A selection of Janet Fox's finest fantasy and horror stories. Janet Fox is a long-time writer of fantasy and horror short stories. She has had stories published in such magazines and anthologies as Year's Best Horror, Year's Best Fantasy, The Twilight Zone Magazine, 100 Fiendish Little Frightmares and Sword and Sorceress, as well as many small press publications. Under the pen name Alex McDonough, she wrote five novels in the Scorpio series published by Ace Books.

“A poignant and powerful reminder that homelessness is not hopelessness.” —Kirby Larson, author of Newbery Honor book Hattie Big Sky Two sisters struggle to keep their father’s disappearance a secret in this tender middle grade novel that’s perfect for fans of Katherine Applegate and Lynda Mullaly Hunt. Twelve-year-old Lulu and her younger sister, Serena, have a secret. As Daddy always says, “it’s best if we keep it to ourselves,” and so they have. But hiding your past is one thing. Hiding where you live—and that your Daddy has gone missing—is harder. At first Lulu isn’t worried. Daddy has gone away once before and he came back. But as the days add up, with no sign of Daddy, Lulu struggles to take care of the responsibilities they used to manage as a family. Lulu knows that all it takes is one slip-up for their secret to come spilling out, for Lulu and Serena to be separated, and for the good things that have been happening in school to be lost. But family is all around us, and Lulu must learn to trust her new friends and community to save those she loves and to finally find her true home.

At the height of World War II, Isaac Wolf's parents send him from his home in Prague to Scotland alone. They give him a pendant in the shape of an eternity knot, and assure him that he will be safe if he can find this symbol in Scotland. The clue leads him to Rookskill Castle and the gifted children of the Special Alternative Intelligence Unit of MI6 who are learning to harness their magical powers to support the Allies' cause. With the help of his new friends, Isaac has to unlock his powers and unravel the reason his parents sent him Rookskill Castle. To solve the meaning of the eternity knot, he must hunt down a series of magical artifacts scattered through eras of the past. But he's not the only artifact hunter, and soon he finds himself in a race against Nazi spies and an even more sinister magical enemy. Can Isaac solve the puzzle, save his parents, and defeat the evil in our world and beyond, all before the clock runs out?

Do you feel ready to explode? Are you between a rock and a hard place? Are you floundering around in the dark? Do you feel like a puppet on a string? Are you bored out of your skull? Elevate that metaphor! The stories and similes you use to describe the obstacles in your life can lead you to overcome those obstacles. Analogies and allegories can be the best way to increase emotional resilience and personal effectiveness. The Playful Power of Metaphor is a lively, thought-provoking and practical guide to accomplishing more of what you want by learning to shift perspectives.

Poetry in all that she does is her hallmark, and few are able to equal it ... -- Charles L. Grant (noted author and critic Jessica Amanda Salmonson) described Janet Fox by saying: A regular in Year's Best Horror Stories, she has published in Amazons , Fantastic, Moonbroth, Space & Time, Year's Best Fantasy, and many other magazines and anthologies. She might have added: Whispers, Shadows, Fears, and The Twilight Zone Magazine, among others. single-author short story collection nowadays, one of the best books of the year would be the The Best of Janet Fox. The lead story might well be 'Witches'. including the lead tale in this book ... Witches. Here are the contents of this marvelous and long-overdue collection: the Kingdom of the Thorn, from Whispers; A Witch in Time and Demon & Demoiselle from Fantastic Stories; Morrien's Bitch, from Amazons ; Screaming to Get Out, from Weirdbook; Valentine, from Shadows; Taking Care of Bertie, from Eldritch Tales; The Skins You Love to Touch, from Shadows; Garage Sale, from The Twilight Zone Magazine; Surrogate, from Fears; and Alliances (a sequel to Morrien's Bitch), which is new in this volume.

Twelve-year-old Kat Bateson likes to have a logical explanation for everything. But even she can't make sense of the strange goings-on at Rookskill Castle, the drafty old Scottish castle- turned-school where she and her siblings have been sent to escape the London Blitz. What's making those terrifying sounds at night? Why do the castle's walls seem to have a mind of their own? And why do people keep mysteriously appearing and disappearing? Kat thinks she knows the answer: Lady Eleanor, who rules Rookskill Castle, is harboring a Nazi spy. But when her classmates begin to vanish, one by one, Kat must face the truth about : what the castle actually harbors and what Lady Eleanor is - before it's too late.