Whitey was on him like a lean panther, swinging the pistol like a club at the back of the boy's head, catching him a solid blow. The sentry crumpled to his hands and knees, mewing in pain, barely conscious. As Jed kicked the outer door shut, shooting the main bolt across, he heard the sickening crack, like a ripe apple being trodden underfoot, as Whitey swung his gun a second time, smashing the top of the guard's skull to a bloody pulp. Ignoring the body, that lay still twitching at his feet, the albino bent and wiped blood and matted hair from the foresight of his Colt on the fancy waistcoat, adding a macabre layer to the decorations. "Leaves us three," he said ...

Romance/Science Fiction. 27333 words long. First published in 2009, 2009

Chapter 1: A Bad Choice and a Worse One My dad always said that his feet were the only stupid parts of his body. They had walked him into every bad decision he had ever made, so he had to watch them carefully. He repeated that little pearl of wisdom so often that I began to take it literally and stare at my feet when they were moving. I had my eyes on them the afternoon they walked me into my career in agriculture. I blame my feet because I was only thirteen at the time and not exactly in the job market.On that particular day, I was mostly thinking about what I could eat when I got home from school. I was trudging along the dirt lane from the bus stop while my sisters and cousins rushed past me, trying to escape the biting New Mexico wind. The lane's rutted tracks had filled with water from a snowstorm and then frozen into narrow strips of dirty ice. It felt powerful and satisfying to crush the fragile surfaces and watch the underlying brown water ooze around my...

Reminiscent of Bernard Malamudâ€(tm)s The Natural, W. P. Kinsellaâ€(tm)s Shoeless Joe, and the film Field of Dreams, OPENING DAY is a novella with the kind of magic charm that transcends sport and rises to the level of heroic myth. When the owner of a downtrodden team in the AA Mid Florida League discovers that his aging groundskeeper was once a star in the Negro Leagues, a public relations scheme is hatched. But what begins as a stunt leads to an astonishing outcome that no one, least of all Buck Wilson, the unassuming former great, could have predicted.

Ross Marteau is the toast of the international art world for his sensualsculptures of rich and famous women. But when a long-term relationshipbreaks up badly, he retreats to his Texas hometown -- only to have hisnewfound peace of mind permanently, and profoundly, shattered.One afternoon over lunch, Ross is approached by a woman to whom he feelsan irresistible attraction. She introduces herself as Celeste Lacan andasks him to take on a new commission, a sculpture of her younger sister, Leda, promising that the job will present artistic challenges unlike anyhe has encountered before. Though reluctant, Ross can't help but beintrigued: by Celeste herself and by a photo of Leda's face, a portraitof incomparable beauty.When he meets her, Ross is stunned to discover that Leda's body is asstartlingly unique as her face is beautiful. Just as Celeste predicted, he becomes consumed with portraying the duality of her body... and, perhaps, her soul. At the same time, he become...

Passion, suspense and deadly danger combine in The Angel Chronicles, another sensational episode from the hit television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Angel, the vampire is madly in love with vampire slayer Buffy Summers. However, Drusilla, the vampire loathes Buffy for many reasons, most strongly because Buffy's love made Angel seriously injure her one and only true love, Spike. Now, with all the powers of the dark forces, she is out to get revenge. Back in Sunnydale the lives of Buffy's friends are in grave danger. Will Buffy be able to forsake her love for Angel and perform her duty as the slayer? Find out in this exciting novel!

The sorcerer Alder fears sleep. He dreams of the land of death, of his wife who died young and longs to return to him so much that she kissed him across the low stone wall that separates our world from the Dry Land-where the grass is withered, the stars never move, and lovers pass without knowing each other. The dead are pulling Alder to them at night. Through him they may free themselves and invade Earthsea. Alder seeks advice from Ged, once Archmage. Ged tells him to go to Tenar, Tehanu, and the young king at Havnor. They are joined by amber-eyed Irian, a fierce dragon able to assume the shape of a woman. The threat can be confronted only in the Immanent Grove on Roke, the holiest place in the world and there the king, hero, sage, wizard, and dragon make a last stand. Le Guin combines her magical fantasy with a profoundly human, earthly, humble touch.