A deft analysis and appreciation of fiction—what makes it work and what can make it fail. Here is a book about the craft of writing fiction that is thoroughly useful from the first to the last page—whether the reader is a beginner, a seasoned writer, or a teacher of writing. You will see how a work takes form and shape once you grasp the principles of momentum, tension, and immediacy. "Tension," Stern says, "is the mother of fiction. When tension and immediacy combine, the story begins." Dialogue and action, beginnings and endings, the true meaning of "write what you know," and a memorable listing of don'ts for fiction writers are all covered. A special section features an Alphabet for Writers: entries range from Accuracy to Zigzag, with enlightening comments about such matters as Cliffhangers, Point of View, Irony, and Transitions.

A Shepherd to Fools is the second of Drew Mendelson’s trilogy of Vietnam War novels that began with Song Ba To and will conclude with Poke the Dragon. Shepherd: It is the ragged end of the Vietnam war. With the debacle of a failing South Vietnamese invasion of Northern Laos as background, A Shepherd to Fools tells the harrowing tale of a covert Hatchet Team of US soldiers and Montagnard mercenaries. They are ordered to find and capture or kill a band of American deserters, called Longshadows, before the world learns of their paralyzing rebellion. An earlier attempt to capture them failed disastrously, the facts of it buried. Captain Hugh Englander commands the Hatchet Team. He is a humorless bastard, sneering and discourteous to every regular army soldier. He cares little for the welfare of his own men and nothing for the lives of the deserters. The conflict between him and Captain David Weisman, the artillery officer assigned to the mission for artillery support, threatens to tear the team apart. Deep in the Laotian jungle, the team is caught in a final, horrific battle facing an enemy armed with Sarin nerve gas, the “worst of the worst” of the war’s clandestine weapons.

This book provides a taxonomy of prologues and epilogues with a corresponding appendix, and demonstrates through case studies of Anne Bracegirdle and Anne Oldfield how the study of prologues and epilogues enriches Restoration theater scholarship.

About the book: Do you know what you really are? Or has life not tested you yet! 8 stories 8 situations 8 emotions Lata is quintessential Indian housewife. How come her blissful life got disturbed by all but a gentle sermon? The handsome Piyush had the world at his feet and yet his world was empty! Meera, an IAS officer, was living her dream but why wasn’t she happy? Centuries ago, Ila the Playwright, found happiness in pursuing her passion but why was this a bane to many? What happens when your subconscious tries to pass on a message? Hurt and pain helped Madhav become a millionaire. How would be come to terms when he realizes that it was not him that was wronged but it was he who was wrong. Meera is a budding comedian, but a great tragedy befalls her. Would she be able to hold her own in adverse circumstances? Kapil found liberation in his quest for knowledge, but would his daughter follow his lead ? Explore Greed (via Manifestation of God), Unspoken words (via The Last Confession), Internal Conflict (via The Lost Meera), Self-Belief (via The Mysterious Playwright), Subconscious-self (via Three of Him), Love (via Madhav and Meera), Jealousy (via The Comic’s Tragedy) and Freedom (via Life goes in a circle). About the Author: “An architect by education, software engineer by profession and a writer by choice.” Charu was born in UK (Belfast), and brought up in Roorkee, India. From an early age, she was enchanted by the campus of University of Roorkee, where her father worked as a professor. She harbored a dream to get into the esteemed Roorkee University. In 2001, she realized her long cherished dream and obtained admission to IIT Roorkee. After completing her graduation in architecture from IIT Roorkee, Charu worked for Tata Consultancy at Noida for 3 years and then moved to Miami, USA, to work for a luxury cruise liner. The 2 years spent at Miami were interesting and it was here that Charu met her future husband Rachit Gulati, another fellow TCSer. Charu moved her base back to India in 2011 and she starting working for American Express as a Senior Program Analyst. She worked at Royal Bank of Scotland as Senior Software Professional in Gurgaon for over 6 years. Currently she is working as a Senior Manager (IT) at Max Life Insurance. Charu is married and lives in a joint family, which includes Grandma-in-law, parents in law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, husband and daughter. She takes a keen interest in Indian mythology and loves reading out stories from ancient lore to the kids at home. She is a Hindu, but is also intrigued by Buddhism. She is a follower of Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism and is a member of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), an association promoting values of Buddhism: peace and respect for all people. Her other interests include reading, writing and public speaking (She is a Toastmaster International Certified Advanced Communicator Bronze and is her working her way up to obtain Distinguished Toastmaster’s badge). She is an avid reader and a blogger. In 2015, she published a self-help ebook at Amazon titled, “Tip the Skin!” Literary zine “Invincible” has been publishing a few of her blog posts in print since May 2018. Her blog: http://lifeinthehooterville.blogspot.in/ Achievements: l She was declared the first runner up in 2017 edition of NUHA Global Blogging Competition. l She won second prize in Toastmasters District level impromptu speaking competition in 2017 and was a finalist at District Toastmasters Humorous speech competition the same year. The District consists of all Toastmasters clubs from North India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. l She was one of the highly recommended authors at Bharat Award for literature-4th Short Story contest conducted by poiesisonline.com. l She was amongst the top 25 in the first edition of YES I WRITE Corporate Short Shory Contest organized by StoryMirror. The Contest saw participation from over 5000 corporate employees.

Together with its accompanying short-story collection, A Second Chance at Eden, Peter F. Hamilton's bestselling Night's Dawn Trilogy has been one of the most triumphant works of science fiction to appear in decades. Swiftly gathering a worldwide readership, this masterwork of cosmic imagination and sheer story-telling amounts to over 3,700 pages (or 1,200,000 words) in total, and has brought to life a galaxy of diverse planets and astonishing civilisations. To mark the completion of this awesome trilogy, Peter F. Hamilton has produced The Confederation Handbook as an essential companion guide to the diverse elements of the massive universe he has created. Here we have his personal exposition of Adamist culture, Edenist culture, the starships, the status of the Confederation in 2610, a description of sentient xenoc species, as well as a full list of characters and their roles and, of course, details of the timeline itself.

Set in New England, a farmer struggles to survive a bare existence, tethered to his farm, first by his helpless parents and then by a hypochondriac wife. Yet, when his wife's alluring cousin comes to stay, his dreams are rekindled