American Short

This compilation of short fiction represents the next chapter in Douglas Thayer's recent literary success. Described by Richard Cracroft as "LDS literary fiction at its finest," Thayer's third collection of stories presents a dozen of his career-best work, including several that have never before appeared in print.

Take the bribe, and I’ll let you slide deep inside. I’m Officer Landon, a straight police officer who fantasizes about being with men. My weakness is black men. I desire to be with them intimately and romantically, but I never indulge because I’m straight, shy, and have a girlfriend who would kill me if she found out. I’m tempted daily because my colleagues and the criminals we arrest are mostly men with some of the most amazing physiques I’ve ever seen. I take my job seriously, follow all the rules, and never mix business with pleasure, even though it’s tough. One morning, my ...

The Last Defender of Camelot is a collection of breathtaking stories that showcase the incredible abilities of several authors. Edited and with an introduction by award-winning author Robert Silverberg, it includes such tales as For a Breath I Tarry, and Halfjack. It also features the Hugo Award-winning 24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai, Permafrost, and Home is the Hangman. From Publishers Weekly Though SF "master of prose technique" and "paragon of the storytelling art" (in the introductory words of Robert Silverberg, himself a certified luminary) Roger Zelazny died in 1995, collections of ...

Said Sayrafiezadeh has been hailed by Philip Gourevitch as “a masterful storyteller working from deep in the American grain”. His new collection of stories are set in a contemporary America full of the kind of emotionally bruised characters familiar to fans of Denis Johnson and George Saunders. These are people contending with internal struggles - a son’s fractured relationship with his father, the death of a mother, the loss of a job, drug addiction - even as they are battered by the larger, often invisible, economic and political forces of American society.

The book contains the most interesting and important 37 chapters of the 81 in the Tao Te Ching. The selected chapters cover Lao Tzu's philosophical and spiritual concepts. The chapters not selected are mostly political and social. This version stays close to the original text of the Tao Te Ching. The goal is to convey Lao Tzu's thoughts clearly and coherently. No added comments or notes are necessary. This translation actually is new, written in 2020. The language is idiomatic American english. People say my Tao teaching is great, but it’s strange. Being strange is what makes it great. If...

An incident at a TSA security check point sows chaos and rumors, creating a chain of events that impacts twelve young Asian Americans in a crowded and restless airport. As their disrupted journeys crisscross and collide, they encounter fellow travelers—some helpful, some hostile—as they discover the challenges of friendship, the power of courage, the importance of the right word at the right time, and the unexpected significance of a blue Stratocaster electric guitar.

In her debut collection of short stories, Islands of Decolonial Love, renowned writer and activist Leanne Simpson vividly explores the lives of contemporary Indigenous Peoples and communities, especially those of her own Nishnaabeg nation. Found on reserves, in cities and small towns, in bars and curling rinks, canoes and community centres, doctors offices and pickup trucks, Simpson's characters confront the often heartbreaking challenge of pairing the desire to live loving and observant lives with a constant struggle to simply survive....

My Confession: “Just the thought of him makes me WET my bed every night.” My name is Pastor Fleming and I’m a straight man. I’m a man of faith and live by a strict moral code. Recently, my morals were put to the test when my church hired a young, handsome, and muscular assistant pastor by the name of David to help assist me with our growing ministry. That’s when the same-sex attraction that I thought I’d hidden so well, reared its ugly head again. It made my HARD job even HARDER than before. Things took an interesting turn for the worst when I began having vivid wet dreams about...

Calvin Snow is the new Associate Pastor of Mount Zion and the attention from the single ladies is becoming irresistible. Although his wife Savannah tries to keep things spicy in the bedroom, Calvin finds his life boring and predictable. The couple struggles to stay connected in the midst of all the adversity.

These nine globe-trotting, unforgettable stories from Mia Alvar, a remarkable new literary talent, vividly give voice to the women and men of the Filipino diaspora. Here are exiles, emigrants, and wanderers uprooting their families from the Philippines to begin new lives in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere - and sometimes turning back again.

Something About Ann, a historical fiction novella, is accompanied by twelve interconnected short stories that follow a group of soldiers who faced traumatic experiences in Vietnam, as depicted in the novel A Long Way Back. Although they managed to remain close after returning to the States, violence and turmoil continue to haunt the soldiers as they try to normalize their lives, sometimes depending on the help of each other or relying on the skills they acquired in combat. In the novella Something About Ann, a black Vietnam veteran and a Vietnamese woman fall in love in Cleveland, Ohio, not...

For successful African American businesswoman Zoe Reynard, finding the pleasure she wants, the way she wants it, is not worth the risk of losing everything she has: marriage to the man she has loved since childhood, a thriving company, three wonderful children. But Zoe feels helpless in the grip of an overpowering addiction—to sex.

"I would love to go down on your wife." I am convinced. My husband, is nuts. How else could you explain him fixing his lips to encourage me to have sex with a woman, who is also a stranger... ON OUR ANNIVERSARY? What kind of woman does he think I am? I’ve never been interested in being with a woman and I never will be… I don't care how much he begs me. I don't care how much SHE begs me... Still, there's something about this breathtakingly gorgeous, mysterious woman that is intriguing. As much as I want to tell her to go to hell and reject her... As much as I want to deny my husband his ...

In this anthology, everybody is Black. Filled with epic battles, complicated families, soft kisses, and sharpened blades, Magic in the Melanin is an adult fantasy anthology that showcases Black authors who write magical stories of all kinds.

Justin C. Key has long been obsessed with monsters. Reading R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps as a kid, he imagined himself battling monsters and mayhem to a triumphant end. But when watching Scream 2, in which the movie’s only Black couple is promptly killed off, he realized that the Black and Brown characters in his favorite genre were almost always the victim or villain—if they were portrayed at all.

Some of the best-known and most influential pieces of crime fiction have been from African American writers. Be it Walter Mosley's great Detective Easy Rawlins, or the mean streets of Harlem at the hands of Chester Himes, the stories and characters in this anthology have shaped the mystery genre with their own unique viewpoints and styles. Contributors to the collection include Robert Greer, Chester Himes, Walter Mosley, Cary Phillips, Frankie Bailey, and Richard Wright.

Christmas comes but once a year... but will it be different this Christmas? Callie Mae Copeland is the only child of affluent landowner, Sullivan Copeland, and his wife, Faye. Because Callie has been doted on her entire life, she is pampered and outspoken. Although the Civil War is looming and is in its second year, it hasn't affected the Copelands or their neighbors in north Alabama too much ... yet. Once she turns sixteen, Callie realizes the influence she has over boys her age and uses her flirtatious graces to her advantage. She turns her sights on Christmas and is determined to do ...

Lion, bear, and wolf shifters and their mates heat up the pages in these swoonworthy romances. From crime bosses with hidden agendas to evil doers with plans for a shifter types and brave and curvy women who are ready for their mates, the stories in this series will melt your heart. JACE A lion shifter. In a clan of shifters, the lions are considered most powerful and respected. Jace is headstrong, willful, has fun with women but doesn’t see the big rush to find a mate. His father lays it on the line: If he’s to head the clan one day, he needs to find his bride. He resents being told ...

American Horror Stories "The Lady in Lavender" Callie was horrifically abused by her husband in the late 1800’s. She was helpless in how to protect her children or herself and poisoned him. Because of her guilt she came back to haunt the area where she lived. When Callie meets a little girl who is living in a similar situation something happens to change both of their spirits. “A Scarecrow for Maggie” Maggie, an artist at heart makes scarecrows for the locals where she lives in Kentucky to make extra money. When she starts making money from her scarecrows, things start getting nasty. ...

Take a ride down Route 66 in a '55 Crown Vic. Shield your nose and eyes from the dust as Okies leave for California. Drink strong coffee in an all-night diner. Hear a haunting train whistle in Gallup, New Mexico. Investigate a death on old 66. Take a last ride on a faithful Apaloosa and watch the sunset over a majestic saquero cactus. Feel Andy Payne's pain as he pounds the road to New York. Lost on Route 66 is an anthology of essays and short stories about the fabled highway that is filled with mystery, suspense, adventure and humor. Don't miss it.