In this collection of short stories, six women's tales of despair illuminate the horror and sadness of domestic abuse, rape, teenage pregnancy, childhood neglect, and addictions. Set in the small fictitious community of Maitland Valley near Wingham, Ontario, "The Daughters of Maitland Valley" provides insights into the many issues women deal with in today's society-issues that are not particular about age, race, religion, or financial status.

In the story "What Fruit May Fall," Jessica, who is seven months pregnant, recalls the day she lost her virginity during a rape eighteen years ago. "Dirty Water" tells of a thirty-year-old woman whose mother abandoned the family when she was twelve. She still feels the loss keenly and wishfully imagines that she sees her mother as she goes about her daily life.

Including a variety of poems as well, "The Daughters of Maitland Valley" provides insight into the tragic situations women often face. It seeks to empower women to seek help and guidance to deal with the problems they endure.

The Best and Worst Christmas... is a collection of short stories that will make enjoyable reading for both young and old and stories that are a testament to the human spirit during holiday times that are both perfect and not so perfect.

All of my books ask the same question. If things were different, would things be different?

The Golem, a creature made of clay and brought to life by Rabbi Leyb of Prague in the sixteenth century, has provided an enticing subject for fiction writers since the legend began. In some works, Rabbi Leyb gives birth to the Golem to help the Jews with the overbearing burden of their work. In others, the Golem is the protector of the Jews, keeping watch during the nights before Passover to make sure that a Gentile does not plant evidence for a blood libel in a Jewish home. But the powerful Golem can also lose control and have to be destroyed. Joachim Neugroschel has brought together some of the best work featuring the Golem, including H. Leivick's masterful blank verse play; Yudl Rosenberg's "pamphlet" full of Golem tales; and stories by S. Bastomski, Dovid Frishman, and Y. L. Peretz, which he translates fluidly from the Yiddish.

Providing easy access to information on nearly 450 short stories, this unique guide surveys a wide spectrum of world literature, canonical works, and contemporary fiction. Librarians and teachers will find multiple purposes for this expertly-compiled resource, which can be employed in much the same way as a standard bibliography. Educators will appreciate the concise annotations, arranged alphabetically by author, that form the core of this work. Insightful critical statements synthesize plot summaries and identify the thematic content of each short story.

A theme guide utilizes the nearly 100 theme headings matching those at the start of each entry, allowing the user to quickly locate story titles on related themes and construct reading lists based on individual interests and needs. Another component designed to aid librarians offers one bibliography that lists the anthologies from which the stories are drawn (Works Cited) and one comprised of a number of recent anthologies that can be adapted for the classroom (Further Reading). In addition to the theme index, the general subject and author indexes make this a user-friendly and invaluable resource.

This book is about looking into mortality knowing that around every corner death could be waiting. Its about enjoying your short time here not worring about the petty things. It is also about the first six chapters of Cain The First drop The first vampire from his own perspective as he was given the ultimate punishment to feed only of blood and eat of only ash. How Lucifer tricks him and how the rest of the vampire population came into being. How without the story of Cain and Abel none of the other tales you have been told would even exist. I hope you enjoy and are looking forward to the rest of the novel coming out soonDennis Beggs

This Book is essential to any Adults to read this materials in how a spirit from Great Clip reach out beyond the dead in spoke to me. This book is classified as a spiritual encounter Shadow and written about characters who live a life full of drama and excitement in a haunted Beauty Salon. Some of these character have experience contact with the Spirit within Great Clip. These stories is to thrill and captivate your mind with drama concerning the Ghost with the Staff and Customers.

"After the Sundial" by Vera Nazarian is the author's first short fiction collection that focuses specifically on science fiction works, and can be viewed as a companion volume to her earlier collection, "Salt of the Air" which focused on fable, myth, and fantasy.

Bound by the common theme of time and temporal exploration, the ten selections here range widely from traditional speculative fiction to the surreal literary to poetry to bawdy adventure humor to space opera and far future speculation.

Includes an introduction by the author, two previously unpublished works and a full-length critically acclaimed novella "The Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass."

Chaos wrapped around love, hate, and despair. Question what you can as each page aches and saturates beyond your eyes. Destiny can't be perfect, but continue to rely on faith as the surreal is explored and documented in Empire Nothing. This realm speaks from you and back at you, living in experience and movements of thought that drip, and continue to drip, up and back again in a collective spiral of angst, vanity, memories and visions. Spectrum after spectrum on the cusp of bliss and agony rip away the fabric of a society that puts the "individual" second. Wars rage. Propaganda becomes actions and images instead of words. People love fear. The memories of the past are used as opiates to sweeten the present and ensure the forgiving future. But once inside, you learn more about the conditions we feel and the emotions we endure to express.

Why was Elizabeth sitting alone in the chilling, unfamiliar room?

Odds And Ends is a collection of stories, essays, and poems. It is the author's second published book.