Showing results by narrator "Allyson Johnson" in All Categories

Twelve science fiction stories about the oncoming future, each of them representing a possible glimpse of what could be just around the corner... or much further down the corridor. These stories previously appeared in places like Clarkesworld Magazine, The Year's Best SF, Subterranean Magazine, and in various anthologies. They deal with the future of war, our climate, and technology's effect on our lives.

The Exiled Leader: He was known as the Butcher of Jonasport. Zander Krycek made a choice that saved his world of Ithaca, but doomed his reputation and banished him to a planet far, far away. The Evil Empire: The Orlov Combine intends to swallow Ithaca in the same way they have devoured so many worlds, creating a "company planet" where the residents are litle beter than slaves.

Most Western democracies have few or no people serving life sentences, yet here in the United States more than 200,000 people are sentenced to such prison terms. Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis of The Sentencing Project argue that there is no practical or moral justification for a sentence longer than 20 years. A thoughtful and stirring call to action, The Meaning of Life also features moving profiles of a half dozen people affected by life sentences, written by former “lifer” and award-winning writer Kerry Myers.

Mari N. Crabtree traces the long afterlife of lynching in the South through the traumatic memories it left in its wake. African American victims and survivors had to find a way to live through and beyond the horrors of lynching. Crabtree offers a theory of African American collective trauma and memory rooted in a strategy for “working through” trauma that has long existed within the African American cultural tradition: the ironic spirit of the blues sensibility—a spirit of misdirection and cunning that blends joy and pain.

Jantine is a Beta, a genetically modified super soldier charged with establishing a hidden colony on Earth. When her expedition arrives in the middle of a civil war, she must choose her allies wisely or be exterminated. Featuring complex characters and edge-of-your-seat action sequences, Homefront will have listeners guessing until the last tick.

These 75 flash nonfiction pieces, written by internationally celebrated women authors and dazzlingly hilarious newcomers, are no flashes in the pan: They provide a feast of insights, generously garnished with wit, spice, and an exhilarating attention to craft. In Fast Funny Women, you'll find everything you want from thoughtful essays in a short, delicious form. Perfect for students of writing, writers of humor, and all fans who welcome laughter, insight, and perspective into their lives.

The Land of Nod used to be just a name in a nursery rhyme to Wren. But when she discovered the secret magic of stardust, she learned that some of those rhymes had secrets of their own - and the Land of Nod is real. A few months ago, the evil Magician Boggen attempted to escape his exile on Nod and return to Earth. Wren stopped him, but Boggen is still out there. To save her world, Wren will travel farther than even she could have dreamed: to the heart of Nod itself, where she must defeat Boggen once and for all.

In this anthology of creative nonfiction, 28 writers set out to discover what they know, and don't know, about the person they call Mother. Celebrated writers Samia Serageldin and Lee Smith have curated a diverse and insightful collection that challenges stereotypes about mothers and expands our notions of motherhood in the South. The mothers in these essays were shaped, for good and bad, by the economic and political crosswinds of their time.

When Jill McCorkle feels a short story coming on, she goes right ahead and "wastes" wonderful ideas instead of hoarding them for a novel. The result is another extraordinary collection of stories and characters. In "It's a Funeral! RSVP," the storyteller is a woman who takes up self-styled "careers" that suit her circumstances. Now she's stumbled onto one that's so successful that she just can't quit. It's planning funerals, what she calls Going Out Parties, in which the clients are the soon-to-be-deceased themselves.

Charlie Tristan Moore isn't a hero. She's a survivor. Already wrestling with the demons of her past, she is tested as never before when she arrives home one night to find herself under attack by three monstrous skinhounds straight out of a nightmare. Just as hope seems lost, she is saved by the sinister Man in Black, dressed in a long, dark coat that seems to possess a life of its own and wielding a black-bladed sword in his grisly red right hand.

When she grew up, she became Harriet Tubman, the courageous and heroic woman who helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad. But she was just a little girl for a while - and this is her story. Minty, short for Araminta, was a feisty and headstrong young slave whose rebellious spirit often got her into trouble. She told stories to her doll, released animals from traps, and above all, dreamed of running away. When her father began to teach her the skills necessary for escape, she listened carefully and learned....

Lilly Etta didn't know the men, but she knew those yellow chairs. They were Tanya's, and they were being taken out of her building. Tanya was being put out - Tanya, her mother, her six brothers and sisters. Their things would be piled on the sidewalk and left there to be had for the taking. It didn't matter if nobody else in the city cared; Lilly Etta did. She knew what friendship was, and she wasn't going to let her friend be thrown out without a fight.

A haunting historical novella, Lowcountry Spirit tells the story of three slave girls with mystical powers living on an eerie island off the coast of Georgia whose lives intertwine in their quest for freedom. Meet Emma line, Celestia, and Liza, three slave girls on a haunted barrier island in Georgia low country.

In their own words, immigrants recall their arrival in the United States. Includes brief biographies and facts about the Ellis Island Oral History Project.

Buffalo, New York, is still the second-largest metropolis in the state, but in recent years its designation as the Queen City has been elbowed aside by a name that's pure noir: The City of No Illusions. Presidents came from here; and in 1901 a president was killed here while visiting the Pan-American Exposition, by a man who checked into a hotel under a name that translates as Nobody.

Being captain of his own rescue ship is the life Liam Synar has always dreamed of living. Being master of a hereditary demon is not. Coveting Malachi's power, his exiled evil brother hunts him to capture the demon that Liam's life mate unknowingly hosts. Putting Malachi inside Ania two years ago had been an act to save her when she almost died saving him. If only the demon hadn't killed again.

Rising from the shackles of slavery, Sojourner Truth would become one of the most charismatic evangelical preachers of her time and would lead America to institute reforms in race relations and women's rights. A prophetic force, Truth would anticipate many of the social changes to come and would lead the way for the modern civil-rights movement.

Getting a handle on personal finance can be confusing and stressful. Get unstuck and start saving now with this streamlined, holistic plan for financial wellness. Smart Money makes it simple to ditch debt and jump-start your wealth in nine practical steps. Learn how to avoid money pitfalls, correct any wrong turns, and save and spend the right way to build wealth.

What happens after we die? Does our consciousness vanish at the moment of death? Or does it continue in some form? Former Los Angeles Times national correspondent Erika Hayasaki sets out to explore the controversial science behind near-death experiences. The journey leads her to forge an unexpected bond with a distant family member who becomes her tour guide and ends up teaching her not only how awesome it can be to die but how precious it can be to live.

Seven generations of the Howland family have lived in the Alabama plantation home built by an ancestor who fought for Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. Over the course of a century, the Howlands accumulated a fortune, fought for secession, and helped rebuild the South, establishing themselves as one of the most respected families in the state. But that history means little to Abigail Howland.