The Lost Coast is a six-part novella, written to accompany the six episodes of the second season of Homecoming, an audio series starring Catherine Keener, David Schwimmer, and Oscar Isaac.The two works are designed to be read in alternating installments - Episode One of the podcast, then Chapter One of the book, then Episode Two, and so on - but other sequences are probably fine too.

    

    While the pair have always maintained a close relationship, the dynamic she shares with her mother has proven much more challenging throughout the years. Now at seventeen years old, June has found herself contemplating life beyond working at her father’s shop. Though it isn’t until she is befriended by a ritzy, older customer that June begins to come out of her shell. The woman’s kindness and infectious energy are a welcome addition to her young life the summer before her senior year of high school. However, secrets from her mother’s past begin to threaten June’s newfound happiness - calling into question all that she has ever known. Confronted with the often-perverse intentions of the human heart, the teen must uncover the truth which has been concealed by years of deceit.

    Fifty-five acclaimed and emerging writers—including Emma Bolden, Ron Carlson, Kelly Cherry, Stuart Dybek, Blake Kimzey, Roland Leach, Bobbie Ann Mason, Diane Williams, and Hiromi Kawakami—have made the debut of The Best Small Fictions 2015 something significant, something worthwhile, and something necessary. Featuring spotlights on Pleiades journal and Michael Martone, this international volume—with Pulitzer Prize–winning author Robert Olen Butler serving as guest editor and award-winning editor Tara L. Masih as series editor—is a celebration of the diversity and quality captured in fiction forms fewer than 1,000 words. ................................................."Whatever one calls them—flash fictions, microfictions, short shorts—the number of outlets where such pieces are published continue to grow along with the interest of readers and writers in the form. The time is right for a Best of the Year anthology."—Stuart Dybek, author of The Coast of Chicago and Ecstatic Cahoots"These small fictions are small only in length, not in impact. Their minuteness provides a different lens upon life—one that illuminates the telling yet elusive moments that bigger stories often overlook. A different slant on the truth emerges not in spite of their length, but because of it. Short shorts often seem like the quiet stepchild in the fiction family—overshadowed by vociferous novels, not quite dressed in the right attire as conventional short stories. A series celebrating these tiny gems is long overdue."—Grant Faulkner, cofounder of 100 Word Story, author of Fissures"The loud and long message of the seemingly quiet and the definitely short is in ample supply in The Best Small Fictions 2015. From a mother’s fury over misspelled words in Dee Cohen’s ‘By Heart’, to a father’s disintegration in David Mellerick Lynch’s ‘Lunar Deep’, there is pathos, depth, and welcome language-fireworks in these small gems. Chekhov would be proud of how briefly these writers manage to speak on lengthy subjects."—Nuala Ní Chonchúir, author of Miss Emily"The Best Small Fictions 2015 is essential reading for anyone who enjoys not just small fiction, but fiction in general. Don't miss it!"—Robert Swartwood, editor of Hint Fiction:An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer

    But now a brave new genre has emerged: very brief fiction. FLASH! identifies the qualities that make for excellent flash fiction, demystifies the writing process, and guides writers by exercise and example through the world of the very short story. John Dufresne’s characteristic warmth, wit, and humor remind writers of the joy in the creative process, making this a perfect guide for any writer interested in trying a new form.

    But things aren't exactly what they seem and her life soon spins out of control as she's sucked into a web of lies, betrayal and murder.

    Holmes comes a collection of short stories that will take you on an unforgettable journey into the lives of your favorite characters from The Gateway Trilogy and The Gateway Trackers. Go back in time and explore Fairhaven Hall with Karen and Elizabeth when they were just Apprentices. Hear in her own words how Savvy discovered the truth about her gift when she was only four-years-old, and how a fateful visit from a future High Priestess revealed her calling as a Durupinen. Follow Finn on his dangerous journey at Skye Príosún when he and Jess were torn apart, unsure if they would ever see each other again. These and many other thrilling tales await you between the covers of this new companion novel.Rediscover the World of the Gateway through the eyes of the characters you love most, as well as some you've never heard from before. It's time to open the Gateway again, and see what new adventures await.Tales from the Gateway is a companion novel to E.E. Holmes' World of the Gateway series. What Amazon readers are saying about the World of the Gateway: ★★★★★ 'One of THE BEST ghost-themed paranormal series I've ever read!'★★★★★ 'Hauntingly thrilling.'★★★★★ 'A must-read for those interested in the paranormal.'★★★★★ 'Twilight combined with Harry Potter and then some!'★★★★★ 'Every turn of the page is like a new discovery.'★★★★★ 'A masterfully woven story.'★★★★★ 'Holmes has written a lovely series with something for everyone; humor, self-reflection, loyalty, mystery, intrigue, action and so much more.'★★★★★ 'If you're into the paranormal, like ghosts, ghost hunting, ghost stories, crossing over, Gaelic folklore, dark secrets, plot twists that I didn't even see coming (and I am a writer myself!) and even a little magic, you should definitely read this book.'Experience the captivating paranormal series that obsessed readers have described as “unputdownable” and “spellbinding”. If you love ghost stories, with plenty of action and suspense, along with a tough and independent heroine you’ll want to stand up and cheer for, you will fall in love with this best-selling series… but proceed with caution: you’ll be up all night reading!

    These are not your mother's bedtime stories. In this mesmerizing debut collection, Aubrey Hirsch will lead you into the darkest recesses of human life, where hope and longing and love and loss look all too much like one another. Each of these sixteen stories may be filled with its own kind of despair, but they are not despairing as Hirsch enters with deep sympathy into the souls of lonely women (Cheater, Hydrogen Event in a Bubble Chamber, Made in Indonesia), broken men (Leaving Seoul, Advice for Dealing with the Loss of a Beloved Pet), young recruits (The Specialists), and dutiful daughters (Strategy #13: Journal, No System for Blindness). With a hard intelligence, Hirsch considers the toll of heartache (Why We Never Talk About Sugar, Certainty) and loss (The Borovsky Circus Goes to Littlefield, Paradise Hardware) and the simple cost of longing. Taut and tension filled, these stories will transport you into the heart of what it means to be human. But be careful. Hirsch's compassion arrives on a knife blade. And you just may find your own heart cut open.

    The eyes of a dozen television cameras watched him and the subether bore throughout the universe a dozen pictures of what he was doing. He straightened and nodded to Dwar Reyn, then moved to a position beside the switch that would complete the contact when he threw it. The switch that would connect, all at once, all of the monster computing machines of all the populated planets in the universe -- ninety-six billion planets -- into the supercircuit that would connect them all into one supercalculator, one cybernetics machine that would combine all the knowledge of all the galaxies."

    No exceptions.It’s finally here.Friday.Girls’ night!And to celebrate, I got tickets to the hottest party in the city.That’s right…We’re going to the Banana Party!Single Girl Rules #BananaParty is a novella filled with love, laughs, and tons of bananas ;)

    But when people are pushed—by a coworker’s taunt, a face-to-face encounter with a woman in free fall from a bridge—cracks appear, revealing alienation, casual cruelty, madness, and above all a simultaneous hunger for and fear of the unknown.Daniel Orozco leads the reader through the hidden lives and moral philosophies of bridge painters, men housebound by obesity, office temps, and warehouse workers. He reveals the secret pleasures of late-night supermarket trips for cookie binges, exceptional data entry, and an exiled dictator’s occasional piss on the U.S. embassy. A love affair blooms between two officers in the impartially worded pages of a police blotter; a new employee’s first-day office tour includes descriptions of other workers’ most private thoughts and actions; during an earthquake, the consciousness of the entire state of California shakes free for examination.Orientation introduces a writer at the height of his powers, whose work surely invites us to reassess the landscape of American fiction.Orientation is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Short Story Collections title.

    18,000 words (72 pages)— Appearances can be deceiving… To Rolf, Mirabay is the city of dreams. Called the Jewel of the West, it is the place of kings and heroes and great deeds. The chance to visit is not an opportunity Rolf is willing to miss. At first glance, the city is everything he expects, but with an appearance and accent more suited to the Marches rather than the refined salons and sophisticated ballrooms of the city, he is met with the prejudice reserved for those from the rural provinces. Dreams and preconceptions rarely meet with reality, however and as the city begins to lose its lustre for Rolf, those he thought him an uncouth blow-in from the Marches learn the error of their ways.

    A short story that follows Ian and Riley at Christmas.Free short story for Carly Phillips's newsletter subscribers only.

    More than two million books sold worldwide in seven different languages! Description: After one hellish year in which their lives nearly were claimed by a madman—and with a new baby on the way in just a matter of weeks—Jennifer and Alex decide to spend this particular holiday season in Manhattan with their extended family of friends, if only so Jennifer can be close to her doctor. With that decision made and no travel plans on the horizon, one would think that this holiday should be a breeze, right? Not even close. First, Blackwell and Lisa butt heads over who’s the best choice to throw Jennifer’s baby shower. As infamously strong-willed as Blackwell is, she’s soon rattled to find out that Lisa is no pushover. In fact, she’s hellbent on proving that she can stand up to Blackwell with ideas of her own…in ways that might leave the reader howling. Second, there’s Cutter and Daniella, who are headed straight for a break-up due to Daniella’s insistence that they move in together Will they be kissing under the mistletoe after weeks of not speaking? After Blackwell has a heart-to-heart talk with her daughter, readers might be surprised by the outcome… Third—and perhaps most dire in this book—is the appearance of Ava Kent, Jennifer’s abusive and cunning drunk of a mother, who suddenly crashes back into Jennifer’s life in ways that are so corrosive and toxic, it sends an already fragile Jennifer literally to her breaking point. In “Annihilate Them: Holiday,” expect all the romance, love, sexy times and laughs that you’ve enjoyed in the previous Holiday books, but also expect much more drama, especially when it comes to Ava. When she dares to threaten Jennifer with one mother of a deception that sheds new insight into Jennifer’s past, she does so with a fierceness that darkens these holidays in the coldest of ways. Note: Make sure to read “Annihilate Them” before you read “Annihilate Them: Holiday.”

    Every game played with your child has the potential to become a lifelong memory.The Rookie is a flash fiction piece (just over 500 words) based on a childhood memory.