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Art and life. Each the mirror of the other. This then is the classic definition of what ‘Realism’ as a writing form really is. Some might call it a fancy term for the mundane day to day pursuits but in the hands of an author it comes alive. We are drawn into characters and landscapes that we can empathize with, we can, metaphorically speaking, help shoulder their burden, be on the long trail with them whatever the landscapes, the hurdles, incidents and other people may place in their literary way.

Sam Preston appears to be living the glamorous life of a journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle. If only that was the case... In reality, she's frustratingly single, stuck living in her parents' house, and, oh yeah, in love with her boss, Dave, who barely knows that she exists. Life seems like it will never change - until the day Sam is put on an assignment with Dave, reporting on the San Francisco Fashion Week. She hopes this might be a turning point in their relationship. But things never go to plan.

Benét was born on 22nd July in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Prodigiously his first book was published at 17 and for he obtained his M.A. in English when he submitted a poetry volume as his thesis. Whilst travelling in France, in the early '20s, he met and quickly married a fellow writer and poet, Rosemary Carr. She would also collaborate with him on several works. In Paris he wrote the book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War ‘John Brown's Body’, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

The ballad is one of the oldest poetic forms in English and are simply poems or songs that tell a story. Maybe it’s because of childhood associations or that we all enjoy a cracking good story told in rhyme but as this volume demonstrates, the ballad has endless appeal. We include favourites such as Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s The Ballad of the Harp Weaver, Edgar Allan Poe’s Annabel Lee as well as classics such as Sir Patrick Spens, the Ballad of Reading Gaol by Wilde and La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Keats.

In this collection of short stories some of our most popular and well-known authors are grouped together with an unfortunate tag: dead at 44. These authors are not run-of-the-mill or ten a penny; they are literary leviathans who left enduring works of literature and sadly may have left us many more had they lived. We will never know.

Louisa May Alcott was born on 29th November 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Well-loved for her classic ‘Little Women’, she was a superb writer in difficult times for any woman, a strong advocate of women’s issues, the anti-slavery movement, temperance and social reform. Her work often reflects on the rich experiences in her life and these poignant short stories are a fine testament to this. One of Alcott’s most startling stories is the ‘The Brothers’, a tale of two brothers during the Civil War and the after-effects.

Whilst Europe endured the Dark Ages in the 6th & 7th Centuries, devotees of Shiva and Vishnu in Southern India were creating the Bhakti Movement. Some of these exponents, as in our volume, were bestowed with the title of saint but some had the additional title of sant, swami or goswami. Broadly speaking, Bhakti poetry, as in Hinduism itself, is divided into ‘Nirguna’, the idea that the divine is formless as exampled by Kabir and ‘Saguna’, which interprets the divine as having physical form as captured by Mirabai.

Zona Gale was born on 26th August 1874, in Portage, Wisconsin. Her first novel ‘Romance Island’ was published in 1906 and she also began the popular ‘Friendship Village’ series of stories. In 1920 came ‘Miss Lulu Bett’, which depicts life in the Midwest. Adapted into a play it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921. It was a stellar achievement.

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was born on 24th June 1842 at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio. His parents were poor but they introduced him to literature at an early age, instilling in him a deep appreciation of books, the written word and the elegance of language. In 1891 Bierce wrote and published the collection of 26 short stories which included ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’. Success and further works including poetry followed.

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was born on 24th June 1842 at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio. His parents were poor but they introduced him to literature at an early age, instilling in him a deep appreciation of books, the written word and the elegance of language. In 1891 Bierce wrote and published the collection of 26 short stories which included ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’. Success and further works including poetry followed.

Alice Christiana Gertrude Thompson was born on 22nd September 1847 in Barnes, London. In 1876 she married Wilfred Meynell, the newspaper publisher and editor, and together they set up and published a number of magazines as well as publishing the initial works of several poets including Francis Thompson. As the new century dawned, she along with many other artists began to question the colonial needs of Empire with its segregation and oppression. In particular she sought and gained a role in the Women’s Suffrage movement as it attempted to obtain greater equality for women.

Susan Keating Glaspell was born on July 1st, 1876 in Davenport, Iowa. Glaspell, a precocious child, was an active student at Davenport High School. By 18 she was earning a salary at the local newspaper as a journalist, and by 20 she was the author of a weekly 'Society' column. With her husband Glaspell founded the Provincetown Playhouse for plays that reflected contemporary issues. Her first play, ‘Trifles’ (1916), was based on the murder trial she covered as a young reporter and later adapted as the short story ‘A Jury of Her Peers’. S

Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to Dragan and experience the compelling second book in the My Five Kings series.

Everyone thinks I don't remember anything, except that I love Samson. But he keeps pushing me away. He says it's to keep me safe, but I think he's keeping secrets. I want to fall back into his arms, his bed, but the job takes precedence. It always has. This time, however, I want love over money.

Schools that routinely fail Black boys are not extraordinary. In fact, they are all-too ordinary. If we are to succeed in positively shifting outcomes for Black boys and young men, we must first change the way school is “done.” That’s where the eight in ten teachers who are White women fit in . . . and this urgently needed resource is made specifically for them as a way to help them understand, respect and connect with all of their students.

Once a powerful paranormal, psychically crippled Drug Enforcement officer, Nolete Ashford has rebuilt her life from ashes. Thanks to experiments done at government facilities, she has lost all of her abilities. It doesn't stop her from doing her job especially now there is a powerful new drug killing paranormals. Unfortunately, she needs help from the one man she could never forget.

Jerry Larkin discovers an age-old secret buried beneath the foundation of the house that he and his wife Jane, an avid reader of ghost stories, bought six months ago in the idyllic town of Old Orange in Southern California. Jane Larkin, whose MacArthur grant led to the creation of public gardens and a farmers market in the town's central park, works against time to save what she has built as a 100-year storm moves in off the coast.

Shice is a player. All the women want and have had him. Except, Shice doesn't settle down with anyone. When the cleaning woman comes into his room after he's been robbed, he goes off on her. Not expecting Amor to fight back with her words, he's intrigued. Will Amor and Shice end up together, or are they like oil and vinegar?

At the end of House in Virginia 1, secrets were revealed and fates were sealed. With a premature decision, Karen put her heart and body in the hands of Kway, a man so heartless that he has been recklessly ruining the lives of many women in his path. Just as Karen starts to get what she has always been waiting for from her long-term boyfriend Jo, the walls of the infidelity that she committed with Kway come tumbling down at the exact second that Jo decides that it’s the perfect time to make her his wife.

As a US Forestry agent, I’m used to being out in adverse weather. The adventure of the job has always excited me, but being paired up with my crush, Stone, on a rescue mission to save some survivors stranded by a nasty storm makes my heart race more than adrenaline ever has.