INSIDE THE DARKSIDE is a collection of 12 dissimilar stories inhabiting the near future. A long-winded, umbrella-like philosophical long story description might be more appropriate if you, my readers, are presented with story clues. Here they are in order: GREY – A hotshot pilot, attempting to follow in his father's galactic shoes, finds even his own whining is grey-ting. MISTY JOURNEY – The way out is unclear, even with help. THE LONGSHOT – What chances do a ragtag band of mismatched surv...

Lovers of short fiction stories will enjoy the 17 in "short stories by a short guy in shorts." I'm better at 1000 to 8000 words than trying to construct ten or twenty times that. In my stories, you'll get the essence quicker with the motivation to find out what's next. Next, I am a short guy. Gravity is winning. Finally, I dread summer and its accompanying requirement to wear fewer clothes. Shorts are my anathema. When I wrote the subtitle, "musings, meanderings and mindfulness (sort of),"...

Nonfiction books like Welcome to my Soapbox are hybrids; there's just no theme. Uh, I prefer to describe this book as a literary buffet table. I've got fibrous protein with real bite. There's mushy mashed potatoes in the form of unabashed pandering. I lied—they have lumps you didn't expect. Following is the mixed media of string beans with little pearl onions and grey mushrooms. Stories of varied interest. At the end are desserts, sweet, plain vanilla and chewy chocolate with nuts. If you'...

If you baked a cake from scratch, you'd find a recipe and follow directions. I didn't do that. I reached blindfolded into my mental pantry, saw and wrote, interviewed and memorialized, had an idea and, you know. It's about funny kids and brave veterans, bad situations and redemption, on the right track and off the rails, some fiction but mostly truth. It's my cake; have a slice.

Everyone begins their life on an innocent search for truth. Some people find it, or so they think. But do we ever, really find it?“The older I get the less time I have for certainty,” writes Les Avery. “Now at 85, truth seems less certain.” In his book, Less Certain Now, Avery chronicles the pain of raising a wayward son and the loss of his beloved wife Jackie. The experiences taught him to accept new realities – even those that contradict what once seemed concret...

The year is 2072. At the lunar farside radio observatory, an old school radio broadcast is detected, similar to those broadcast on Earth in the 1940s and early 1950s, but in an unknown language, coming from an impossible source, and originating at an equally impossible location—Proxima Centauri. While the nations of Earth debate making First Contact, they learn that the Proximans are facing an extinction-level disaster, forcing a decision: Will Earth send a ship on a multiyear trip to prov...

Time is running out for the inhabitants of Proxima Centauri. Unsettling discoveries there and at Luyten's star now threaten both Proxima and Earth, in a new hard science fiction thriller from Travis S. Taylor and Les Johnson.First contact with the seemingly impossible human civilization at Proxima Centauri is not going well. The Earth ships sent to render aid have not been able to reverse the contagion ravaging their population and, worse, many Proximans are now wo...

Wartime radio at its most provocative -- that's Words At War!The Office of War Information, in cooperation with The Council on Books in Wartime, brought listeners journalistic accounts of battle, first-person narratives, and novels inspired by actual events. Each story was adapted for radio…and for maximum emotional impact.These eight digitally restored and remastered broadcasts include performances by Les Damon, Lesley Woods, Maurice Tarplin, Staats Cotsworth, Jackson Beck, Lon Clark, Hou...

A testament to the healing power of unconditional love.Widely acclaimed for her emotionally powerful stories that capture the real lives of women, Heather A. Clark, bestselling author of Chai Tea Sunday, tackles the subject of childhood mental illness and the impact it has on a close family.The story begins from nine-year-old Nate’s point of view, etching the details of an unbalanced mind struggling to make sense of rampant thought patterns and hei...

Explore the true resilience of the heart and our raw determination to find goodness in a world fraught with adversityOne Woman’s Courage in the face of personal tragedy is at the heart of Heather A. Clark’s debut novel. Thirty–three–year–old Nicky Fowler thought her whole life was mapped out — a rewarding career as a third grade teacher, an adoring husband, and the perfect house in the suburbs — but complicated fertility issues lead to a devastating tragedy. Nicky’s marria...

In the Hugo-award winning, epic New York Times Bestseller and basis for the BBC miniseries, two men change England's history when they bring magic back into the world.In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, most people believe magic to have long since disappeared from England - until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers and becomes an overnight celebrity.Another practicing magician then emerges: the young and daring Jonathan Strange. H...

Mary Higgins Clark’s thirtieth and most spine-chilling novel—“so good that it might as well have come with a soundtrack” (The Columbus Dispatch)—includes identity theft, revenge, and murder...Alexandra “Zan” Moreland, a gifted, beautiful interior designer on the verge of a successful Manhattan career, is terrified to discover that somebody is not only using her credit cards, but may also be impersonating her in a scheme that involves the much more brutal c...