Showing results by narrator "Ryan Kennard Burke" in All Categories

What separates great novels from mediocre ones? Story. Authors that master this vital skill keep their readers and listeners up at night, and suffer the deluge of 'when is the next book coming out' emails. Whether you are a first-time novelist, or a seasoned author, Plot Gardening will teach you the fundamentals of storytelling, delivered in a practical way. Through exercises at the end of each chapter you will build your own outline, and you'll do it without sacrificing the creativity that is so vital to telling great stories.

Vexx White is a down on his luck apprentice mage, recently expelled from Fallanden Magical Academy for experimenting with necromancy. With nothing to lose, he becomes a dungeoneer for hire — taking odd jobs in his home town of Cloudbury for pocket change. Nine out of 10 dungeoneers die in their first 10 quests, and to survive Vexx finds himself teaming up with a clumsy elf and a crazed succubus. When they’re not busy trying to kill each other, the dungeoneers drum up all the work they can get, from raiding dungeons to hunting down thieves.

We expected Mars to be an escape, not a trap. A crimson, blasted, frigid trap. Maybe humans were lucky to leave Earth as cowards...or maybe they should have died trying to save it from the aliens. Because what's now arrived on this red rock may be worse than death. Aliens destroyed humanity and seized Earth. Now they have sent a terrible, unstoppable disease to the last human outposts on Mars. The doomsday clock is ticking and only criminal archaeologist Ozzy Mack can decipher the clues buried in the ancient Martian ruins...clues to the cure and the salvation of humankind.

I write software at a San Francisco startup. I have my dream job, but I also have a secret. We are not alone. The last time I was taken I was 14. Three weeks ago I celebrated my 21st birthday, and I know that the grey men will soon come again. I devoted my life to technology so I'd be ready when they returned. Others have prepared too, and I will find them. Together we will harness the abilities they have given us. We are Project Solaris. It's time to fight back.

When World War III erupts on American soil, the chaos ripples across the globe. This anthology explores the untold stories unfolding as civilization's lights go out—from the home front to distant battlefields where the fate of nations hangs in the balance. Across America, ordinary people face extraordinary terror. A government driver on his final day before retirement finds himself protecting the Transportation Secretary in a Christmas Eve ambush. Executive Protection agents in Detroit discover that when the power grid fails, predators emerge from the shadows.

Hawke Moonsnow is a brilliant alchemist. He's a prodigy of his time. He knows it. Everyone else knows it. There's just one problem… He has the common sense of a golden retriever. After an accident leaves his old shop in smoking ruins, Hawke takes a loan from the Adventurers' Guild to open a new location in the town square. Now, he has to work to pay back that loan despite charging lower prices to guild members, inventing new cures, and trying to catch the attention of the fetching waitress at the tavern—all while continuing forbidden research into a dangerous plague.

The Borwyn remain undeterred as they gather hardware and rally their allies. It’s best not to fight from within a vacuum, unless that vacuum is space, and the fight is between starships. The crew of Chrysalis are challenged afresh when their goal is changed in light of new revelations. Jaq, Crip, Max, and the rest continue their fight against the Malibor in this fast-paced continuation of the Starship series.

Forced to flee from the Confederation, Captain Viar of the Bastian Navy is on the run. Fearing that he is marked a traitor to his people, and facing the same fate which befell his father, he seeks a way to redeem himself to Supreme Commander Freist when a prime target approaches. War is inevitable, and he is in position to execute. On a mission to find Steven Chancey, the prime from which his clone, Garret Cushing derived, Ambassador Spar deploys on a new ship with a member of the Litar Guard.

When the Solus Hegemony’s profit margins are threatened, expendable soldiers are called in to foot the bill—one bloody conquest at a time. Noah Rivers is one such soldier. Raised from birth with a single objective—obtain eternal glory through death in service to the galaxy’s most notorious corporate empire.

On a distant planet outside the reach of the Confederation, Garret Cushing finds himself in dire straits. Struggling with a guilty conscience and his life in the balance, he decides to do the unthinkable: turn himself over to the Confederation in exchange for protection.

The activation of the runes has the Osuna fleet mobilizing. They’re closing in, and thanks to a new class acquisition, the timeline to Judgment Day has sped up. After thousands of years in hiding, Governor Cullen refuses to believe the Cipher chose him just to watch his people lose everything. He races the clock to find and destroy the portal with the greatest loot. Problem is, every portal he opens cuts down his time to prepare. With his people’s future on the line, Cullen’s up against a war on two fronts—from the streets to the mystical beyond.

This guide covers my adventures in everything from storing water to purchasing solar generators. At the end of each chapter, you'll complete practical exercises that will get you, and your family, prepared for the scenarios you are most concerned with. And I'll even throw in some humor!

The Cipher has rewarded Cullen with XP to distribute across areas of Resurrection City, from military to defense, economy and more, but he'll need so much more than that to protect his people. And he must do it while negotiating treaties with invaluable allies and fighting off sorcerers, mobs, and the dungeon core growing up out of their backyard.

Pappy and his team join a large military coalition that will travel to Regime space to finally take the fight to the enemy. They have no idea what awaits them, and Pappy’s concerns multiply the closer they get to the Regime's Homeworld. Speaks-The-Truth feels lost and unbalanced. All of her traumas have led to growing feelings of disillusionment and doubt. She must find a way to regain what she’s lost, and has a pivotal role to play in the Resistance movement of her people.

The galaxy is thrown into chaos as the wrath of The Regime gets unleashed. Newly-promoted Warrant Officer “Pappy” Gunther is tasked with training the next generation of UEAF officers as the galaxy-spanning Regime gains ground. When a commander from his past shows up and asks him to join a covert black-ops unit, Pappy has a crucial choice to make. Speaks-The-Truth has a chance to live a life of peace on a world far-removed from the conflict. Yet, she’s haunted by the demons of her past and feels compelled to join the greatest struggle in the history of her people.

After Vexx White and his fellow dungeoneers survive their latest brush with death, a chance encounter with a woman at the market leads them on their next wild adventure. The mission she describes is dangerous, and all she has to offer is a mysterious amulet in exchange for the rescue of her missing husband. But something about the amulet intrigues Vexx, and against his better judgment, he accepts her quest and vows to reunite the lovers at any cost.

Despite their dubious successes in the past, Vexx and his two companions find themselves back where they had started: penniless and scrounging the streets of Cloudbury for menial work. When they chance upon what seems to be a simple delivery quest to Golden Streams Landing, Vexx accepts it with no hesitation. But what Vexx doesn’t realize is that the roads leading to the city are treacherous, and that there are powerful enemies basic fire magic and rudimentary necromancy can’t defeat.

Are you a civilian crime writer who wants to use picture-perfect law enforcement details? Do you worry that your mystery novel or screenplay lacks credibility? Fiction and nonfiction author Sergeant Patrick O’Donnell has seen it all in his 24 years working for one of the largest police departments in the country. Now he’s here to help your writing honor the men and women who risk their lives in the line of duty.

Advertising is scary stuff, especially if you hate spreadsheets. If that's you, take heart! This audiobook will teach you how to run profitable advertising campaigns using a simple aggregate sales model. You don't need complex spreadsheets. You'll invest that time learning to find better images, and writing better marketing copy. You'll learn how to refine audiences, and the best part? You'll learn how to fit all this into 30 minute chunks. You'll learn to systematize your ad spend in a sustainable way that frees you up to write.

It comes, it hungers, it consumes. The Kirugi will destroy all. Only Kyren can stand in its way. The Oracle has foreseen hope, but to reach it, great sacrifice must be made. Will Kyren and his companions survive a journey through space and time to find the weapons necessary to fight? Will they survive an alien civil war, withstand the test of millennia, and have the courage to face off against a nearly indestructible foe? Will they survive their destiny’s reckoning?