Showing results by author "JC" in All Categories

A person's story is who they are. How they spent their lives. The good, the bad, and the "huh" moments. Stories shouldn’t end before they have even begun. This story is about Sarah Haynes. Her story of humiliations that are beyond comprehension.

Alexander Biden dreamed of new beginnings that only leaving for college could deliver. But when an unexpected visitor shows up the weekend he moves to Augustine University, he becomes uncontrollably anchored to a haunting past. While new friendships, one-night stands, and pharmaceuticals help him regain fleeting moments of normalcy, it's in a dangerous love affair that his fate lies.

In her 30s, Judy Cochrane had by most standards realized the American Dream. In 2000, her husband Bill’s start-up company sold for 90 million. Their college romance and tireless work ethic built a bright future for their family, as well as a portfolio of 35 million. But just as the stars aligned for the 90 million sale of their company, they also fell apart. They went from living in a gated home perched on a mountaintop in Tucson, Arizona, to life in a beat-up rental, without job security and on food stamps.

In the year 106 AD, when the Roman legions marched on their capital at Petra, the Nabateans surrendered their empire to the Romans without a fight, and according to historians, ceased to exist. But very few knew that the Nabateans didn't cease to exist, they just stayed out of sight for more than 1,900 years, and now they were on the verge of implementing their final plan. Carter Devereux with his knowledge of the city of the giants and their library in the Egyptian desert was the only obstacle in the way to achieve their goals.

Ten years in prison for killing her sadistically abusive husband had turned Jessie Bell into a poisoned, embittered, and dangerous person. The parole hearing was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was payback time.An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? No, not for Jessie Bell. Her version of justice wasn't just about getting even. It was about taking back twice as much as had been taken from you. Two eyes for one. Justice meant redressing all the imbalances - and putting out only one eye didn’t compare to the loss of all the advantages of losing two eyes.

Conrad Wilson, an ex-detective, had less than a month to live. The date of his execution by lethal injection was scheduled for June 1. All legal avenues had been exhausted - the governor of New Hampshire refused to review his case. The only problem was Conrad Wilson was innocent, but no one cared. Or, rather, everyone that cared wanted him executed. His only chance to escape certain death was Judge Regan St Clair and Jake Westley. Did they have enough time to stop the execution?

Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner were the new media moguls of their day. With their photographs they brought the Civil War - and all of its terrible suffering - into Northern living rooms. By the end of the war, they were locked in fierce competition. And when the biggest story of the century happened - the assassination of Abraham Lincoln - their paparazzi-like competition intensified.

Dr. William Koval, a pragmatist with little faith in humanity, prefers to dwell in the eerily comforting microscopic realm, where he is master of his domain. But his worldview is upended when he decides to go on the English walking tour his wife had been planning before her murder three years earlier. Only when William confronts his past, including his troubled marriage, will he find a way to rejoin the living, to move forward, and perhaps love again. The real journey, he discovers, lies within.

Reeling from his failed comeback and ruined marriage, washed-out actor Ian James (nee Isaac Janowitz) flees Los Angeles for a two-week respite in Northern California's remote Marble Mountains - Bigfoot country. His time alone in the wilderness begins to peel away the layers of his Hollywood persona. After a fateful meeting with a beguiling woman, Ian begins to question his heart. In a moment of clarity, Isaac ditches his publicist and finds himself in Redding, living with invisibility at the Vagabond Motel.

A fantasy world. A dungeon built by a tiny technological genius decades ago as a "get rich quick" scheme. And a beautiful, smart, and resourceful maiden hell-bent on destroying it all. Get ready to immerse yourself in a world best described as a comedic mixture of Dungeons and Dragons and Hogan's Heroes - a world where anything can happen!

When neighborhood dogs keep turning up dead, Peter commits himself to finding the killer. His investigation leads him nowhere - until it doesn't. It isn't long before Peter finds himself on the ultimate quest for truth.

Between unending housework and thankless efforts to appease a loutish husband and acid-tongued teens, Ginny Cooper's to-do list never seems to get done. Her guilty pleasure - fantasizing about her husband's demise - her weakness - the drive-thru at Arby's. On the job as head librarian at the county's obsolete library, tedium reigns. One afternoon Ginny innocently stumbles upon a dating website, where the rabbit hole awaits.

Stuck on a cruise ship with two annoying little sisters and an unquenchable reading habit, Jess wanders into the ship's bookstore in search of a book to pass the time. She discovers Gobblegroomer, a book that, to Jess' amazement, contains an adventure even stranger than its title. Davis' The Library at the Center of the World is the imaginative story of a young bibliophile's journey into the heart of storytelling.

The awful war was finally over and I was going home. I hoped I still had a home. I didn't leave on very good terms. Me heading north and my three brothers going south. Pa said he just couldn't understand how a son of his could turn against his family like that. I tried to explain my convictions, but he didn't want to listen. So I climbed up on my horse and pointed him north. I got about 100 yards out, then I stopped, turned in the saddle and said goodbye to the home I had known for all of my 17years.

With Hurricane Madison barreling toward Aberdeen, Georgia, the Hurst family scrambles to prepare their home for the coming gale. But as the eye of the storm approaches, Cooper Hurst becomes all too aware that their household will have to endure far more than wind and rain. Creepy and atmospheric, JC Hemphill's Erasure is a dark thrill from start to finish.

Buckle up your Birkenstocks and travel back to 1975. Discover (or relive) the pre-digital age in Arcata, a remote Bohemian college town in California. Meet Kit, a hard-working, bookish senior, on track for graduation - that is, until she falls for Jonathan, one-time bestselling author, now her stand-in professor. Jonathan, a master in the art of deception, isn't who he appears to be. As their bond grows, Kit's desire blinds her to the truth - a shocking discovery shatters her faith and ultimately tests her integrity.

Thirteen years have passed since Ivy was born, and during that time the world has become a much darker, dangerous place. Not only have the Changed become more aggressive, numerous, and insane, but they are now joined by a mysterious and powerful being that has come from seemingly nowhere with the sole purpose of hunting Ivy down.

In this short story, which takes place directly before The Change: Life, you will meet Jacob and Mia, and get a tiny glimpse into how their very lives are tied into the fate of the world - to the Changed themselves - and to the enigmatic creature that appears out of nowhere to destroy all that it sees, both humans and Changed alike.

Cowboy is pursued by outlaw. Gets shot and cornered in cabin.

Rylie Morgan is an ordinary girl from humble beginnings. The opportunity to step out of her comfort zone doesn't come often, but a chance encounter with a wealthy socialite is just what she needs to lead her to the life she never knew she could have. Fresh off a one-year European sabbatical, wealthy banking heir Owen Shelby is ready to take over the family business. Accustomed to doing things his own way and having others fall into line behind him, Owen's playboy ways are challenged when he meets Rylie.