Showing results by author "A. Merritt" in All Categories

On the 12th of April 1865, the Army of Northern Virginia marched to the field in front of Appomattox Court-House, stacked their arms, folded their colors, and walked off empty handed to find their distant, blighted homes. These are detailed and moving first-hand accounts from a number of prominent witnesses to Robert E. Lee's surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox.

Two men in one body! That's how Lief Langdon had always felt. One part of him was a modern-day adventurer, the other was a strange half-memory of another life where he was a High Priest sacrificing living people to Khalk'ru, a demon god from another time and space. Then Langdon stumbled through the mirage into a hidden Arctic valley, where he fell under the spell of Evalie, as beautiful outwardly as she was inwardly, and her friends the Little People, elfin warriors constantly warring with Lur, the Witch-Woman, and her demon riders.

The Curse of Demagogues: Lessons Learned from the Presidency of Donald J. Trump is a collection of 32 essays by 22 writers that make the case that the pathway back to a healthy American democracy is for citizens to understand demagogues and defend against them.

Marie, a young single mother, lands a job at an upscale Dallas steakhouse. She is preternaturally attuned to the appetites of her patrons, but quickly learns to hide her private struggle behind an easy smile and a crisp white apron. In a world of long hours and late nights, where everything runs on a currency of favors, cash and cachet, Marie gives in to brutally self-destructive impulses.

Mya is a salvager in a system long ago mined out and abandoned by the Gallium Corporation. But when she finds an ancient ship buried deep on a moon, someone tries to stop her. What did she find? Why do they want to leave it hidden? And should Mya risk her job - and her life - to make the salvage of a lifetime?

The goddess of love and beauty is adrift on an enchanted ocean in a magic world. The myriad forces of satanic evil plague the vessel of the red-haired, passionate goddess. Only one man, John Kenton, the American adventurer, can try to save Ishtar's priestess from the black magic which divides her world from ours.

The Southern states of post-apocalyptic America continue to challenge a family torn by the plagues of the infected and the malice of the evil leaders of the Brotherhood. The family continues to grow larger, with each new addition adding onto their survival skill set. They all worry that in this new normal, the largest groups are the ones the Zombies come for first.

The goddess of love and beauty is adrift on an enchanted ocean in a magic world. The myriad forces of satanic evil plague the vessel of the passionate red-haired goddess. Only one man, John Kenton, the American adventurer, can try to save Ishtar’s priestess from the black magic that divides her world from ours.

While on a scientific expedition to the South Sea Islands, Dr. David Throckmartin discovers among ancient ruins the Moon Pool, a portal into Muria, an unknown underground world. After the disappearance of Throckmartin, his wife and two companions, his old friend Dr. Walter Goodwin enters Muria with a rescue party, only to confront a fantastic subterranean world filled with incredible beings, astounding scientific advances, and the worship of the most evil of all creatures, The Shining One.

It is time for another group of eight women to arrive at the Simpson – Robinson Institute to experience two days of realistic corporal punishment. It has now been a few years since the no longer needed public school building was purchased by a pair of real estate agents and converted for the special use. Among the guests this time is a young woman by the name of Becky, who is entering into a spanking relationship with her boyfriend Tommy. She hopes that going to the Institute and having Bobby learn of what she experienced there would coax him into being a more willing participant in their...

Former CIA agent Ellen McGinley is battling to overcome PTSD when she stumbles upon a domestic terror plot. The deadly attack is due to take place in six days, one that will strike at the very heart of the country. But no sooner than she alerts the authorities, she finds herself locked in a psychiatric ward. No one believes her. She's the only one who thinks it's real. And she's the only one who can stop it.

The country is in its death throes. The infected are getting stronger. Warlords are rising up to carve off sections of the country for themselves. Amidst all of this chaos a trio of siblings stand tall. Aligned with a key group of power players in this apocalyptic setting they work to weave back together the tapestry of a fragile nation. At the end of the day they just want to be able to go to bed at night without worrying if they're going to still be alive by morning. The things that would've worn down most people only serve to sharpen their edge. A new threat emerges from the hordes of ...

When the body of wealthy businessman Charles Stott is found dead on Wimbledon Common, covered in bruises just feet away from his luxury home, Detective Dan Lockhart is called to investigate the shocking scene. Examining the sickeningly disfigured body before him, Lockhart knows he’s dealing with a brutal killer. Looking more closely, he notices something on the victim’s neck: a small, crudely drawn symbol in black ink. It seems the murderer has marked his victim, but why? Dan needs to get inside the perpetrator’s mind, so he contacts psychologist Dr. Lexi Green.

George Campbell sets out with a tent into the Canadian forests to find respite from work. There, he comes across a crystalline cube that exhibits extraordinary properties – the longer one gazes at it, the more it glows, beginning to hypnotize the observer. Campbell is reminded of the story of the so-called Eltdown Shards, whose alleged translation spoke of crystalline cubes and a race of entities sending minds into the Universe for exploration using such cubes.

A retired war pilot is travelling the French countryside. Entranced by the natural beauty of the area when he stops to rest by a lake, he sees visions of beautiful tree women who seek his protection.

Proactive Risk Management's unique approach provides a model of risk that is scalable to any size project or program and easily deployable into any product development or project management life cycle. It offers methods for identifying drivers (causes) of risks so you can manage root causes rather than the symptoms of risks. Providing you with an appropriate quantification of the key factors of a risk allows you to prioritize those risks without introducing errors that render the numbers meaningless.

Steve wakes up one morning after a horrible couple of weeks in which he's lost his girlfriend, his job, his savings, and the majority of his self-respect. Dragging himself out of bed, he sleepily wanders over to the window with a warm bottled water and a handful of Advil. Looking out of his apartment window, he sees people running around crazily and a bunch of burning shrubbery. He decides to go back to sleep and see if it all goes away. When he wakes up the next time, it turns out the view from his fourth floor apartment wasn't a nightmare.

Adult Education: The Challenge Another Adult Education story from Tristan Merritt A weekend of pulse-racing and bottom-warming adventure awaits the newly arriving guests at the Simpson-Robinson Institute. Operating in a no longer used school building in rural Oklahoma, real estate partners Michael Simpson and Anna Robinson have created a facility for realistic role-play for women who want to experience genuine corporal punishment provided by Michael and his assistant Brandon. Those enrolling for two days of classroom mischief and resulting discipline, will find themselves taken into the ...

The Pavaria has been cut off from the other colony starships due to an ancient prohibition against powering its broken engines. Nathe is volunteered to travel to the far end of the ship to search for the lost notes of Bev Bora which may reveal the secret to restoring full power. But someone doesn't want him to find it. And they're willing to commit murder by jaguar - or worse - to stop him.

Fearless or feral? Liberating or life-threatening? The wild side of life takes many forms. It seeps through the cracks of our world in the form of stray cats, tenacious weeds, oppressive relationships, and haunting memories. These 14 stories by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers explore the wildness that lives inside all of us—and what happens when we let it out.