Showing results by narrator "Shawna Smith" in All Categories

Roxy Gleason, an innkeeper by trade and a bibliomancer by birth, has lived in the same small town on the Susquehanna River in Central Pennsylvania for her entire life. Tradition is strong here. Roxy understands the rules and is willing to play by them most of the time. She runs the Charmed Inn, which has been in her family for decades. The inn is all set to host a writers’ professional business weekend that’s been planned down to the very last hand-folded napkin, and Roxy is ready for the influx of creatives.

We are living through one of the most significant transitions in the history of work. For decades, professionals learned to navigate a world defined by software, search engines, email, spreadsheets, and digital communication. Those tools changed the speed of business, but they did not fundamentally alter the role of human effort. People still had to search, sort, draft, compare, organize, interpret, and decide almost everything themselves. Technology accelerated tasks, but it rarely collaborated in any meaningful sense. That reality is changing.

For two centuries, utilitarianism has promised a simple formula for a better world: the greatest good for the greatest number. It has shaped laws, governments, and the way we think about justice. But baked into its elegant arithmetic is a troubling possibility — that some people are simply rounding errors in the sum of human happiness.

What connects these twenty-four stories is an exploration of place. It can be a location nearby like in Boardwalk Oracle where a clanging candy dispensing machine plays matchmaker in a story that flirts with magical realism. Or the depth of a glacier on a faraway planet in Icebound, where science fiction turns into crime fiction. Or a tourist destination with dark ancient roots in Where the Gods Live.

Falling for each other was easy. Staying together? That’s another story. Avery and Riley finally found their way back to each other —but this time, love isn’t the question. It’s everything that comes after. What they have is real now. Steady. Chosen. But real love doesn’t exist in isolation —it’s tested by the outside world, by fear, by timing, and by the parts of themselves they’re still learning to understand. As their relationship deepens, so do the cracks beneath it.

Some endings don't end. They linger. Avery and Riley walked away from each other—but distance didn't do what it was supposed to. It didn't erase the connection. It didn't quiet the pull. It only changed it—softer, deeper, and impossible to ignore.

What if the person you trust with your money isn’t actually giving you real advice? Most financial advisors aren’t true planners, they’re salespeople. If your financial plan feels unclear…If you’ve been steered toward complicated products you don’t fully understand…And if you still don’t feel confident about your future…This book will change how you see everything.

Some connections don't build slowly. Some just… begin. Avery has always believed in control—measured choices, careful distance, and never letting anything get too close. But when she meets Riley, something shifts. Not dramatically. Not all at once. Just enough to unsettle everything she thought she understood about herself. What starts as a quiet awareness becomes something deeper—undeniable, unspoken, and impossible to ignore. Riley doesn't push. She doesn't chase. She simply stays—steady, certain, and unafraid of what's building between them. And that's what makes it dangerous.

Call Aside: How Thoughtfulness Can Replace Outrage Private Correction, Public Calm, Better Outcomes. In a world where outrage spreads faster than reason, many of us have fallen into the trap of public shaming, viral indignation, and online arguments that solve nothing. Call Aside offers a revolutionary alternative: the art of thoughtful, private correction. Drawing from centuries of wisdom—from Aztec philosophy and historical case studies to modern social dynamics—Kevin Whitworth shows how “call-aside culture” can transform conflict into understanding.

Claire Whitlow left her small hometown years ago, building a life defined by distance—distance from the church, from the past, and from her mother. Then a phone call brings her back. A stroke leaves Margaret Dennison unable to play the organ she’s sat at every Sunday for over forty years. With no one else to step in, Claire agrees to fill in. Just once. But nothing about returning is simple. In the church hymnal, Claire finds her mother’s handwritten notes—quiet reflections written in the margins over decades.

Dr. Sharlay Thosen born and raised in the picturesque Lowcountry of South Carolina. Where she has developed a deep appreciation for the rich culture and coruscating spirit of the region. With a decade of entrepreneurial experience, she has navigated the challenges and rewards of building a business from the ground up. Dr. Sharlay Thosen pursued studies in healthcare and business administration, gaining valuable insights into both fields that would later inform her entrepreneurial journey.