Tori would be the first to tell you that working at a coffee shop over the holiday season is nothing like a sappy Christmas movie. Everyone is hungover from too many holiday parties, cranky from dealing with their relatives, and stressed out from last minute Christmas shopping… and who do they take it out on? Their barista, that’s who. And if she didn’t have enough to deal with, now there’s something strange lying across the street from the coffee shop. It looks like a person… and he looks hurt. Tori can’t afford to step out of work to help him, but if no one else is going to do it, what choice does she have? And wait… are those wings coming out of his back? It can’t be—angels aren’t real. And even if they were, this one looks like he's fallen a long way, and Tori knows what it means when an angel falls… This short story is 4400 words long. It is also available in Santa’s Rejects, a collection of offbeat Christmas stories.

'If Finn Maison shouts jump you jump or you are dead.' Twelve-year-old Willem has two main aims in life: to fly and to make at least two friends of his own age. But all the other boys from the Beckham Estate do is make him jump off things. First his desk - and now the wall. As his toes teeter on the edge, Sasha Bradley gives him a tiny little wink. Might she become his friend? Bullied by Finn and his gang the Beckham Estate Boyz, Willem has no choice but to jump. As he flies through the air he flaps his arms, wishing he could fly and escape into the clouds. Instead he comes crashing down and breaks his ankle. Sasha, angry with herself for not stopping Finn and his Boyz, is determined to put things right. And soon, while the gangs riot on their estate, Willem and Sasha form an unlikely friendship. Because they share a secret. Sasha longs to fly too. And when Magic Man Archie arrives with stories of war-flying spitfires, he will change the lives of the kids on the Beckham Estate for ever. And perhaps find a way for Willem and Sasha to fly ... Touching on themes such as friendship and bullying, this is a charming tale about overcoming obstacles and finding friendship in unlikely places. 'heart-rending, heartbreaking and heartening' The Best New Children's Books Guardian Supplement

WITH BROKEN WINGS is a riveting and engrossing memoir about one womans courage and perseverance in battling through, first, childhood sexual abuse and, later on, horrific physical and sexual abuse as an adult. It is a true story told in raw and honest details; a story of heart-wrenching losses, discovery, unwavering resilience and faith. Jerie Catillos story is a beautiful gift because of her rare ability and willingness to bare her soul to the universe; and because of her passion to reveal the healing she received after she poured out her broken self to others. WITH BROKEN WINGS speaks of Jerie Catillos fight to move forward in her lifedespite all she had to leave behind. It speaks of her transformation from a broken and torn woman to a woman who has been set free and who has jubilantly reclaimed her magnificent self and voice.

You can?t go home again, because home is a time not a place.? Thomas Wolfe In turning Butch?s pages you join ten-year old Billy Johnson at his home on one of the worst days of his life. In Barstools, seventy-five year old Eric is losing his home. You will meet an expatriate executive and his wife in The Ecluse, away from home, searching for the rebirth of their troubled marriage. Instead, cruising along the ancient canals of France he experiences an epiphany. The protagonist in The Math Prize Winner is a modern flawed executive, attempting a final investment and atonement to save his career. The families in The Bad News First face a loss which reawakens the antagonisms and betrayals they encountered thirty years previously. Broken Wings provides a wide variety of characters, plots and dissimilar locations: farms in Grand Forks, Nebraska, a restaurant in Florida, and a funeral in Boston Massachusetts. There are featured locales starting Paris, Seoul, and Hong Kong. The concluding home destination is a 1940?s period piece in Huntsville, Alabama. This mini-memoir is a loving portrayal of John Bishop?s remembrances of his family growing up southern in the shadows of World War II.

‘Broken Wing’ is Indian actor, singer and songwriter, Andrea Jeremiah’s maiden book. It is an intimate compilation of poems that chronicle Andrea’s journey through love, loss and vulnerability. ‘Broken Wing’ offers a rare glimpse into the person beyond the celebrated persona the world has already seen through her art, while Andrea allows access to her inner most self to the reader. The author has portrayed memorable characters through her films and has sung songs that are celebrated by many whilst she has lived a life of uncertainties and mystery, all unravelling through the poems that compel you to read on!

An elf who stages a coup against Santa Claus. A dinner guest with horns and a pitchfork. A bitter charity worker who seems determined to ruin the holiday for everyone—but just might be making the world a better place. In all the Christmas stories, the good and the deserving get their due. But what about everyone else? Don’t the people on the naughty list deserve a Christmas miracle of their own? Move over, Tiny Tim. In these six irreverent but heart-filled stories, the spirit of Christmas is for everyone. This collection contains the following stories: A Hell of a Christmas The Unlikable Ones Broken Wings and Christmas Things No Warm Fuzzies Christmas Furlough The Naughty List

Every year at the North Pole, it’s the same story. Santa makes his list. He checks it twice. The nice children wake up on Christmas morning to a pile of presents. The naughty children get a lump of coal. But don’t the naughty children deserve a little Christmas joy too? One elf thinks so. He thinks it’s time Santa’s workshop did things a little differently. Even if he has to take matters into his own hands. This short story is 2700 words long. It is also available in Santa’s Rejects, a collection of offbeat Christmas stories.

His mother vanished two days after he was born, and now, 30 years later, his father is dying, meaning that Stormy Day has a very limited time to get to the truth about his mother's leaving. Stormy is thrown into an endless sea of unlikely coincidences which carry him closer to the Day family secret.

Eddie just wants to mind his own business on Christmas Eve. So he’ll be sleeping on the street tonight—so what? He can handle the cold. But of course some obnoxious do-gooder from the shelter across town sees a homeless veteran and wants to earn herself a gold star by helping him out. She’s hopelessly naive, the poor thing. She doesn’t understand that there are monsters on the streets, even on Christmas Eve. If he were a younger man, he’d take this opportunity to add another body to his collection. But he doesn’t do that kind of thing anymore. He’ll have to find another way to scare her off. Too bad she’s as persistent as she is annoying. If it’s the only way to get rid of her, he might just have to let her do something nice for him after all. This short story is 3900 words long. It is also available in Santa’s Rejects, a collection of offbeat Christmas stories.

A lovely bookstore owner asked me why she should read this book? I explained that in writing this book, I undertook a purposeful investigation leading where angels (and all good Baptists) fear to tread. It was during this attempt at explanation the picture formed in my mind of addressing an auditorium full of women. My opening remark to them is: 'Women hunger and thirst for romance. What is it that men want?" The entire audience responds with a resounding chorus in unison with one word: 'SEX!" I then ask: 'No, really ladies, what do men really want?" Again, with a single voice the chorus returns, loudly: 'SEX!" Seeing that I am getting nowhere fast I decide to try a new tack. I ask: 'Please, ladies, as a Romantic, a Poet, what do I, as a man, want?" Back it comes: 'SEX!" There is a definite mind set at work here. Okay, honestly, as a Romantic, a Poet, what do I want from a woman: SEX! Satisfied? But my admission of common guilt is only true to a point. Believe it or not, ladies, some men like myself want romance as much as you do. It is in searching for this elusive thing that I have discovered so much that betrays you ladies in the very areas you are supposed to excel in the romance department. I treat the causes and results of such betrayal in this book.