Amy Laurens
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In 2022, Amy faced the most challenging decision of her life: stay in the job she knew and loved as a high school English teacher, making a difference in the lives of teens, but continue to risk her relationship with her friends, her family, her health—and her own children?
Or leap into the unknown?
Amy's choice resulted in these poems, as she processed her way through grief into joy on the other side.
For everyone who knows what it takes to...
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Did you know that all cultures are a direct product of their environment? Do you know why? Better yet, do you know how an environment is likely to shape the culture that develops there, in order to make your own worldbuilding both rich and plausible?
How To Create Cultures is here to help!
In this comprehensively-researched, easy-to-read book, learn all the major biomes and climate zones you can expect to find either on Earth or in your fictional...
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The silver silence out in the forest refreshes Lily's spirits after being housebound with her family for the last three weeks. Hoping for mushrooms, instead Lily finds… something else. Something unidentifiable.Something with the power to remind Lily of everything truly important in her life.A lush, vivid story with mystery elements, for readers who love the soul-deep quiet of the outdoors and value finding peace in the everyday hustle of modern...
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**Winner 2019 ACT Writing & Publishing Awards - Children's Division**This is what the fairies never wanted you to know…Edge Tanning gets things done. She vanquished the shadows that threatened Sanctuary, magical home of the fairies, and saved her best friend from the clutches of the Valley-and called the power of Sanctuary to life. All well and good… except that calling the power of Sanctuary kind of broke the whole of the fairies' land. None...
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The small town of Renph: a cosy, happy little place-at least until recently. Now, violence explodes in the streets, rumours whisper in the dark, and people hang in the square. And no one knows why. No one-except Tikva. But what can a seven-year-old do against a tidal wave of hatred? Or against the strange flame-haired woman who rode into town on her jet-black horse?A richly imagined tale that demonstrates the power of love-no matter what the age....
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Rory appreciates her big, sprawling family-and the beauty of twilight down at the lake-but sometimes she wishes she felt a little bit less like a freakish unicorn and a little bit more like she belonged.Then a strange (cute) boy trips over her as they wait for the fireworks to begin; but Rory knows how that story goes, and she has better things to do with her time. Especially when disaster strikes in the dark.Suddenly, the boy's motivations? Yeah,...
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Adela's hand? Burning with pain from a magical bullet strike. Hard to concentrate with that much pain distracting you.
She must push it aside and raise the protective bubble around their campsite though, because the middle of a guerrilla warzone? Yeah. Not a good place for Adela and her friends to sit around unprotected.
But of course, the pain isn't the only thing distracting Adela right now…
Another Changing Tides story exploring the consequences...
8) Confessions
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In a world where only priests make art, she listens as strange noises range outside her cell.She assumed the authorities wanted to question her about her little brother.But the truth? Much more sinister than that.The price for her transgressions? Everything she ever held dear.A cautionary tale about crossing boundaries, and the power of art to affect reality.
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The last time Joanna saw Ryan, someone died. Still, unlike everyone else, Joanna trusts Ryan.
But does she trust him enough to help her enact revenge on her high school nemesis, who bullies her cruelly and mercilessly?
Does she need to trust him, if she doesn't care about the consequences?
A dark, young adult fantasy tale about bullies, revenge - and unexpected consequences.
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Have you ever been reading a book-maybe even enjoying it-but when you got to a crucial point, the author made a glaring mistake that made you want to throw the book across the room? Would you keep reading?
Here's a hint: most people won't.
Time is in short supply, and readers are just looking for reasons to put your book down for a better book, or something else-and you DON'T want to be the writer whose book gets thrown across the wall.
Writers,...
11) Oath Keeper
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Tired, war-weary and worn, he longs for peace-and home. But the smell of blood reaches him as he travels: a giant, half-dead dragon-and a gang of bandits guarding it. He swore to never kill again. But once again, he faces a choice. Because today, someone must die. A wistful story about promises and peace, and the precarious nature of both. Swords & Dragons Fantasy / 1100 words
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She sits on the lounge with her partner, sharing an unfulfilling jar of jellybeans. For the first time in her life, she dares to dream of something more. If only she could find the courage to act. For everyone who dreams of freedom, and of being truly loved and known. Also includes the short story Understanding.
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Nobody suspects good-natured Skribs's real job as assassin for the queen.Everyone else's eyes? Diverted by the gruesome horrors the Northern ambassador brings for show.But Skribs's attention? Fixed where it really matters: protecting his queen's back.No one's getting past this secret hitman today.A cheeky, confident story with ultra-competent characters on display, don't miss Some Impropriety Expected!
14) April Showers
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Six stories written during April of 2020, April Showers draws together the fantastic made ordinary, and the fantastic in the ordinary. These rainy-day stories celebrate moments of peace amid chaos, the value of family, and the extraordinary adaptability of the human spirit.
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Kiana's last day at the magically-charged fence that protects the world from hyper-destructive unicorns: A day of celebration, right?Not when the extraction team runs late and an ominous storm brews-and her partner has been keeping a potentially fatal secret…For everyone who's ever been suspicious of the perfect-persona of the unicorn and who understands what true sacrifice means.
16) Interchange
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The bad: Fed up with James trying to run her life, Ella hangs up on her boyfriend at the bus stop. The worse: Having to share the bus ride home with middle-aged drifters.But the worst of all? The skinny, shell of a man in the business suit next to her starting to cry. Can people not just keep their problems to themselves for once? A coming-of-age story that reminds us not to judge others before we know them. 1900 words / contemporary
17) Anamata
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Adela never imagined her life would end here: alone in a filthy spare room with a bucket for a toilet after days on days of torture.But she can wait a few days for her captors to tire of her-or she can save them the trouble. Not that they left anything for her to use for those purposes.Of course, a third alternative might exist. She knows the nephew of this house's owner, after all…A dark, heart-twisting story that proves that even the darkest tales...
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Thanks to Lifetime Clinic's time capsule serum, anyone can now live forever-for the low, low price of two million dollars annually.A trio of enterprising thieves attempt to steal one of the capsules… And the sound tech responsible for processing the evidence makes a discovery that calls everyone's motives into question. Even Lifetime's.Because this information? Literally life-changing. Or ending. For everyone. Especially the sound tech, if they...
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Usually, Scott gets home to one of his mother's crazy rants. Today? Silence. Which makes a nice change-except that today, evil shadows lurk in the pantry where the food should be. Can Scott track down his mother, banish the shadows, and find something to eat in peace? A dark fantasy tale featuring one of the characters from Laurens' popular Sanctuary series. 2200 words / Young Adult Portal FantasyWelcome to Inklets, a series of short (and sometimes...
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From the 'Darkness and Good' blog comes a collection of fans' favourite stories, all in one convenient volume. Come read about gods and monsters, unicorns and shapeshifters, magical worlds and galaxies far, far away! PLEASE NOTE: This volume contains stories with both Australian and American English spellings.