EXCERPT 'This is an extract early on in A Blend of Magic where The Enchanted Emporium in its restored state is introduced and Willow’s life is about to be thrown into turmoil with one customer.' The golden glow from a traditional gaslight acted as a beacon to all who stumbled down Black Cat Alley. It guided them to their reward for walking off the beaten track and following their instinct rather than any advertisements. The cream-painted compact building stood proudly betwee

THE BLURB When it began... Bobbi is caught in a convenience store holdup. One of the robbers wants more than cash, and orders her to her knees. She fights back, and in the ensuing chaos an oddly behaving customer takes two bullets, yet remains standing. Suddenly the two armed goons are no longer Bobbi’s biggest problem. Officers Jay Langley and Jenny Chan are called to an apartment building where someone has reportedly attacked several people. They find the broken bodies of t

EXCERPT FROM 'PHYLL TO HER FRIENDS' Background & Early Childhood If you'd ever met Phyllis, my mother, you would remember her. Her father’s family had given her Celtic looks with large blue/grey eyes and, as she always said, her father's nose. She hadn’t got her mother’s curly red hair but just a gentle wave in her dark Welsh locks. But more than that, she would have greeted you warmly and asked questions in genuine interest about you. She would also have shared lots about he

AN EXCERPT FROM 'WOLFEN' “What happened to you after Gerry died?” Sinna almost choked on a bite of squirrel. She coughed, and took a sip of pine tea to clear her airways. “Where did that come from?” He shrugged, set a finished arrow aside, and took up another raw stick. “You’re so good at coaxing others to talk, you never say much yourself.” “There’s not much to say, really,” she hedged. “Event A: Your caretaker and the only person you’ve ever known and lived with since Chern

BEYOND THE MIST – PART TWO IMPERVIOUS Two years on from the Thompson family’s chilling encounter in North Yorkshire, the treacherous mist finally lifted. The spacecraft, veiled by the ghostly fog for many months, had also taken flight. During those last two years, however, the mysterious weather phenomenon had allegedly claimed a further two victims. A father of four children, grandfather of ten grandchildren, widower Michael Topham, 73, had been reported missing by his daugh

CHAPTER ONE THE PROPOSAL The peeling plastered walls, painted white to brighten them up made Patsy Diamond shudder. Prison would be anyone’s nightmare, she was sure of that and it made her skin crawl. Hearing the lock in the door and the jangle of keys, the warder entered. She looked up as women started walking into the visiting room full of plastic chairs and tables. It was hard to see who she was looking for, they all looked the same in their prison uniforms. The women’s fa

TWELVE Chelsea had left Beth at the coffee shop after about an hour of getting to know each other. Beth had been "on the job" for two years after deciding her prior profession as a programmer was dull. Thus, Beth enrolled at the Police Academy, and it agreed with her. "Now, here I am, with an exciting job where I can help people." So, they parted ways, with Chelsea promising to call upon her if she needed a friend, and then began the drive home. During the drive, the image of

Chapter 4 The boys do some snooping at the new teacher’s house Ms. Pickle noticed that Mr. Parkin’s desk contained many framed family photos. “I see you have a big family,” she said. “Yes, I do, but I wish I had more time to spend with them. It’s more than a full-time job being a principal,” he confessed while staring at one of the more recent family pictures. “Well, summer will be here in a few months, and you’ll have more time to spend with them.” Ms. Pickle straightened he

Extract from 'The Devil’s Halo' THE LABYRINTH Yes, I am Daedalus, original designer of the Labyrinth of Knossos in which the Minotaur was housed. That was more than three thousand years ago. I am more famous now for inventing the wings that helped me to escape Crete after I fell afoul of King Minos. My son came with me and died when he flew too high. It is often said the sun melted the wax that held together the feathers of his wings but that isn’t true. We know that when we

Chapter 2 Lord Gorab of the Sabres, Chief of The Hills, shifted his weight on the ring of twisted bark and furs sitting on his wooden throne. His piles always played up when he was bored. He had seen off his entire troop of fighting cocks that morning already, and most of the pacifist ones too. He’d had some slaves flogged and then had the flogger flogged, and now he was back in his palatial tent with nothing to do but stare at the ancestral tapestries and painted skins surro