An artistic free spirit must grapple with her sense of identity as the music she inspires her boyfriend to make propels him to stardom at the turn of the twenty-first century.It's the summer of 1999 in rural Minnesota, and eighteen-year-old Marcy Lewis is at a crossroads. Having graduated high school without committing to college, she wonders about the meaning of her life and what she is meant to achieve. On a trip with her sister to New York City, she meets up-and...

When Charity's health starts to decline, she moves in with her sister Marvel. A long-time itinerant, Charity brings little with her but her memories and a few trinkets.Outside the house, the sea pulses in and out. Charity settles into the room Marvel has cleared for her. As best she can, she holds onto her recollections of the past and family.The days pulse in and out like the sea.While on the surface, Marvel's invitation seems generous and good, what lies beneath i...

Legends and common knowledge don't always agree, but when it comes to wizards the facts are not so far from the stories.Both say that tunics are made from wild magic. Both say that a len who catches, tames, and puts on a tunic is a wizard. And both say that a wizard is named and known by his deeds. Take Duin the Fearless or Bjarne the Vengeful as examples.My name is Hol and I am a wizard of the kingdom of Dar.Though this is true, what name will come from my deeds is...

Bioengineering has come a long way.And Junior is the government's top choice to take astral projection to actual projection.If jumping through metaphysical hoops means he'll get his freedom, well, that would be great, wouldn't it? Not having been born yesterday, Junior isn't naïve enough to think that'll ever happen.Well.Never mind what lies he's being fed and what promises he's being offered, he's got something else in plan for himself. But to achieve it, h...

Javi knows all about the gods, villagers, travelers, and the pious.He's heard the stories. But the stories are nothing more than desert hallucinations.They aren't real.Or are they?Released from prison to die, Javi encounters a stranger who starts a game that forces him to rethink everything he knows.Three questions are all Javi needs to survive.But after what he's suffered, he doesn't know if he wants to play. Holding his own life in his hand...

The Fortunetelling Wizard is back in The Fractured Mountain!Hol would hate it if his mother was right. She always said wizard magic was dangerous and he would be better off pursuing another path.But he is the first fortunetelling wizard in over 800 years, most well-known for his fortunetelling though ridiculed by many (mostly the other wizards) for his consideration of the elements, and he revels in his wizardry.Never in all his years as a wizard has Hol failed to g...

Seeking revenge against the boy spreading lies about her at school, Rachel's attempt to make a golem goes awry.Or does it?As disasters strike first her school and then her town, Rachel is forced to confront her own need for vengeance and the soul-revealing questions of what is right and what is wrong.But, with her best friend not speaking to her and her parents too distracted to listen, she's finding it difficult to untangle the mess on her own.Time is ticki...

It is common knowledge that young bull minotaurs cannot resist unclaimed labyrinths. While that is true, it is certainly less of a common practice for one of them to demand a city's heir as a sacrifice when he comes to claim his labyrinth rights.But a young bull minotaur has done just that.The deadline is dawn. The heir must be sacrificed or the minotaur will raze the city to the ground.As the time runs out, the city despairs.And yet, before the worst can ha...

If rock-throwing, magic-filled Sha-li didn't keep her promises, she'd abandon the witch she's apprenticed to and go hunt down the curse-wielding dragon she swore to find. But her word means something to her and she's determined to stick out her education.Everything is going fine. Just irritatingly fine until she's forced into a magical agreement with a seed-planting len from the north end of nowhere.The problem is, the terms for the agreement are vague at best and stupidly ...

If Sha had her way, she'd be out fighting manticores or tormenting dragons. At the least, she'd be curing plagues and taming pestilences.But no, her first act as a wizard is to chase down a stupid banshee vision.It's not like she can ignore it. Because there's the slightest chance the kingdom is actually being threatened. And she can't have that.Besides, if she doesn't handle it some other stupid wizard will sweep in and snatch the glory from her hands.She d...

"I bite my lip and feel my blush deepen. Because right now I know one thing for certain. I'm going to fuck the abominable snow monster. And I'm going to like it." - Angela Montoya, Dashing Through MeSlip beneath the mistletoe and into something a little more sinful with Jingle These Bells, a sizzling holiday anthology where desire crackles like a Yule log fire. Fifteen naughty and nice authors-some freshly unwrapped and others well-establi...

In this honest discussion of mental health, the founder of Therapy for Women explores our reasons for drinking alcohol—and the benefits of taking a break.When “retired party girl” and popular therapist Amanda White admitted she was an alcoholic, it wasn’t because she’d done something outrageous while under the influence, like land herself in jail or get married in Vegas. It was because she realized three things: 1. Alcohol was making her life worse. 2. Moderation w...