Praise for Story Salon "Gemstones of narrative. Something new, funny, astonishing." -Los Angeles Daily News "Tales tall, tragic, and tantalizing." -Sunset Magazine "Stories from all walks and talks of life. Tales of yore and ones that make you scream for more-those that will delight with insight while moving an audience from laughter to tears." -Studio City Sun Story Salon is Los Angeles's longest running storytelling venue. What began as an alternative to stand-up clubs and self-conscious performance spaces has been challenging performers and audiences for more than a decade. Created in a North Hollywood coffee house Story Salon now reaches the globe through Podcasting, publishing, and recordings. The rules of the Story Salon haven't changed since it started: Five to seven minutes of original material performed by the author. The result is a unique blend of observation, memoir and comment that makes the Salon one of the most eclectic entertainment experiences available. More than a dozen solo theater works have been developed at Story Salon, as well as a CD of stories, and several books. "Live storytelling is a unique art form," says Story Salon founder, writer/actor/comedian Beverly Mickins. "Words spoken aloud paint pictures capable of evoking laughter and tears, the whole range of emotion. People have been telling each other stories since the first campfires, talking about the whole mix of things, important and trivial, that go into making life. Storytelling is one of the ways we figure out how to be human." Collected here for the first time in Big Book of Stories are more than forty original pieces first performed by their authors at Story Salon. It's an omnibus of memories, rants, affirmations, and shaggy-dog stories that once opened is impossible to shut. Learn more at www.storysalon.com

Take Your Next Steps to Making it BIG in the Salon Business! Are you tired of working hard for someone else's benefit? Are you ready to go out on your own and live your dream? Does the idea of starting your first hair salon seem overwhelming? Are you an entrepreneur who wants to enter the lucrative hair salon industry? If you answered "YES" to any of these questions, then you are ripe and ready to become a salon owner. Prepare yourself for success by learning the ropes from a seasoned entrepreneur who started and managed her highly successful hair salons. Linda L. Chappo answers your two main questions, "How do I do it?" and "How can I be successful?" In this new book by salon veteran, Linda L. Chappo, you are given all the insider tips, tricks and secrets to start up your own salon, and make it BIG in the salon business. Linda makes it easy for you to start and grow the salon of your dreams. Whether you are starting your first salon or your fifth, you'll shorten your learning curve and get an invaluable education from her many years of salon ownership. Linda has been through it all and offers you the wisdom of her experience so you can avoid unnecessary and expensive mistakes. Take your next steps toward a successful future! "How to Start Up & Manage Your Own Hair Salon ... and Make it BIG in the Salon Business" is the premier guidebook for individuals who desire to start their own salon and gain financial independence. You Will Learn To: Outsmart the competition Optimize your retail profitability Be a more savvy salon manager and marketer Use internet marketing and social media strategies Use the financial resources you have to start your salon now! Discover shortcuts to save you money and avoid headaches Create a successful marketing campaign & get more clients Implement a business plan and reach your goals

RESISTANCE IS ALL For years, writers and filmmakers have speculated about the possibility of the Earth being invaded by aliens from another planet. But what if the aliens have been watching us, infiltrating us via human collaborators, or even surgically altering themselves to look human? Occupied Earth is a groundbreaking anthology that explores the idea of what the world would look like years after its conquest. 20 years after a successful invasion by the Makh-Ra, humanity still exists, only it has become subservient to a race of occupiers who govern the devastated planet. But, as much at things continue with some sense of normalcy, something has happened in the Mahk-Ra’s empire. Earth, once considered a strategic beachhead of major importance to the Empire, has been downgraded in its value. Things are starting to degrade. Our planet is the last place any self-respecting Mahk-Ra officer wants to be assigned. Yet, despite everything, life continues. These stories bring us face to face with annihilation — and show how we can pull ourselves back from the brink. Featuring Rachel Howzell Hall, Lisa Morton, Matthew V. Clemens, Howard Hendrix, Nathan Walpow and more, OCCUPIED EARTH is coming. Stay safe. Stay strong. Survive at all costs.

All’s fair in love and war. But not in baking. Do what you do best. So said Henry’s grandad as he handed Henry a small, red-foil-wrapped box that gave a metallic rattle when he shook it. Inside: a large bunch of mismatched keys held together by a ring the size of a bangle. The keys to the bakery. Henry’s bakery. A humorous story about baking and village life (as you might expect). Also includes a rockin’ reverend, cakes and bunting. Part of Seasons of Love Anthology.

A year has passed since Rob Simpson-Stone received a photo of his nieces enjoying a night out, unaware their photographer was one Anders Folden: a psychopathic hitman Rob helped to put away while working undercover for the Met Police Special Investigations Unit. Only Gray Fisher—Rob's former boss, now his business partner—is taking Rob seriously. The powers-that-be insist Rob and Gray are being paranoid: there’s no proof the photo came from Folden, who’s stayed off the authorities’ radar long enough to have assumed a new identity and fled overseas. It takes a significant threat to Rob’s son’s life for anyone to question that assertion, but police protection is worth nothing when the target has friends in high places to bend and break the law to his will. Folden won’t stop until he’s completed his mission: to fulfil a contract or end a personal vendetta, Rob and Gray are no longer sure which. What they do know is they need to find him before he finds them—with or without help from the authorities. The final instalment in the Gray Fisher trilogy.

Huddled in a doorway, unseen by the men passing on great horses, Meredith watched from within the hood of her cloak. The pain of the cold, wet morning impaled her, rooting her in place, even as the cat rubbed against her shins with a force that should have felled her. She shooed him away. Go home. But he would not. She wished she had died that night. She wished she had died, for to live like this was not to live at all. * * * When Richie Moorcroft takes a housekeeping position to finance his studies, it means moving back to his childhood home: an ancient, almost-derelict cottage locals claim is haunted. But he never believed those stories; he knows where they came from, and in any case, he has a job to do: keeping nineteen-year-old Julian Denby on the straight and narrow without Julian realising his wealthy parents are paying Richie to do so. Luckily, Julian’s not very astute, although the same can’t be said for their newest housemates: Richie’s bestie, Anneke, and Julian’s older sister, Tamara. Add in George, the cat who appeared from nowhere and is in no hurry to leave, and that makes five…about to uncover the sinister history of their new home.

Winner of the 28th Lambda Literary Award (Gay Romance). For many in war-torn 1944, love blossoms in the dance hall, and airman Arty Clarke is no exception. He's a thinker and a dreamer; however, it's not the beautiful, talented dancer in his arms - his best friend Jean - who inspires his dreams. For when his gaze meets that of Technical Sergeant Jim Johnson, Arty dares to imagine a different dance. Their love is forbidden, by both the armed forces and the law, but with Jean's cunning and support, Arty and Jim try to bridge the distance between them and find true love despite the danger and a life-threatening disaster that could destroy Arty's dreams for good. Can the pair stand strong together, no matter how many skies have fallen? ---- Part of Love is an Open Road (Don't Read in the Closet 2015) MM Romance Group

A story from Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology A MIDNIGHT CLEAR by DEBBIE McGOWAN It's a cold, desperate December when a young girl flees home, in search of food, shelter and the real Santa Claus. Stranded in George and Josh's hometown, she discovers that the spirit of Christmas can be found in the most unexpected of places. Includes the story of The Little Match Girl, by Hans Christian Andersen. * * * * * ABOUT BOUGHS OF EVERGREEN Boughs of Evergreen is a two-volume collection of short stories celebrating the holiday season in all its diversity. Penned by authors from the UK, the USA, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, these are tales of the young and the not-so-young from many different walks of life. Themes of family, friendship and romance take readers on a journey through some of the major holidays, both past and present, including Thanksgiving, Advent, St. Lucia Day, Hanukkah, Eid, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice, Yule, Christmas and New Year. In each we find at the very least hope, and often love, peace and happiness. Proceeds from sales of this anthology will be donated to The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is the leading national organization [USA] providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.

Christmas at the Davenports has never been a relaxing affair, so when the opportunity for a little alone time with a beautiful, available woman comes Charlie Davenport’s way, she takes it, breaking several family traditions and risking the wrath of her siblings. But it’ll be worth it, right? And she can always make it up to them later…or next Christmas. * * * * * For readers of the Hiding Behind The Couch series, Not My Christmas comes several months after Reunions (Season Seven) and immediately after The Advent of Reason.

The story of George and Josh - two little boys who became best friends...two adolescents who stayed best friends...two young adults with secrets that might change their friendship forever. Josh and George have always shared the special bond of friendship. From days in primary school, to holidays spent riding their bikes along the canal, theirs is a promise to remain best friends forever. But can that promise withstand the trials of adolescence, and the changes in their feelings towards each other? NOTE: this is a fully stand-alone story, but it contains significant spoilers for anyone reading the Hiding Behind The Couch series, and should be read after The Harder They Fall (season three).