Murphy's Manor is a comic strip about gay and lesbian people in Black Swamp, Ohio. As ordinary Americans, they strive for love and fulfillment, sometimes engaging elaborate schemes to promote equality, and sometimes forgetting that a gay lifestyle is part of a great social movement. Murphy Robinson and Mark Varady met and fell in love on 1982. Marriage was impossible then, but between themselves commit to spending their lives together. An engagement -- but one with a major roadblock. "The 30 Year Wedding" is a collection of comic strips about Mark and Murf as they spend their lives together, with or without wedding rings. Their community of friends pursue their own relationships, for the night or a lifetime. A few friends are Jeff, the eternally sexy bar boy; Sid, who blends sex with religion as High Druid of the Church of Spiritual Machismo; Meg, who runs for Mayor to make a political point, and surprisingly wins; and Andrew, a political science intern whose every thought is a political stratagem. Just down the street live "The Sparkle Spinsters" (Duchess, Vernon, and Lee) from Gay Comix, living their lives as a trio. Murphy's Manor was first published by syndication to local gay and lesbian newspapers across the US and Canada. The book presents 98 cartoons from the original 1981-2008 series, plus 22 new cartoons completing the saga. The book has color front and back covers, with interior cartoons black and white.

A complex character, angry and aggressive, James Murphy was not an easy husband or father. But all his children said "He made a God out of education." He had found education to be his gateway out of poverty, his way to leave a countryside still reeling from the Great Famine. Hadn't he grown up on the Irish Beara Peninsula, barefoot, speaking Irish in an earthen floor stone cottage? Wasn't he now a Minister in the Church of Ireland, and Trinity Colllege Dublin Professor of Irish, having competed against Douglas Hyde, later first President of Ireland, for the job? He drilled the learning, beating it into his children, all of whom bore the scars. Research into this Murphy family has continued throughout the 1900s, providing James Murphy’s great-granddaughter, Julia Turner, an opportunity to compile the archive of trunk-loads of papers into a cohesive, exciting read, utilizing modern computers and combining fading papers and photographs with internet research tools. This family grew up and lived in a late Victorian and an Edwardian yesteryear. People had lots of fun together, were full of joie-de-vivre. None had much money, but they thrived in a peaceful, gentler lifestyle, in ways not often found today.

In 1844, two years before the Donner Party, the Stevens-Murphy company left Missouri to be the first wagons into California through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mostly Irish Catholics, the party sought religious freedom and education in the mission-dominated land and enjoyed a safe journey--until October, when a heavy snowstorm forced difficult decisions. The first of many for young Mary Sullivan, newlywed Sarah Montgomery, the widow Ellen Murphy, and her pregnant sister-in-law Maolisa. When the party separates in three directions, each risks losing those they loved and faces the prospect of learning that adversity can destroy or redefine. Two women and four men go overland around Lake Tahoe, three men stay to guard the heaviest wagons--and the rest of the party, including eight women and seventeen children, huddle in a makeshift cabin at the headwaters of the Yuba River waiting for rescue . . . or their deaths. Award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick plunges you deep into a landscape of challenge where fear and courage go hand in hand for a story of friendship, family, and hope that will remind you of what truly matters in times of trial.

5.5"x8.5" Brand New edited edition paperback. First in a five part paranormal romantic suspense/fantasy series about five Irish brothers reunited for the first time in fifteen years to face the evil foe that killed their parents and tore them apart. Once the Fitzgerald Brothers of Fitzgaren, Ireland were world famous young singers who believed they had it all. Loving parents, a career they enjoyed and the magical heritage they were born with. All that changed the day an evil witch killed their parents while attempting to slay the fourth born son and halt the ancient prophecy. Roarke's tale is the first, as he must stop running to face his past and pain against an enemy that knows his deepest weaknesses and will use them against him to destroy the Fitzgerald line before they destroy him. He must overcome all his pain and the guilt he has carried in order to protect not only his very soul but also his brothers and the woman he has come to love. Join this new series to see how it can take magic and love to defeat ancient evil. A thrilling mix of magic, romance thrown into a modern setting.

“Wow. C. E. Murphy is good. Court intrigue in an alternate Elizabethan-era fantasy world: realpolitik with the sex included.” –Kate Elliott, author of Crown of Stars In a world where religion has ripped apart the old order, Belinda Primrose is the queen’s secret weapon. The unacknowledged daughter of Lorraine, the first queen to sit on the Aulunian throne, Belinda has been trained as a spy since the age of twelve by her father, Lorraine’s lover and spymaster. Cunning and alluring, fluent in languages and able to take on any persona, Belinda can infiltrate the glittering courts of Echon where her mother’s enemies conspire. She can seduce at will and kill if she must. But Belinda’s spying takes a new twist when her witchlight appears. Now Belinda’s powers are unlike anything Lorraine could have imagined. They can turn an obedient daughter into a rival who understands that anything can be hers, including the wickedly sensual Javier, whose throne Lorraine both covets and fears. But Javier is also witchbreed, a man whose ability rivals Belinda’s own . . . and can be just as dangerous. Amid court intrigue and magic, loyalty and love can lead to more daring passions, as Belinda discovers that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac. “C. E. Murphy vividly reimagines Renaissance Europe as a world both familiar and strange. Filled with intrigue and betrayal, her story is a chess game with six of seven sides, and I look forward to seeing what the next moves are.” –Marie Brennan, author of Warrior and Witch From the Trade Paperback edition.

Valuable flea market finds... A peeling, antioue vanity in muted sea green... An elegant, cracked chandelier... An enormous, slipcovered sofa with deep, cushions... Comfort, the beauty of imperfections, the allure of time-worn objects, and the appeal of simple practical living: these are the cornerstones of what has come to be known as the Shabby Chic style. Like the cozy familiarity of a well-worn pair of faded jeans, the dilapidated elegance of an Italian viIla, or the worn grandeur of faded velvets and mismatched floral china handed down from your grandmother's attic, the Shabby Chic style is a revived appreciation for what is used, well-loved, and worn. It is a respect for natural evolution and a regard for what is easy and sensible. The hundreds of lavish photographs in this book invite you inside the unique world of Shabby Chic. Rachel Ashwell, founder of theShabby Chic home decor stores, for the first time provides her invaluable and much-sought-after advice on how to re-create Shabby Chic style in your own home. With engaging text and easy-to- follow instructions, Rachel details the Shabby Chic basics in a way that will put even the most apprehensive or novice decorators at ease. From flowers to fabrics to lighting, Rachel illuminates all of the elements essential to this unpretentious yet truly exquisite style. A behind-the-scenes look at a flea market lets readers in on Rachel's personal secrets of how to cull hidden treasures from flea market trash--an old trunk, its paint peeling around the edges, can be given new life as a coffee table, while a chipped white iron salvage piece becomes the perfect frame for a vintage mirror. This book tells you not only how to restore these pieces but how to find the perfect place for them in your home. Gorgeous color photographs and accompanying text reveal how this relaxed look works with a variety of different styles, from Victorian to Mediterranean to contemporary.