She's adorable, pretty, fun to be around and doesn't demand much from you. Okay, her feelings aren't real but she seems awfully real. She is a robot from the Build A Girlfriend Workshop. Sixteen year old Jonathan is a nerd who spends too much time in front of his computer, and really wishes he had a date to the dance coming up. Is this really the answer to his problems?

Geoff and Naomi are dead, and they're depressed, but when Geoff's cat Bernie dies as well, they embark on a wild journey to find it in the underworld. ***** When Geoff dies, alongside his girlfriend Naomi, they end up sharing an apartment in the Underworld as skeletons. But after a few years, Geoff starts suffering a mid-death crisis. What's the purpose of going through the motions as a skeleton if you can't really live? Then he gets word that his cat, Bernie, just died and he can collect him and bring him home! Geoff and Naomi hurry to get Bernie only to discover that, due to a clerical error, their cat has been lost. With the hunt for Bernie giving new purpose to Geoff's un-life, he and Naomi begin a quest to get back their cat. Battling skeleton pirates, climbing the sky ladder and facing off against the villain who took Bernie, Geoff is determined to find his purpose - or die a second time trying! [[2018 Wattys Winner - The Originals]] [[word count: 30,000-40,000 words]]

The time had finally arrived; the time when superheros and villains now occupied almost a quarter of the world's population. At age sixteen, ordinary girls and boys were whisked away onto two different planets. One for good, the other for evil. A special teenager in particular, known by Sophie, goes through love, betrayal and rage as she attempts to figure out who she truly is. Putting on a mask each night and discovering more about her new role in society all the while. Will her determination to identify herself affect the battles at hand, or assist her further as she searches for the truth? Highest ranking: |#451 in Science Fiction|

Ari Callahan has no idea how to talk to boys -- or how to talk to anyone for that matter. Enter Zac, the cute new guy in town who won't stop texting her. But is his interest real, or does he have a hidden agenda? ***** Found as a young child washed up on the beach, 17-year-old Ari Callahan has never uttered a word out loud to anyone -- not even her adoptive family. Psychologists have diagnosed her with a condition called selective mutism, but Ari can't help identifying with her namesake character, Ariel, the little mermaid in the fairytale whose voice was stolen by a sea witch. Mermaid-obsession aside, Ari's silence makes socializing tough. She's never had a boyfriend or been asked out on a date. Not until Zac, the confident new arrival in town, asks for her number. But Zac has his own reasons for texting with Ari. He's part of a movement to sabotage the artificial music app called SirenSong, threatening to render human singing obsolete. Zac's collaborators have scoured the globe in search of a singing voice perfect enough to break the SirenSong spell, and their search has led them straight to Ari's beachside town. Will her relationship with Zac help Ari find her voice and unlock the secrets of her origins? Or will he use her and leave her high and dry? Title: Ari and Zac (formerly The Mermaid Hypothesis) Content Warning: This story contains references to selective mutism, suicidal thoughts, and early childhood trauma.

Dieselpunk Epulp Showcase Includes stories by John Picha, Grant Gardiner, Bard Constantine, Jack Philpott. This action-packed ePulp Anthology unleashes four new noir tales inspired by the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. Blazing brawls and gritty adventure awaits dieselpunks, nostalgians, die hard or pulp-curious fans. Hope you can take a punch, because these two-fisted tales hit hard! For young hoods, the Aether Age streets of mob-plagued Chicago present a world of opportunity. And Mack and Mickey are headed straight for the top in "That Sort of World: a Tale of the Aether Age." It's class-warfare in Citadel City as Pandora Driver and her Car of Tomorrow deliver rough justice to the elites and a douche named the Gooch in "Who are the People in your Neighborhood?" "The Wise Man Says" introduces Mick Trubble: a hard drinking, chain smoking charmer who bites off more than he can chew... then chews like hell. The Troubleshooter takes the grit and slang of a hardboiled detective and drops it in a dystopian setting that mixes Fedoras, trench coats, flying cars and android policemen. The dirty streets of Roanoketown were his home and his only family. Until he met HER. Now he'll follow HER into hell, tamahaak held high, and fight as a proud Indian against the Anglo Oppressors. He'll wager his life to be a true "A Friend of Spirits." Download if you dare!

An intimate fantasy tale, told in the stylings of an epic Asian drama, inspired by sweeping Chinese tragic story-telling, and dressed in a fictional fusion of Far Eastern mysticism and elements of steam culture. Turn the silk veil on a world forbidden from common eyes where children sail airships across the sky, a young emperor faces the tattered remains of his empire, a warlord stands on the brink of total conquest, and a gifted young boy embarks on a remarkable odyssey of triumph and sacrifice. Terr hardly knew the incredible future that awaited him when, for the first time, he laid his eyes upon the ether, a mysterious force visible only to a special group of children who are endowed with the divine ability to levitate airships and change the very will of the sky itself. Like all those who shared in his supernatural talents, he would be thrust into a secret world steeped in oriental traditions, be revered by monks and priests, sold by eager merchants, and abused by a rebellious military, lead by an ambitious warlord that would seek to unite all under heaven. In his sadly fallible, yet all-too-human journey, he would face the corruption of the Imperial Courts, be thrown into banishment as the servant of an exiled son of the Imperial Family, and eventually suffer the terrible horrors of a world war, which threatens to end all he holds dear. But as Terr and his dying country careen into the depths of a world torn by vengeance and prejudice, he would come to discover that even a humble child of the sky can still change the course of fate. SKY OF PAPER is also available for kindle and other mobile devices in its original chapter format on Amazon Kindle via the following link: http://goo.gl/B0Sp14

Eighteen-year-old Kali McAlister enters her steam-powered "dogless sled" in a race, intending to win the thousand-dollar prize and escape remote Moose Hollow forever. The problem? Fortune seekers and airship pirates are after her for the secret to flash gold, her late father's alchemical masterpiece. With her modified rifle and a pocketful of home-made smoke bombs, Kali wouldn't normally hide from a confrontation, but taking on a whole airship single-handedly is a daunting task. Unfortunately, the other racers won't assist her--they're too busy scheming ways to sabotage her unorthodox sled. When a sword-slinging stranger shows up, wanting to hire on as her protector, she's sure he has ulterior motives, but he's the only one interested in helping her. The question is...why? Flash Gold is the first in a series of steampunk novellas.

Axel's day goes from terrible to strange when he is hired by the highly intelligent, but eccentric Detective Conan Hutchingson. Before Axel can adjust to his new life, he is thrown into the middle of a complicated mystery. There is a new threat that has been growing underneath the shining streets of London. A villain that is only known as the Clockmaker has put in motion a plot that could mean the very end of everything. Axel and Hutchingson join forces with Emeline Cloutier, a young lady who is looking for her missing brother. Together the trio must cross Europe, face down pirates, and evade arrest. The clock is ticking as they get closer to the mystery of the elusive Clockmaker. Can they unravel the Clockmaker's plot before London is destroyed? Started: 07.11.12 - Finished: