Michael Jackson was the King of Pop and a noted entertainer, humanitarian, and philanthropist. Michael Jackson was always under the scrutiny of the media when in public. On June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson was pronounced dead from cardiac arrest at approximately 2:26 pm MST at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center. There is so much conflicting information concerning whether Michael was a drug addict or not. Michael Jackson had many trials and tribulations over the past twenty years which have caused him much heartache and pain. The media has ostracized and ridiculed the entertainer whenever possible. He was an entertainer that loved to develop illusions for his stage presentations and videos which “fooled” his audiences. Michael always wanted to have a normal life for him and his children in which they could enjoy the simple things in life without the scrutiny of the public and media. Michael has proven to be worth more in death than in life. With all the publicity for his death, there is still no real physical evidence Michael Jackson is really deceased. Therefore, there is the possibility Michael inadvertently created the “illusion” of his own death.

Eighty-year-old Jessica Matthews, also known as Lady Marmalade, has already revealed many of her secrets to the world that include living a life far away from the dazzling existence she once imagined for herself. But things are about to change for Jessica when she moves with her family from London to Brooklyn, New York, in April 1914, just before the start of the First World War. While living in a magnificent house, Jessica makes many friends, plays music and sings, and eventually marries a lovely man, Daniel, and has two beautiful children. Her new chapter is filled with happiness and the best days of her life, especially as her career blossoms, she earns newfound fame, and is cast in the Ziegfield Follies in 1922. But when a chain of events unfolds that ultimately causes things to turn for the worse, Jessica and her family must move back to the United Kingdom where new challenges await that no one, not even Lady Marmalade, could have predicted. In this intriguing historical novel, an elderly actress reveals the last of the hidden secrets that surrounded her life in the spotlight as she sought fame and happiness.

Craving the spotlight is in her blood. Ever since high school student Anastasija Parker discovered she was vampire royalty, her life has been sort of crazy. The half-vampire- half-witch just wants some normalcy, and trying out for the spring musical seems like the perfect fix. But when the ancient talisman that stands between vampire freedom and slavery to witches is stolen, Ana has to skip rehersal and track down the dangerous artifact before someone uses it to make this year's curtain call her last...

A new ghoulish mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of A Ghostly Light featuring Mel Turner, a ghost-whispering contractor. Mel Turner can’t resist the chance to bring the Crockett Theatre, a decrepit San Francisco Art Deco movie palace, back to life. But there’s a catch for Turner Construction: Several artists are currently squatting in the building, and they aren’t the only ones haunting the once-grand halls of the historic theater.… When one of the squatters is found dead, the police department has a long list of suspects to investigate. Meanwhile, Mel and her fiancé, Landon, are remodeling an old house for themselves, and Mel finds being on the other side of a home renovation project more challenging than she expected. When Mel discovers that the former owner of the Crockett Theatre died under mysterious circumstances, and that there just might be a connection to the ghost haunting her own attic, the case takes a new turn—one that could bring down the curtain for the last time.

In the performing arts, curtain calls transpire when performers return to the stage to be recognized by the audience for their performance. It may seem somewhat strange to speak of "nature's curtain call," but I am thinking of those amazing moments when with the passing of seasons Mother Nature presents a stunning performance, so to speak, for which we, the observers, are amazed: the appearance of spring's flowers, the budding trees of spring, snow-white winter snow, huge flocks of Canadian geese flying south, the filling of dry waterbeds with late spring's melting snow, the stunning colors of autumn's leaves, the glorious colors of desert flowers, newborn animals of diverse species, and changing climates across the earth. There are cycles of nature that enable these wonders. The poems in this book address some of the wonders of nature: the seasons, weather, flowers, creatures, and beautiful scenes of nature. In the final section, however, the question is raised as to whether these wonders will survive the devastating effects of climate change, global warming, and other threats to nature. Will humankind awaken to the need of caring for nature?

On a sultry afternoon in the summer of 1936 a woman accidentally interrupts an attempted murder in a London hotel room. Nina Land, a West End actress, faces a dilemma: she's not supposed to be at the hotel in the first place, and certainly not with a married man. But once it becomes apparent that she may have seen the face of the man the newspapers have dubbed 'the Tie-Pin Killer' she realises that another woman's life could be at stake. Jimmy Erskine is the raffish doyen of theatre critics who fears that his star is fading: age and drink are catching up with him, and in his late-night escapades with young men he walks a tightrope that may snap at any moment. He has depended for years on his loyal and longsuffering secretary Tom, who has a secret of his own to protect. Tom's chance encounter with Madeleine Farewell, a lost young woman haunted by premonitions of catastrophe, closes the circle: it was Madeleine who narrowly escaped the killer's stranglehold that afternoon, and now walks the streets in terror of his finding her again. Curtain Call is a comedy of manners, and a tragedy of mistaken intentions. From the glittering murk of Soho's demi-monde to the grease paint and ghost-lights of theatreland, the story plunges on through smoky clubrooms, tawdry hotels and drag balls towards a denouement in which two women are stalked by the same killer. As bracing as a cold Martini and as bright as a new tie-pin, it is a poignant and gripping story about love and death and a society dancing towards the abyss.