Mad Men Of The Mountains

'The mountains have a habit of bringing out the best in people, despite the hardships that rain, hail and snow often throw in. In fact, it's only after a bit of adversity comes along that a person's true character comes to the fore. Those with a love for the hills take these things on the chin and just get on with enjoying it.' Once described as 'Barry Crump meets Fred Dagg', 'Big Al' Lester is the modern-day master of the hunting genre. Mad Men of the Mountains – Al's seventh collection of yarns – is another rollicking ride through New Zealand's wild outdoors, a countryside he so obviously loves. Armed with his rucksack, a rifle and a keen sense of humour, Al and his mates encounter all manner of beasts that got in the way and many a curly situation to test their mettle. Plenty of off-the-wall adventure for the hunting mad and hard case! Also available as an eBook

Reveling in the consumerist decadence of AMC’s infamous advertising house Sterling Cooper, this complementary volume to the groundbreaking series Mad Men provides behind-the-scenes revelations, episode guides, cast biographies, and rich sidebar content, including “How to Party Like the Mad Men.” Delving beneath the glitz and glamour to highlight the workings of a sophisticated modern classic, this definitive fan guide also offers fascinating sociological context and cultural analysis. The details of historical ad campaigns that are woven into the show’s storylines are provided—such as Volkswagen Beetle’s landmark “Think Small” campaign, the Nixon/Kennedy presidential push, and the creation of Lucky Strike’s “It’s toasted” slogan. This is the ultimate guide to a series that has been praised by the New York Times, Time magazine, and USA Today.

Skye Fargo tangles with trouble in a town full of lunatic lawmen... Skye Fargo learns that his former partner has been hanged by the sheriff—on the word of the Lord. When the hell-bent sheriff threatens to hang him next, Fargo knows he's really lost his mind.

Rock and roll started as a devil's dance and a shout of ecstasy, and ever since it has carved its path between those who want to control it and those who want to push it to the edge - or over the edge. A blend of profile, criticism, investigative reporting, and history, Moguls and Madmen is a compelling look at today's often explosive, at times out-of-control, music industry. It's a collection of stories from the culture's shadow world - tales of guns and gangs, sex and drugs, greed and lawsuits - told through the eyes of both the moguls seeking power and money and the artists seeking fame and fortune.

Once described as 'Barry Crump meets Fred Dagg', 'Big Al' Lester is the modern-day master of the hunting genre. 'I'm often asked what inspired me to take up writing yarns about the mishaps and mayhem that I have endured while venturing into the New Zealand bush.' 'In truth, I am an average to poor hunter who has had more hunting cock-ups than the rest of the country combined. For every deer I've successfully shot, dozens have escaped only to hide in the bush peering back at me, clearly laughing at my stupidity. I have always managed to see the funny side of the situation and had a good old laugh at myself. I began to wonder if my stuff-ups, with a bit of humour and mayhem thrown in, might just make for good reading – the oddball, unusual, humorous, weird and fun side of hunting – and gave it a go. I must have got something right.'—'Big Al' Lester It's a Bit Rugged, Mate compiles the biggest and best yarns from Big Al's first three books – plenty of fun for those with a good keen sense of humour and a love for New Zealand's wild outdoors. Also available as an eBook

Author House Review: The Sixth Coming is set within an original mythology to fascinating results. It combines vividly realized characters with spiritual themes and elements of Aztec lore. There is an incredible array of exciting sequences that could provide great material for adapting this work into another medium. Due to the nontraditional structure and storytelling style, live theater could be an interesting option. Film is another option; perhaps animation could make the most of the impressive locations, creatures, and spectacles. There are several elements that are very well suited for a film or theater piece. Because both these mediums usually feature the interactions between characters, the strong personalities of The Sixth Coming are essential to capture. Soyala is a great heroine—from her borderline petulance over the Builder’s gift to her reluctant and confused acceptance of her destiny. She isn’t perfect, which makes her all the more compelling as she overcomes overwhelming odds. Kajika, Burilgi, and the Minstrel are wonderful supporting characters. Each of these brothers has his own distinct personality, and their squabbling provides comic relief. Burilgi and the Minstrel in particular provide humor. Kajika could bring in sex appeal for female audiences while Soyala and Xochiquetzal could do so for males. Xochiquetzal/Tona-teootl is a fascinating villain. Her sinister sexuality when welcoming Soyala and Kajika could play very well in a film. The later scenes on the Barge are thrilling due to Tona-teootl’s increasingly evident madness. These scenes would provide terrific moments for an actor to really chew up the scenery.

Prologue Spring, Colorado, 1981 ONE of the severest winters in North American history exploded in a cataclysm of spring madness: rushing water, melting snow and ice thundered down the Colorado Rocky Mountains rearranging the high country and lowlands beyond recognition. Boulders torn from the warming earth crashed into trees; revised river courses and blocked creeks. Acres of uprooted pine littered the valley floors, glistened in the March sunshine. Yet this insanity had ended swiftly when nature blew away her winter temper and the warm Chinook winds breathed merciful life into the devastation. Stunned, mountain animals moved through the ruins like humans after a bombing raid: mooching ill tempered among the debris they scavenged for food; beavers utilised fallen timber to build underwater lodges away from the grizzly he-bear who lived on Devil Mountain! Named for its twin horned peaks, Devil Mountain was a fourteen thousand feet colossus dominating the wilderness with incomparable magnificence. Situated on the eastern fringe of the Roan Plateau skirting the Arapaho National Forest, it dwarfed everything. Billions of tons of impregnable landmass gouged from the earth’s core before the Ice Age had merged into a vast tangle of rock sweeping savagely to the sky; thrusting from the morass the mammoth devil-horns soared forever upward beyond the clouds. A terrifying presence plagued by the cruellest elements, Devil Mountain was shrouded with superstition of missing men who had ventured too high, was loathed, feared for the he-bear who prowled its awesome spaces. Like his mountain home the grizzly was majestic. Eight hundred pound Titan, he was the supreme power among animals. Eight feet tall on powerful hind legs, his call would fill the big country and meadows below warning of his dominance and perpetual anger. Nor did he like Man, or male lion from the nearby box canyon constantly urged by his mate to reclaim old territory from the he-bear. There had been friction between bear and cats since their arrival four seasons ago. Dismissing his enemies, he hurried along the wind line, the heady pleasure of his old female’s smell strong in his nostrils. She would be with the two cubs. Unlike other males, he loved his family. Above, a female eagle planed over the valley surveying winter’s legacy and land creatures eluding the he-bear. She’d watch awhile before collecting her mate: like the bear, she too had opposition in the box canyon where her mate flew with a new female from the south. Cresting a rise the grizzly bounded into the pine forest tottering on the steep approaches to his mountain. Totally his mountain! Born there, he had lived, loved and hunted through the seasons there, and one day would lie down and rest there. Forever! But today he was jubilant as spring fever arose from the ashes of winter: thawed ice and snow promised an abundance of fish and beaver and tiny the tiny roots he craved, but most of all the return of his mate and cubs. Stopping to fish in the creek dissecting the scrub below the mountain, he became excited at the thought of seeing her and the cubs. He knew they’d come to play here below the big timber and his mountain home. A stiff wind flung their scent. Growling approval he galloped off, his great bulk hurdling nimbly over the fallen pine. Moving to the far edge of the forest where the ground fell sharply into a narrow defile bordering the scrub, he stopped at a familiar odour: Man with his loud instrument of death was stalking his family. Off wind line they would not detect his smell. Climbing a tree, he saw them romping in a fold of the ground farther along the creek. His warning cry was reduced to a moan as they failed to hear. Jumping down he stood on his hind legs, angrily beat his chest with his paws, roar echoing defiantly throughout the valley. Enjoying her offspring his mate never heard. With enormous strides leapt over the defile and bounded towards the fold in the land. Arr

Introduction by China Miéville Long acknowledged as a master of nightmarish visions, H. P. Lovecraft established the genuineness and dignity of his own pioneering fiction in 1931 with his quintessential work of supernatural horror, At the Mountains of Madness. The deliberately told and increasingly chilling recollection of an Antarctic expedition’s uncanny discoveries–and their encounter with untold menace in the ruins of a lost civilization–is a milestone of macabre literature. This exclusive new edition, presents Lovecraft’s masterpiece in fully restored form, and includes his acclaimed scholarly essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature.” This is essential reading for every devotee of classic terror.