London 1816 East Ender, Flash Billy, is a gutter rat who has fought his way up to crime lord by the power of his own mettle, a villainous reprobate to whom violence and trickery are second nature. When he is pickpocketed by a brassy orange seller with a fierce temper and light fingers, his interest is immediately snared. After unwittingly using her skills on the wrong man, Meg Turner finds that relying solely on herself for survival, might no longer be her choice. Marine Police Inspector, Freddy Scriven is on the hunt and closing in on his prey. He plans to hang the scurrilous Billy, but can he resist the lure of a fiery thieving vixen?

When Charlotte's husband presents her with an unexpected gift, she finds she has been presented with a neat intellectual puzzle - but what does it all mean? This story is a submission for the Spring 2013 Historical Fiction Smackdown (Round One). For those who don't know how this little game works, we are assigned a photo (the "group" listed below), and allowed to choose from a set of pictures on which to base the story. Group: "Lamp" Era: Regency Pictures: 1 ("Adieu"), 4 ("Three Girls"), and 5 ("Rainy Day") Length: 3558 words (though really, some of them are number sequences). Two important notes: 1) Although labelled "lamp", the object in the lamp photograph isn't a lamp at all (there is no place for a wick). A reverse image search turned up that it is, in fact, a cassolette - sort of like a censor, but used to heat liquid perfumes or scents rather than burn incense. I have, therefore, referred to it as a cassolette throughout. 2) The rules of this first round of the historical fiction smackdown allowed authors to pick one of two eras - Regency or Victorian. When I saw the posted pictures, I was immediately drawn to the very first one in the Regency category. That picture was Edmund Blair Leighton's 1901 painting, "Adieu". It shows a woman in a pink dress bidding farewell to a man in a Napoleonic-era Royal Navy uniform, while a large ship waits in the harbour below. The woman has reddish hair, and appears to be the same model as in another one of the paintings, also a Leighton work. That would be the "Rainy Day" painting, showing a couple leaving a church on a stormy Sunday morning. Again, the woman wears a pink dress. I concluded that the young red-haired woman in "Three Girls", who is also wearing a pink dress, had to be the same woman. The fact that her hair looks much lighter in this painting can be attributed to the fact that a great deal of light is streaming in from the windows which are no doubt right behind the artist's left shoulder.

A boy is knocked overboard during a naval battle.

It’s difficult to see where life will take you. The Sydney nightlife has a new club in town, co-owned by a couple of cool cats. The stories of owners, patrons, workers and life congregates in the swanky new joint. But the area is not without issue, the daily life struggles of the various members of this new club will amaze, sadden and shock. Individuals and couples in troubled boats of their own, and a small ensemble of characters to add to the mix, the club hides it all beneath alcohol, sex and plenty of jazz. But this is Nu!, anything goes really.

These stories take place after the events in Iron and Oak.

"In the Fifteenth Century, the Aether held the universe together. In the Nineteenth Century, it just might tear it apart." This is the first draft, posted exclusively on Wattpad. The final version, edited and funded via an Indiegogo campaign is now available on Amazon - http://amzn.com/B00QO5K8VQ. That's not all - the follow-up novella "A Christmas Aether" can be got for FREE at http://peteroxleyauthor.com/readers-group-landing-page/*** Augustus Merriwether Potts is an itinerant writer who has squandered the bulk of a sizable inheritance and come to rest in the raucous melancholy of Victorian London's dismal East End. Having failed to achieve any prominence as a writer, his prospects fading, Augustus dulls the pain with the earthy pleasures of taverns, fallen women, and laudanum. His older brother Maxwell, though aloof and often disagreeable, reluctantly renders support and ultimately draws the puckish Augustus into his unnerving investigations into the supernatural. An inventor of sorts, Maxwell has begun to harness the unfathomable mystic power of Aether, the fabled Fifth Element. Soon, a chance encounter with an extraordinary stranger called N'yotsu will touch off a breathtaking series of remarkable events, revealing a bizarre realm of malevolent power and unlocking the secrets of that dark quintessence: The Infernal Aether.

He was coming back. It had been more than one hundred years since the holocaust at Erebor, more than one hundred years since she had spoken his name aloud. "Thorin," she whispered to the wind. She looked westward, able to just make out the stark pillar that was the Lonely Mountain. Did he really believe the portends? Could he possibly think he would find the legendary riches of Erebor unprotected? After all these years, would he listen to any warning? Though unsure he would even recall her name, she knew she would find no rest until she, at least, tried to tell him. One last time to the Lonely Mountain, this time not to charm the prince but to try and save a king.

*Wattpad Featured Story* A year before MI5 spy Lucas North ends up in Russian prison for 8 years, there is Alexa George, a woman he rescues as a favor to his boss, Harry Pearce. But when Lucas gains his freedom as part of a prisoner exchange, his return to London sets off a series of events that threaten to reveal the truth behind the people who aren't exactly who they appear to be - including Lucas and Alexa. This story takes place between Season 7, episodes 1 - 2 for Chapter 1 - 2 of the BBC series Spooks/MI5; and between episodes 2 and 3 for the rest of the chapters. All events happen before episode 3 when Ben Kaplan goes undercover for a radical Muslim group. There will be references made to events that do occur towards the end of Season 7. If you're a fan of Season 1, you'll also discover an old face - Jools Siviter, one of my favorite recurring characters who always kept Harry on his toes! Played to perfection by none other than Hugh Laurie, Siviter is a juicy character indeed! Just like the series this story is based on (Spooks/MI5) "Broken - MI5/Lucas North" contains scenes that depict violence as well as some mature content. Please take this in consideration before reading. Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of Kudos and BBC. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.