A Soldier Dies to Live

Have you ever found yourself confronting life and its many important decisions and find yourself living life due to your past decisions? Do you earnestly seek and need a change in your life’s direction? As you come from your vicissitude of despair, suddenly enlightenment dawns upon you. Your pathway becomes clearer and you begin the process of change. As you continue, the change you seek does not appear; but then, you come to your final crossing point, that is, either to descend into darkness or embrace the light or face death. As you face your end, a miraculous savior appears and you realize, “Yes, I want to live.”

In A Soldier Dies to Live, Collins Herrington was such a man who “gave himself the bullet that he didn’t get in the war and found himself lying horizontally across a vertical stream” – his final crossing point. You shall discover whether Collins dies in order to live.

A Stab in the Heartland

Taking place across the Midwest’s heartland of America, this collection of short stories offers nuance to the darker aspects of human relationships. Told primarily from the intoxicating beginnings of lust before progressing toward love, the stories fluidly transform into stark realities rather than romantic ideals. Each story provides an intimate look at how commitment and affection can turn into disloyalty or even hatred. 

With subtle mystery and humor sprinkled throughout, readers will be fascinated and shocked at where these winding plots lead, both physically and psychologically. Though at times jarring, the stories ultimately highlight the complexity of bonds between people in both their beauty and brutality.

A Taste of Freedom

Doug Samuels is a highly respected but emotionally challenged ex-cop turned private investigator, who is reeling from a heartbreakingly painful loss. Working out of a small office in the St. Louis neighbourhood called Central West End, and with the assistance of his best friend’s wife, he receives little warning of his destiny.

Wittingly chosen for the task, Doug is hired by the spouse of a successful investment banker. The alarmingly sexy blond suspects the man she married of cheating and asks Doug to verify her suspicions. His pretty client entices and manipulates Doug’s vulnerabilities as a second case, involving an ex-pimp turned NFL running back, lures Doug back and forth across the country, forcing him to dodge and deflect warranted scrutiny from the FBI.

Accepting each case with the best of intentions, Doug’s professional ethics, and high moral standards are continuously challenged as he’s pulled deeper and deeper into a world of deception, lies, sex, and murder. Doug’s good nature paired with his inability to say no changes his life forever.

A Time to Talk

Imagine being granted the extraordinary gift of one last conversation with a loved one, knowing it would be your final chance to connect. Would you use this precious time to pour out your heart, share stories of love and gratitude, and bid a proper farewell?

For most, such a divine opportunity would be treasured. But for Jolie, a middle-aged woman juggling the demands of her children, job, grieving father, and estranged sister, the conversation might take an unexpected turn. Why, for instance, did her mother choose to ignore the cancer ravaging her body, instead channeling her energy into hosting dance challenges from her hospital bed and teaching her grandchildren the joys of skinny dipping?

Since her mother’s passing, Jolie has been consumed by grief and regret, finding even the simplest tasks overwhelming. Despite knowing that hiding under the covers and napping won’t solve anything, she feels too drained to seek alternatives. As she contemplates the tempting escape of running away – a choice that hardly seems fitting for a woman nearing fifty – Jolie receives an extraordinary gift: one final conversation with her mother. With so much left unsaid, where does one begin when faced with this singular chance?

It isn’t until Jolie faces a heart-wrenching accident involving her own daughter that she finds her answer. You begin by acknowledging the importance of family, and the power of forgiveness and letting go.

Woven with wisdom, humor, and a touch of magic, A Time to Talk is an uplifting story that explores the unbreakable bonds of family, the profound impact of a mother’s love, and the ability to find light even in the darkest of times.

A Trail to Love

When West Point graduate John Richards marries socialite Felicity Wynngate against her father’s express wishes, they set off a chain of catastrophic events neither could have anticipated. Pursued by a determined adversary intent on returning Felicity to her dubious father, the couple flees Philadelphia, racing towards John’s parents’ home. However, fate has other plans as the British, fresh from their victory over Napoleon, turn their sights on the United States.

As the British burn Washington and aim to control the Mississippi, Colonel Andrew Jackson rallies American forces. Amidst the chaos, John is mistakenly listed as a casualty of the Battle of New Orleans. Before he can correct the error, a heartbreaking letter informs his parents of his supposed sacrifice. Believing her husband dead, a grief-stricken Felicity ventures west, only to meet with an accident that further complicates their separation. Each believing the other has perished, John and Felicity embark on separate journeys filled with peril and hope. Will their paths cross again on the trail to love, or are they destined to remain apart forever?

A Traitor's Heart

“…does he know who I am?”

“He knows nothing of you, my lord. He believes my cousin, Master Chuonn, is the head of the snake about to strike.” The assassin laughed without mirth. “But in truth, we are just its eyes.”

“And its fangs,” the cloaked figure added.

“Yes, and its fangs,” he agreed before bowing. Without another word, the shadowed assassin disappeared back into the blackness from whence he came.

The cloaked figure remained for another ten minutes, then he too turned and vanished from the Emerileen Forest.

A Traitor’s Heart

Although peace has remained within the Kingdom of Baevar during the Dragos’ reign, there are some that want a change.

As the Shadows—an elite guild of deadly assassins—rise from the darkness, the opportunity for chaos and strife begins. Led by a mysterious cloaked figure, trouble spreads throughout the kingdom. Doubts and distrust surface. Friendships are strained. Loyalties are tested.

In the end, the most dangerous of enemies are those closest to the heart.

A Trunk in the Basement

Relationships involving love, lies, loss and loyalty are everlasting stories throughout Southern Culture. Marriage, affairs, relationships, friendships and life’s dreams never come out perfect or last forever. It becomes a growing and changing experience where the characters learn as they come and go in time and importance to others, while still managing to make a difference.

This collection contains ten short stories of such change, lament, and brief happiness, all by circumstance, and rarely planned. The characters adapt and try to maintain their uncertain world, always hoping for the best but rarely achieving it.

Come along as they deal with these changes the best way they can and experience life, seemingly always on the edge. While they may always seem flawed, the reader will come to love these characters for who they are regardless of the stage of life or circumstances they currently live within.

A View of the Meadow

David Sellers can’t stop thinking about the beautiful California Napa Sonoma Mendocino Coastline, even though he’s never been there before. He’s grateful for the opportunity to go, thanks to a suggestion and a pair of tickets from his boss’s secretary. It’s a welcome distraction from the dangerous situation he’s currently embroiled in back home. He had planned to return soon, but that all changed when he met Charlotte Von Shillingsfurst.

Meanwhile, Jasper Symthe and Otto Weinberger are puzzling over a relic or artifact found on the Von Shillingsfurst estate. Jasper, an architect tasked with remodeling the estate, and Otto, a university professor of archaeology and theology, are both intrigued. Jasper has no idea what the object is, and Otto is hesitant to investigate further.

As it turns out, Charlotte, an heiress who has never been in danger before, suddenly finds herself under attack. Someone or something is determined to protect her, and the quiet town she’s lived in her whole life is not what it seems. 26 years ago, the town welcomed a wealthy royal couple and their child, Charlotte. But now, things have taken a dangerous turn.

A Walk Among Heroes

In this skillfully crafted narrative, Cecil Pickler transports you to the iconic fields of the Gettysburg Battlefield through the eyes of a modern-day visitor named Pick. In an extraordinary turn of events, Pick is whisked back in time to march alongside the troops during the historic battle, courtesy of an invitation from the spirits of fallen soldiers. This unique opportunity allows him to witness the conflict unfold firsthand and engage in conversations with soldiers from both sides, all while being assured of his safety amidst the chaos.

Many visitors to Civil War battlefields report a palpable sense of connection with the past, including sightings of spectral soldiers and horses captured in photographs, and mysterious voices carried by the wind. Through Pick, who adopts the role of a correspondent, readers are offered intimate insights into the thoughts and experiences of men clad in both grey and blue.

If you’ve ever felt a deep resonance with these sacred grounds, or pondered the messages the spirits of these soldiers might impart to us today, this book promises to be a profound and enlightening addition to your collection.

A Widow's Kiss

Cara Danforth, a beautiful young woman with a fiery temper and the tenacity to match, is setting out to save her beloved home, Danforth House, and protect her three siblings from the ruination left in the wake of their father’s death. Piecing together reasons for their current economic state, Cara devises a plan to take back what was rightfully theirs.

Arriving home after years in the field, Roland Acworth, the Duke of Fairhaven, pondered his current situation. He was a spy not a guardian. What on earth was he going to do with four small children? It would appear, he would have time to figure it out. For before he could venture to Danforth Estates, Roland’s superiors tasked him with finding the thief responsible for a string of robberies amongst England’s elite.

Aaru

Aaru is a dark, suspenseful dystopian novel in which the main characters Annie and Diego seek survival and purpose in a dangerous and uncertain post-apocalyptic world. Following the apparent collapse of the power grid, bands of survivors have formed communities to manage resources and provide security. But how far would they go to stay alive? Annie and Diego, both coming to terms with the loss of their closest loved ones, are about to find out. As they make their way across a perilous, unpredictable landscape, they discover both their strengths and their limits—and must learn how to survive without losing their own humanity.

Abduction

“What a day!” Rachel wrote in her journal while seated cross-leg on the cool, dry floor with her back against the refuge cave wall. “Today, the crew was chased by malevolent aliens for the sole purpose of capture and torture. They succeeded in stunning Zar-ra, and I took several hits to my torso. Fortunately, I was not harmed permanently, but my shoulders and chest still felt seared where the bruises were located.” Rachel smirked, for she fared better than her attackers.

After a thoughtful pause, she continued with her writing, “This war has changed me. I have discovered capabilities unknown previously drawing from inner strength that I never knew I had. Love makes one capable of extraordinary courage and sacrifice. Even the two least trusting gentarians, Pel-ban and Arana-hiz, now see me in a different way. I am hopeful that their change in attitude towards me will make my job easier in the future. We shall see.”