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Summary: What makes a writer tick? What happens when an author gives up pure entertainment and aims instead at a deeper meaning? Can books somehow save the world? Will readers even care? A/not A explores the life and meaning of the work Tracy Shew, science fiction and fantasy author. The book begins with a detailed autobiography, and Shew's various attempts to "make the world a better place" from an early age. Then, the author's philosophy is described in detail. The description contains aspects of religion, mind science, dreams, biocentrism and especially quantum mechanics. The author concludes with a hopeful revelation that understanding "A/not A" as a philosophy and a somewhat different way of looking at the world will assist people in gaining new perceptions and new tools for understanding reality. Common social stumbling blocks which lead to division and hate might be dissolved. The author has for the last five years "salted" aspects of A/not A into all his writing. At the very least, this book will help the reader understand Shew's more bizarre stories, how (and why) he has toyed with Abstract Surrealism as a writing form, and what he hopes to accomplish. This book is half autobiographical, half philosophy (with a strong flavoring of quantum physics and neuroscience). The most basic message is that the loss of dialog between people who disagree (the "division") is the greatest threat we face today. The author recommends a simple grassroots solution: Start talking and listening to one another.

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Summary: Dave Varine is the host of Ghost Search International, a reality show verifying or debunking sites of supernatural activity. Nouvel Espoir plantation is called the “Most Haunted House in New Orleans. Visitors claim to have seen things but when asked for details, they become very close-mouthed. Now, the Louisiana Historical Society wants David to certify the house, abruptly abandoned in the late 19th century, is really haunted. David and his cameraman, Red Murtrey, will spend two weeks at Nouvel Espoir, observing and recording any supernatural phenomena. It sounds like a run-of-the-mill assignment, almost a vacation, but as soon as the doors are shut and locked, and they’re alone in the old house, everything changes. Skeptic David can’t explain the sights he sees or what he hears. Nor can he rationalize the visions he has of a handsome young man bearing an uncanny resemblance to himself, a young man who calls out to him for help…and it’s best not to be in the gallery with its full-length portraits after dark. Nouvel Espoir is giving up its secrets, hidden since the Marquis Vaurien’s descendants abandoned their home, and Dave and Red are the unwilling recipients of those well-kept skeletons in the Vaurien closet, whether they want to be or not.

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Summary: A college party lands freshman Hal Christianson in an America that could have been: no smartphones, no cars, no flush toilets. What he finds is a squabbling bunch of states, the consequence of the colonies having grown up on their own after European civilization collapsed from plague in the 1670s, and they are poised on the brink of war. For a socially awkward young man, who takes refuge in online games, this is a bad situation. He has no knowledge or experience that is useful in this world. He does, however, have one skill of value in a world where the rifle is a new invention – he is a competitive fencer. What do you do when the world is strange and you have no way to control your own fate? Can Hal grow up fast enough to survive in this world and can he find a way home?

Word Count: Click here to reveal86000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Armand Tarkanian is trapped in the ultimate dead-end job: embalming decedents under his abusive uncle’s watchful eye. Every day he goes through the motions, making death look beautiful while his life is anything but. A car accident leaves him indebted to Berj, a mysterious man with rune-carved gold teeth and a penchant for worshipping old gods. Blackmailed and desperate, Armand feels more trapped than he was under his uncle’s thumb. But the embalmer harbors his own dark secret, a bloodline curse that allows him to communicate with the dead. When the spirits show him how they were murdered, Armand must choose between fealty to the sadistic and manipulative Berj, or joining the Legion of the Lamb, a monster-hunting biker gang with their own agenda. What began as a dangerous game between secret societies has led Armand on a frightening quest to save the only family he’s ever known and a chance to get closer to the rebellious misfits who saved him.

Word Count: Click here to reveal56000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: New Hopeland was built to be the centre of the technological age, but like everywhere else, it has its dark side. Assassins, drug dealers and crooked businessmen form a vital part of the city’s make-up, and sometimes, the police are in too deep themselves to be effective. But hey, there are always other options … For P.I. Cassie Tam, business has been slow. So, when she’s hired to investigate the death of a local VR addict named Eddie Redwood, she thinks it’ll be easy money. All she has to do is prove to the deceased’s sister Lori that the local P.D. were right to call it an accidental overdose. The more she digs though, the more things don’t seem to sit right, and soon, Cassie finds herself knee deep in a murder investigation. But that’s just the start of her problems. When the case forces Cassie to make contact with her drug dealing ex-girlfriend, Charlie Goldman, she’s left with a whole lot of long buried personal issues to deal with. Then there’s her client. Lori Redwood is a Tech Shifter, someone who uses a metal exoskeleton to roleplay as an animal. Cassie isn’t one to judge, but the Tech Shifting community has always left her a bit nervous. That wouldn’t be a problem if Lori wasn’t fast becoming the first person that she’s been genuinely attracted to since splitting with Charlie. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of the police wanting her to back off the case. Easy money, huh? Yeah, right.

Honorable Mention: Rainbow Awards 2017 - Lesbian Sci-Fi Category

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Summary: The fourteen tales in Adventures in Bodily Autonomy flow across alternate universes and through space and time to consider the issues of reproductive justice through a fresh perspectives. There is an adventure here for everyone. An astronaut on her way to Mars discovers she’s pregnant—can she keep her baby? Bee-like entities try to force a human to be their queen. In1930s Philly, a vampire offers a novel form of birth control. From a ghost, lessons learned too late. Women who cannot find a comfortable fit in their mythic realities. Future worlds where reproductive choices are different, but individual choice and external battles for that choice are just as real. Join the authors in supporting NARAL Pro-Choice America. One hundred percent of the royalties are being donated to NARAL Pro-Choice America. “So satisfying to read a volume of new speculative fiction stories centered on women’s experience, women’s lives, women’s choices! You’ll find a pleasurable variety here: hard sf, fantasy, ghosts, vampires, horror, sweet lyricism and steel-edged noir — stories from well-known names, and stories from writers you've never encountered before. I guarantee that at least one story in this volume will make you punch the air in triumph, and another will work its way into your dreams, and not let go.” —Elizabeth Lynn, World Fantasy Award Winner “I’m absolutely blown away. Featuring so many authors who I love, this is a stunning anthology with many different approaches to the subject of bodily autonomy. Readers are going to be captivated by its range and variety. “This anthology will be a breath of fresh air ins the ongoing fight for the right of women to control and make decisions about their own bodies.” —Chinelo Onwualu, author of “What The Dead Man Said” “Adventures in Bodily Autonomy is a fresh and bold collection. In our current political climate, these stories and imaginings are desperately needed.” —Myriam Gurba, author of Mean

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Summary: Aegis Alight (2020 Collection) is a free collection of twelve stories published in each month of 2020. These are stories of other worlds, other places. Stories of creatures helping, of cryptids descending from otherness to join those in need. The stories can be read on Ava Kelly's website or on their Patreon. The collection is available for download as an .epub file.

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Summary: Seven stories of the gap year for the Children of Amargosa between Storming Amargosa and Suicide Run: Tishla must decide if Hanar can accommodate a group of socially inept sentient turtles. JT Austin has a ghost. Eric Yuwono must deal with his former enemies, who are now refugees on Amargosa. Davra Andraste tries to save a group of mean girls in space. Connor Duffy hacks the Boston sewer system. Ellie Nardino ponders her future, which might include terraforming. Mitsuko Yamato confronts squid people

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Summary: In Night Home: The Vampire Next Door Volume I, the fact that vampires truly exist was almost accidentally made public when a story presented as fiction seemed all too real to an amateur vampire hunter, who at the end, was made to remain silent about the secrets he discovered. But it doesn’t end there: the tale circulates as far as the west coast, where a small community of vampires have been quietly hiding; and to them, also, this story is too close to reality to be just a fantasy. But while they take the time to decide whether to attempt contact with their own kind so far away, they have their own local problems to deal with. A savage and barbaric serial killer, suspected of being a vampire, lurks in their own city, stalking the innocent at night. Will the vampires be able to stop the killer before they are blamed for his acts of extreme horror? And that’s not all. A beautiful yet tragic and suicidal young woman wanders like a lost angel from out of the darkness and into their midst, hoping a vampire will make her end swift and easy.

Word Count: Click here to reveal73,151 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Time travel. For mages, it violates their number one rule: what the Mother has written, let no one unwrite. The Mother writes the destinies of the creatures on the world of Karishian. If her writings were undone, it is feared that Creation itself could be undone. The dark mage Morgorth takes this rule to heart, but there are others who do not. Morgorth is about to claim a stone of power when it is stolen from him by a female mage he hasn't seen in decades. As they struggle for the stone, she activates it, and Morgorth is unwillingly plunged into another time and another place. It isn't long before he realizes what time he's found himself in and there are a few familiar faces. Most notable is a much younger version of Aishe. His mate. Living with a tribe who will be massacred, caring for a young lad who will become his mate, and fighting a battle against a mage who can travel from past to future at a whim—Morgorth's life has never been easy but now he must contend with the will of the Mother. Unable to change the future and the tragedies of Aishe's life, he must decide what his role in his mate's past will be, and ask himself one vital question: how does one defeat time?

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Summary: Collection of twenty-two short fantasy and science fiction stories. A wizard seeking an apprentice won’t take no for an answer, and a would-be apprentice attempts the impossible to find a mentor. A twin discovers her sister’s new job is a lot different than she expects. And what’s the deal with the cat whiskers?

Word Count: Click here to reveal13000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: There are three certainties in modern life: death, taxes, and infuriating customer support. Even when you’re dead, you can’t catch a break. Ainlay Harrison is surprised to wake up as a ghost – and even more surprised to be onboarded into the AfterLife™’s most exciting project: hauntings. After a simple typo leaves Ainlay stranded at the wrong address, the only option is to correct the mistake – but that means going through the most feared and hated monster on either side of the grave: a customer service chatbot. Some things never change … and fighting through undead bureaucracy is enough to make anyone want to die. Will this blasted chatbot be enough to drive Ainlay to end it all? Or is there some way to drill some sense into this infernal bot? This tongue-in-cheek satirical novelette pokes fun at the gruelling realities of customer support and bureaucracy. Ainlay vs Infernal Support is a fun and witty read that’s perfect for fans of the TV series Ghosts and If Found, Return to Hell by Em X. Liu.

Word Count: Click here to reveal77000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: There are worlds out there with a past. A past that is only poorly understood. The Song worlds are in that category. What are they? Why are they? What do they tell us about the rest of us? Should we investigate them or should we avoid them? What if our world was visited by the Song? Maybe that is not strong enough. What if ours is the result of a visitation by the Song. More to the point, what if they achieved what they wanted with us? What if it all went wrong? What category does the world of Forest come under? The inhabitants there only number a few thousand and they face numerous perils. Were they ever visited by the Song? Shanlee the story teller has been given the world to investigate. What is she in for? She has other things on her mind. She left the love of her life behind when she took this investigation on. Will she be waiting for her when Shanlee returns home? If she returns home? The people of Forest, the Kekimelu, have been deserted by their spirits but have not lost their beliefs. A young song writer decides he is going to ask the Song's representative on Forest some hard questions. The answers he gets may not be what he hopes for.

Word Count: Click here to reveal22700 (Click here to hide)

Summary: When yet another wave of colonizing Felters arrives to strengthen their fortress on the forest’s edge, Velu, an indigenous hunter, knows they bring only pain and death. But with them arrives an intriguing older woman who hunts legends. When Velu learns the woman, Lady Greyback, shares his terrifying visions of the ancient scorpion god, Ajakava, she invites him to research what they mean. But the Felters grow hostile, blaming Velu and the other hunters for deaths in a doomed expedition through the forest. Meanwhile, the visions become ever more persistent, hinting the god is awakening. When a second Felter expedition seeks to extend their reach to the capital beyond the forest, only Velu and Lady Greyback know they will walk straight into Ajakava's clutches. While the lady sees new destruction, Velu sees memories of a long-forgotten massacre. What vengeance does the old god have in store, and for whom? Find out what happens in Ajakava by Chaitanya Murali

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Summary: In the fourth and final installment for the series, Alex faces his most difficult case yet: the school bully. For two years, Kyle had no qualms making Alex's life even more complicated than it already was. Choosing to single him out for his psychic abilities, the angry teen took every chance to undermine Alex's well-being. But When Kyle is unexpectedly murdered, his ghost seeks out Alex for the very power he'd been stigmatized for. Despite their fraught history, Alex must set aside old wounds to help a soul in need. Searching for the killer, Alex uncovers why Kyle had victimized him so intensely, and it's not what he ever could have expected.  The truth, it turns out, will set them both free.

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Summary: For a minute, everything in Alex McKenna’s life was perfect. He only had one year left of high school, his girlfriend Margaret was the love of his life, and he couldn’t ask for a more supportive family. His psychic powers were growing and he was learning more and more about his family’s abilities as Strega witches. Things were good. Until the night it all fell to pieces. As Margaret lies in the hospital after a serious car accident, her disembodied spirit searches for a way back to the living. Alex is desperate to save her and the victims of his next case: an ominous being haunting the hospital and stealing the souls of infants and the elderly, sending them straight to Hell.

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Summary: The highly anticipated second installment in the award-winning Alex McKenna Series, this LGBTQ teen paranormal adventure perfect for fans of Aidan Thomas’ CEMETERY BOYS and LOST IN THE NEVER WOODS. After surviving a harrowing case, Alex McKenna just wants to rest. Unfortunately, his plans are interrupted by the ghost of seven-year-old Haven, who is lost in an in-between realm. Despite his great-grandmother's warning, Alex crosses the bridge between the living and the dead, which sends him and his girlfriend into the world of the Academy of Souls, a high school for dead teens who are unable to complete their journey. There, Alex meets Ophelia, Haven's teenage sister, who's been searching for her for more than a century. With new companions, Alex must cross the treacherous terrain of the Underworld in-between, to save Haven from the clutches of the Soul Gatherer and reunite the sisters.

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Summary: An LGBTQ teen paranormal adventure perfect for fans of Aidan Thomas’ CEMETERY BOYS and LOST IN THE NEVER WOODS. For Alex McKenna, high school is just a distraction until he can go to college and spend more time with Margaret, the love of his life. Alex an average seventeen-year-old boy...except for the fact he's a transgender medium born from a long line of Strega witches, possessing the ability to communicate with ghosts. With the help of Margaret and his Strega great-grandmother, Alex will learn how to strengthen his abilities. The dead need Alex to help them resolve their unfinished business, and he finds that he needs them, too. As his abilities strengthen, assisting the dead becomes an outlet to channel his new energy, giving him the strength to come to terms with his identity and how far he will choose to go.

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Summary: Fourteen-year-old Trotter was still just trying to get the hang of the demi-godding business when the apocalypse began. In a world where the other gods have withdrawn from humanity, leaving mortals bitter toward magic, she immediately becomes the prime suspect when the world begins tearing itself apart through magical means. Trotter’s desperate search to prove her innocence leads her to a mysterious little girl named Alice with powers shockingly similar to her own. Apparently, not all of the gods had been as distant as they seemed... Now, with everyone against her and the gods fighting amongst themselves, Trotter is on her own to stop a vengeful god from using Alice to destroy her world.

Word Count: Click here to reveal73900 (Click here to hide)

Summary: In a world of secrets and aliens, who can you trust with your heart? Working for a secret organisation specialising in alien cover-ups, Connor Smith has seen it all. His love life is as boring as his work life is thrilling… until a blind date introduces him to a man who seems to tick all the right boxes. Connor’s happiness is short-lived, however, when he becomes the target of an alien stalker. Noah Jones has been stuck on Earth since 1648, leading an unremarkable, solitary existence as a bookshop owner. He has only experienced a profound connection with a human once… until he encounters Connor. Driven by an irresistible pull, he finds himself drawn into Connor’s orbit, despite his employer and that he’s involved with someone else. Among vanishing alien artefacts and lurking shadowy collectors, Noah’s constant presence stirs a swirl of emotions Connor struggles to decipher. But when Noah goes missing, and doubts arise around his perfect boyfriend, Connor’s orderly world shatters. As the lines between the personal and the extra-terrestrial blur, Connor and Noah must navigate a maze of betrayal and hidden identities in this thrilling sci-fi romance.