The Fire People

Set in the ironmaking town of Merthyr Tydfil, The Fire People is the story of Dic Penderyn who in 1831 became the first Welsh Martyr of the working class. Hanged for a crime that he did not commit, his story is told in this powerful novel which describes the events which took place during the famous Merthyr Tydfil riots of 1831.

Invaders from Mercury! The invaders from Mercury came in ships designed to look like asteroids. Thus did they avoid detection from the unsuspecting humans until they began to lay waste to entire cities. The women of Mercury are winged, but must have their wings clipped when they marry. But would human men allow them to keep their wings and their freedom? When the humans start to fight back some of the Mercurian woman begin to wonder. A rip roaring adventure from the beginning of the Science Fiction Age.

It is a time of fire. A small band of pioneers struggle valiantly to keep their ancestors' dreams alive in an unforgiving, drought-stricken land. Driven by the promise of an awesome vision, a heroic young dreamer and a fearless woman warrior unite to lead their people to a magnificent destiny. A towering epic filled with tragedy and triumph, courage and conflict, People of the Fire is the second compelling novel in a majestic saga of America's first peoples. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Chapter I. THE COMING OF THE LIGHT. The first of the new meteors landed on the earth in November, 1940. It was discovered by a farmer in his field near Brookline, Massachusetts, shortly after daybreak on the morning of the 11th. Astronomically, the event was recorded by the observatory at Harvard as the sudden appearance of what apparently was a new star, increasing in the short space of a few hours from invisibility to a power beyond that of the first magnitude, and then as rapidly fading again to invisibility. This star was recorded by two of the other great North American observatories, and by one in the Argentine Republic. That it was comparatively small in mass and exceedingly close to the earth, even when first discovered, was obvious. All observers agreed that it was a heavenly body of an entirely new order. The observatory at Harvard supplemented its account by recording the falling, just before dawn of the 11th, of an extraordinarily brilliant meteor that flamed with a curious red and green light as it entered the earth's atmosphere. This meteor did not burn itself out, but fell, still retaining its luminosity, from a point near the zenith, to the horizon. What the farmer saw was a huge fire burning near the center of his field. It was circular in form and about thirty feet in diameter. He was astonished to see it there, but what surprised him more was its peculiar aspect. It was still the twilight of dawn when he reached the field. He beheld the fire first from a point several hundred yards away. As he explained it, the light--for it was more aptly described as a light than a fire--extended in parallel rays from the ground directly upward into the sky. He could see no line of demarkation where it ended at the top. It seemed to extend into the sky an infinite distance. It was, in fact, as though an enormous searchlight were buried in his field, casting its beam of light directly upward.

The first of the new meteors landed on the earth in November, 1940. It was discovered by a farmer in his field near Brookline, Massachusetts, shortly after daybreak on the morning of the 11th. Astronomically, the event was recorded by the observatory at Harvard as the sudden appearance of what apparently was a new star, increasing in the short space of a few hours from invisibility to a power beyond that of the first magnitude, and then as rapidly fading again to invisibility. This star was recorded by two of the other great North American observatories, and by one in the Argentine Republic. That it was comparatively small in mass and exceedingly close to the earth, even when first discovered, was obvious. All observers agreed that it was a heavenly body of an entirely new order.

Long ago the people of Dahomey told a tale of the days when the world was new, and the only Earth people were animals. They lived in cold and darkness because Mawu, the selfish Moon god, kept all the fire to herself. At last, little Chameleon and slow Tortoise, working together, found a way to outwit Mawu.

“[A] gracefully narrated, arrestingly illustrated myth originating from the Karuk people” about a coyote who steals fire and shares it with the world (Publishers Weekly). There was a time when the animals had no way to keep warm in the winter, because the miserly Yellow Jackets kept fire for themselves at their mountaintop home. But wise old Coyote devised a plan to trick the Yellow Jackets and steal a burning ember. As the Yellow Jackets give chase, Coyote passes the ember to Eagle, who then passes it to Mountain Lion, and so on. The animals work together, using their individual strengths and abilities, to get the ember down from the mountain where it is kept inside a willow tree. This delightful retelling of the legend from the Karuk people of Northwestern California is enlivened by beautiful illustrations and includes an afterword by Julian Long, a member of the Karuk tribe.

On Fire at Work flies in the face of other books on workplace culture by showing that employee engagement isn’t the ultimate goal—it is merely the starting point. Renowned leadership expert Eric Chester has gone straight to the source—top-tier leaders of the world’s best places to work to uncover their best practice strategies for getting employees to work harder, perform better, and stay longer. On Fire at Work features examples and original stories from exclusive personal interviews with over 25 founders/CEOs/presidents of companies like Marriott, Siemens, BB&T Bank, Wegmans, 7-Eleven, Hormel, Canadian WestJet, Ben & Jerry’s, and The Container Store, along with smaller companies like Firehouse Subs, the Nerdery, and Build-A-Bear. The guiding principle is that any organization in any industry—from Fortune 500 firms to mom-and-pop shops—can learn how to bring out the very best in their employees. The book’s content-rich research and conversational case study-based narrative make it a timely, actionable go-to reference on employee performance and productivity for C-level execs, corporate and government managers, HR professionals, and small business owners. On Fire at Work is a practical field guide that any organization can implement to build, not an engaged workforce, but a workforce that is on fire!