Why is it so easy to fail at some things and so difficult to face failure at others?As an art teacher, Matt Appling has seen his students struggle with the idea of failing at an art project, but at the same time most 3rd graders have been willing enough to fail at a round of Super Mario Bros for decades! Even more interestingly, his youngest students (he teaches Kindergarten through 8th grade) seem much more willing to fail that the older ones. What’s happening to us as we grow up?...

For most adults, the art room is a memory from long-lost childhood school days. Art class probably did not mean much more than smearing crayons and paint onto construction paper-with no real value to an adult who is dealing with the pressures of relationships, careers, finances, and raising a family.Even with these external pressures, the biggest concern adults often face is the spiritual crisis of self-value. We fear unmet ambitions. We fear that our lives have little meaning, pur...

Infertility—a long and quiet war...Matt and Cheri Appling couldn’t get pregnant. One minus sign after another cast them into a long season of trying, failing, waiting, and hoping—into the wilderness where faith grew tired before it got stronger. And in that wilderness they wrote this book.A blend of story, reflection, and lament, Plus or Minus is the chronicle of three couples warring with infertility. It depicts life, faith, and love amidst the eb...

A daring and remarkable memoir which explores the devastating consequences of war on one impressionable young soldier'Matt Young has written the Iliad of the Iraq War ... This book will strengthen your heart and soul' Tim Weiner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award'Inventive, unsparing, irreverent and consistently entertaining' New York TimesMatt Young joined the Marine Corps a...

A riotous dark comedy teeming with delightfully unacceptable behaviour.Like all good law-abiding citizens, sixteen-year-old Maurice no longer considers going off the rails as just a teenage phase. It can only mean the mark of a troll . . .But these trolls aren't confined to causing trouble online: now they're in our homes, on our streets and have ruined life as we know it. As a rule Maurice tries to avoid trouble - until the day he crosses paths with Wretch, a very bad appl...

Captain Tessa Adrace of Starforce is about to be assigned a mission she will never forget. With strict orders given her directly from the colonel, she must lead her squadron up against an adversary feared throughout the galaxy: Black Dwarf. The odds impossibly stacked against her, but she will stop at nothing until her mission is complete. Even if it means her end.Asterius is a short story, consisting of 6750 words, or roughly twenty-four pages.

Cole Musgrave's dream of interstellar travel is about to become a nightmare. When a high-profile delivery is compromised aboard a state-of-the-art cargo vessel, the newly appointed captain finds himself embroiled in an assignment far above his pay grade.Blackmail, terrorists, a malfunctioning prototype A.I. pilot, and a sinister terraforming corporation with deep criminal ties await him. Who knew delivering cargo to the deep recesses of space could be so dangerous?Armed onl...

The adventure aboard the ICARUS continues!Leading the life of the System's most wanted space pirate is not as satisfying as Cole Musgrave had hoped. Despite having been given a second chance at life by his gangster brother, each mission he undertakes threatens to be his last.When Cole's luck finally runs out, the crew of the Icarus find themselves in a predicament unlike any they've ever encountered. One reckless decision leaves them abandoned and ...

The Interstellar Cargo Trilogy **With Bonus Short Story**ICARUSCole Musgrave's dream of interstellar travel is about to become a nightmare. When a high-profile delivery is compromised aboard a state-of-the-art cargo vessel, the newly appointed captain finds himself embroiled in an assignment far above his pay grade.Blackmail, terrorists, a malfunctioning prototype A.I. pilot, and a sinister terraforming corporation with deep crimina...

The System's most infamous cargo pilot is finally in custody and serving more years than he cares to count. Away from the chaos of his short-lived pirating career, Cole Musgrave wants only to spend the rest of his days in a quiet cell where no more trouble can find him.But find him, it does. When a familiar figure enters Cole's life, he again falls prey to the questionable whims of his secretive government. Forced into a new mission more dangerous than any he has faced before, he m...

Vintage Game Consoles tells the story of the most influential videogame platforms of all time, including the Apple II, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Sega Genesis, Sony PlayStation, and many more. It uncovers the details behind the consoles, computers, handhelds, and arcade machines that made videogames possible. Drawing on extensive research and the authors’ own lifelong experience with videogames, Vintage Game Consoles explores each system’s development, ...

For more than three decades, Jeff Ferguson has worked at the front lines of digital marketing and search engine optimization, watching the field rise from obscure beginnings into one of the most influential forces in modern business. Killing SEO collects both new and previously published essays that examine this evolution in detail, challenging the myths, misconceptions, and outright scams that have followed SEO since the early days of the internet. Drawing from his experience with major g...