11 years later when seemingly ordinary 16-year-old Lincoln runs away from yet another foster home, heading to his favoured spot in New York City, he is attacked by a dog, a monstrous three headed dog the size of a truck. Becoming marked, a string of attacks follow, only ending when he is saved by El, Ben, and AJ, a group of enhanced people known as Ascendants. Discovering the world is not as it seems, with Sorcerers, Nature Spirits and demonic monsters all hiding in plain sight, he learns that he is a long-lost Ascendant himself; discovering that the chain his father left him was at the centre of a conspiracy that resulted in his abandonment and his father’s subsequent disappearance.

    Their friends – Jaws, Linda, and Mat Bond are all leading happy lives despite adjusting to the commitments of adulthood. Through ups dan downs, their friendship remained strong.But in life, love and happiness require hard work and sacrifice.For some, life will come to a beautiful full circle – proving that eternal happiness is for everyone, even if one was once, so far away from God.*** It is easy to give up on everything when one is drowning in hardships. But there are divine blessings in life, if one seek them with eyes of mercy and gratitude.

    Over 1,200 pages of pulse-pounding action and excitement, nail-biting espionage, and elaborate political intrigue.Meet Tom Dugan A globe-trotting marine consultant and very part-time CIA asset, Dugan was only supposed to take a few pictures in Chinese shipyards now and again, and provide discreet courier service under the cover of regular business travel. That is, until the Company needed a scapegoat, and it all went terribly wrong. Deadly Straits (Book 1) Falsely implicated in a hijacking, Dugan's offered a chance to clear himself by helping the CIA snare their real prey, his best friend, London ship owner Alex Kairouz. Reluctantly, Dugan agrees to go undercover in Alex's company, despite doubts about his friend's guilt. Once undercover, Dugan's steadfast refusal to accept Alex's guilt puts him at odds not only with his CIA superiors, but also with a beautiful British agent with whom he's romantically involved. Deadly Straits is a non-stop thrill ride, from London streets, to the dry docks of Singapore, to the decks of the tankers that feed the world's thirst for oil, with stops along the way in Panama, Langley, Virginia, and Teheran. Richly spiced with detail from the author's 30 years sailing, building, and repairing ships worldwide. Deadly Coast (Book 2) Tom Dugan has barely put his life back together and started to enjoy his newly formed business partnership with Alex Kairouz, when one of their ships is captured by murderous Somali pirates. When a possible link between piracy and terrorism comes in to play, the US and British governments halt all negotiations for captives, and a frustrated Dugan defies the authorities to take matters into his own hands. But his cobbled together rescue operation stumbles across something far more sinister than piracy — a rogue salvage operation for a long lost weapon of mass destruction. Dugan and his hastily assembled little band of volunteers find themselves the last line of defense between the world and a terrifying bio-weapon. Weaving historical fact with speculative fiction, Deadly Coast takes the reader from London board rooms into the very real world of modern day pirates — and their victims. Deadly Crossing (Book 3) Six months have passed, and back home once more, life is good for Tom Dugan by any measure as he rolls through the London night, the woman he loves in the taxi beside him. Then his phone rings, alerting him to the arrival of two old Russian friends with a very big problem.

    But when the life of their young son is taken, Jeanie starts to wonder if her family is being targeted by something supernatural. In this novella based on a true story, Jeanie narrates her family's time at the Maple House and the experiences in what she thought would be her dream home that still plague her family today.

    . . Thirteen year old Ephraim Wright suffers the depredations of war along with the white family who reared him. Raised with the family since he was two years old, he is never once required to call Jonathan Wright, his benevolent owner, "master." His speech, manners and outlook on life are more akin to his white "siblings than the other slaves in the community who chide him for being a "pet" and "talkin' like white folk." He is stranded between two worlds; that of free whites, and of enslaved blacks. His life is irreversibly changed when Confederate conscript officers take the family's oldest son at gun point and a bushwhacker gang guns down Jonathan Wright. The law forbids a slave to touch a firearm, because a “negro with a gun is a nervous thing to white folks.” But where his family is concerned, Ep is never one to care about what the slave laws say. By seeking to send men to hell, will Ephraim send himself there as well?Advance Praise for The Secret of Wattensaw BayouWhile reading the book my feelings of anger and resentment toward the institution of slavery and those who fought to protect such rights were sometimes overwhelming and required me to take a deep breath. Nevertheless, the story from a historical perspective, although it was a work of fiction, was masterly woven and I found myself with the urge to continue reading. . . The book is well written and the author provides a fascinating glimpse into the everyday existence of many Southern families during the Civil War. Commander Harold Barnes (US Navy, retired)

    Since then, the recurring nightmares, creepy hallucinations and overpowering fear are gone. That's good, right? I mean, no one in their right minds wants to feel like that. I am starting to wonder if I'm in my right mind anymore...When a lady in my neighborhood died, I couldn't help but stick my nose in, to see what happened. I should just get on with things–I've got some new friends, and a cool boy named Chris has taken an interest in me. Everyone is telling me to just leave this weird murder alone.But I can't stop myself. The more I find out about her death, the more twisted everything is.I think there’s a predator in Narrowdale. And now it’s hunting me…What have I gotten myself into?

    But missing him is soon replaced with the challenges and surprises right in front of her. What is her mother hiding? Why has her grandfather disappeared from their lives? Unraveling the mysteries brings about unexpected discoveries and connections, ultimately leading her to know herself and understand what matters most.

    Making a selection is just the beginning - these ladies are more than mere images, and getting to know them is the really fun part. But just like most things, looks can be deceiving. And while the guys who take this plunge think they're in for the adventure of a lifetime, some of them are headed for their worst nightmare.Featuring five dramatically different voices, these stories travel the tantalizing crossroads between romance and cyberspace.

    With peace in their lands, Levi and Reece have been living a life of serenity and peace, raising their three young children at Oxley Manor. Everything seems perfect and well until Levi realizes something: a holiday he knows his wife as always loved on her home planet of Earth has never been celebrated in his realm. In fact, Reece hasn't had the privilege of enjoying her favorite holiday in over six years, and Levi vows to change that. But can he? With his sister's wedding at hand, his own daughter professing her love for another as well, and wanting to have a new holiday introduced to Pemdas...Levi is determined to find a way to make all of this work no matter the sacrifices he must make.

    Complex relationships with teammates, personal and professional obstacles, and a terrible disaster cause the young cyclist to redefine his limits. An insider's perspective on the world of professional bicycle racing reveals that the required tactics and skills create a culture in which pain is the ultimate currency and endurance is the most powerful force. The intense pressure the competitors experience offers an instructive look at personal formation beyond the sports world.

    

    Along the way he falls in love, drinks a lot of beer, eats too many sweets, ponders the meaning of life on the dole, and gets admitted to hospital for a painful condition.

    For years, Paula Woodley has suffered the broken bones and shattered self-esteem caused by an abusive marriage. But what can she do? Her high-profile, Washington power-broker husband is not a man to be crossed. Or so he thinks. The Sisterhood may not be an organization found in any of his memos, but he’s about to take a meeting with them—and they’ll be setting the agenda.… Sweet Revenge Isabelle Flanders’ former colleague, the conniving Rosemary, did everything in her power to ruin Isabelle, from framing her for a terrible drunk driving accident to stealing her husband and her architecture firm. Now, Isabelle’s formerly lovely life is in tatters while Rosemary scoops up the spoils. It’s enough to make any friend’s blood boil. Rosemary may think she’s flying high, but she’s about to tangle with the Sisterhood. Lethal Justice Alexis Thorn, once a successful securities broker, spent a hellish year behind bars for a crime she never committed. Now she has her freedom, but she’s left with haunting memories of being hauled from her office in handcuffs…of the cell door clanging shut behind her…of her pleas going unheard. Alexis dreams of getting even. The legal system failed her, but the Sisterhood won’t.

    Her childhood in the New Forest is idyllic, but when she is fifteen tragedy strikes. Her adoptive parents are killed in a fire, and she is left with her strange, uncommunicative adoptive twin sisters. Sad and lonely, Cathy joins a local theatre group, where she becomes besotted with one of the directors. Nico is forty, and very good-looking, but he preys on vulnerable young girls, and has set his sights on Cathy. She is petite and pretty, and she is due to inherit a fortune.On her sixteenth birthday, Nico blackmails the twins into allowing Cathy to marry him. Their marriage soon turns sour, and after their daughter, Sammy-Jo, is born Cathy escapes with the child to Spain. But one day, Nico finds them...

    Gone the high culture of the Mountain Tribes, the learned writings of the Twin Empires. Among the remnant of survivors, barbarism reigns. Men hunt men, sacrifice the weak, and do whatever they must to survive in the face of the dragonswarm.Rinuld, a man once deeply devoted to a fallen Empire, stands amidst this chaos. Despite danger and deprivation, he's fashioned a semblance of safety. Now he faces a form of brutality unthinkable scant years before, and it forces a decision. Rinuld can hide from the monsters, or he can risk his life for the memory of civilization by saving a young girl."Remnant" is a short story set in the fantasy world of the bestselling novel Taming Fire. Beginning thousands of years before the events of the Dragonprince Trilogy, "Remnant" reveals what happened last time the dragons woke.Approximately 10,000 words.