Smart Production Systems by Semyon Meerkov This book is intended to offer a solution to this problem by making production systems smart—i.e., capable of self-diagnosis and autonomous design of continuous improvement projects—leading to the desired and rigorously...
Water is filling my ears.
“Useless beast. I should cut . . . tail. Drowning’s too good . . . you . . .”
Egyptians revere cats, but there are exceptions.
A week ago the brute snatched me from the streets, put me in a sack, and brought me on board to protect the load of grain he’s taking down the Nile to Waset.
Cats hunt rats, but there are exceptions.
Which the brute realized this morning. He picked me up by the scruff of my neck and threw me over the side.
If I never see a boat again it will be too soon . . .
I swim toward the river bank. Exhausted, I lie on the shore and let my fur dry in the warmth of the sun. Now that I’m free, I intend to resume roaming from village to village, seeing new things, meeting new cats, tasting new foods. But first I’ll eat the perch I caught during my swim.
I’m licking the smell of fish off my paws and face when I spot a pyramid in the far distance. I’ve heard a lot about them, but I’ve never seen one before.
I can’t take my eyes off it. It seems to be beckoning me.
It’s my destiny to go there!
Tail on high and a heart full of expectation, I begin walking.
Summer, 1277, deep in the rain forest of the Chivit Continent
It wasn’t my best day.
I tore through the curtain of cobwebs like they weren’t even there, then bolted for the doorway. The doors were still open, but the wood I had jammed between them and their doorframe wasn’t going to last long. A pathetic groan echoed through the ante-chamber around me, followed by the staccato sound of wood splintering.
Correction, those wooden braces weren’t going to last another few seconds. I ran faster.
Stone dust was like a fogbank. My clothes and hair were stiff with it and seeing past it felt like a bad joke. Specifically, on me. Gulping down air, I lengthened my stride, sprinting like a madwoman for the only way I knew out.
Then I was through. Past the stone dust, thick cobwebs, and pale-skinned, giggling, scrambling nightmares with too many arms. Little things that were all too eager for me to sit and stay awhile. I threw myself forward into the wall of heat and humidity that was part and parcel of Anestri’for, the ‘Great Jungle’ on Chivit.
Landing on my hands and knees, I drank in the smell of wet grass and foliage. The feel of damp earth was a delight. Best of all? The sound of the stone doors slamming shut on the writhing mass of bodies with too many arms trying to follow me. They weren’t giggling as the doors shut in their face, but snarling.
I hauled my aching body into a sitting position, then placed a dust-covered satchel in front of me. Thunder rolled around in the clouds overhead. I glanced up.
“Hourly thunderstorm. Right on time. At least it’s not a magic storm.”
“Good job, Tela.” I congratulated myself. “Alive, limbs in one piece, and you found it.”
Shaking my head, I reached for the flap on the bag to check the condition of my find. The last thing I needed was to get it back to Ishnanor in a thousand pieces. I didn’t manage to open the bag. A yell to my right gave me better things to think about.
A man dressed in mercenary leathers, and a belted tunic had shoved his way out of the underbrush. Dirty, mud-stained, he leered at me like a prize or fresh caught prey. I shot daggers back at him with a glare. Sad to say, he didn’t seem impressed.
“Here!” he bellowed. “She’s here! Tell Vargas! I’ve found the Windtracer! She’s got the relic!”
“Hells!”
I was on my feet and past a stand of briza-taeda ferns to my right before the mercenary took another step. Shouts filled the Anestri’for jungle air behind me. I ran faster.
Everyday Leadership for People-Pleasing Introverts by Melissa Jenner The Introverted Leader’s Guide to People-Pleasing is a powerful playbook for anyone who leads with empathy but struggles with burnout, overcommitment, and self-doubt. Designed especially for...
Lifestyle Lawyer Revolution: Live a Life You Love (Without Leaving the Law) by Laura Cowan Lifestyle Lawyer Revolution is a call to arms for attorneys ready to redefine success, reclaim their time, and build a thriving practice without sacrificing their lives. Burned...
It’s summer, and I’m stretched out on a windowsill in my bedroom with the sunlight warming the fur on my back. It’s quiet except for the drone of traffic on the Henry Hudson Parkway and the occasional whir of a helicopter flying along the river.
I once shared this bedroom with my friend Gato-Hamen, the High Priest of Amun-Ra. He and I had fled ancient Egypt on his magic boat. It was only supposed to carry us to a foreign land, but it took us through time as well as space here to Elena’s house in twenty-first century New York City.
Elena’s late father had been a renowned Egyptologist, and she immediately recognized us as ancient Egyptians. She was surprised we were speaking English. We explained that the prayer which had launched the magic boat also gave us the power to speak the language wherever we arrived.
She was also surprised that I, a cat, could talk and walk like a man. That would be explained later. Overjoyed at the prospect of excitement in her life, she invited us to stay with her.
Now the High Priest shares her bedroom, and I share this one with their child, who’s the reincarnation of the Pharaoh I loved thousands of years ago. He’s on the floor, playing contentedly with his building blocks. It’s hard to believe he’s already a year old.
Elena is reading and keeping an eye on him. “Wrappa-Hamen, are you recharging?” she asks, as she always does when she sees me basking in the sun. “You lazy old cat!”
“Lazy, yes. Old, not yet,” I reply, too drowsy to say more.
When I first met the Pharaoh, he was sixteen, and I was a stray tomcat. I’d wandered into in a looted tomb and was kicked by the Vizier, his uncle. I spat a cat amulet at him, hitting him on the forehead. He accused me of trying to kill him. The High Priest arrived and tried to reason with him.
Then it happened. I suddenly had human powers! I stood upright, walked over to the Vizier, and debated with him. The Pharaoh entered the tomb to hear me wise-cracking and laughed for the first time since his parents’ death. He took me to live with him at court, and we became inseparable.
A year later the Vizier poisoned him and accused me of the murder. He was going to put me to death when the High Priest rescued me. We fled Egypt on the magic boat and ended up in Elena’s living room . . .
About Featured Book: Sexting the Boss by Liz Archer It started with one drunk sext… And ended with my boss’s baby in my belly. I should’ve never sexted him. It was an accident. A mistake. I thought I was sexting a random number. But by the time I realized it was him…...
MY FATAL FIRST DATE by Christopher Smith Fatal First Date is the harrowing yet inspiring true story of Chris Smith, a rural Illinois contractor who was shot in the head on a first date gone tragically wrong. His date was murdered by her stalking ex-boyfriend—Chris...
The cosmic threads, or perhaps a touch of serendipity, wove a
tale that ensured the very first feline I stumbled upon online bore
an uncanny resemblance to the cat of my dreams: a tabby, known
as the European Cat or Soriano in Italian. Her entrancing stares
locked onto mine through the screen, casting an almost hypnotic
spell. In the sole online snapshot, she perched atop a shelf, striking
a pose that would be her signature style.
Ever since the inexplicable vanishing of Sisi, that untamed
marvel of a cat in South Africa, I had yearned for a kindred creature
like her. In this new feline–also female–I glimpsed a rekindling of
my wild Sisi’s soul.
“If you don’t define yourself, someone else will. One of the best and most important ways to manage or resolve conflicts within is by firt knowing who you are, where you stand, and to whom you belong. I call this self-identification… Ask yourself, What wreckage in my life must be cleared? Is it the bitterness of my divorce or the death of my soulmate? Is my debris covered with wrong decisions that led to unintended outcomes? Could my refusal to forgive have done more damage to me than to the person I resent and refuse to set free? Am I still holding on to past betrayals that hinder my ability to express and receive love? In every new relationship, do I bring with me unhealthy emotional baggage and wounds from my past? If your wreckage continues to define you, your desire to create and maintain a healthy atmosphere for productive change will be hindered, producing more unanswered questions. Questions like: Why can’t I reorganize my life and move beyond the devastation of my divorce? Why can’t I shift power struggles to cooperative problem-solving? If your questions are not understood, confronted, properly managed, or resolved, your past will continue to dictate your present and fill your future with many more questions and uncertainties. Instead of managing or mastering conflict, the conflict will manage or master you.”
About Featured Book: Relentless Oath by Demi Ryder He ruined my plans for revenge—calls it ‘saving me’. And now he demands payment. Me. Two years ago, my husband was gunned down in cold blood. The justice system failed me. So I took the law into my own hands. I was...
I am an award-winning Life Purpose and Business Coach, empowering women to create 6- and 7-figure soul-aligned businesses while expressing their true purpose. Through coaching and speaking, I help soulful entrepreneurs scale their businesses into global empires, leave their 9-to-5 jobs, and earn a lucrative income doing what they love.
With a BS in Psychology, a Master’s in Business Management, and over 12 years of international business leadership experience, I built a multi-million-dollar coaching business in just four years—while raising two kids. My passion is guiding women to transform their lives by creating successful, purpose-driven businesses.
A cancer survivor, single mom, and former corporate professional, I know firsthand the challenges of building a business under pressure. I scaled my business to six figures while recovering from cancer and breastfeeding my baby, then grew it to seven figures while navigating a divorce.
I’ve traveled to over 50 countries, lived in Australia for 10 years, and turned my hardships into a powerful mission—helping women worldwide achieve financial freedom and purpose-driven success.
About Featured Book: Forbidden Vows by K.C. Crowne He's supposed to marry her sister. But the Pakhan doesn't play by the rules... He writes them in blood. The air is thick with champagne and lies. I’m standing at my sister’s engagement party, trapped in the gilded...
I am a recently retired, multi-award-winning staff writer for a weekly community newspaper chain in metro Detroit. I became hooked on romance fiction when my 11th-grade English teacher rejected my book report, saying the book was much too easy for me, and insisted I read and report on Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.
After some life-changing health issues, and covering over a dozen murder and criminal sexual conduct trials, I decided to write the kind of stories I like to read, stories with happy endings.
I love the romance genre and love letting my characters take control of their stories. I write under the pen name of Tara Eldana.
About Featured Book: Some Species of Outsider-ness by Angela Grey Piper Quesenberry has always known how to survive: keep your head down, keep people out, and never let anyone see the cracks. Slater Hartmann knows what it’s like to be on the outside too as he’s...
INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING THRILLER AUTHOR
In his own words, A.G. Mock’s calling is to introduce you to his imaginary friends…and then subject them to the unfathomable horrors in his head. After all, what’s more intimate than a little shared terror between friends?
“I was haunted from a very young age and those specters just never went away,” admits Mock. “They follow me wherever I go. Aware. Hungry. Desperate for validation. So, I can’t really say that I’m a writer. All I do is let them out, and they do the rest. I just watch and record the mayhem.”
A.G. Mock is a two-time American Fiction Awards winner and a full professional working member of the Horror Writers Association and International Thriller Writers. He is a guest at several horror and thriller conventions, and regularly appears on panels alongside Clay McLeod Chapman (Wake Up and Open Your Eyes), John Russo (Night of the Living Dead) and others!
He currently resides in rural South Carolina with his wife, two rescue dogs and at least one ghost.
His wife and dogs he treasures wildly.
The ghost he can take or leave.
Click FOLLOW to be the first to hear from Amazon about his new books, and of course you are welcome to visit him at AGMock.com.
About Featured Book: Daddy's Double Surprise by Sofia T Summers "MEDICAL MOGUL'S DEADLY SCANDAL: Billionaire Doctor Accused in Patient Deaths!" That headline exposed the man I love—and the father of my unborn child. I didn't mean to be that woman. Falling for my...
Jim is the author of nine award-winning novels, three novelettes, and thousands of magazine and news articles. He now lives in a valley surrounded by mountains in the Southern Appalachians. He was previously an award-winning journalist at several national newspapers and a communications director at Clemson University.
Jim grew up on the shores of western Florida where he spent much of his childhood swimming in shark-infested waters long before the movie “Jaws” put a scare into everyone. At the time, he probably was too skinny to attract a bull shark’s attention. About ten other boys Jim’s age lived on his same street, and they hung out morning, noon and night playing the usual sports that young boys love — football, baseball, “kill the carrier,” etc. — but as a group they also played fantastical games that contained magic, monsters and superheroes. It was in this setting that Jim’s imagination was born and nurtured.
About Featured Book: Sexting My Ex's Dad by Liz Archer What’s the best way to get over your ex? By drunk sexting his dad… And getting under him. In my defense, I thought I was texting my friend. If I knew my ex’s dad was on the other side, reading every single word, I...
Christ Follower, husband, father, entrepreneur, lawyer, 4th-degree black belt, and nationally certified instructor.
Affiliated with the American Taekwondo Association, chef, and local media personality.
Creator of MissouriTrafficTickets.com (the world’s first online legal service, launched on 9/6/2002), EvictionsQuick.com, MyMissouriLLC.com, and Simple-Trust.com.
Municipal judge for over 20 years and former prosecutor.