In an unnamed town somewhere on the American prairie, children are dying. Terrible creatures, some from this world and some from the next, are appearing at the edge of town. Bedtime has become deadtime. Strange diseases are infecting people. Voices from beyond the grave are whispering.Into town arrives a special delivery from Rumania: a wooden cart in a packing box. Out pops a pair of witch parents and a thousand-year-old teenage witch daughter. They paint an old house on a hill je...

Book One of the Lenna series. A regular day of carrying pig slop on the Icelandic dragon farm turns terrifying when twelve-year-old Lenna walks in on the old farm caretaker, Brugda, summoning up a prophetic vision of a dark future. Lenna is sent to visit the farm's owner, deadly quiet Lady Joukka Pelata. She reveals tantalizing glimpses of the girl's past and the possibilities for her future, hinting at how important she could become. The night gets stranger still as the world transforms i...

Living at home is driving Casey crazy. She's stuck in Seattle with no job, no money for college, and a goth-ass sister who's marrying a Boeing tech boyfriend and getting her own place, leaving Casey alone with her shut-in mom. If only Casey could get out of the house and into the world. A boyfriend, a new bestie--anything to feel like life's started post-diploma.All it really takes to jump-start her life is breaking her ankle in the middle of a crowded intersection. That'll really ...

Raiya's father Momus had been depressed ever since he and her mother Evelyn got a divorce. Tonight, Raiya descends the steps of her apartment into the New Orleans night, hearing calliope music like churchbells. Visions of saints and angels begin appearing to her, and they tell her she has a job to do. Her father was the protector of the City that Care Forgot, and now that he's gone, Raiya will need to take up his rainbow and shine a light.But an ancient statue has awakened, bringin...

In an English colony in Northern Ireland, the children of the invaders gather to be chosen at the spring hiring fair. Francis Mansfield stands in the line, unaware of his family's role in conquering the Emerald Isle and enforcing its subjugation. All he knows is his arms didn't grow. His body looks like a girl's, and his mind runs circles around his stolid family and friends. He knows nothing about himself except that he has a saint above his head and a straw dolly in his pocket, guiding h...

A shepherd made of stone had a son. Today the boy is old enough to set off to seek his fortune in the big city.But the big city is abuzz: the tin princess and the silver queen have gone missing, and the golden king is desperately worried. He offers a bodacious bonanza to the one who rescues the royal ladies. So the stone shepherd's son begins his quest.Only neither of the royal ladies is exactly helpless, thank you, and both of them have their own lives to live. Which is no...

My entry to Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal Author Quest, published with kind permission of the Jim Henson Company.In the world of the Dark Crystal, stones can move and plants can sing. The Skeksis rule from the Castle of the Crystal, while the natural wizards called ur-Mystics work from afar to prevent the land from faltering. Set thousands of trines before the events of the film, PLAGUE OF LIGHT is the story of the search for a cure to an arcane contagion that has infected the peop...

A free collection of contemporary and sf/fantasy short stories from author James Comins. In "The Soft Operative," a corporate saboteur kidnaps a genetically modified employee. In "Four Seasons of a Man," a Vietnam war vet's life is seen in four vignettes. In "Matt and Maggie," a punk couple live through a suicide attempt. Twenty stories and poems and poem-story-things.The Soft OperativeA corporate saboteur kidnaps a genetically modified employee.The Silent Pa...

Behind a hidden door in the principal's office lies a hidden training facility for secret agents. Today, grumpy old Mr. Nickers calls eighth grader Johnny Clue down to the principal's office. But Johnny's not in trouble--yet. Through the secret door, Johnny meets Jericha White, the top secret agent-in-training in Bethesda. She doesn't work for the CIA, though, nor the FBI. Jericha and Johnny begin a mission: rescuing Johnny's father from Russia. But as they start seeing the true purpose of...

Opening night. The bridge to the Noh stage is only a few footsteps ahead, and the audience is waiting for you. Your mask is in your hand for the lead role, Shanne. Opposite you is your best friend Quinn, playing the sinister jester Punchinoni.You're all ready, all your lines are memorized, and your character is familiar and natural. All you have to do is step out on stage.Put on your mask. Step into your character. Take a deep breath.It's the role of a lifetime. It ...

A new musical, Crusade is the story of Piers Ploughman, itinerant priest Peter the Hermit, Piers' family, and neighbor Jacob as they leave behind Touraine on crusade to Jerusalem. Featuring a full orchestra and twenty-six songs, Crusade is a deep tragicomedy with lovable characters and a broad sweep of adventure.

Nothing ever goes right for Thomas de Motley. The teenage son of a drunken juggler, Tom aspires to be a kingsfool, the highest rank of jesters. First there's Fool School, however, and before he begins school, he'll need to cross the English Channel and travel a hundred miles to Northern England to get there. And his papa's spent all his money.In the church of St. Martin's, Tom stumbles over one of the great secrets of history. A boy, Malcolm, his hair red as coals and his eyes gree...