THE TALKING RIVERIn a quiet village where no one dares approach the river after dark, sixteen-year-old Kelechi begins hearing whispers calling his name from the water.At first, he thinks he’s imagining it.But when the river reveals secrets no one else could possibly know—lies, betrayals, hidden dangers buried deep within the village—Kelechi realizes the river is alive with something ancient… something watching.Each night, the whispers grow s...

Density functional theory (DFT) has become the standard workhorse for quantum mechanical simulations as it offers a good compromise between accuracy and computational cost.However, there are many important systems for which DFT performs very poorly, most notably strongly-correlated materials, resulting in a significant recent growth in interest in 'beyond DFT' methods. The widely used DFT+U technique, in particular, involves the addition of explicit Coulomb repulsion terms to reprod...

In this richly woven young adult fantasy short story, a brave young woman enters a deadly marriage that promises to challenge the bounds of love, hate, and sacrifice.Seventy-one days and seventy-one nights had come and gone since Khalid began killing his brides.This dawn, Khalid would mark the loss of the seventy-second girl, Shahrzad al-Khayzuran.Khalid didn’t know how many more of these dawns he could take. And there was something about this lates...

Set in the same lush world as The Wrath & The Dawn, comes a gripping tale of love, betrayal, and the destructive power of choice.The city of Rey is burning.With smoke billowing, fires blazing, and people fleeing, Khalid races back to defend his city and protect his queen. But Khalid is met with devastation, nothing left but a maze of destruction and his beloved Shahrzad missing. As he unravels the mystery behind the fire, Khalid suspects a...

In school one day, Faith, a young American girl, learns of Ndidi and Obi, two young lovers who were separated a day before their wedding.Ndidi was an African princess. She was practicing her wedding dance by a river, when she was grabbed by slave catchers. Obi her betrothed tried to rescue her, but was captured as well. According to legend, if the wedding dance was not performed, the betrothed couple was doomed for all eternity, never to be united.Faith wished to reunite the ...

Dismissing his first impressions of the strange-looking black bed, a weary traveler drifts off in peaceful drowsiness. Yet his sleep brings not a night of rest, but binds him in a state of terrifying captivity. Before the night is over, the dreams experienced in The Iron Bed become a test of what the mind can endure.

A young man has been an avid fan of the old legends of heros and their adventures his entire life. When he leaves home, he sets out in search of his own adventures. The very first incident he comes across, however, proves just how hard those adventures can be to survive.

All of the characters are waiting to tell their part of the story. The Sisters of The Elect will speak, the Story Teller will provide context, but it all begins with her, The Songbird. In a time before the pharaohs, She is living in the sacred mountain in natural splendor. Suddenly out of the darkness, her father shouts distress to the family, "Wake up!" The beautiful young songbird finds herself unexpectedly placed in a concealment on her camel. The Sheppard is told to take her and her br...

A just King has struggled to have an heir to his kingdom, he is persuaded to summon a witch and gaze into the future, and see what happens. But needless to say, he didn't quite like what he saw, but regardless... Sometimes not even a king may alter destiny.

Cappadocia is under attack from marauding soldiers during the Byzantine Empire. This short story follows a mother, a group of kids, a priest and a soldier as they react to the attack.The story was inspired by a trip to the region of Cappadocia (Turkey) with its history and unusual geology. There the author enjoyed seeing the churches in Göreme, the Derinkuyu Underground City, and the Eski Gumusler Monastery, and created this historically based story. All of the areas mentioned in t...

Adam is pulled away from his family into a new world. He needs to learn about the rules of the new world in order to navigate the struggles he is going to face. Can Adam learn about his new powers, and understand who is a friend and who is a foe before it is too late?

I do not fear death. I do not tremor at the thought of my eternity. I do not plea for mercy. Set in Elizabethan England a young girls choices lead her to face her few final breaths. But are her choices her own?