A devastating blast destroys civilization as Beatrice knows it, forcing her to face an entirely new kind of life. But life after the blast has more wonder and hope in it than she imagined. ***** After a series of atomic blasts force Beatrice Hicks and her family into their prepper bunker, they emerge to discover they are among the survivors of a nuclear apocalypse. Soon they find themselves clashing with rogue groups and contending with death in their quest to survive and build a new life in this daunting world. Amidst it all, Beatrice must fight to maintain her humanity, so that she can learn to see the beauty in her life after the blast and even find love where she least expects it. 2014 Watty Award Winner! Content Warning: death, gun violence, and assault

Cherry blossom lipstick: check Smokey eyes: check Skinny jeans: check Dead kid in the mirror: check For sixteen year old Mattie Hathaway, this is her normal everyday routine. She's been able to see ghosts since her mother tried to murder her when she was five years old. No way does she want anyone to know she can talk to spooks. Being a foster kid is hard enough without being labeled a freak too. Normally, she just ignores the ghosts and they go away. There's a little glitch this time. The ghost she sees is her foster sister, Sally. Everyone thinks she's just another runaway. Mattie knows the truth, though-she's dead, murdered. Foster kids look out for each other and Mattie feels like she has to help Sally, but she can't do it alone. Against her better judgment, she teams up with a young police officer and together they set out to discover the truth of Sally's disappearance. Now the killer has set his sights on her. It becomes a race to see if she can find the truth before the serial killer finds her.

************************************************************************************** An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. ************************************************************************************ *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

Ruby Miller has her summer all planned out. Sitting by the pool. Babysitting for some extra cash. Packing for college. All of that changes when a fan video Ruby and her best friend, Iris, create goes viral gaining their little fansite a ton of hits and the attention of the big wigs in Hollywood. Ruby and Iris fall into the world of actors, movie sets, teen stars and elusive artists. Not only is their friendship put to the test when Ruby's cast in the lead role of the newest zombie flick, she must straddle the line between fiction and reality, love and lust, and being true to herself.

Nightingale is human - or would be, had it not been for the manner of her creation. Genetically engineered and grown to adulthood in a lab, she was created, not born. Why? For the sole purpose of the entertainment of rich men as one of the many Inamoratas in the bordello business . Beautiful, elegant, a superb dancer and an even better singer, she is the perfect lover for any man. Perfect, that is, except for her personality - the one thing you can't engineer.

A Wattpad Featured Story! A pharmaceutical company under cyberattack from China. The chemical formula for their Alzheimer's drug at stake. Can elite hacker Brody Taylor fortify their cyber-defences before it's too late? And can hackers ever be trusted? Hired by a global pharmaceutical company to test their digital defences, elite hacker, Brody Taylor, applies his computer mastery and repertoire of audacious confidence tricks to penetrate their most secure systems. Can Brody obtain the secret chemical formula for their latest drug? Are his motivations as pure as they first appear? Could his new girlfriend somehow be influencing Brody's actions? Accurately depicting real-world, modern-day computer hacking techniques, SOCIAL ENGINEER is a standalone novella that introduces Brody Taylor and the Deep Web Thriller series. The Deep Web Thriller Series: The Deep Web Thriller series features Brody Taylor, an elite computer hacker who specialises in hacking and social engineering the weakest link of all computer systems: the humans who use them. SOCIAL ENGINEER - A Deep Web Thriller #0 INVASION OF PRIVACY - A Deep Web Thriller #1 If you love intricately plotted thrillers with unexpected twists that are packed with technology and great characters, read SOCIAL ENGINEER now.

Why is Shay the real hero of the Uglies series? Who was the better boyfriend for Tally: David or Zane? How can we prevent prettyheaded behavior in our own world? In Extras, the last book in Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series, Aya tells us that when Tally Youngblood made the mind-rain fall, it cured all the pretties and changed the world forever. But Tally and her friends did more than change their world; they changed ours too. Mind-Rain continues what Tally started, with startling, funny and insightful essays on the world, characters and ideas of the Uglies series, plus the short story that inspired Westerfeld to write the books in the first place. Think you know everything about Tally’s world? After Mind-Rain, you’ll never look at the Uglies series the same way again

When your moment comes, what will you make of it? At the age of five, Melanie Armstrong watched her fragile world melt when both her parents were dragged away as part of The Peter Pan Project. Apollo, the leader of the area formerly known as the United States, separated siblings and destroyed families to create a world where "family" has a different kind of meaning. He also created a place called Paradise for a select group of young men and women when they reach the age of 18. But Mel receives a letter warning her that Paradise isn’t what it seems from her long lost brother. And when she’s selected, her moment arrives. She must make the most of it or suffer a fate worse than death. NOTE TO READERS: Starting August 14th, this series will update every THURSDAY afternoon with three new chapters. I hope you enjoy it and share it with your friends!

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER -- Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems. But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days. When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

THE WIND ON FIRE meets STUDIO GHIBLI's LAPUTA. Tia, a wind magic trainee, desires to leave her life of monotony in a cosy seaside town. When summons arrived for the wind masters, she travels with her mentor to the capital and realises the extent of the great power and responsibilities destined for her in the corrupt country where magic equates to status and power. A rebellion brews and a war is on the horizon. Times are about to change... Winner of the 1st Wattpad4 Reading Contest. Young Writer's Prize finalist. Featured fantasy book by Wattpad. Front cover by Wendythestoryteller