This collection—derived from many impulses but unified through one distinctive sensibility—contains passionate subversive acts of language, oblique takes on American life, outbursts of comic genius, long meditations on the cruelty of contemporary customs, and funny, disturbing glimpses of daily life. Reality is rendered pitilessly real, and fantasy bares its teeth. At once playful and devastatingly serious, the works in this collection employ a variety of forms—genres, anti-genres, fantasies, games—while highlighting the dangers and delights of contemporary life: Hollywood, tsunamis, war, the art world, AIDS, ambition, weapons of mass destruction, family values, perverse sexualities, urban violence, small change and big bucks, are all used to chum the waters of imagination and truth.

The Better Angels. Entertainment. Music and Dancing. And Rescues! Originally designed by the Magicorps corporation to be singing and dancing idols, the Better Angels are non-human biological androids that look like young girls. But their design was repurposed for nefarious purposes. After a mysterious guardian angel named David rescues them, they need to somehow find their own way in a big galaxy. And what better way than by returning to their roots as magical-girl idols! Quickly gaining galaxy-wide fame, traveling in their starship Angels’ Wings, from their permanent berth on the Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy, David and the Better Angels jump from planet to space station to asteroid, singing and dancing, offering benefits for charity, and offering appearances for their fans. But is that all they’re doing? Some wonder … Seemingly magnets for trouble, the Angels attract more than their fair share of unwanted attention. But they also collect new allies along the way.

Take this journey of self-discovery with first-time author Kathi Stewart. Walk the path with her as she takes you through family darkness, secrets, broken relationships, and healing. Kathi is a survivor. Through her vulnerability and willingness to work through her demons, you will journey with Kathi to find hope, courage, and to rise up and see her take control of her life and get off the virtual merry-go-round that so often repeats itself generation to generation. So many of us are on that ride, but deep within ourselves we all have the inner ability to take the reins and ride the horse off.

"There could not be a fitter time or place for the publication of this great prison novel than today's United States." --H. Bruce Franklin, The Nation

In Greek mythology, the gods made human sacrifices. In this confronting, fictitious crime story, drink-spiking and sacrificial spousal gang rape, not to mention loss of trust, have been raised to Olympian heights of criminality.

Lizzie Mason just wanted to buy a birthday present for her older brother who loves antiques. What she doesn't expect is to end up in a world far from her own with a mission to save a man's life before it's too late Genies are only fairy tales. At least that's what Lizzie Mason thinks until she manages to summon one from an antique vase. Now she's in real trouble as she vows to save the man imprisoned in the bottle from a fate worse than death and ends up in his world, hoping to change fate without getting herself killed. The genie must right the wrongs of the past before the curse placed on him can be broken. But will the woman who has freed him be able to manage in a world where deceit and death await them?