The US had been struggling for a while, with slower economic growth, declining birth rates, increased political and cultural tensions, and fear of environmental collapse. However, in 2031, a popular senator from Texas by the name of Ryan Shaye had announced his run. His campaign began in earnest, appealing to multiple sets of voters at once. He appealed to y...
This essay is the antidote to the mind-numbing horde of self-help gurus clogging up the best seller list with their recycled platitudes and hyphenated feel-good life-strategies. Have you ever known anyone who actually benefited from a self-help book (besides the author?) It's time to get real, folks. It's time to embrace a life-strategy that follows the path...
Morning light slanted through the towering windows of the Laurent penthouse, painting long golden streaks across the marble floors. Thirty stories above Manhattan, the city pulsed below—a restless, glittering beast of power and ambition. From this height, everything seemed distant, muted, insignificant. But within these walls, the fate of an empire hung in t...
CHAPTER 1 Stocky and dressed decidedly behind fashion, Felicity Lott handed the CEO the file and said, "You wanted our best employee for the job. Well here she is, the only downside being age." Gavin Stone scowled, making a face threatening to dogs, infants, little old ladies and executives on the mat facing abrupt termination. It even made Felicity, head...
Trini, an art model, was often nude. Totally nude, as the lustful eyes of young artists gazed upon her firm, supple form with thinly veiled hunger. Yes, Trini was tall and tan, young and lovely, though not from Ipanema. And yet today, Trini was not nude. At least not yet. Trini knew that silky, skimpy lingerie teased not only the viewer, but also the wearer....
Part Two - The Mask in the Mist. I was there. When magick made a bridge of mist and a prince's seed made an unborn king, I Maer Maerlyn was there, a petty dabbling sorcerer stealing love like a thief. After the solstice and ceremony of the Sun, when Nym Nymue was made consort and queen, the Lady went her way and I the Maerlyn went mine. Both our paths ran...
The City of Ottawa, Ontario, had been Zainab Ali's residence for the past six months. She'd moved there from her hometown of Al Qahirah, Egypt, intent on obtaining a Master's degree in Technology Innovation Management at the University of Ottawa. She already had a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Melbourne, back in Australia. In...
"Tell me Mister Challiner," I looked into those eyes, those steel hard, blue eyes, set in that smiling face, the face that told me that she thought she had me right where she wanted me. "Tell me," She was making this a personal question not one for the Judge, not one for the jury, this was between myself and her. "On the night of the 23rd of August, where ex...
When I posted the first part of this story I fully expected a barrage of indignant comments about my religious viewpoint. But none appeared. Could it be that those who would normally emerge from wherever to criticise me did not read beyond the opening statement, choosing instead to write it off as blasphemy? Or could it be that they could find no answer othe...
The mysterious Cristobal Balenciaga... These words lingered in my brain as I walked off the business class section of the international flight and into Arkhangelsk's Talagi Airport's peculiar, mdf-walled inner-sleeve tunnel behind the actual walls of the short-term stop-over area. It was, 15 degrees below zero Centigrade in still air, and there was that ofte...