At just sixteen, Alethea is not your average teenager. Fiercely protective of her Pacific island, she leads a band of students in a David vs. Goliath struggle against a foreign power encroaching on their land and legacy. Their weapon of choice? Guerrilla tactics and relentless harassment, aimed at thwarting the takeover of an ancient gold mine. Suspense mounts as Alethea grows wary of a stranger surveying their beaches, sparking a daring confrontation with a ship and a submersible on a covert mission. Amidst the chaos, Alethea's heartstrings tangle with Ty's, just before she's abruptly captured and forced to labor on a vessel scoping out military sites across the islands. But Alethea's spirit remains unbroken, her creativity undimmed, her poetry and stories a testament to her resilience. The pressing questions linger: Will Alethea's and her comrades' bold actions make a mark against the invaders? And what fate awaits the mysterious spy who crossed paths with Alethea on the sands of her homeland?

With the full weight and gravity of the world pressing down upon her Alethea, the Greek Goddess of Truth, rests in an uneasy slumber. Alethea’s Dreams become embodied and enlivened through this collection of stories. Begging to be uncovered, unearthed and awakened, her concern for humanity manifests in the curiously tragic, romantic and insightful lives of her dream’s main characters. As the winds of change blow, the dirt of modernity is whisked away. The nature of her truth resurfaces and becomes exposed in a myriad of times and places. From the slave pit of a rock quarry to the King’s table, along distant mountain passes and the many endless highways of civilization, between the lines of blank pages, in the heart of modern suburbia, underneath the red berries of a threatened coffee farm that rests deep in the El Salvadorian jungle, stuck under the surgical knife in a flickering makeshift operating room amidst the chaotic throngs of war, across time and space into our most painful traumatic pasts, unto our unfolding futures and beyond, Alethea and her dreams take us underneath the surface of our illusions to the distant future that our hearts all long for. These are Alethea’s Dreams.

Would you kill for your art? Would it kill for you? A painter who kills with blood-tinged pigment. A tattoo artist with a dark past who treats with demons. A sculptor on Venus who carves his life’s history into ice at the cost of his sanity. A ceramic vase that might avenge the life of a murder victim. A haunted song that drives listeners to kill. Art surrounds us. It entertains and nurtures. And for some it can do far more. It can protect a family over generations or bridge the boundary between the realms of the living and the dead. It can be a curse or a boon, a path to riches or to damnation. In Artifice and Craft, speculative fiction authors Lyndsay E. Gilbert, Laura E. Price, Adam Stemple, Brian K. Lowe, James R. Tuck, Briana Una McGuckin, Jordan Davidson, James Maxey, Madeline Dau, Joel Armstrong, C.E. Murphy, Mark Painter, Alex Bledsoe, Alethea Kontis, Gerri Leen, and Jelena Dunato craft tales of art and artistry that are shaded with the supernatural, tuned to the fantastic, and glazed with the unexpected. So listen, watch, admire. But don’t touch, and don’t turn your back. Because these works of art are far more than they seem.

From the bestselling authors of the award-winning Once Upon Anthologies, the next fabulous volume is here! Revisit your favorite faerie tales, masterfully retold in science fiction settings with delightful, and sometimes chilling, twists. What if the Twelve Dancing Princesses were undead clones? What if the witch in Hansel and Gretel was an AI-sentient house? Are you ready for the Three Little Pigs… in space? These fourteen tales will entertain and inspire you, and you’ll never see your favorite faerie tales quite the same way again. Grab your copy of Once Upon A Star, and don’t forget the other anthologies - Once Upon A Curse, Once Upon A Kiss, and Once Upon A Quest - for more magical retellings! ESCAPE: A Liza Roth Adventure - Anthea Sharp A princess on the run and her feline companion find adventure - and danger - on Starhub Station in this story based on the Icelandic fairy tale Kisa the Cat. TRUE.LOVE - Alethea Kontis In this futuristic retelling of Sleeping Beauty, a gamer hacktivist tries to take down the world’s largest matchmaking site…and stumbles on a side quest he never bargained for. BLOW YOUR PLANET DOWN - Shawntelle Madison After the Wolverine Horde nearly destroyed her home world, Commander Cressida Van Der Snout is prepared to use the Horde’s greatest weapon to exact her revenge. She wants to bring them to their knees, but a single wolverine stands in the way of both her revenge and her heart. THE CYRANO SOLUTION: A Gaian Consortium Story - Christine Pope The daughter of one of Gaia’s richest oligarchs gets more than she bargained for in her new husband in this retelling of “The Frog Prince” (with just a dash of Cyrano de Bergerac for good measure). ONCE YOU WISH - Evelyn Snow A con man who loves only what he can steal. An orphan girl with big dreams. A prince with something to prove and no fairy godmother to be found… BY THE LIGHT OF A DISTANT STAR - Jenna Elizabeth Johnson When Estrelle’s marriage to Prince Damryn of Kaul is thwarted by a deceitful enemy who steals her identity and leaves her for dead, Estrelle must rely on the kindness of others, and trust the courage within her own heart. VASILILA AND THE HORSE OF POWER - Jamie Ferguson Vasilisa finds a feather from the legendary firebird and, against the advice of her horse, takes it to the Tzar in the subterranean enclave their people have lived in for millennia. She hopes to be rewarded, but instead is given a choice between accomplishing an impossible task, or exile—and certain death—in the harsh, storm-swept lands aboveground. ECHO - Nikki Jefford Built by a handsome young mechanic, Echo is a cyborg who dreams of experiencing the world as a human in this Pinocchio inspired retelling. DEADLY DANCE - Kasey Mackenzie Miriana never expected to be murdered repeatedly after refusing an evil prince’s marriage proposal. Now saddled with eleven undead clone-sisters who spy for the murderous prince, she’s going to save the day with her forbidden soldier lover—or die trying - one final time. THROUGH TIME AND SPACE: A Little Red Riding Hood Tale - Julia Crane Neither time nor space can keep Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf from crossing paths. THE STAR DRAGON'S CURSE - Alexia Purdy Haunted by a malevolent celestial entity, Creedence must discover its connection to the dying forest aboard the decaying space vessel, The Star Dragon. ZATARRA - Phaedra Weldon His enemies not only took his life and everything he held dear, they took his humanity as well. LOXLEY- Sarra Cannon In a dystopian world where citizens log into The Realm online to escape from their dark reality, one hacker fights to make a difference as she goes in search of a rare artifact. CANDY HOUSE - Kay McSpadden After the AI of Earth rise up and destroy most of humanity, Hans and Greta survive by living off the grid. That is, until they find a house in the woods that makes them an offer they can’t refuse. Read more fabulous fairytale retellings from these authors! ONCE UPON A CURSE - 17 Dark Faerie Tales ONCE UPON A KISS - 17 Romantic Faerie Tales ONCE UPON A QUEST - 15 Tales of Adventure KEYWORDS: Fairy Tale Retellings, SF Romance, Space Opera, Dystopian, Russian Folktales, Genetic Engineering, Cyberpunk, AI, GameLit, Marissa Meyer, Lunar Chronicles

Play about a self-made man and rake striving to buy his way into "high society" in early 20th century Australia. In later performances of the play, the action was moved to London.

Two young kids meet their grizzly demise. The guilty parties go free on technicalities. Then silent justice takes over and dish our gruesome payback! Don't miss all the gory details with a surprise ending in the fictitious horror - NOO DADDY NOO

Kate Clephane has lived in exile in France since leaving her husband and infant daughter. She is being called back to New York by her now adult daughter to attend her daughter’s wedding. Complicating already complicated matters her daughter is engaged to her one time lover Chris Fenno, a man who cannot be trusted, and worse yet Kate is still deeply in love with him. A novel of scandal and shame and the upper class.