A book of wisdom and life. Welcome to Alice Taylor's garden: 'Just inside the gate, hand-painted on a rickety piece of timber, is a little sign: Miracles only grow where you plant them. I saw it in a garden centre and could not resist it. This garden is full of my lack of resistance. I have no in-depth gardening knowledge and I work on impulse. 'My gardening expertise, acquired through trial and error, is nurtured by the unbelievable pleasure that I have discovered in simply digging the earth. Where does that satisfaction come from? Maybe buried deep in each of us is the secret need to cultivate the soil. Digging the earth breathes life back into us.' A reflective and uplifting account by Alice Taylor of her love of nature and gardening.

An eternal message of the power of our inner voices, our notes of Christmas spirit, elevating and emerging to counter the forces of division, whose own ugly noise is given new strength in this connection age.The spiritual, moving notes of the emissaries of the elsprights- the embodiment of the elevated spirit within each of us - be they ghosts of Christmas, or the inner el voices that become buried and lost – never more needed than now to counter always present forces that work relentlessly to divide, and which are given new strength thanks to many means of communication and personal connection of this age.A timelessly needed story of the great value of Christmas spirit to raise the elevated forces to song, to enable them to emerge and to bring about a time of renewal and hope, unleash their benevolent power to dash all others.

The sudden appearance of a sinister black hole in the English countryside leads to a baffling murder investigation for Ishmael Jones. "The past is England's dreaming, and not all of it sleeps soundly ..."Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny have been despatched to assist a group of scientists who are investigating a mysterious black hole which has appeared on a Somerset hillside. Could it really be a doorway to another dimension, an opening into another world?When one of the scientists disappears into the hole – with fatal consequences – Ishmael must prove whether it was an accident – or murder. But with no clues, no witnesses and no apparent motive, he has little to go on. Is there an alien predator at large, or is an all-too-human killer responsible? Only one thing is certain: if Ishmael does not uncover the truth in time, more deaths will follow ...

"I am confiding this manuscript to space, not with the intention of saving myself, but to help, perhaps, to avert the appalling scourge that is menacing the human race. Lord have pity on us!" With these words, Pierre Boulle hurtles teh reader onto the Planet of the Apes. In this simian world, civilization is turned upside down: apes are men and men are apes; apes rule and men run wild; apes think, speak, produce, wear clothes, and men are speechless, naked, exhibited at fairs, used for biological research. On the planet of the apes, man, having reached to apotheosis of his genius, has become inert. To this planet come a journalist and a scientist. The scientist is put into a zoo, the journalist into a laboratory. Only the journalist retains the spiritual strength and creative intelligence to try to save himself, to fight the appalling scourge, to remain a man. Out of this situation, Pierre Boulle has woven a tale as harrowing, bizarre, and meaningful as any in the brilliant roster of this master storyteller. With his cutomary wit, irony, and disciplined intellect and style, the author of The Bridge Over the River Kwai tells a swiftly moving story dealing with man's conflicts, and takes the reader into a suspenseful and strangely fascinating orbit.

These eight essays cover some of the strategies writers use for getting started, how to balance professional and practical concerns, and the value of creative writing courses. They are published here as an adjunct to the how-to manual called "Writing, a practical guide" which is available as an ebook.Writers are always talking to each other over coffee or lunch about what they do, how they do it, what concerns them, and how they manage their working lives. The eight essays in this short book cover some of the topics discussed, such as what gets us started, how we balance professional and practical matters, the value of creative writing courses, and other aspects of the writing process. The ideas have been developed during many years of writing, and teaching creative writing to adult students. This last has been a most rewarding experience because it has been a two-way street. I have learned at least as much from my students as I hope they have learned from me. These essays have been previously published elsewhere as separate pieces, and I have collected them together now as an adjunct to the how-to manual called "Writing, a practical guide" which is also available as an ebook.

Within this volume are 19 Christmas stories by a number of authors, starring Superman, Batman, the Justice League, Titans West, the Marvel Family, the New Gods, and many more!For more stories from the DC Universe, including more Christmas and Halloween stories, visit the Five Earths Project: www.5earths.info.Young and beautiful, Alexandra loves to get herself into mischief. With the help of her three friends, they plot to destroy anyone who gets in their way, or if they are bored, the first person they see. Life was always a game to the four of them. With the opening of a new Manor, Alexandra plans to have some fun with one of the guests. Depriving herself from the touch of a man on her own account, she decides it is time to find someone to bring to bed. All the men fall for her, but Alexandra loves the challenge.When the man she sought out turns out to be engaged, it doesn't bother Alexandra. But the problems arise when he turns down her good loocks and charm. Something that has never happened before. Read to find out how he tragically turns down Alexandra's approach.

Wittman Ah Sing is an unstoppable hipster poet and playwright on the streets of San Francisco, after the Beats have left and before the hippies have arrived. He falls in love with Nancy the Beautiful, marries Tana, and chases his dream to write and stage an epic drama spanning America and China.

An assemblage of short stories in different genres; science fiction, crime, western and so-called real-life, Grey Mars and Other Stories is the first collection by Christopher J Young.These stories deal with the familiar theme of loss, be it the losing of a friend, or a home world, or even the will to live.Life isn't always good, but by the same token, it isn't always bad either...An assemblage of short stories in different genres; science fiction, crime, western and so-called real-life, Grey Mars and Other Stories is the first collection by Christopher J Young.Grey MarsA tale set in the near future concerning Mankind's falling dreams of colonisation and the entropy that inevitably follows. Elena Yoshino, losing her mind, strives to return home and leave her drab Martian existence behind. She is guided on her mission by Kundulu, the ghost of one of the original Martian natives, who she sees despite the fact that there never was life on Mars. Giving in to her madness, Elena sets off into the Martian desert...The AnniversaryTen years ago, Jim took his unfaithful wife out into the woods to kill her. Now he's back at the scene...An Ending in TokyoBronson is an American cop in Tokyo. He is concerned for the mental welfare of his Japanese partner Nakata, after Nakata shoots dead a killer on the run. Bronson feels an inner peace in Japan that he has never had before. He plans on staying, but does Nakata plan on staying too?FrankieTen-year old Frankie has been taken away from his family. And now the Family have caught up with his abductor.RetributionA tale set in the old west of America. James Finlay has spent a decade tracking down the friend who destroyed his life. Now he has found him, but both men are changed...Lesley's Death“If I hadn’t have shot Lesley, I would have married her.” When confronted by the ghost of Lesley, Danny would soon know what being haunted really meant.Mickey's WarEleven year old Mickey Sharp has a lot to deal with in life. His father is away at war, and he is bullied at school. He retires, for much of the time, into a fantasy world.GraveA short autobiographical piece on the loss of a dear friend.These stories deal with the familiar theme of loss, be it the losing of a friend, or a home world, or even the will to live.Life isn't always good, but by the same token, it isn't always bad either...

My Incomplete story, i just want you guys to check it out and tell me what you think.Growing up Cassandra wasn’t afraid of the monster in her closet or the thing under her bed. Growing up Cassandra was afraid of Thing, her very own flesh and blood monster. Thing did unspeakable things to Cassandra, things that affect her well into adulthood. Cassandra’s life starts to spiral out of control when she begins to have dreams about killing Thing. Afraid of what she may become Cassandra seeks the help of therapist Zakiyyah. Can Zakiyyah save Cassandra from Thing and herself, or is it already too late?

Alice has known, loved, and lost many people throughout her life. Here she talks about her special people, her memory of what meant so much to her about them. She remembers her husband, father and mother, a beloved sister, her little brother Connie, and many others. She tells how she coped with the emptiness she felt when they died, of the seeming impossibility of moving on with life after such deeply felt loss, when time stood still. This book is a sharing - it lets the reader in on a story and celebration of life in its intimacy, its small, precious moments. When we experience grief, sharing in someone else's story can help us more than anything, and in the hands of master storyteller Alice Taylor, we may find our own solace and the space to remember our own special people.

In this provocative new novel, Pierre Boulle probes with a sharp scalpel the psychological anatomy of a spy - a man who sacrifices his country, his honor, and even his own life to an heroic image. In a story of intrigue and adventure as ingenious and gripping as anything in The Bridge Over the River Kwai, Mr. Boulle takes us from the aristocracy of British Intelligence and the German Secret Service to such ungentlemanly pursuits as torture, murder, and long-simmered revenge. The action revolves around Cousin - an intellectual author who prides himself on his own objectivity but who actually sees the world through the dreams of his own imagined superiority. World War II gives Cousin the chance to show that superiority by volunteering for espionage - a job, he feels, that is for gentlemen, and the arduous responsibilities of which only an aristocrat can assume. The heroic image to which Cousin sacrifices everything - including, at last, himself - is his own. A NOBLE PROFESSION is Boulle at his best - a sardonic, ironic, brilliant performance that adds a new and shining portrait to this master storyteller's wryly etched gallery of false heroes, charlatan saints, and vengeful patriots.

The tables are turned on legendary master thief Gideon Sable when a priceless magical artifact is stolen from him, in this fast-paced supernatural heist thriller. You can find everything you've ever dreamed of in the strange, old magical shop known as Old Harry's Place. The problem is, not all dreams are kind. Gideon Sable - legendary master thief, conman and well-dressed rogue - and his partner in crime Annie Anybody don't want to be shopkeepers, but when the enigmatic Harry decides to retire, he blackmails the pair into taking the store on. Before the grand reopening can happen, however, a menacing stranger arrives - with a rare and deadly item for them to appraise. A small piece of rock, with an unnerving aura, which 'Smith' claims contains the last echoes of the legendary sirens' song. Before they can find out more, however, Smith vanishes . . . leaving only the stone. Some valuables are more trouble than they're worth. But before Gideon and...