Anne In the mid 1970s I would sometimes travel from my apartment in San Francisco to spend the weekend at a former girl-scout camp in the mountains. We called it a "poor-man's Esalen" because for only $30 a person could participate in encounter groups, tai chi, massage, and various games with strangers and the occasional returnee I would recognize from prev...
Narlissa Quickhands, half-elf and master thief, took a deep breath to steady her nerve. In front of her a demonic portal raged, unnaturally black and its edges rippling with violent red fire. Around her the elves of the village shrunk back away from the portal and she did not blame them. It was terrifying. She took one last glance at Tathal who lay on his s...
Apocalyptic Lovers: Life Begins to Revive I suggest you read Apocalyptic Lovers before getting into this sequel. ***** Following the massive meteor strike near Kansas City, a strong earthquake had moved in a wave across the entire North American continent. Megatons of dust, rocks and dirt had been hurled into the atmosphere. The resulting dust and dirt c...
"I am not really... normal," I said, blushing with embarrassment. "Who's truly 'normal?'" she countered. "For that matter, what's 'normal' anymore?" We sat on a bench near the small lake at the edge of campus, the faint sound of a bass emanating from a nearby dorm. The student who was playing was definitely good, although hearing the same segment of musi...
Gordon: Five days after Hector fucked her, I got a phone call at the house. It was Conchita. She sounded nervous. Her voice was cracking, but what I could make out was she wanted me to come over to help her move the refrigerator. Lame excuses, I'm thinking, but if that's what it takes for her to get her courage up, fine. I get to the front door and she's in...
Alex's hands began to glow in anger over the comment thrown at his face. He would have love nothing more than to fry this guy to ashes, but he couldn't forget the greater good. "I didn't leave my grandfather. Ever since my birth he knew I was different. He more or less accepted that I had to go." "Not for nothin' man, but I really don't care. I've had a ha...
He stopped running, hit the button on his watch and started his cool down walk up the driveway. In the pre-dawn light he could see the well secluded home through the trees. To the casual observer no one would have noticed the outside lights along the drive and around landscaped were out; but to those that knew would have known the lights were never off. He...
Tic, toc, tic toc is all I could hear. Have you ever had one of those nights when all your energy is gone, yet you cannot go to sleep? Of course you have, we all have. But this one is different; this one was the 7th night in a row that I could not sleep. All the troubles of the world seemed to be on my shoulder and they just kept piling on, and on, and o...
The key to an authentic salsa is in the roasting of the peppers, preferably over an open flame, but a stovetop will also do the trick if no other option is available at the time. Both the red pepper and jalapeño started to bounce on the ceramic as the contents within began to steam. They danced almost to a rhythm while never straying far from the center of...
Whenever I tell people that I am married to a beautiful, wonderful man of African descent, they find this strange. Especially once they find out what my background is. My name is Lilah Afzal. I was born in the town of Antoura in a mountainous region of the Republic of Lebanon, but my parents, Joseph and Miriam Afzal moved to the town of Montreal in the Quebe...