What does it feel like to try and create something new? How is it possible to find a space for the demands of writing a novel in a world of instant communication? Working on My Novel is about the act of creation and the gap between the different ways we express ourselves today. Exploring the extremes of making art, from satisfaction and even euphoria to those days or nights when nothing will come, it's the story of what it means to be a creative person, and why we keep on trying.

Author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford shares his secrets for creating killer plots, fleshing out your first ideas, crafting compelling characters, and staying sane in the process. Read the guide that New York Times bestselling author Ransom Riggs called "The best how-to-write-a-novel book I've read."

Take a Deep Breath... It Could be Your Last Valkerie Jansen is rough, beautiful, and has an uncanny knack for survival. But that doesn't explain why NASA picks her to be part of a two man, two woman crew to Mars--or does it?Halfway to the Red Planet, an explosion leaves the crew with only enough oxygen for one while the other three must be put in stasis. The crew's survival depends on complete trust in one another but all evidence points to sabotage. Who do they trust to stay awake?A Christy Award Winning Novel

"It was just a house. Just a weathered old house in a hidden grove, shuttered and still . . . " Last year, after traumatic circumstances forced her from her job as a nanny, Mara Bristol finally found a place to belong-the winsome Everwood Bed & Breakfast at the edge of Maple Valley, Iowa. For months, she's helped its owner, Lenora, maintain the ramshackle property despite their shortage of guests. But when Lenora fails to return from a month-long trip and the bank threatens foreclosure, Mara worries she's once again alone . . . abandoned . . . about to lose the only true home she's ever known.Detective Marshall Hawkins is no closer to whole today than he was two years ago . . . the day his daughter died. Between his divorce, debilitating migraines, and a dependence on medication, his life is falling apart. And when a reckless decision on the job propels him into administrative leave, he has no other plan but to get in his truck and drive. A one-night stay at the Everwood was supposed to be just that. But there's something about the old house-or maybe its intriguing caretaker-that pulls him in.Together, Mara and Marshall set out to save the Everwood. But its secrets run deeper than they could've imagined. As they renovate the house and search for its missing owner, they'll each confront the pain that brought them to the Everwood in the first place . . . and just maybe discover a faith and love to help them carry on.

Nazareth has been cruel to my mother, more cruel than any village ever was. All the village says that my blood father is not the man who married my mother. They have shamed her on the matter all my life. Every woman asks which man of the village is my blood father. Every man scowls and says he was not the one my mother seduced. My mother will not tell who is my blood father. My mother will not speak on the matter. My mother bears her shame in silence. Some righteous man, a prophet, said a word over me when I was a babe in arms. He told how I will redeem Israel when I grow to be a man. Now I have grown to be a man, but I do not know how to redeem Israel. The scriptures do not explain the matter. My people say that the man who redeems Israel must take up the sword and throw off our enemy, Rome, which we call the Great Satan. My family says I must take up the sword. Only I am no man of the sword. I wish with all my heart to redeem Israel, but HaShem, the God of our fathers, must tell me how. Lately, there came a new prophet to Israel, who immerses for repentance at the river Jordan. I went to ask the prophet how I should redeem Israel. He said I am to smite the four Powers. I asked what are the four Powers. He could not say, but he said HaShem will reveal the matter to me. I wish HaShem will reveal the matter, only I am not a prophet. Not yet. But I will be. Here is what I know. Every hour of every day, I feel the Presence of HaShem. I do not know why I should feel the Presence always. My mother does not. My village does not. Even the prophet of HaShem does not. I think the Presence will teach me the way to redeem Israel. But I am afraid to redeem Israel. To redeem Israel is to leave my mother to the scorn of the village. The rage of the village. My mother begs and cries on me to make a justice for her. To make a justice on the village. I do not know how to make a justice on the village. I do not know how to redeem Israel. But HaShem will show me the way. I will learn how to be a prophet of HaShem. I will learn how to redeem Israel. I will learn how to make a justice for my mother. I will smite the first Power. Or I will die in the trying.

An extraordinary stone box was recently discovered in Jerusalem---the bone-box of 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.' This is his story . . . It's the year A.D. 57 and Jerusalem teeters on the brink of revolt against Rome. James, leader of the Jewish Christian community, has an enemy in high places. And two very strange friends . . . Rivka Meyers is a Messianic Jewish archaeologist from California, trapped in first-century Jerusalem by a physics experiment gone horribly wrong. Ari Kazan is her husband, an Israeli physicist slowly coming to grips with his Jewish heritage---and with a man named Jesus he was raised to hate. With no way back to their own century, Rivka and Ari seek their niche in this doomed city of God. Ari applies his knowledge of physics to become an engineer, a man of honor. Rivka feels increasingly isolated in a patriarchal culture that treats women like children. She knows what's coming---siege, famine, fire. At first, her warnings earn her grudging respect as a 'seer woman.' But when one of her predictions misses, the city scorns her as a false prophet. Rivka knows that an illegal trial and execution awaits James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus. Can she prevent this disaster? Will James believe her 'premonition'? Or is Ari right that Rivka's meddling in history will only . . . make matters worse?

There's a Code Even the NSA Can't Crack But Dillon Richard can. Dillon is a straight-arrow genius with Asperger's syndrome. He's never told a lie. He's never been kissed. And he's never had a badass quantum computer for cracking codes. Until now. In just a few days, Dillon will finish the software to crack the "unbreakable" code that banks and terrorists use to protect their most valuable secrets. Everybody's going to want a piece of Dillon. The Mafia. The NSA. And his two beautiful co-workers, Keryn and Rachel. Who'll get him first? About the Book Double Vision is a hilarious geeky suspense novel about a guy who has no idea how attractive he is to women. In fact, he has no idea how women think at all. Dillon is terribly strait-laced, and he's a bit shocked when he sees that his sexy co-worker Rachel doesn't wear a bra. But he's in for a bigger surprise when Keryn shows him where she hid the quantum computer. Dillon is just a wee bit opinionated, and he can't say a word without offending somebody with his thoughts on science, religion, national security, and the burning question of whether the multiverse is real. Excerpt 1: The passenger door opened and a petite young woman sprang out. She had shoulder-length silky hair of a golden blond color, and she wore a garish pink-and-blue tie-dyed shirt that stretched tight across her chest and did not reach down to her navel. Her faded jeans had a hole in one knee and did not reach up to her navel. She wore an old-fashioned leather fanny pack low around her hips. Dillon thought she looked like one of those supermodels on the covers of magazines in the supermarket. For a second, he simply stared at her. Then he caught himself and looked down at the ground. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he thought for a moment that he was going to fall over. Excerpt 2: Keryn did not like the way the blonde was staring at Dillon. Ogling him. Which was what every woman did the first time they saw Dillon Richard. If any guy on the planet ever deserved the word gorgeous, it was him. And the amazing thing about Dillon was that he had no idea how he affected women. Click the book cover at the top of this page to read more.

Written by a top literary agent who gives writers an insider's view of how to find and work with an agent throughout the process of getting published. Includes: -- How to know that you're ready for an agent -- 7 ways to find an agent -- Writing a cover letter that grabs attention -- What to do with an agent once you've got one -- What you can expect and what you'd better not hope for -- Making sure this is the right agent for you -- Congratulations, now you have an agent AND an editor -- How to avoid the 7 worst pitfalls for aspiring writers -- And much, much more. In today's highly competitive publishing industry, literary agents are more important than ever. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, reference or children's books, here is everything you need to know about using an agent to launch and sustain your literary career.a

While playing a virtual reality game, Rivka Meyers, an American Messianic Jew visiting Israel for an archaeological dig, becomes trapped in ancient Jerusalem, involved in a plot to destroy the spread of Christianity.