The Demonic

The purpose of this poetic rendition of the demonic is to reflect the inner conflict between good and evil within a man’s soul. The soul encompasses all elements of good and evil, and those elements remain in constant conflict, vying for dominance. Life itself is defined by the contest between good and evil that plays out within each person. This struggle permeates every facet of existence - families, social circles, business dealings, and judgment calls. It influences all of our decisions and actions. Through vivid metaphor and examined discernment, the ongoing dynamic process of internal conflict and resolution is illuminated for the reader. This telling aims to showcase the complex navigation between light and dark that lives within us all.

The Fundamentals of Legendary Status

Throughout history, greatness has become a siren call to many. Society often glorifies the extraordinary, rendering average as something lacking. Yet the vast literature on eminence has only skimmed the surface of what drives the legendary.

Some claim fame through connections. Others find followers in material assets acquired. Many have chased the specter of renown down winding paths, only to grasp at air.

True legend status springs from an inner drive to excel. Educational pedigree plays second fiddle to the ambition that fuels sleepless nights – the self-assurance that the annals of history have no choice but to enshrine one’s name. For those possessed of such will, even meager resources can catalyze ascension into the pantheon of luminaries.

The Quest for Greatness distills this relentless push for pre-eminence into 30 key principles. It is a guidebook for those wishing to channel their hunger for superlative achievement into an enduring legacy. Destiny calls the intrepid, the daring, the insatiate… how will you answer?

The Honeybee Rivals the Spring

The Honeybee Rivals the Spring is a poignant collection of poetry that invites you, the reader, on a transformative journey alongside the author. As you traverse the pages, you’ll find your perspective broadening, compelling you to delve into the depths of your own thoughts and emotions. This compilation serves as a supportive companion, empowering you to connect deeply with the vivid portrayals of self-discovery and personal insight. Through its verses, you’re encouraged to embrace a journey of understanding, reflecting on your innermost sentiments and experiences.

The Missing Duke

Twin Delbert, the second-born, covets being Duke, and Lady Eudora wants to be his Duchess. Together, they arrange to have the Duke and firstborn killed. The Duke is killed, but greedy thugs keep Derrick alive to sell to Captain Zuber. Lying in blood, Derrick hears his brother and lady pay off thugs. After being thrown on the filthy shark tooth deck, he never tells his title and names himself Wolf, determined to survive to return and have his revenge. He survives brutality and torture, and two years later he escapes and returns to England.

The Nightmare of Driscoll

Every serial killer has to start somewhere, somehow. Officer Matt Cartwright is a small-town cop who isn’t expecting a serial killer to choose his town to terrorize and kill the residents.

FBI Agent Christina Chrystals has been chasing a serial killer and follows him to Driscoll TX, where things take an unexpected turn. 

Thrown together, these two must do everything in their power to stop him before things get worse.

The Player's Brain

This book challenges the very foundation of traditional medicine with a controversial and fascinating idea: using neurosurgical intervention and behavior modification to reintegrate sociopaths into modern society. Written in accessible language, it explores the groundbreaking work of Dr. Antônio De Salles, who pioneers this approach at the intersection of medicine, science, technology, and human interaction.

The book’s thought-provoking content makes it a must-read for students and academics across various disciplines, from the sciences to the humanities. It illuminates the complex medical, technical, and moral implications of this sensitive issue, encouraging readers to grapple with the ethical questions raised by this emerging field of study.

“The field of psychosurgery promises to change how we think about science and mental illness. Already, brain surgery is safe enough, and implants are sophisticated enough, for alteration of the brain to be accepted as mainstream therapy.”

– Hays and Berenbein.

The Rise and Fall of Roy Weston

Roy Weston was born into a wealthy family and raised in a big stone house on a hill overlooking the poor, coal-mining village of Brexley in North Yorkshire, England. Having nearly died of meningitis at the age of three years old, he is bullied by the kids at school until his mother pulls him out of school at the age of ten. His education from that point forward consists of what he learns himself by roaming the streets of the village in the dark and peeping through people's windows. At the age of fourteen, he watches through a window as his football hero, John Finley, attacks a pedophile, meaning to kill him. His friend leaves the building thinking he has done exactly that, but Roy enters afterward, realizes the man is still alive, and finishes the job. And so begins his life of crime.

The Salt Shack Dweller

Once the institutions of his world proved untrustworthy, a young veteran leaves college and seeks refuge in a shack beneath a condemned train bridge along the depleted and abused Salt River. Here, he encounters those society deems invisible: Natives, migrants, and discarded souls. A makeshift clan forms as curious individuals are drawn to this enigmatic figure and his humble dwelling. Among them are a compassionate female doctor, a questioning priest, a lonely flour mill guard, a seventeen-year-old girl yearning for freedom, and a disheartened judge. Even scorpions, black widows, and countless butterflies find their place. To the Salt Shack Dweller, this motley group becomes a true family.

The Speculatores: The Men Who Spied for Rome

Over recent decades, scholars of ancient Roman history have begun to peel back the veils on the realm of intelligence within the Roman State, exploring its integral role in shaping Rome’s defensive grand strategy. While the consensus posits a noticeable shift from indifference during the Republic era (509-27 BCE) to a more engaged stance in the imperial epoch post 27 BCE, it particularly highlights the Dominate period (284-476 CE) as the ‘Golden Age’ of Roman intelligence endeavors.

However, a veil of ambiguity still shrouds Rome’s engagement in external or foreign intelligence operations, notably espionage. Amidst this scholarly dissonance, The Speculatores: The Men Who Spied for Rome embarks on an exploratory voyage to unearth the roots of this disagreement. With a keen eye on the historical narrative and a robust analysis, this book endeavors to bridge the gap in understanding, delving into the very rationale that questions the existence and extent of Roman espionage activities

As you traverse through the pages, The Speculatores unveils the clandestine world of those who might have operated in the shadows for the glory of Rome, offering a fresh lens through which to understand the unseen sinews that perhaps bolstered the mighty Roman machinery of statecraft and defense.

The Story of Walks with Bear and Bro'Ken

Spanning two quests across generations, this tale begins in the 1700s with Kenthaki, a Shawnee youth later known as Walks-With-Bear, who embarks on a journey with his father’s obsidian knife, a pouch of medicinal herbs, and a staff to find his life’s purpose. His confrontation with a bear and the subsequent adoption of its cub, alongside the transformative relationship with a Christian captive, shapes his future. Years later, his grandson, Bro’Ken, undertakes his own quest to locate his missing father, leading to profound changes. Inspired by the 2003-2006 Lewis and Clark re-enactment, this narrative explores life-altering quests and the impact of cultural intersections.

The Things He Lost There

Vietnam. The word still resonates with powerful emotions: death, lost souls, devastation – both human and material – shattered men, and a country equally broken and horribly divided.

Into this turbulent backdrop steps Jack Houston, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina. Thrust into the heart of the conflict, Jack’s journey encapsulates the grim realities of the Vietnam War and the crucial role of the surface Navy. After fierce combat in places like Phu Quoc, Rach Gia, and Hue during the Tet Offensive, Jack’s ship, the highly-decorated Black River, faces a new challenge. A new commanding officer, Cork, takes over, driving – what the crew calls ‘corkscrewing’ – the ship into both operational and morale disasters.

This narrative explores the impact of Captain Cork’s leadership on Jack and the crew, filled with moments of profound sadness and unexpected hilarity. The climax comes with the Black River, now under Jack’s command, confronting six Chinese gunboats in the Taiwan Straits: a hopelessly mismatched battle, given the ship’s unsuitability for naval combat. The survival of Jack and his ship hangs in the balance as they navigate this deadly encounter.

Parallel to the war story is Jack’s poignant love affair with Melanie Lawton, a spirited graduate student back in Carolina. Through her perspective, we witness the defining events of 1968 and 1969: antiwar demonstrations, the chaotic 1968 Democratic Party Convention in Chicago, Woodstock, drug culture, and political assassinations. One devastating decision made in the midst of war shatters Jack and Melanie’s relationship, leaving Jack to question if he can ever reclaim what he lost in Vietnam – his love, his peace, his future.

The Timeless Love of Billy B for Scheherazade

Balthazar dreams of the perfect woman, one he can summon or dismiss at will on his computer screen. But as time passes, he becomes ensnared in his own creation, consumed by an obsession with this non-existent figure. As Balthazar spirals downward, losing everything from his identity to the use of his body, reduced to just his mind and the fingers tapping at the keyboard, she, in contrast, rises. She transforms into a modern-day Scheherazade, learning to command her prince.

Baltha B was unaware,
No more sits he upon the chair.
The relics of his body’s ruin,
Are the one last bastion
Of his undoing.
Death beckons when the hands they clap,
To say, ‘Enough! Your time is up’