The nation's favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its tenth year. Best British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover - or, more accurately, by its title. This new series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere. The editor's brief is wide ranging, covering anthologies, collections, magazines, newspapers and web sites, looking for the best of the bunch to reprint all in one volume. Featuring: Richard Lawrence Bennett, Luke Brown, David Constantine, Tim Etchells, Nicola Freeman, Amanthi Harris, Andrew Hook, Sonia Hope, Hanif Kureishi, Helen Mort, Jeff Noon, Irenosen Okojie, KJ Orr, Bridget Penney, Diana Powell, David Rose, Sarah Schofield, Adrian Slatcher, NJ Stallard, Robert Stone, Stephen Thompson and Zakia Uddin.

What I did to them was terrible, but you have to understand the context. This was London, 2016 . . . Bohemia is history. Paul has awoken to the fact that he will always be better known for reviewing haircuts than for his literary journalism. He is about to be kicked out of his cheap flat in east London and his sister has gone missing after an argument about what to do with the house where they grew up. Now that their mother is dead this is the last link they have to the declining town on the north-west coast where they grew up. Enter Emily Nardini, a cult author, who - after granting Paul a rare interview - receives him into her surprisingly grand home. Paul is immediately intrigued: by Emily and her fictions, by her vexingly famous and successful partner Andrew (too old for her by half), and later by Andrew's daughter Sophie, a journalist whose sexed-up vision of the revolution has gone viral. Increasingly obsessed, relationships under strain, Paul travels up and down, north and south, torn between the town he thought he had escaped and the city that threatens to chew him up. With heart, bite and humour, Luke Brown leads the reader beyond easy partisanship and into much trickier terrain. Straddling the fissures within a man and his country, riven by envy, wealth, ownership, entitlement, and loss, Theft is an exhilarating howl of a novel.

Liam has it all. A job he enjoys, a glamorous lifestyle and a girlfriend he is madly in love with. But after one night out he loses everything and finds himself on a plane to Buenos Aires. There he hopes to write the world's longest and truest love letter to the one person who still matters to him.

Closing the door behind her, she dropped her towel and smiled at her naked body, her big perky breast bouncing up and down while her stiff ------ protruded toward the mirror. "Girl yuh got it going on. Gosh, I'm looking and feeling good today. Read all about Essie's island life and her quest to find her mate in this sizzling tropical erotica.

If you are the "holier-than-God" type of Christian then this book is probably not for you. If you understand and can see the wonderful beauty in God's forgiveness, you will be touched by this simple story of life, Essie's life. This book is surely for you. Essie realized that God had blessed her after all, blessed her with the ability to have children, and with this ability, she was able to survive. Having kids was her survival tool, as well as her bargaining tool. So far, it seemed that she was at the losing end of all of her previous bargains, but she still had high hopes. Like an addicted gambler, she kept betting on the future prospects of her kids. An inspiring unique religious novel. Read about Essie's road to heaven in spite of her turbulent single parent life. This book was specifically made for Mother's Day as well as for similar occasions that celebrate and promote good mothers. *(FANTASTIC GIFT FOR MOTHER'S DAY)*

This exciting island style story starts out with a strange encounter. Essie ran into a peculiar stranger. Her life has never been the same. She had many failed relationships, one immediately after the other. She became a 'serial dater' but could not find the right person to go the full distance of husband and wife. There was one troubling little detail about most of her failed relationships. Most of her failed relationships left her with one more child out of wedlock. Eventually she met the man that was not afraid to accept her and her eight children in his life. 'His love was ecstasy. It slowly opened up her soul and blew her mind.' This is the new and exciting updated version of the original Romancing Essie.

This time, he was not afraid. This time, he was the one who was seeking out the mysterious creature. The view from his front gate was desolate and empty. The streets were quiet and still. It was like Karl had entered a different world--a world of the living dead. This is a funny ghost story for early teens and young adults.

Essie had taken her kids to the countryside to spend a few days of the summer near Tim. They loved it and always looked forward to this annual activity. This time, they had gone by way of the old country bus. This is an exciting and funny ghost story for kids age five and above. www.Buy4achild.com Clarion Review JUVENILE FICTION Essie's children-Gena, Betty, Myrtle, Junior, Leonard, and Karl-are enjoying a wonderful vacation and making friends with neighboring kids in the countryside around Clear Mount, Jamaica. But behind the idyllic background, a ghost roams the land-something called a "rolling calf," an unnerving, clanking ghost with red eyes. It has a spooky premise, but feels more like The Hardy Boys than Harry Potter. Even while Karl knows he must face an unknown and possibly dangerous adversary, he is surrounded by a family that cares for him. This is a world where kids go five miles to the perfect place to swim or girls spend the day jumping rope. When the adventure does get going, the characters never lose the camaraderie of friends, the touchstone of solid parents, or the importance of a lesson learned. Katerie Prior EXCERPT: When it dawned on Karl that his pursuer was rolling calf, he forgot about his damaged toe. He was now going top speed, Carl Lewis, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake or Granada's Kirani James style. He was now all-out straight sprinting. He shift into sixth gear and took off blazing the trail for his dear life. Neither Usain Bolt nor his supposing "twice as fast" twin brother, Insain Bolt, nor any other athlete or track and field star could have kept up with Karl that night. (Page 52, A Scary Island-Style Story)

Christmas had always been special for Essie, but now it meant even more. They say that when you are in love, everything looks brighter and better. Well, Essie was in love with life in New York City, and even Christmas seemed better than it had ever been. Excerpt #2; Essie left the church that night a changed person. She told Leonard that she was going to quit smoking and drinking that night. She told him that she was going to give her heart to the Lord. Essie's words were simple, but they were bafflingly true. Essie went cold turkey. She never smoked another cigarette. She never took another sip of alcohol. She got baptized within two months of finding God. If you understand and can see the wonderful beauty in God's forgiveness, you will be touched by this simple story of life, Essie's life. This book is surely for you. "Heavenly Silence" is the religious version of "The Non-Silence of the LAMB." We are very proud of our excellent Kirkus book review; TITLE INFORMATION (Kirkus Review) HEAVENLY SILENCE Religious Island-Style Story Brown, Luke and Berthalicia Brown CreateSpace (274 pp.) $16.99 paperback, $0.99 e-book ISBN: 978-1483987279; March 29, 2013 BOOK REVIEW An inspiring novel of a runaway's journey through heartache. In this novel's introduction, Essie Brown's son eulogizes her as a woman of sacrific -a heroine who led a turbulent life until she found God and turned her life around. Her fictionalized story begins in Jamaica-a gutsy 14-year-old determined to make a life for herself, who escapes her resentful adoptive family and the arduous work they make her do. After she runs away from tiny Cascade to the city of Montego Bay, Essie hunts for work and soon finds a job working for the Ferguson family, baby-sitting their children and cooking their meals. She begins to enjoy her life in the big city, making friends and even finding a boyfriend, Stedman; then she gets pregnant and miscarries. Although she and Stedman are determined to stay together and have a family, she has another miscarriage and then another, and Stedman leaves her for her best friend, Cherry. Heartbroken and angry, she once again resolves to make it on her own and lands a job as a hotel chef. She soon finds herself pregnant once more, but this time, the father wants nothing to do with her, and she brings the pregnancy to full term. After a series of ill-fated affairs, Essie finds Tim Brown, a friend from childhood who now promises to be the first man to stand by her. This novel shows how, in the end, Essie's journey and faith helped her grow strong and focused; she eventually raised eight children on her own, molding them into ambitious, motivated sons and daughters. She held her unwieldy family together with gumption, stoicism and a willingness to recreate herself whenever life proved difficult. Her determination is powerful, as is this fictionalized collection of key moments in her life. A memorable story of a matriarch whose bravery and tenacity inspired her children. Kirkus Indie, Kirkus Media LLC, 6411 Burleson Rd., Austin, TX 78744 [email protected]

Essie had taken her kids to the countryside to spend a few days of the summer near Tim. They loved it and always looked forward to this annual activity. This time, they had gone by way of the old country bus. (Read about Essie's Kids and the Rolling Calf in living vibrant island colors)

He was about three blocks away from home when he started getting a strange feeling. He felt like his head was rapidly swelling. A chill blanketed his body. Karl's heart skipped a beat. He was completely terrified. His feet felt weak and his knees were shaking like a massaging chair. He knew what was happening, but this time he promised himself that he would not run.

The trees and bushes suddenly parted, and the mad beast sprinted toward Karl with fire blazing from its mouth. The beast was headed for a collision when Karl raised his hands and said, "Easy, beast That's enough." "Not bad, right?" Rollie-Rollie asked, its feet skidding through the dirt as it stopped. "No, not bad at all. The best grand entrance anywhere. Funny and enjoyable book for teens and young adults.

Yes It is true. I was not fond of the Lady. That woman was heartless to leave a two-year old baby boy in the woods of Hanover. It is outright evil and is therefore unforgivable. Hello, my name is Karl. Yuh nah go nowhere till yuh hear fi mi side of de story (you're not going anywhere until you've heard my side of the story). My story is about how my madda left me in the bushes to live with my fadda who could hardly cook, much less to be able to take care of a two-year old child. Enough is enough. To understand my point of view, you will have to take a walk in my shoes. Imagine if you may. You are two years old and you were left in the bushes in the middle of nowhere. Now imagine that you were left with someone to watch over you who had no ability to breast-feed or seemed to have any ability to prepare a proper bottle of baby food. Expect to eat large pieces of boiled yam and boiled green banana even before you start growing teeth. Nuff said... (Read the villain's direct response to the reading audience and see his side of the story in this unique cutting edge "Real-Reality Fiction" style of writing). No Hannibal Lecter here. Just a single mother and her animalistic raging passion with a few quid pro quos as she grippingly strives for survival for herself and her eight children. More Excerpt - The fireworks represented everything that Mrs. Essie Brown believed in, including the right to freedom and the right to a better life. She now had a brand new life and a clean slate in the United States. The sky was the limit, as far as she was concerned. That night, Mrs. Essie Brown saw more than fancy high-tech lights and fireworks. She saw what it meant to be an American. It meant the God-given right to be-to be left alone, to be loved, to be one's true self, to be free, to be treated fairly, to be respected, to be strong, to be proud, and most of all, to be all that one could be. Clarion Review GENERAL ...a pleasant, often sweet, and always entertaining novel. Mark McLaughlin

-Hago esto solo por ti, Tim. Porque te amo de verdad. No podian estar mas contentos con esa reunion placentera y emocional. Descubrieron que vivian en dos mundos diferentes y que a ambos les gustaba la vida que llevaban. Sin embargo, eso no era un impedimento para estar juntos. Prometieron encontrarse a medio camino.

Clarion Review JUVENILE FICTION Essie's children-Gena, Betty, Myrtle, Junior, Leonard, and Karl-are enjoying a wonderful vacation and making friends with neighboring kids in the countryside around Clear Mount, Jamaica. But behind the idyllic background, a ghost roams the land-something called a "rolling calf," an unnerving, clanking ghost with red eyes. It has a spooky premise, but feels more like The Hardy Boys than Harry Potter. Even while Karl knows he must face an unknown and possibly dangerous adversary, he is surrounded by a family that cares for him. This is a world where kids go five miles to the perfect place to swim or girls spend the day jumping rope. When the adventure does get going, the characters never lose the camaraderie of friends, the touchstone of solid parents, or the importance of a lesson learned. Katerie Prior

Clarion Review JUVENILE FICTION Essie's children-Gena, Betty, Myrtle, Junior, Leonard, and Karl-are enjoying a wonderful vacation and making friends with neighboring kids in the countryside around Clear Mount, Jamaica. But behind the idyllic background, a ghost roams the land-something called a "rolling calf," an unnerving, clanking ghost with red eyes. It has a spooky premise, but feels more like The Hardy Boys than Harry Potter. Even while Karl knows he must face an unknown and possibly dangerous adversary, he is surrounded by a family that cares for him. This is a world where kids go five miles to the perfect place to swim or girls spend the day jumping rope. When the adventure does get going, the characters never lose the camaraderie of friends, the touchstone of solid parents, or the importance of a lesson learned. Katerie Prior

Clarion Review JUVENILE FICTION Essie's children-Gena, Betty, Myrtle, Junior, Leonard, and Karl-are enjoying a wonderful vacation and making friends with neighboring kids in the countryside around Clear Mount, Jamaica. But behind the idyllic background, a ghost roams the land-something called a "rolling calf," an unnerving, clanking ghost with red eyes. It has a spooky premise, but feels more like The Hardy Boys than Harry Potter. Even while Karl knows he must face an unknown and possibly dangerous adversary, he is surrounded by a family that cares for him. This is a world where kids go five miles to the perfect place to swim or girls spend the day jumping rope. When the adventure does get going, the characters never lose the camaraderie of friends, the touchstone of solid parents, or the importance of a lesson learned. Katerie Prior

Subitamente, los arboles y arbustos se abrieron y la bestia corrio enloquecida hacia Karl, mientras enormes lenguas de fuego le salian de la boca. La bestia se dirigia a un choque, cuando Karl levanto la mano y dijo: - Quieta, bestia Ya es suficiente. -No estuvo mal, verdad? -pregunto Rollie-Rollie, con las patas resbalando en el suelo mientras frenaba. -No, no estuvo nada mal. La mejor gran entrada del mundo. Clarion Review FICCION JUVENIL Misterio cuentos para ninos han cambiado drasticamente en las ultimas decadas. Personajes como Encyclopedia Brown y el Boxcar ninos han sido reemplazados por los asistentes, vampiros, hombres lobo y zombis. Busquedas inocentes de creepy casas ha sido reemplazado por elaborar las batallas con potentes figuras sobrenaturales. Eso es lo que hace un fantasma Ha sido duena de series como ninos y el material rodante ternero para aparte de otras series. Marido y mujer autores Lucas Brown y Berthalicia Fonseca-Brown han creado una coleccion de libros que les permite a los ninos ser ... bueno ... los ninos enfrentan circunstancias fantasmales. Katerie Prior

Dies ist ein reizendes Ghost Story. Es ist auch sehr lustig. Es ist sehr leicht zu lesen. Es ist ein Buch, dass jedes Kind lesen sollte