[Ambys 2023 Top Picks for Action and Adventure Novella] When Jaimie witnesses a kidnapping, it throws his whole life into disarray. He is now a changed man in more ways than one. Along the way he makes some unlikely allies, and they become united by something more than just circumstances. They realize that their lives are a maniacally twisted entanglement of misfortune, injustice and corruption. In a tale of nature versus nurture, the world can only be described as gray. The question remains, will they make it out of the other side? Cover by : @Xaprith from ᴅʏsᴛᴏᴘɪᴀ ғᴏʀᴇᴛᴏʟᴅ | GRAPHICS PORTFOLIO RATED MATURE FOR LANGUAGE/VIOLENCE, SOME STORY ELEMENTS.

When Pepelito dramatically escapes certain death in a bullfight, he enrages some and delights others. Taken pity on by Rita Silvera, a caring homicide detective, he soon begins to heal from the physical and psychological torture of the bullring. But Pepelito's nightmare is not over. Javier Castella is the best matador in Spain - maybe the world. He would kill for a chance to finish his masterpiece - and he's not the only one. Because, as Rita soon learns, a serial killer is on the loose. And her love of animals might make her the next target... CW: violence, animal cruelty 16+ only Cover by @NishaPsons :) "I approve!" - Sera Drake, author of Ancilla "(hrb264) accurately describes what it means for a bull to be a victim of bullfighting. The physical pain, the fear, the agony. The bull's perspective is missing from most written bullfighting stories, making this book different and refreshing. For anyone who considers bullfighting a barbaric activity, this book also offers comfort. In addition, it is an exciting story that will keep you up until the last moment!" - Estefania Pampin Zuidmeer, campaigner CAS International Now available on Amazon: https://mybook.to/82BK2En

The dead have never been so alive. After a deadly contagion reduced the world's population into mindless, undead monsters, the ruins of America still teem with activity, as some of the dead have regained their intelligence and created their own society; one free from the living's touch. Now, more than a decade later, survivalist extraordinaire Liam Fenix undertakes a harrowing escape from the uninhabited island that has been his prison since before the outbreak began, only to discover that he is the sole survivor of the civilization he left behind. He is not alone, however, as reincarnated bounty hunter Leah believes that Liam holds the key to reversing the pandemic that created her race. Armed with their survivalist expertise and following traces of the past, the two must traverse the wastelands together and bring back life to an otherwise dead world, even as they are pursued by a tyrant who does not want this plague to end. ------- Top tags to date: #1 in Gritty 12/21/2022 - 1/11/2023 ------- New chapters will be posted on Mondays, 4:00-6:00PM EST. Cover art made by @AnnamitaMuscaria.

The house is safe. The hills outside are not. The basement is out of the question. Joel has been trapped in the house for what has felt like an eternity; all hope of escaping lost after the first few years. Without the company of the eight strangers who arrived with him, he would have gone mad long ago. But while living in the decrepit building is taxing, nothing could be worse than the thing downstairs. Everyone is content to just live in the six rooms that they know are safe until Joel learns that there may be something below. Something other than the creature that torments them. The house goes deeper, further down into the darkness. And while travelling through the unknown halls may be dangerous, and the thing downstairs is always following close behind, Joel is determined to find a way out of the nightmare he's found himself in; for his own sake, but more importantly, the sake of the people he loves. Watty 2022 shortlister Gloria Regali Awards 2023 winner

SHORTLISTED FOR WATTYS 2022 What should have been an easy payday for a band of British privateers turns into a desperate fight for survival when they find a young woman in the wreck of a schooner. Life is unforgiving for any privateering ship fighting in the Queen Anne's War, but of all the leaky tubs on the Caribbean sea, the brigantine ship, Scourge, and her crew have been dealt a pretty rotten hand. None more-so than her newest member, Martin Hamish, a deckhand looked down upon by his captain and fellow shipmates, but eager to please nonetheless. Down on their luck and desperate for their next prize, the crew's prayers are answered when a burning ship, bursting with unclaimed loot, crashes into the shore nearby. However, their dreams of a free payday are quickly soured when they discover an enigmatic noblewoman in the wreck with a proposition that may well change their fortunes, or end them all together. [Story complete at 88,000 words - next novel in the works] WARNING: Contains violence, gore, threat, alcohol references & scurvy dogs

**The fates of a barista, a dancing criminal, and a deadly stranger become tangled in a world where the apocalypse is old news** All Mads Capot wants to do is run her coffee shop in peace and to be able to pay her bills until the next wave of intragalactic tourists arrives. But when a mysterious green-eyed stranger walks into the shop and seems to be the answer to all her problems, she's immediately skeptical. And her instincts have always been good . . . Luc is mysterious and adaptable, a drifter with a dark past and a score to settle with one of the galaxy's most infamous criminals. When he crosses paths with Mads, he inadvertently draws her into a complicated world of outlaws, renegades, and ancient curses existing on the fringe of a destroyed world. Can they put aside their differences to survive, or will they end up as two more nameless corpses? Inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, Baz Luhrmann films, 2000s pop punk, club bangers and a dash of Star Wars, "The Last Coffee Shop" is a science-fantasy adventure for fans of Firefly, White Collar, fairy-tale retellings, and Diana Wynne Jones. *Stay tuned for spin-offs/shorts in the world of TLCS* CW: PG13 level violence, language, sexual themes, and mentions of abuse, etc

It still feels like the old days were the normal days. I'm probably just showing my age. Back then, most of us had jobs in the suburbs. We'd drive to those jobs in cars. Gas was less than $25 a gallon. And people would go shopping for fun, of all things. Back then, when all these things were normal, the damnedest thing happened. And that damnedest thing went on for so long it started to feel normal, too. * * * How do we change, when change is hard? What happens, when we live with the absurd for so long that it becomes commonplace? Where do we look for consistency in a world that is collapsing around us, and what happens when the one thing we cling to is the one thing we cannot explain? * * * This is projected to be a four part story. I'll post on Tuesday and Friday evenings. Cover art by Donna Davis.

Juliet's parents died when she was young and she never got to experience having a family. She lived a miserable and lonely life. One night at work, she meets a strange man that says he's a reporter and he asks her a few questions. Later that night, the reporter offers to drive her home from work. When Juliet refuses, he kidnaps her and brings her home to be a wife for his oldest son. Juliet slowly loses her sanity as she finally gets a family.

Mary Campbell's car breaks down outside a busy turnpike diner south of Cleveland, Ohio. Here she meets Milton Murr, a long-haul truck driver for Fleetmaster Corporation who offers to give her a ride back home to Indianapolis in time for her mother's morning wedding. As one major highway crescendos into another, it becomes increasingly clear Milton has a different destination planned for the two of them. He tells the story of a lone hitchhiker in Georgia. A young soldier recently discharged in South Carolina. And then there are other stories. With each one Milton grows increasingly agitated. Mary's only chance of escape is the CB radio fixed to the dashboard. And someone is listening. Someone trapped in his own kind of hell, barreling across a stretch of empty space called the Chamber. He can't communicate with Mary. But he can listen. And hope his next move is the right move...before it's too late. // COMPLETE FOR NOW... //