Flaming Floorboards

Are you tired of cleaning spiders out of your gas gauge? Have you driven for miles wondering what that funny smell was, only to discover your seat was on fire? Did your tender first kiss leave your date needing medical attention? If you can answer "yes" to all three questions, you're probably the author of this book. "Flaming Floorboards" is a true account of these and many similar adventures which befell the author, a man who ambled through life adopting stray cars the way other people adopt stray cats. He came of automotive age during the 1960's, the golden age of muscle cars. Surrounded by Camaros, Mustangs, Super Birds, and their ilk, his dream car was a Stanley Steamer. (Looking back, the author admits it may not have been a coincidence that he didn't get many dates.) He never did get a Stanley, but over the years he drove thousands of miles in cars such as a Model A Ford, a Jaguar E-Type, a pair of mid-60’s Chevy Impalas, a handful of MG's, and other memorable automobiles. These were not shiny classics when he drove them. They were rusted hulks that he rescued from the salvage yard. In his struggles to keep these rolling wrecks on the road he encountered people like Fr. Dupree, a reporter/pool shark turned Episcopal priest; Luis Riccotto, the proprietor of Riccotto and Sons Imported motors; and Otis Swineheart, a man of few words and fewer teeth. "Flaming Floorboards" is a warm and funny story about an extraordinary cast of cars and characters.

The dragon Gern Vernyx has lost his fire! It's up to Alexander and McKenna, a first year wizard and druid, to find the Primordial Flame and rekindle Gern's flame before it's too late. With the help of Lylla the unicorn, Gadagong the narpyet, Dame Emily the ghostly witch and Eclipse a dragon from the Third Plane of Hell, the two young mages journey through magical Midgard to save their family and the Imperium from destruction. On their adventure they learn the importance of trusting in themselves and in each other, but will it be enough when they are faced with the betrayal of a trusted family friend?

STONY MAN For the seasoned warriors of America's most elite and covert defense unit, each mission could be their last. Now a grim Presidential directive comes down hard, green-lighting a desperate search-and-destroy operation where minutes count. An unknown entity is in possession of one of the deadliest weapons known to man, sounding a death knell for nations across the globe. NEUTRON CANNON It kills instantly. No heat, no noise, no radiation. Just silent, invisible slaughter from ultra-fast subatomic particles. The death toll mounts in a random, controlled carnage that is sending a clear message of absolute power—while leaving false trails and conflicting clues. No nation can defend itself against the unilateral destructive power of a particle beam weapon. Stony Man's only option is to destroy it. But first they must find it….

In this nail-biting political thriller, cinematographer Thane Adams films a documentary in Africa, when he comes across villages where the natives have died en masse. As Ebola and other deadly viruses are discounted as the cause of these mass deaths, Thane’s plans to use his disaster footage on TV news are totally disrupted when thugs posing as CIA agents try to detain him in New York. When Thane finds his publicist murdered and meets Danielle Wilkes, who’s being chased by the same goons, they both realize that they are caught in an overpowering web of conspiracy. The villages in Africa were simply a test––the true purpose of the deadly force––a plot by Muslim Militants who have captured a new technology to destroy cities in the United States. The deadly “city killer bomb” is ironically named “The Dove.” As this prophetic tale continues, one man and one woman battle against an ominous new technology that could kill millions and alter the world balance of power forever. There are 14 days until the ultimate horror is unleashed. The countdown begins––only 14 pivotal, spine-tingling days until the Day of the Dove.

As Kurt Vonnegut, Indiana's most famous writer, once remarked, "Wherever you go, there is always a Hoosier doing something important there." A Flame Called Indiana features 65 writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have all had the pleasure of being Hoosiers at one time or another. Curated by the Indiana University Bloomington creative writing department, this diverse anthology features everything from the immigrant experience to the Indianapolis 500 to science fiction. Altogether, the work stands testament to the vibrancy and creativity of this Midwest state. An excellent gift for your favorite reader and an important resource for creative writers, A Flame Called Indiana serves as both a chronicle of where Indiana's writing is today and a beacon to those who'll take it where it's going next.

Once again Athelstan must enter the murky world of murder, where nothing is as it seems. February, 1381. London lies frozen in the grip of one of the bitterest winters on record. The ever-rising taxes demanded by the Regent, John of Gaunt, are causing increasing resentment among the city’s poor. The seething unrest boils over into a bloody massacre at a splendid Southwark tavern, The Candle Flame, in which nine people, including Gaunt’s tax collectors, are brutally murdered. The furious Regent orders Brother Athelstan to get to the bottom of the matter. For not only has Gaunt’s treasure trove been stolen, he has reason to believe a French spy is active along the Thames, carefully recording for his masters the state of English war cogs. And a professional assassin, Beowulf, who has sworn vengeance against Gaunt and his minions, also stalks the shadows... An exceptional tale of mystery and the underworld from a master of the genre, perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell, S G MacLean and C. J. Sansom.

Set in an alternate Europe where bloody conflicts rage, the fourth book of the Crown of Stars epic fantasy series continues the world-shaking conflict for the survival of humanity Far beyond the borders of Wendar and Varre, Alain, Liath, Sanglant, and King Henry must make their separate journeys, following twisting roads which will nevertheless lead them all to one fated moment in time…. Lost and alone in an unknown country, Alain is caught in a desperate struggle for survival even as he finds himself unwittingly drawn into the heart of an ancient conflict between humankind and the Cursed Ones…. Torn away from Sanglant and their child by creatures not born of earth, Liath faces her most difficult trial in a land of exile. Only there can she hope to discover her true parentage and the nature and extent of her unique powers…. Still staggered by the loss of his wife, the bastard prince Sanglant is nevertheless determined to seek out his father, King Henry, and bring warning of the conspiracy of sorcerers who’ve sworn to put an end to the Aoi, the Lost Ones—no matter how much destruction may be unleashed by their workings of magic…. But King Henry’s attention is not on his own troubled realm but rather on the throne of Aosta and the imperial crown, unclaimed for two generations. Even as a Quman army ravages the Wendish countryside, Henry marches south, ignoring the pleas of his beleaguered subjects…. And as the tides of war and magic wreak havoc across the lands, the great Cataclysm, long foretold in the stars, draws inexorably closer….

The gift of tongues, prophecy exorcism. . . what might such concepts mean in a complacent backwater of North London? For Richard Bowen, adolescence becomes a nightmare when his parents join the charismatic movement and find a devil in his brother. Winner of the Somerset Maugham and Betty Trask Awards.