Tim loses his addiction for the ho-hum after falling for Samantha during a smoking break. A short romantic comedy.Tim loses his addiction for the ho-hum after falling for Samantha during a smoking break."Smokers Corner" is a short and humorous love story about two workers from different companies who hit it off one morning outside their office building. When Samantha doesn't show up the next day, Tim begins to worry he missed his chance at love and will never see her again.Author Adam Bender released the story for free as a Valentine's Day gift for fans of romantic comedies.

What if a stranger took over the part of your best friend? In "Life Trade," a would-be screenwriter seeks answers after his buddy is replaced by someone new. He discovers a matching website for people who want to trade places.What if a stranger took over the part of your best friend? In "Life Trade," a would-be screenwriter seeks answers after his buddy is replaced by a stranger. He discovers a matching website for people who want to trade places.In the surreal style of Her and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this humorous short story imagines a possible future for technology -- a revolutionary online matchmaking service that can help an unhappy person find a fresh start in the life of someone else.

Gil's second flash fiction anthology adds more spice to the mix, especially when it comes to time. (You'll see what that means.) From horror and science fiction to comedy and romance, dive into 30 stories you can read quickly anytime, anywhere."Thirty More Stories" is the companion volume to "Thirty Stories," Gil C. Schmidt's collections of stories that fit on one page. Flash fiction is meant to delight the reader with quick bursts of imagery and emotion, and Gil's stories achieve that and much more. Ranging from horror to comedy, romance and science fiction, "Thirty More Stories" delivers fiction that can be read in mere minutes and enjoyed for days on end.

Jix is the manager of a fleabitten low rent space circus for Beccie Shannon. They are broke, so when someone offers them cash they have to take it, or starve. One rampaging Venusian swamp monster, and all hell breaks loose – can carny talents save them?A Gender Switch Adventure.Kendril is a Ghostwalker, a man bound by a solemn vow to seek penance for some mysterious dark sin in his past. When a chance encounter in the forest leads him to inadvertently rescue a woman named Jade, a woman who claims not to remember anything about who she is or what has happened to her, Kendril becomes her reluctant guardian.But after a gang of ruthless bounty hunters comes after Jade, Kendril finds himself thrown into a deadly game of cat and mouse where one wrong step will be his last. Now he must use every ounce of daring and cunning he has to escape with his life and to protect the woman he is growing to love, a woman with no past. But can he trust Jade, or will her secrets lead to his undoing?Ghostwalker is an action-packed novel of suspense set in the fantasy world of Zanthora. Filled with dark humor and a cast of diverse characters, it is the first book in the Chronicles of Zanthora, the relation of the Fourth War of Despair.

“I love you Simon. I wish I didn't, but I do. It’s destiny, as if I were made for you.” She looked up at Simon, her eyes big, twinkling, passionate, and tracking him perfectly. He felt as if he could fall into them.“I love you too,” Simon said. “But sometimes, love is not enough. Sometimes, loving someone, is just not-- right...”Carlos Robertson asks his long-time friend, Fredrick, for help with a problem of the heart. There are two women, one a lover, one a friend, but accidents of time, space and the flesh are obscuring the distinction in his feelings. Fredrick’s advice is on target, but not what Carlos wants to hear.

The battle of El Alamein in 1942 was one of the most crucial events in the entire Second World War. Before it, the British had never won a major battle on land against the Germans; nor indeed had anyone else, even the Russians. At Alamein the British Eighth Army first thwarted the Axis attempts in North Africa to seize Cairo and the Suez Canal and then smashed through the German-Italian defences, eventually driving the Axis forces out of North Africa. This victory, by a 'British' army actually composed of a variety of nationalities including men and women from the Indian sub-continent, southern Africa, Australians, New Zealanders, French and Greeks, as well as British troops, had psychological and morale-raising significance that exceeded even its strategic importance. Nothing had the sweet smell of success prior to this battle than El Alamein and for the battered British Empire battling against the might of the Third Reich this victory was crucial to its ability to continue...

Daniel Henstock thinks he’s an ordinary schoolboy but discovers he's the world’s first genetically-engineered human - codenamed Tiberius - and the man responsible wants him back to continue his deadly experiments. As his enemies close in Daniel must draw on resources he never knew he had to win his freedom - but in doing so he may be walking into a deadly trap ...What would you do if you discovered your whole life to be a lie?Daniel Henstock thinks he’s an ordinary schoolboy but on his sixteenth birthday his world is turned upside down. He is the world’s first one-hundred-percent genetically-engineered human - assigned the codename Tiberius - and Gregory Dryden, the man responsible, wants him back so that he can continue his deadly experiments.Running for his life, Daniel flees to New York and is forced to go ‘off-grid’. In this near-future America, where the security-obsessed authorities require citizens to carry DNA cards, Daniel meets the feisty and beautiful Eleanor. But by falling for her, Daniel also puts her in terrible danger.Daniel pursues the facts about his origins but is hunted by an agent sent by Dryden to bring him to heel. Can Daniel find out the truth whilst trying to evade those who think they own him? As his enemies close in Daniel must draw on resources he never knew he had to win his freedom - but in doing so he may be walking into a deadly trap ...TIBERIUS FOUND is the first installment in a thrilling series - The Emperor Initiative - that introduces an engaging new hero that will appeal to fans of Alex Rider and Jason Bourne.

Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning: three of the most interesting painters to flourish in male-dominated Surrealism. This is Christopher Barzak’s tribute to them, three stories and an essay that enter into a humane surrealism which turns away from the unconscious and toward magic. Sometimes the stories themselves seem to be paintings. Sometimes painter and writer may be characters, regarding each other through a painful otherness, talking in shared secrets. Barzak’s stories are huge with the spacious strangeness of worlds where there is always more room for a woman to escape her tormenters, or outgrow an older self. Here we find a bird-maker and a star-catcher whose shared history spills over into the birds and the stars themselves; a girl who outgrows her clothes, her house, and finally her town—and leaves to find her body a new home; a landlord, whose marriage, motherhood, separation, sexual exploration, and excursions into self-portraiture all take place within a single apartment building. In “Remembering the body: Reconstructing the Female in Surrealism,” Barzak comments on the images that inspired these stories and discusses his own position as a writer among painters.

Seventeen-year-old Aidan Lockwood lives in the sleepy farming community of Temperance, Ohio--known for its cattle ranches and not much else. That is, until Jarrod, a friend he hasn't seen in five years, moves back to town and opens Aidan's eyes in startling ways: to Aidan's ability to see the spirit world; to the red-bearded specter of Death; to a family curse that has claimed the lives of the Lockwood men one by one . . . and to the new feelings he has developed for Jarrod.

Fantasy. 11328 words long. First published in Realms of Fantasy, April 2005 Nebula Award Preliminary Ballot Nominee

The Jindaberg Jets season is well underway, but the Jets are still without a win and the team is out of sorts. Charles seems to have lost his ability to score goals - coincidentally, he's also lost his special boots! Meanwhile, Benji is struggling with co-captain Charlotte's super serious approach to training. The search for the missing boots begins, and in this case, everyone's a suspect! Will the two champion Charlies be able solve this mystery AND find their winning form?