Meet Leland Bicks, recently released from Oregon State Prison after serving twenty years for a double murder. A man with no future. Today, Mr. Bicks finds himself in Pimm's, a curio shop filled with a eclectic mix of magic and the occult where he meets Skip Pimm who offers Bicks a new life free from his past.

A tale that asks the question, "Does every man deserve a second chance?"

Hanson Allen commands an interstellar vessel, a position of great responsibility and authority. In deep space discipline is the greatest foe to master.

A secret surfaces that makes him think he's lost control of his ship and his crew. He must get to the bottom of this mystery before he loses his command, and possibly his ship.

A story where loyalty is put to the ultimate test.

In an alternate universe a metawave has struck the Earth creating super heroes and super villains, but not all heroes and villains are created equal.

They are soon divided in classes. A being the top teir heroes with the broadest range of powers to the D class heroes and villains who have limited powers.

Sidekicks tells the story of the sidekick, Kick Boy and Captain Incredible, both D class heroes and their most recent contract (missions are contracted) to stop Dr. Crisis and his sidekick, Calamity Cain (D class villians) and their plot to poison water supplies to extract a hefty ransom for the antidote.

A tale of danger, action where super heroes confront the forces of evil bent on world domination (or at least to be paid for non-domination).

Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman once said, “War is hell.” yet he is viewed by many historians as an advocate for total war. Total war is war not only against an enemy army but also includes a civilian population as a military target. The idea is to crush morale and support for the war being fought so the enemy army will capitulate thus saving lives.

Of course such tactics have never met with much success, at least that I can see. Think about the London blitz or the German assault of Leningrad during the early days of World War Two, these actions didn’t encourage surrender in fact they stiffened resolve.

A less known quote from General Sherman reveals how he truly felt about total war. “I confess, without shame, that I am sick and tired of fighting — its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies…” General Sherman understood the impact of total war on people.

The five stories in this collection are about ordinary people who have suffered during war or who experience small victories magnified by the bloody conflicts they are asked to face head on.

I hope you enjoy these stories and that they make you think about war and the people who fought them.

The adventures of Trixie Aioli continues in Part 5.

In this installment her problems pile up like the next big burger special at your local fast food franchise.

What started a simple mission to seize power and stop the rounding up of the customers bill, to a quest for a power marriage to time travel, has now escalated to unimaginable danger and possible death for Trixie and Cherry Bomb.