For intelligent, literate Christians who dislike the bombast and apocalypticism of most religious fiction, and for Amiable Agnostics who occasionally feel the urge: Ten journeys in faith, replete with miracles, mysteries, gentle preachments, and the occasional what-if. Unlike other establishments, the doors of the church are never locked. All are welcome. All ye that labor, come unto Him!

Ten short stories of what-if and might-be. Speculations that run the gamut from horror through science fiction to magic-based fantasy. Each departs from the natural law as we know it. Each insists on laws and a world of its own...but in no case what you would expect.

"The Object Of His Affection:" A grieving widower runs afoul of a sorcerer who knows how to make use of his longing.

"Class Action:" Is there anything scarier than a lawyer with a cause? Well, maybe...

"Discount:" The universe has laws that can't be set aside by a mere credit card.

"Mainstreaming:" There are some problems talk therapy can't cure.

"Land For Peace:" Sometimes, surrender is the right thing to do.

"The Last Ambassadors:" Vengeance is always ugly...especially from beyond the grave.

"Terminal Guidance:" Grief and intellectual greatness make strange bedfellows.

"Upgrade:" Men with guns are no match for a woman of genius.

"The Warm Lands:" Power will always fear power...especially power of a radically different kind.

"Equalizer:" Technology married to magic was no match for a broadsword well swung...but there are other powers than those.

Hope, a world peopled by anarchists, is in ecological crisis. For 1200 years, a secret Cabal has elevated powerful psi talents to the Godhood of Hope -- the management of Hope's crust -- at the eventual cost of their lives. Now only two remain: Armand Morelon and Victoria Peterson. But one is utterly unwilling and the other is murderously insane. And the survival of Mankind hangs in the balance.

Tales of love, hatred, brilliance, blindness, greed, vengeance, patriotism, triumph, and a little inside baseball. Ambitions are thwarted and ambitions are fulfilled. Common people find exaltation and absolution, while great men reach their highest heights and suffer their worst nightmares. Children cower, women wail, and nations reel. Explore!

"A For Effort:" Morgana wants a man, but she has a little problem.

"Ceremony:" Some gifts can't be purchased at Macy's.

"Learning By Doing:" Love isn't just about how you feel.

"The Middle Years:" A sappy implausibility for geriatric romantics everywhere.

"Mistakes:" Be true to yourself, certainly...but be true to others as well.

"Taillights:" There's such a thing as being too smart!

"Prices:" If you have the price, you can have anything your heart desires...but be ready to pay.

"The Hawk:" Principles are the hardest master of all.

"The Sport:" There's such a thing as being too good!

"Impurities:" Passion and leadership don't always spring from the same source.

"Making It Right:" Tough and quick is good. Tough, quick, and really, really smart is even better.

"Conspiracies:" If there's a plot afoot, shouldn't you know about it?

For white-collar clock watchers of all ages: Amusing musings from a veteran of the software wars. Assorted anecdotes of trial and travail, thoughts on the duties of a responsible supervisor/manager, and overall a philosophy of joyous engagement with that most unfairly maligned of milieus, American corporate life in the age of the ubiquitous digital computer.

Do you want to tell memorable, vivid, life-altering stories? With plots that embed real knowledge about the natures and ways of men? Do you want to create characters that will haunt your readers' dreams? Do you want to learn the discipline to unite all the above, without overdressing your plots or distoring your characters to make them serve a theme for which they're ill-equipped? Start here!

You're a young woman with no memory of your past. You've been made a sexual slave by a gang of vicious bikers. After ten years' agony, you've freed yourself by committing murder and earning a faceful of scars. But the biker king is obsessed with you. Your sole chance of escaping him lies in trusting a mysterious young man you've just met. Do you choose the devil you know, or the devil you don't?

Three siblings: A mystic, with power to heal the wounds of the soul and dispel the anguish of the dying; A genius, who strove to bring human desire itself to heel, and succeeded beyond her hopes; And a visionary of freedom, whose depictions of courage in the face of oppression brought him a most unpleasant official notice. They huddle in a cabin in the New York woods. The door is open to you.

Louis Redmond is the pinnacle of Mankind: a high genius, a world-class athlete, and a natural leader of men. He has the respect of all who know him. He's protected by an immortal warrior whose vigilance never slackens. Yet he would trade it all to be as ordinary as you or I, without a backward glance. For Louis's powers bring him great danger, including from the One he trusts most in this world.

Helen and Martine run unusual establishments: "sex shops," one in Los Angeles and one in New York, that never ask payment for their wares. They aren't in business to sell "novelties." They aren't there to make a profit. Their mission, as priestesses of erotic desire, is to spread erotic knowledge among those who need it...and really, isn't that all of us?