He can paint happy dreamy landscapes in 30 minutes or less -- guaranteed! -- but can he convince his broody teenaged son that the real world is anything other than a cruddy, joyless hellhole? Inspired by (but not depicting) the great Bob Ross. Because every happy little tree needs a friend, and everyone needs to remember there are beautiful places even in a busy world.The Dark Knight assembles the mightiest heroes of the DC universe to fend off the greatest threat the Earth has ever faced.

A middle aged man must come to grips with his loneliness as a widower while trying to reestablish a relationship with his estranged son. This in the context of his old neighborhood being lost to urban renewal.The Pike is long and perilous, patrolled by Catholic knights and the nationalist biker gang that calls themselves the Order of the Coming Dawn. Bayle might have stayed in Pittsburgh, which is doing better than most of the country--but he made a promise, and to keep it he has to cross the battered remains of Pennsylvania. With winter rapidly descending, Bayle sets own alone to keep that promise.Toll Road is a short story of approximately 4,000 words (16 pages).

In the tradition of "Moby Dick," "The Old Man and the Sea" and the great Ali-Foreman bout of 1974 comes a man vs fish story for the 21st century. It's survival of the fittest for George Miller, a down-and-out working stiff who has to beat the odds (and a really big fish) to reclaim his dignity. Short story, humor, around 2000 words.Don't read this if you want to feel better. You'll be worse off when you're done than before you started. You might not even have the stomach for it. How about you go do some laundry instead. Or check Facebook.

Now with seven bonus stories! Is man by nature evil, or stupid, or both? These short-short stories (plus seven bonus stories) let you decide. Great short reading for travel, leisure, or any occasion where you need to conscipuously ignore the person next to you. Short-short stories, humor.Now with four bonus stories! Is man by nature evil, or stupid, or both? These short-short stories (plus seven bonus stories) let you decide. Great short reading for travel, leisure, or any occasion where you need to conscipuously ignore the person next to you. Short-short stories, humor.

Recounting 1939, the birth of a superpower, the twilight of a mostly rural America, and the misbegotten adventures of the last man in the world to know everything except what to do with himself. Comedy, romance, and drama unfold when a dissipated millionaire returns from Europe to his childhood home just in time to interfere with a rural electrifcation project and reawaken the town's old secrets.Recounting 1939, the birth of a superpower, the twilight of a mostly rural America, and the misbegotten adventures of the last man in the world to know everything except what to do with himself. Comedy, romance, and drama unfold when a dissipated millionaire returns from Europe to his childhood home just in time to interfere with a rural electrifcation project and reawaken the town's old secrets."A well written, engrossing spiderweb of a tale. Yes, you can go home again, but then you find indeed why you left in the first place."

When a local kid's TV show personality and his seven trained dachshunds get kicked to the curb in favor of generic PBS programming, the discovery of a hotdog-man suit in a fast food dumpster leads to a new career as a costumed crime fighter (hey, dogs have to eat). And will the lady in his life discover his secret? Okay, let's admit it - there is no lady in his life - just lots of mooched wifi.Danny Callaway knows who killed his sister. His testimony sends Kevin Green to prison, but did he really do it? Kevin enters prison innocent, but emerges a hardened criminal bent on revenge. Soon the people Danny loves start dying. Danny must finish the job he started years ago, even if it means sacrificing a second chance at love.Review"A tale of failed justice, vengeance, and love. A wrongful conviction spawns death down through the years. Both tragic and hopeful, Two Wrongs engages the reader's emotions. I very much enjoyed TWO WRONGS." -- Barbara D’Amato is a past president of Mystery Writers of America and of Sisters in Crime, author of the Cat Marsala mystery series, as well as several standalone novels."The author vividly describes the conflict between love and revenge that threatens to tear apart the main character in TWO WRONGS. She does an excellent job of swinging between the two main viewpoints and captures the changes in the characters as they progress from young men to mature adults. She never focuses too long on either character so the tension is not lost, bringing the reader along for the ride. The research is unobtrusive to the plot line and the detailing of Chicago settings give a veracity to the story." -- Martha Powers is a freelance editor, author of the thrillers, Sunflower & Bleeding Heart, as well as several romance novels.

Two young friends are united by a crappy old car, dead-end summer jobs, and the endless desire to escape from tedium into the big wide world. One breaks free and gets the girl; the other gets an empty garage and a valuable lesson. Short story: humor, coming of age, around 8200 words.Akia de Wolfe was quickly becoming known as one of Boston's finest. After closing the Silent Ripper case, a promotion soon followed. For the first time since running away from home a decade ago, her life was perfect, until a ghost from her past, a mistake that she had fought to forget, calls. Coming home to Haven wasn't something she ever wanted to do again, but her father needed her. A serial killer was loose on the small island her family called home, and trying to pin the gruesome murders on him. Facing her demons won't be easy, but in order to clear her father's name and catch a killer she must.

A story that spans several decades and follows the life of a man in charge of designing state roads whose own life adjusts less smoothly to the pace of cultural and technological change. Humor, pathos. A novella - 27K words.Arianna Grace liked her boring, Midwestern, teenage life where she ignored the many unanswered questions of her childhood. Why were her parents dead? Why did she not have family? Where was she raised until she was five? When someone offers to explain it all, Arianna thinks she’s just getting answers. Instead, she is thrown into a world of night humans who drink blood.On Arianna's sixteenth birthday, her world is thrown upside down when she changes into a vampire. Night humans, or demons, as some call them, live in normal society. Learning all of the new rules of a world she didn’t know existed might be hard enough, but it's further complicated by two former-friends that now want to help her take her role as the successor to her grandfather. There is a war going on between the night humans. Sides have been taken and lines are not crossed. Four main clans of night humans are struggling for control of the night. Divided into two sides, clans Baku and Tengu have been at war for centuries with the clans Dearg-dul and Lycan. That is, until Arianna Grace finds out the truth; she’s the bridge of peace between the two sides. But not everyone wants peace. With the night humans divided, Arianna is now a pawn in the war between them. She must choose a side—her mother’s family or her father’s—and for once in her life, decide her own fate.---- Early Reviews ---- “The Legend of the Blue Eyes is overall a fantastic read with a new spin on the world of the Night Humans. The story feels natural, not forced, and I think that this series will really develop into something great.” -Bethany@Reading Vixens “Okay! WOW! This novel is amazing!! I’m surprised at just how much I enjoyed reading this novel! The Legend of the Blue Eyes is the first novel in the trilogy and let me tell you, its worth a read! B. Kristin McMichael has a new and original take on Vampires and the Vampire World.” -Ana @SoManyBooksSoLittleTime “Arianna finds herself embroiled in kidnappings, poisonings, and nefarious plotting to undermine current leadership. With little choice but to embrace this new life, Ms. McMichael keeps you interested in Arianna’s rise to glory and pursuit of adjustment and happiness. The story is far from done.” -Carmen@TheReadingCafe

Set in the sub-suburbs, where trailer park and white-flight suburb rub elbows, this story rollicks across decades, from the 1980's to the present. An addled man tries to escape the shadow of his genius but despairing father only to find himself subjected to the same temptations to find the answers to life in a radio device designed to talk to angels or the dead. A fat, Faustian German opera.Set in the sub-suburbs, where trailer park and white-flight suburb rub elbows, this story rollicks across decades, from the 1980's to the present. An addled man tries to escape the shadow of his genius but despairing father only to find himself subjected to the same grandiose temptations to find the answers to life in a radio device designed to talk to angels or the dead. A fat, Faustian German opera, "Angels and Electrons" is a different sort of 'coming of age' novel -- if you can be said to come of age at 50, can conquer your despair, and can resist the recurring desire to take down the system that took down you.