Lee French

Everyone loves a party. Twenty authors from the Pacific Northwest want to take you on a rollercoaster ride. Mermaids, monsters, mayhem, and madness lurk within. Have your ticket ready at the turnstile and prepare to be amazed Featuring stories by: L. Wade PowersDL GardnerStephen HagelinDK RitcheyJonathan EatonNia JeanKamila Z MillerWilliam J. CookEmma LeeConnie J. JaspersonRoslyn McFarlandSteven C. SchneiderKateMarie CollinsSheila Deethjl courtneySuzanne HagelinEric LittleS. L. BrownLiam RW DoyleApril LaDelf

The tradition of service runs deep. For the Tsukuda men, it comes with telekinesis. The Captain Kinetic codename, a fixture in the Army's 11th Rangers battalion of supersoldiers for over six decades, rests firmly on Benjamin Tsukuda's shoulders. His grandfather fought under the name in World War II and his father fought under the name in Vietnam. On the day Ben retires, his teenage son will inherit their legacy. Until then, he serves his nation as the stalwart leader of a squad dedicated to saving lives and stopping rogue supers. When the team is dispatched to Brazil for a covert mission, dark omens send them crashing into a conspiracy moving swiftly enough to set the world on fire and cast shadows over generations to come. Ben must choose between honor, duty, orders, and family to protect all he holds dear, including his own life.

Eighteen-year-old Emma Harper misses her brother. Two years ago, the bad news--MIA--killed a piece of her heart. Her father ignoring her dreams of building spaceships and demanding she become an accountant killed another. Lost and rudderless, Emma drifts through a life she doesn't want with friends who pretend to care. When a bizarre event sends her sailing across the universe, she'll have to decide what matters most to her. Life or death, the universe doesn't care. But does Emma?

Portland has a witch problem. Claire expects Christmas vacation to deliver an earned respite from thinking, doing, and obeying. She gets to sleep in and play with dragons. Right? Of course not. Ghosts don't care about vacation. Drew wishes magic could finish high school for him. Who cares about calculus or dangling participles when he can crush mutant bugs with his mind? It can't do much more, though, until he gets off his butt and learns how to use it properly. In this fifth and final installment of the SPIRIT KNIGHTS series, Claire and Drew find out what happens when they spend three weeks ignoring the obligations of the power at their command and live a normal life. Spoiler alert: nothing good.

Recognized at last for her obvious talents as an agent of the Fallen, Chavali now reaps the reward for her competence--Administrator Eldrack uses his new favorite tool for every mission he can. Even the truly pointless ones. But for Chavali, clan must come first. She chafes as Eldrack takes her away from the remnants of her people, over and over. Until the day he calls her in for a task worthy of her skills. A traitor walks among the Fallen. A traitor who seems to have done the impossible by existing at all. And worse yet, the one responsible for Harris's death...and the turmoil Chavali faces now, inside and out. She already trusts no one. What she discovers may shatter so much more than mere trust. In this pivotal 5th installment of The Greatest Sin series, conflicts from multiple sides threaten the very soul of the Fallen. And nothing will remain the same.

Portland has a mutant cockroach problem. Death didn't solve anything for Claire. Now condemned to an eternity of roaming the Earth as a sixteen-year-old, she has to figure out this whole ghost thing from the other side. Lesson one: memories are power. Lesson two: this sucks. Drew has no idea how to handle the loss of his best--and only--friend. With the questionable guidance and help of the ghost possessing him, he's trying. He's really trying. In this fourth installment of the SPIRIT KNIGHTS series, old friends and new threats force both to confront their pasts. While the Knight's away, though, the bugs will play. Claire and Drew must each find the strength to conquer their fears or Portland won't survive the giant cockroach apocalypse.

Spring brings warmth, sunshine...and unexpected tragedy, as Chavali loses a hard-won friend under suspicious circumstances. Just in time to help her ignore her pain, a new mission to find the agent's killer - and recover his precious cargo - sends her to Harbor City, the jewel of North Cascain. A place nearly as insular as Chavali herself. Illusions, betrayal, and murder sweep her away from her goal and into a sea of intrigue. Between a disturbing drug, a deadly gang, and mysterious abduction, Chavali finds her hands suddenly full with multiple connected crimes...not to mention the dangers posed by her own personal secrets, demons, and spirits. This time, even her sharp wit and clever lies might not be enough to save her...or anyone else in Harbor City.

Portland has a Knight problem. Now that the Spirit Knights' demesne has accepted sixteen-year-old Claire into the order, she only has to convince all its Knights she belongs. Forced into a test to prove her worth, she discovers more than anyone wants her to. Meanwhile, Justin runs around playing janitor. He made some big messes. Cleaning them up puts him on a new path, one he never imagined his future could hold. All on Thanksgiving. In this third installment of the SPIRIT KNIGHTS series, Claire thinks she knows what must be done to save herself and the world from the plague of ghosts the Spirit Knights leave behind. If she's wrong, there may be nothing left to save.

Portland has a dragon problem. Now genuinely a Spirit Knight, sixteen-year-old Claire wants to know everything about the job. Fate dumps a dragon on her and she only has more questions. She knows how much she needs training and wishes she could snap her fingers to learn everything at once. Justin can answer Claire's questions, but between his demanding young daughters, his sarcastic horse, and the recent loss of his own mentor, he'd rather just be a Knight. No one told him adopting an apprentice would devour all his free time and dredge up the past. In this sequel to Girls Can't Be Knights, Claire and Justin face dragons, ghosts, witches, echoes, and memories. Their survival and the fate of Portland may depend on Justin's intellect. They're doomed.

Because books won't sell themselves. In these times when it's easy to self-publish but hard to get noticed, conventions offer a solid, feasible option for the independent author to start on a path to financial sustainability. But becoming a professional denizen of the dealer's room has its challenges. In Working the Table, two veteran indie authors spill their secrets to help you not only survive, but thrive in the book-event environment.

Without a Sultan, corrupt Fire Dancers and their pompous Caliphs abuse power and wage fruitless wars across the parched sands of Serescine. Fakhira wishes her family could afford to solve their problems with magic. Sometimes, wishes come true. In the worst possible way. A simple peasant, she'll have to find the strength to survive and shoulder her fate before the desert is bathed in the blood of innocents. The Fires blaze in dozens of wild, capricious Dancers. The Waters anoint only one champion, one Al-Kabar to serve--and save--the people of the desert.

Everybody knows girls can't be knights...... Nobody told Claire. Can she survive proving them wrong? After 6 difficult years in Portland's foster care system, sixteen-year-old Claire has given up all her dreams. Hope and trust? What are those? But she'll need both. Portland has a ghost problem, and it doesn't care about her issues. Armed with a magical locket, the only thing she has left of her family, will Claire find the strength to accept the help offered by a would-be mentor? You'll love this heartwarming young adult urban fantasy because finding family is best done in strange places. Get it now.

An avalanche begins with a careless word. Chavali's notorious temper continues its downward spiral as the long winter keeps her trapped underground among the Fallen. One little rumor flung thoughtlessly in her face sets off a cascade of events that pulls her into a clash far bigger than the usual petty squabbles. Unexpected snarls in a tedious assignment turn the tiny village of Eagle Falls into a monstrous pain in the ass. A frozen body dangles from a tree. Restless spirits gnaw at Chavali's mind. As the lies pile up in drifts, she finds herself hunting for truth on behalf of allies she never asked for. The Seer takes care of her clan. These days, "clan" has an ever-expanding definition.

Adjusting to her new life as a soul-bound agent of the Fallen has Chavali pushing herself harder than ever before. Between learning to fight, dealing with idiots, and climbing stairs - lots of stairs - she has little time to waste on thoughts of the future. Or the past. When another agent fails to report in, Chavali is sent on the mission to discover her fate. Ready or not, she saddles up for a new adventure with new dangers. The search takes her to Ket, a coastal city slathered in mystery. There, Chavali must cut through a fog of deception for answers. All she seems to find are more questions. Plague, murder, lies, espionage...this city harbors much more than meets the eye, and maybe too much to handle.

Given the burden of safeguarding a precious treasure at a tender age, Sabetia is placed squarely in the middle of a fantastical legend. Swords, demons, magic, a curse: it has everything a great epic tale should. All she needs to do is face the danger that could threaten the world if left unchecked. If only it were so simple. A hero could solve this problem, but she doesn't happen to be one. A good wife is obedient, patient, obedient, quiet, obedient, doting, and above all, obedient. Sabetia was raised to be a good wife. It makes her perfect prey, a perfect damsel in distress. Author's NoteThis novel contains a depiction of domestic abuse. Some readers might be disturbed by it. Although the story is entirely fictional, the abuse is based on real accounts of real women. I've done my best to keep the 'on screen' brutality minimal and to not sensationalize or glorify it. I believe that silence is the greatest ally domestic abuse has in the world. It's my hope that stories like this one - of fantasy and adventure and magic - can shed light on the subject for people who otherwise wouldn't think about it very much.

There are always people who want secrets...... Some will do anything to get what they want. What would you die to protect? For hundreds of years, the Blaukenev clan has wandered across Tilzam, from one end to the other and back. Each wagon carries history, love, laughter, pain, sorrow, and secrets. Their greatest secret of all may be Chavali, the clan Seer. Spirits consume her. With her unusual form of telepathy, nothing surprises her anymore. No one keeps secrets from her. She, on the other hand, has more than enough secrets to keep. Secrets of her own, secrets of her clan, secrets of the world, secrets she even keeps from herself. Prophecies reveal her. When the outside world refuses to leave them alone, will Chavali's razor wit prove enough to keep her clan? Or will the fires of rage tear them apart? You'll love this epic snark fantasy because everyone enjoys a fast-paced series opener. Get it now.