Showing results by narrator "A.J. Carter" in All Categories

Sunny Grimm finds a strap around her son's head with an embossed symbol between his eyes. This is the mark of awareness leaping, where players launch into alternate realities and anything goes. Investors make millions. Critics, however, refuse to call it a game. They argue that reality confusion will end humanity. Labels aside, there are many who play. And many who lose. Sunny Grimm goes on a mad search for her son and the people responsible for allowing him to play. The only way she will find him is to not lose herself in the search. The Maze is more than a game.

What would you do if you woke up one day and realized you were someone else? This is exactly what happens to Eve Spencer. Memories, like shards of glass, cut through her mind and begin to dismantle everything she knows to be real. As she fights to find out who she really is, her discovery threatens everything and everyone around her, including her family. With the help of a cantankerous attorney, she races to reveal who she is before it's too late.

Chelsea's having a bad day. Her mom blew up (long story), her husband left her for another man (long story), she lost her job and apartment (another long story), and the long and short of it is - she is out of options. But her estranged dead mother left her a way out, a way out of all of it. All she has to do is do the one thing she refuses to do: take over the family business. What is the family business? Sex, sex, and more sex. So what's the big deal? Chelsea doesn't like sex. Or people. Or things. Or gooey things. And she trusts them even less.

No Secrets is the second volume of Carter-Winward's genre defying writing that is part poetry, part fiction, part memoir, and all told with a clarity that does not allow secrets. These short pieces tell us the stories many of us hide, even from ourselves.

No Regrets is the final stop in J.A. Carter-Winward's poetic trilogy that will break your heart, make you laugh, oh, and take you inside a brothel. You won't regret the ride.

A Mormon in the White House and intimate relationships with plastic blow-up dolls show the breadth of Carter-Winward's short story telling. So get ready for a pole dancing grandmother and football played using a nativity scene. The stories may be short, but the images and emotions will stay with you.

No Apologies is the inappropriate joke at dinner, the drunk uncle in the room shouting obscenities, and the ugly truth no one talks about in polite company. Part poetry, part fiction, part memoir, and all honesty, No Apologies is a compelling slice of human experience in all of its crass, hopeful, sincere, and tender glory. And it says it...with no apologies.

Private investigator Leah Ryan is on a much-needed vacation. A week in Bass Bay, Maine. Nothing but sun, sand, and relaxation. No missing people. No murder. No stress. But an hour into her vacation, Leah almost swims into a dead girl. Shark bites on the victim indicate a horrific shark attack, but closer inspection of the remains suggest that sharks aren't the only predators in Bass Bay.

A fallen disciple. A kingdom in chaos. A destiny that cannot be escaped. Faro was once a loyal warrior, fighting to free Evania from the grip of a tyrant. Now, he is something else—something not quite human. Betrayed by Eli, the fallen chosen one of Evania, Faro was struck down and left for dead as dark magic reshaped the land. Stripped of his past and hunted as an enemy, he wanders a kingdom on the brink of ruin—where ancient powers stir and war looms on the horizon.

In a world where the lines between the living and the dead blur, a young boy named X witnesses his mother's brutal murder at the hands of his own father. Consumed by a thirst for revenge, X dedicates his life to finding and confronting the man who shattered his world. This dystopian reality is forever altered by the emergence of magical beings. Governed by the O-7 Council—ancient deities who oversee the delicate balance of life and death—the world is inhabited by reapers and demons enforcing celestial laws.

Gregory finds himself walking out of them as the sun sets with no memory of his time there. If the task masters catch him in the woods, there will be violent consequences. So, why does he keep going back? And why can’t he remember anything about the inside?

X, the cursed reaper, wrestles with the growing darkness within him. Haunted by his mother’s death and his father’s betrayal, he navigates the undercity in search of answers about his mark—a mysterious symbol pulsing with dark energy. Guided by fragmented memories and cryptic warnings, X is drawn deeper into a web of conspiracies where survival demands more than strength—it demands sacrifice.

“Return within six months or humanity dies” were the last words Garrett heard as the portal snapped shut behind him. As he and his sages scramble to escape the carnage of warfare and dragon fire on an unfamiliar planet, they encounter a girl who knows one of their names… Breanne Moore.

The Minotaur himself relates to a mysterious listener the events that led to his death in the Labyrinth as he reflects upon the meaning of good versus evil, right versus wrong and monsters versus heroes.

Khallani’s love for her man is tested when she makes the unthinkable decision to become his ride-or-die chick in hopes of finally getting the love she desires. But at what price? She quickly realizes things are not what they seem. This young thug’s life is filled with secrets. Can her love for him weather the storm, or will she run for shelter? Jamaican-born Zeke is one of Richmond’s richest dope boys. Looking for a way out of a failed relationship, he pursues Khallani. However, with darkness looming over his life and his strong ties to the streets, it’s hard for him to fully commit.

The little creatures came to play, and now in fresh-dug graves they lay. Cynthia and her three little brothers had heard the stories of their grandpa, who could summon demons and compel people to die with a curse. So, when the children discovered they, too, had the ancient power, they knew what to do.