In every individual's life there are shackles, genetic and learned. They may result from insatiable appetites, i.e. sex, the need for power, to live in a world without consequences, even the need for peace of mind. And these "logs' hold us in place and we grow acquainted with them and flaunt and curse them try running from them. . . yet we always seem to meet them again.

Without question, some of the situations I'd gotten myself in don't paint a pretty picture of the Laura Bradley-Hutchins that I used to be. But today, I'm a different person. Besides, whatever I did in my past doesn't make me any worse than anybody else. Show me a perfect person in this messed-up world? Some might say that I deserted my kids, but I say I only did what I thought was best for them at the time. Label my decision how you see fit, but at least, I didn't hurt my children or kill them like some stressed out mothers have done who don't feel that they have a place to go for help. I knew for certain that I couldn't go to Alex's parents and tell them the truth about what was happening in what appeared to be our 'perfect household. You see, the real deal was, Alex's parents thought he could do no wrong. He was the only college-educated child they had, and he was filthy rich by their estimation. His parents weren't going to turn on him and support me, since Alex moved them from the most dangerous projects in Atlanta.

How long do we really have? Have the sands of time run out? How will it be in the end? One will be in the field, one shall be taken, and the other will remain: Behold, for I come as a thief in the night. Could you or would you know the signs I put among you? To think that the bitterness that life sometimes is could be so much worse; those who will remain will have hell on earth. I will send a messenger among you too save all who would listen.

The Pat Hobby Stories are a collection of 17 comedic short stories written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. They first appeared in Esquire magazine between January 1940 and May 1941, but in 1962 they were collected into a single book and published posthumously.Pat Hobby is a once successful screenwriter in Hollywood, but now an alcoholic and broke, who spends his time hanging around the studio, hoping for work. The stories generally revolve around him hatching a plan to earn money or glory in some way, but they usually end in further humiliation.The introduction to the book states, "while it would be unfair to judge this book as a novel, it would be less than fair to consider it as anything but a full-length portrait. It was as such that Fitzgerald worked on it, and would have wanted it presented in book form, after its original magazine publication. He thought of it as a comedy."

From dancing to masking, the Pakistani woman drudges through in her search for home. In this collection of eleven short stories, author Syrrina Haque explores the concept of home. Is home a physical entity or a spiritual domain? For some people, is home merely a facade? Demonstrating the diversity of the socio-cultural terrain of Pakistan, these stories of life revolve around the theme of physical, spiritual, and psychological displacement and how this relates to the concept of home. In "From Boundaries to Boundaries," a thirty-nine-year-old mother of three leaves her abusive husband and Pakistani home for Canada; she hopes for a fresh beginning and a break from her past. In "Burka," thirteen-year-old Burka-clad Gulbano flees her home to escape marrying a fifty-year-old Talib-but her fate is worse than she could have imagined. These true-to-life characters search for new horizons to appease their hidden side and arrive at castles built with only with sand. They try to traverse from boundary to boundary in search of a destination, but they find themselves entrapped in their own cocoons.

The stories in "Scavengers" are about people fighting to gain or hold onto some good. For the six-year-old heroine of ""Dixie Lee"" it is innocence, threatened by her kidnapper. Gilda, the young English teacher of ""Scavengers,"" disappointed in love, wants a baby by artificial insemination. Middleton, the bumbling and incorrigible romantic of ""Following Keats,"" seeks love in Italy. In ""Fish or Fowl"" Isabel Larkin, lost in La-La land, seems uncertain about her identity--but not about doing what is right. Jeff Franklin, in ""This Day in Yankee History,"" tries mightily to convey his respect and liking for a distrustful young black boy he meets at the ballpark. These and others--a handsome alcoholic, a sex-obsessed homeless man, an ambitious cop, a professor drawn toward violence, a guilt-ridden man with a snuff movie--all struggle to possess a small part of what they have lost, thrown away, or never had.

Baseball is life, or so the saying goes. In this book, a man's relationship with his father coincides with the twists, turns, and surprises experienced in the game of baseball. From a sandlot in Massachusetts at the turn of the century to an old stadium cum Wal-Mart in present day Oregon, the reader is taken from one game to the next, with father and son ever present-either on the field or in the stands. On his lifelong journey the man learns the lessons his dad tries to teach him on the diamond: discipline, obedience, loyalty, teamwork, curiosity, and respect. He handles life's curve balls, in the form of rejection, alcoholism, and divorce, with the grace and stamina of a true athlete-and in the process discovers the common bond he shares with his father. Steady and detailed as the game itself, "Delayed Steal" is a book for anyone who once sat in the stands as a kid, rooting for the home team. Author Marshall Umpleby also wrote the heart breaking World War II novel "On Falcon's Wings," described as "terrific story telling" and "absolutely one of the best books I have ever read."

Radical Islam and the Battle for the Americas' is a Fiction of the non-fictional WORLD we live in today. this is not a book of Republicans nor Democrats but a Book of WE the People and the worse possible scenerio that might inflict the world as we know it. The death of America -Democracy the free world and the blest Isrealli people. An Invasion across the world like a fire radicals from with-in, led from across the great seas with one phone call- the call of DEATH. Twenty years of slavery as the Armies of death Ravish the Nations many hidden in the bossums of the earth -and from their under ground sancturaries can they survive and strike back as two thoousand American slaves from new york led by hope and a rumor from the north make a daring escape from this the last occupied city. a March across the four corners to the valley of the dead in New Mexico for their Epic Battle before their finale battle on land sea and air on the shores of Jersey across the Hudson and in the streets of the once great city. join we the people we the last americans in our greatest adventure and challenge ever -In the name of God Country and Family and Flag join us as we -you- the greatness of america stand up once more and Fight back the EVILS of our World. God Bless Michelangelo

A gritty and thrilling anthology of 28 new short stories in tribute to pulp noir master, Cornell Woolrich, author of 'Rear Window' that inspired Alfred Hitchock's classic film. Featuring Neil Gaiman, Kim Newman, James Sallis, A.K. Benedict, USA Today-bestseller Samantha Lee Howe, Joe R. Lansdale and many more. An anthology of exclusive new short stories in tribute to the master of pulp era crime writing, Cornell Woolrich. Woolrich, also published as William Irish and George Hopley, stands with Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner and Dashiell Hammett as a legend in the genre. He is a hugely influential figure for crime writers, and is also remembered through the 50+ films made from his novels and stories, including Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, I Married a Dead Man, Phantom Lady, Truffaut's La Sirene du Mississippi, and Black Alibi. Collected and edited by one of the most experienced editors in the field, Maxim Jakubowski, features original work from: Neil Gaiman Joel Lane Joe R. Lansdale Vaseem Khan Brandon Barrows Tara Moss Kim Newman Nick Mamatas Mason Cross Martin Edwards Donna Moore James Grady Lavie Tidhar Barry N. Malzberg James Sallis A.K. Benedict Warren Moore Max Decharne Paul Di Filippo M.W. Craven Charles Ardai Susi Holliday Bill Pronzini Kristine Kathryn Rusch Maxim Jakubowski Joseph S. Walker Samantha Lee Howe O'Neil De Noux David Quantick Ana Teresa Pereira William Boyle

"Fat Lady's Songs" An irascible vagrant toils at a mushroom farm to buy supplies for his artistic "projects." He discovers he has not been as forgettable as his nagging wife long ago predicted. "Brighton Incidental" The farcical outcome of being a well-meaning matchmaker in the lives of strangers. "Crossing Lines" Two random people on a train are nevertheless linked by coincidences that turn out to be life-affirming for them both. "Madeleine Time" A young, West End wardrobe assistant with a penchant for wearing historical costume appears to have left a baby on a bus--with amusing consequences. "Finn" An encounter with an angry swan and the eccentric owner of a canal boat sets a marginalised boy on the path to discovering a prodigious talent.