Big If A Novel

Mark Costello's kaleidoscopic novel weaves together the stories of three people who multiply when their chief, Felker, realizes that he is better at planning attacks than foiling them, and disappears. While the team struggles to protect the V.P. and discover the whereabouts of their most dangerous threat, they must also contend with their unravelling personal lives. With Felker on the loose, the election just days away and family traumas abounding Costello seamlessly interlaces the team's burgeoning troubles. Big If juggles assassination threats with school runs and political victories with growing personal crises. It is a gripping, giddying, utterly original novel that will exhilarate and unnerve its readers in equal measure.

A scary, funny novel—a riff on recent history and the American obsession with assassination. It's winter in New Hampshire, the economy is booming, the vice president is running for president, and his Secret Service people are very, very tense. Meet Vi Asplund, a young Secret Service agent mourning her dead father. She goes home to New Hampshire to see her brother Jens, a computer genius who just might be going mad—and is poised to make a fortune on Big If, a viciously nihilistic computer game aimed at teenagers. Vi's America, as she sees it in the crowds, in her brother, and in her fellow agents, is affluent, anxious, and abuzz with vague fantasies of violence. Through a gallery of vivid characters—heroic, ignoble, or desperate—Mark Costello's hilarious novel limns the strategies, both sound and absurd, that we conjure to survive in daily life.

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 1. I’m in a coma. 2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. 3. Sometimes I lie. Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

Discusses activities astronauts do while they're in space.

A guide to writing a full-length transformational nonfiction book, from an editor with two decades' experience working in publishing. "I know I have a book in me." "I've always wanted to be an author." "People always ask me when I'm going to write my book." "I have a story to tell, but I never seem to make time to write." Are you a thought leader, healer, or change-agent stuck at the starting line of book publication? Life coach and publishing industry insider Kelly Notaras offers a clear, step-by-step path for turning your transformational idea or story into a finished book as quickly as possible. With humor, encouragement, and common sense, she demystifies the publishing process so you can get started, keep writing, and successfully get your wisdom out into the world. Notaras guides you through: Getting clear on your motivation for writing a book, Crafting a powerful, compelling hook and strong internal book structure, Overcoming resistance and writer's block, and Getting your finished manuscript onto the printed page, whether through traditional publishing or self-publishing. Publishing a book has never been as simple, accessible, and affordable as it is today, and in our tumultuous world, readers need your healing voice. Be brave, be bold, and take the steps you need to share your message with those who need to hear it most.

The record-breaking phenomenon from Elizabeth Kostova is a celebrated masterpiece that "refashioned the vampire myth into a compelling contemporary novel, a late-night page-turner" (San Francisco Chronicle). Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family’s past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe—in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world. “Part thriller, part history, part romance...Kostova has a keen sense of storytelling and she has a marvelous tale to tell.” —Baltimore Sun

If he had been with me everything would have been different... I wasn't with Finn on that August night. But I should've been. It was raining, of course. And he and Sylvie were arguing as he drove down the slick road. No one ever says what they were arguing about. Other people think it's not important. They do not know there is another story. The story that lurks between the facts. What they do not know—the cause of the argument—is crucial. So let me tell you...

From bestselling author Frances O’Roark Dowell comes a fresh and accessible guide to storytelling that breaks down the sometimes-daunting writing process into straightforward, doable steps, just right for budding writers! If you’ve written anything, ever, you’re already a writer—so, congratulations! As many aspiring authors know, though, telling an actual, complete story is, well, a different story. As unfinished drafts pile up and writers’ block strikes, it may start to feel like there’s a special formula to finishing a project that you’re just not getting. But crafting a story isn’t magic, if you have a little know-how! And here it is—know-how! In her witty, clever way, critically acclaimed author Frances O’Roark Dowell explains the storytelling process with simple, easy-to-understand steps. Follow along as she shares sample stories and identifies building blocks and obstacles to conquer—all hilariously illustrated, in a way that’ll have you typing all the way to the end of your own story. In addition to writing many books including Shooting the Moon and Dovey Coe, Frances O’Roark Dowell has over a decade’s experience teaching writing workshops for kids. Ready, set, write!