Showing results by author "C.A.L." in All Categories

Urban fantasy offers a diverse playground for some extremely powerful stories. Professional writer and editor Kerrie L. Hughes pulled some fantastic tales out of 14 top writers for this fifth installment of Fiction River. Set in urban lands from modern Portland, to a future Detroit, to a wild Washington, D.C., and ending the tour in London, these top writers take the idea of "Hex" and stretch and twist it into stories with a magickal grip on the imagination.

Pirates and kraken, boats and submarines, deadly sirens, mermaids, and the women who face them all. These are our heroes. High seas adventure, fantasy, and magic weave together in this sapphic anthology focusing on the joy of the unbounded oceans.

Seven families arrive at an ancient castle, expecting a grand feast - but each guest brings the weight of their own expectations, not to mention hidden agendas and a thirst for revenge that will push them into darkness as evil approaches. Listen to it because: Experience a Warhammer Horror take on a classic set-up - people gathering for a meal, each of them carrying their own secrets. It's sure to terrify and delight you in equal measure.

I’ve spent years trying to be someone I’m not. Controlled and humanized. Still, the darkness lurks inside me, waiting for a chance to break free. As the headmaster at Corium University, I must maintain professionalism and keep myself in check. I manage to do that until the day I discover I have a daughter and all the carefully constructed walls I’ve built around myself start to crumble.I know I need an outlet, a way to shut it off, and then she lands in my lap. Delilah. I want to punish her, humiliate her, and hurt her in the best ways.

This is what Brad gets for finally "sinking his teeth into a book," like his nerdy brother is always hounding him to. He definitely wasn't expecting the book to sink its teeth into him. With the newfound knowledge that he can get pregnant as an omega, Brad's urgency to get back to his world of touchdowns and keg stands is intensifying by the minute. Unfortunately, so is his attraction to Raul, the possessive alpha shifter who broods mysteriously and smells like sandalwood and something uniquely masculine.

In a land of eagle-riding knights, bloodthirsty beasts, and a ruthless prince, no border is safe for long. And as smoke billows from the only blockade standing between the great city of Korindelf and certain doom, young Morlen races to escape the inevitable siege. Thrust from the chaos with thousands of snapping jaws on his trail, he discovers that the abilities he's buried all his life are awakening - and it could not have happened at a worse time.

L.T.C. Rolt was one of a small group of amateur railwaymen who made their dream of running their own railway come true. His vivid and often amusing account of this unique achievement is a record of individual enterprise and creative effort as refreshing as it is rare. Established by Act of Parliament in 1865 and unaffected by mergers and nationalisation, the Talyllyn Railway has been serving a remote and beautiful valley in the Merioneth mountains ever since.

Welcome to The Island. Where your worst fears are about to come true. It was supposed to be the perfect holiday: a week-long trip for six teenage friends on a remote tropical island. But when their guide dies of a stroke leaving them stranded, the trip of a lifetime turns into a nightmare. Because someone on the island knows each of the group’s worst fears. And one by one, they’re becoming a reality.

Mudita, Wheel Publicaton No. 170, contains several short essays, one by the editor, Ven. Nyanaponika, and three by lay practitioners on one of the lesser known and too-little practiced sublime states of mind. Mudita, usually translated "sympathetic joy", was designated one of the brahma-viharas by the Buddha, one of the sublime, noble states of mind. How is it to be practiced, and what are the implications of mudita on the spiritual path? These essays address those questions.

An ancient legend comes to life when a savage creature stalks a terrified girl through the jungle. A mission to Mars takes a grisly turn as the last surviving astronaut encounters horror beyond comprehension. And the shadows that lurk in a young boy’s bedroom become sinister protectors, lashing out at the child’s cruel and dysfunctional family.

Jack Rothman is 17. A solid student with a talent for art, he likes partying, makeup and boys. Sometimes all at the same time. His active, unashamed sex life makes him a red hot topic for the high school gossip machine, but Jack doesn't really care too much about what the crowd is saying about him. His mantra is 'it could be worse'. And then it is.

Like the tanning of a leathered corpse, the inaugural release of Grimoire seeks to stretch the fleshy bounds of dark fiction and horror. Included within these unhallowed book are tales of medieval horror and cacophony, Lovecraftian delights and wretched Kaiju, accursed djinn and pestilential priests, all brought together for the very first time in one horrific collection. Engaging and provocative, these tales of the damned stalk the graveyards at night, crawl up from the empty and wet places of this world, and haunt the dreams of all who hear them.

This audiobook reveals the three most important capabilities leaders must demonstrate today: the ability to set strategy, empathize with others, and take risks - all at the same time. In Head, Heart, and Guts, leadership experts David Dotlich, Peter Cairo, and Stephen Rhinesmith argue that to be successful in a complex, matrixed, fast-moving world, "whole" leaders must set strategy, develop trusting relationships with others, and consistently do the right thing based on personal values.

Engaging Theology: Audio Lectures is an introductory theology series that grounds a treatment of standard systematic topics in the wider context of life and practice and shows the relevance of each doctrine to the church. Lectures treat the essential doctrines of Christian orthodoxy by beginning with a brief and engaging account of the historical situation out of which the doctrine arose or where it played an essential role in the development of the church.

Acceptance-Based Emotion Regulation Therapy offers an empirically supported protocol that addresses all key dimensions of emotion regulation using evidence-based strategies drawn from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and emotion-focused therapy (EFT), as well as basic behavioral principles—resulting in a treatment that is more targeted and far briefer than comprehensive DBT.

The summer before my senior year of college, I made the biggest mistake of my life. It wasn't falling for my best friend's little sister when I knew she was off-limits… it was leaving her behind thinking what we had was nothing more than a fling. Her pained cries as I walked away have played on a loop in my nightmares since that day. In the years that have passed, there hasn't been a single achievement I've celebrated that wasn't tainted by her absence. Now, it's time. I'm going to get my girl back… no matter what it takes.

After the death of her abusive mother, Sam’s life was finally turning around. She had married her high school sweetheart, Jake, and was reveling in the birth of their son. Her abusive past was ancient history, and she knew that love would be the only emotion filling her family home. However, sometimes things aren’t always what we envision, and Sam’s expectations are definitely not matching reality. Now a raging alcoholic, Jake isn’t keen on his new role in life, and Sam is the brunt of his frustration.

For the first time in this ancient, bloodstained story, the tournament is breaking. The boundaries between the city of Ilvernath and the arena have fallen. Reporters swarm the historic battlegrounds. A dead boy now lives again. And a new champion has entered the fray, one who seeks to break the curse for good...no matter how many lives are sacrificed in the process. As the curse teeters closer and closer to collapse, the surviving champions each face a choice: dismantle the tournament piece by piece, or fight to the death as this story was always intended.

When a mysterious human, Sir Rowan arrives in the immortal realm of Thalassaria seeking the legendary Tidal Pearl, Thalassarian guard Nerys is assigned as his escort and to keep close whilst he’s in the palace. But her duty wars with her desires as the more time she spends with Rowan, the harder it becomes for them to ignore their growing attraction. Powerful, enigmatic, and devastatingly mortal, Rowan stirs something deep within her that could change the course of her future.

When a forgotten ring reveals Mevlida Brennan’s true heritage as the long-lost princess of Aetheria, a kingdom of immortals and magic, her world is turned upside down. But there’s just one problem—Mev didn’t know she was missing. Thrust into a realm on the brink of war, Mev is caught between her newfound legacy and a dangerous political game. A powerful king holds the key to restoring the ancient portal that connects their realms, but his son, Kael, stands in her way.