends!You should also buy this book if;• You like surprises• You love colourful pictures• Using your imagination makes you happy• You are scared of monsters• You think kids are the best!Are you ready? It's time to uncover the mysteries of these monsters and legends!

    A Razalian hour passed normally enough, then shrank to ten minutes, then sneezed out a good half-day, then stabilised at an hour and a bit. Bobbing on the top of planetary time like corks in a bucket, the three moons spread out and were still - this time like kids glued to a screen. For, as the sunlight disappeared and the minutes passed more confidently, Razalia shook off its desolation. Across its face, a million torches shone under the amethyst skies: Razalian faces, each its own sun." Small, unfinished, more like a blueprint for a world than the real thing, Razalia props up one end of the Arc of the Fifteen Planets. In some places, its landscape looks like the efforts of a water-colourist suddenly called away from his easel. The Razalians live with the gaps - those spaces of unfathomable white - in many of their ridges, valleys, forests. And then the white begins to move...

    Her eighteen years had been nothing but pain and heartache, from the mysterious disappearance of her father to the fact that her first boyfriend left her for a world of drugs and addiction. And her mother, a high-school teacher, was in legal trouble for dating a nineteen-year old student. Out of the wreckage of Sunny's life comes a way of hope in the form of Jahil, a Mexican immigrant, with a tragic past. Jahil has seen more of the world then Sunny could ever dream of, but there's a reason for that. When Sunny's mother goes missing the week of Christmas, the sheltered Midwestern girl must team with a modern-day rogue's gallery of punks, freaks, angels, demons and one Aztec demi-god, in a sexy, erotic, adventure down the rabbit hole of the Midwest.

    Through trauma and triumph, love and betrayal, the “Drum Beats” and “Heart Beats” of her native Africa lead her on an ultimate journey of transcendence that will enthrall and inspire readers around the world.

    After Barnaby Gilbert got laid off with a nice severance, his boss suggested he take up a new hobby to fill up his free time. On his regular commuter train, Barnaby got an idea what that hobby would be. He decided to satisfy a curiosity he’d long had. An avid birder, he began tracking some regular passengers — people he’d always wondered about — to see where they went and what they did. In following a Chinese man, a schoolgirl, and a sexy woman, he used the same techniques he had to add hawks and herons to his life list. But in this quirky, tongue-in-cheek thriller, he found out pretty fast that humans were a much more dangerous species.

    A modern-day saga of four young teens who find themselves trapped in another realm-"The Otherworld"-where they must abide by an evil druid's bidding or risk endangering the lives of their loved ones and the magical beings they have befriended.

    This contemporary, original poetry is inspired by the stories behind outlaw legends, and also takes the reader on a number of spiritual journies. Hamilton’s first poem, The Journey, remains almost as it was first written. In striving to keep his writing spontaneous, he chose not to over-develop the form of his writing. King Alfred’s Jewel is the title poem and draws its inspiration from The Dark Night of the Soul by Roman Catholic mystic Saint John of the Cross. Using a journey to find the king’s jewel as a guiding theme, the poem is a metaphor for the depression many people feel today and mistakenly try to substitute with unhealthy pasttimes. The dramatic monologue, Wolfshead, which comes at the end of the book, is an imaginative tale of outlaw legends. A 'wolfshead' was a resort of outlaws who formed a community, and this particular story is set in Sherwood Forest with Robin Hood presiding. Using two chorus figures to link proceedings and set the scene, this wolfshead is a ghostly gathering who return to tell their legendary stories… This unique book will make an excellent addition to the collection of any poetry and photography fans. It is also a fascinating read for anyone studying literature or theatre.

    Dan is receiving a medical discharge from the navy. With nowhere else to go, he heads to the home of his good friends Nathan and Heather. Trevor is a true submariner. But due to an incident involving Nathan, here he stands, stunned, watching all the girlfriends and wives wiping away their tears as the sleek silhouette of his ship glides stealthily down the river. A rich, multilayered coming-of-age story, Once in a Blue Year follows the two young men through their struggles to discover who they are, each navigating their romantic relationships and coming to terms with the dramatic event at sea that forever altered their lives. "In this lyrical debut novel, the lives of two U.S. Navy men take dramatic turns after they’re cut from a submarine mission during the Gulf War… Debut author Durkota writes a remarkable narrative centered on the afflicted mindsets of his Navy men… And while Durkota’s work often feels like a thriller, it’s more of a psychological study in which the characters, like flashes of lightning, are wonderfully alive for a very short time." — Kirkus Reviews"Durkota's plot is inspired, and his writing is accomplished and vivid... Once in a Blue Year is most highly recommended." - Readers' Favorite"The story is well-written with a lyrical style that borders on poetry at times... Really anyone who appreciates excellent writing will enjoy this one." - Online Book Club

    Well, not really.Okay, so he's only attracted to guys. And he's had sex with several. But he knows it's just a phase.He always figured that, along the road to becoming an adult, he'd mutate into someone who preferred Keira Knightley to Chris Hemsworth. It would just happen, like puberty. But as adulthood approaches and his transformation has yet to begin, he panics.Taking desperate measures to change his sexual orientation, Nate finds himself mired in surreal situations populated by, among others, his overbearing mom, current-and former-best friends, a dominatrix, and a muumuu-wearing psychic. Eventually, he's not sure who's trying to help and who's doing more harm than good. But he's determined to find himself-his true self.After all, where there's a will, there's a way... right?

    After losing her job when the Garmin factory shuts down, Nonie is left with major money issues—as in, she has none. Desperate, she has to turn to the one place she’s avoided working since dropping out of college--her family’s funeral home.It wasn’t that Nonie feared the dead. In fact the opposite was true. She sees them—literally, and had been seeing the dead ever since she can remember. She tried telling her parents about it when she was a child, but they’d vehemently dismissed it to imaginary friends, so she’d stopped talking about it. There were only two people who actually knew Nonie’s secret and knew she was the real deal. One was Buggy Mouton, her best friend since kindergarten, and the other was Guy Skinard, whom Nonie considered her one true love since the day she’d laid eyes on him in high school. Buggy now worked at MeeMaw’s Café off of Main in Clay Point, and Guy, as usual, remained ever at her side—the only difference being he’d died in a freak boating accident nine years ago. Still the prankster even in death, Guy loved causing chaos, especially with men Nonie occasionally dated. She could only imagine what mayhem he might stir up while mirroring her at the funeral home and mingling with the newly departed.Only hours into the first day of her new job, pandemonium engulfs the funeral home, and much to Nonie’s surprise, it has nothing to do with Guy. It’s brought on by the family they’re serving. Seventy-two–year-old Dover Fontenot, the Major of Clay Point, dies in a car accident after indulging in a little extra-curricular activity—only the activity wasn’t with his wife , Hazel. And when Dover’s mistress, Anna Mae Turner, shows up at the funeral home for the visitation hell’s gates rip open and Broussard’s Funeral Home suddenly turns into a geriatric war zone.Amidst the flying hairpieces, canes and curses, Nonie’s best friend, Buggy, decides to drop by the funeral home with news she can’t wait to share. A cable network in New Orleans wants to put together a paranormal investigation team and have them check out purported haunted locations in Louisiana. For every location with solid filming potential, each member of the team gets a five hundred dollar pay check. And Buggy knows without question that if anyone can sniff out the ‘restless’ dead, it’s Nonie.Knowing nothing about paranormal investigation, but lured by the sound of the adventure and the dollar signs circling through her head, Nonie agrees to become part of the Boo Krewe, the name Buggy has formally given the makeshift team.The lure of money may be one thing, but what Nonie doesn’t realize is that occasionally the dead, so excited that someone can actually see and hear them, decide to follow her home, into her bed—the bathroom—the shower. And adding to this new-found frustration, Nonie barely finishes her first investigation when she gets a visit from Anna Mae Turner—the mayor’s former mistress—now dead, as well, and harassingly insistent that Nonie bring her killer to light.Nonie quickly learns that the ‘gift’ she’s carried since birth is really a giant wart on the butt of life—and no amount of Compound W is going to make it go away!

    Then her life turned upside down after a disagreement with her boss at Birdman & Birdman.Leaving the office, she was swiftly kidnapped and taken to her assailants’ hideaway, beaten, and raped. With no memory of whom she was put her at a disadvantage with her captors. Through gritted teeth, she promised a day of repercussions for their actions while mentally visualizing her revenge.Warned by her assailants to keep her mouth shut or else, she was delivered to her home. Not recognizing her former living quarters, she was careful in exploring her options for regaining her memory.Piecing together the reasons for her kidnapping brought her into contact with people, some she could trust and others risky. The problem was the amnesia prevented her from recognizing the difference.Tapped for crime once nudged her toward caution for something afoul was going on at Birdman & Birdman. She prepared for a fight. With a vision of fury she made a chilling decision – never to be a victim again.

    Formerly in Navy intelligence, he’s cast his lot in the New York art world. He’s landed a job with the venerable Medici Studios, which also contracts with the NYPD and FBI. On a winter morning, they’ve run a sting operation to track Russian art smugglers. The caper goes awry, but an odd bit of evidence remains: four art catalogs with graffiti markings.So begins Gallery Pieces, a story that will keep readers guessing until the end. Peale follows the clues where they lead. He meets a heavy at the Miami Art Fair, chases a mystery bidder at Merriweather’s auction in Manhattan, and crosses paths with a Brooklyn performance artist whose pranks are dangerously entangled in the Russian intrigues. Step by step, Peale enters an art world permeated not only by the avant-garde, but by the Russian mob, hackers, forgers, hipsters, and the history of art looting in Europe during WWII.When Peale least expects it, the catalogs lead him on another trail. He is drawn into a long-forgotten mystery surrounding his grandfather, Maxwell Peale, who had been a “monuments man,” a soldier who helped reclaim art looted by the Nazis. Peale is on his way to discovering paintings stolen in postwar Europe. Finding the culprits, however, brings him closer to home than he’d imagined.

    Following a trail that was never meant to be uncovered, Zane realizes that with Quantitative Easing, the Federal Reserve is doing something no criminal has ever accomplished--and the catastrophic economic implications are worth killing over.Together with a computer hacker and a seemingly helpful special ops warrior, Zane must decide between exposing the truth and preserving the financial strength of the world. However, only Zane knows the real truth and why it can't be revealed. The Federal Reserve isn't just about money. While it also involves domination and control, it all comes back to one thing.The Reason.

    A lovable, mischievous, and comical little fellow, Frankie fills his family home with love and laughter, and his family wants to share that with you! Do you want to meet him? Then let’s go!

    A mysterious wall appears where none previously existed and something other than mere curiosity prompts a close-up examination, accidentally setting off a violent explosion which ruptures the barrier and sends all three hurtling into an alien, highly-dangerous world where skies are purple and vermilion forests endemic; home to a dreadful flying predator - not unlike the dragon of mythology - besides other, equally fearsome carnivores.Two of their number return leaving one behind, prisoner of an enormously strong but beautiful woman possessed of extraordinary powers. The escapees vow to re-enter, sworn to rescue their companion regardless of danger, but are eventually to discover another, preordained and vitally important reason for their presence. How will they survive and will they somehow manage to fulfil their destiny and ultimately return home...?