From Within the Firebird's Nest

From Within the Firebird's Nest

Author: Sheldon Charles

Publisher: Valkyrie Spirit Publishing

Published: 2017-09-09

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 1733958819

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Most people think the Cold War ended when the Soviet Union collapsed. Though the USSR may have been beaten, their war infrastructure and resentment didn’t simply go away. What if there were still secret weapons systems in place and angry old men eager to set them off? In From within the Firebird’s Nest, former KGB official Sergei Kirill Mikhailov revives a secret biological weapon: the Crimson Firebird. His aim is to strike a devastating blow to the United States while pinning the blame on an impressionable young Arab man, thus initiating a global crisis. Meanwhile, one of Sergei’s former colleagues is scrambling to stop the weapon from being deployed and recruits an unlikely team that includes his son (now a banker in Oklahoma), a former Stasi agent, and an American writer named Evan. Together they must shed light on foes hiding in the dark and save the world from unthinkable destruction. Crypto codes, numbers stations, and sleeper agents all factor into this ultra-high-stakes story of international intrigue. The Cold War gets a little warmer with each page, and all the animosity from the past builds and finally bursts in a shocking conclusion.


Seeking The Firebird's Nest

Seeking The Firebird's Nest

Author: Edward Schwartz

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2005-09

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 0595359167

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Seeking the Firebird's Nest by Edward Schwartz carries the reader on a journey where Past and Present stream by the window of the author's mind. Human frailty is given voice with hope to reach happiness and teach for the Future. Esoteric anecdotes reveal his philosophy of life developed in his personal adventures, trials and accomplishments, all in a fairy tale format. Many years have passed since I was a little boy. Several times in my life the firebird has shown me her face. Did she look like the firebird from the old man's house or does everybody see his or her own firebird? I do not know. But what I do definitely know is the fact that the taste of tears caused by the firebird's appearance is the same for all of us.


Aspects of Contemporary World Literature

Aspects of Contemporary World Literature

Author: P. Bayapa Reddy

Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Dist

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9788126909759

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Festschrift volume dedicated to Kamjula Venkata Reddy, b. 1939, former Professor of English, Sri Krishnadevaraya University; contributed articles; some previously published.


Three Paperclips & a Grey Scarf

Three Paperclips & a Grey Scarf

Author: Sheldon Charles

Publisher: Valkyrie Spirit Publishing

Published: 2012-06-09

Total Pages: 126

ISBN-13: 1370909470

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A struggling writer. A team of U.S. soldiers. A fight for their lives. A battle for his soul. Writer Evan Davis desperately needs to find his muse to finish his book. As the impossible deadline approaches with a virtually nonexistent wordcount, his agent presents him with a unique reprieve: Gain a delay by becoming a press embed with U.S. troops going to Central Asia. Davis sees it as an unlikely place to rediscover his muse but lacks any alternative. After being presented with an odd luck talisman of three paperclips by a friend, he travels with his assigned unit to Afghanistan. There he is out of his comfort zone and pushed into a world where friendships are vital, and lives are on the line. His problems pale in comparison to what these brave men must face daily. As Davis begins to write about their daily hardships, he rediscovers his love of the written word. He also finds a use for each of his talismans, as they save his life and those of the men he comes to regard as his team; soldiers who promised each other they would all make it home in one piece. Follow Evan’s journey as he finds his muse in the most unlikely place under the most extraordinary circumstances.


The Firebird

The Firebird

Author: Bret Allen

Publisher: Bret Allen

Published: 2013-09-18

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 1310003580

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This book features three complete stories and one poem from Strange Matters, a collection of short fantasy stories by Bret Allen. About the Firebird: Ekaterina wants to be taken seriously by the men of her village, so she sets out to hunt the greatest prey of all, the legendary Firebird. On the way she encounters three strangers who give her the gifts she needs- for a price. This short novella, inspired by Slavic folklore, is a symbolic fable about the importance of choosing wisely and keeping sight of the things that truly matter. About British Gods: Two strange figures watch the violence of the London riots unfold and do what they can to help, as only forgotten gods can. A humble nod to my favourite author, Neil Gaiman. This short story is based on British folklore in the modern-day style of American Gods. About Thornback: A poem about the humble hedgehog, seen through my eyes. About Saturday’s Child: Henri discovers that his afterlife is going to be even more dangerous than his first life, when he meets a predatory and beautiful stranger. This very short story is set in the world of ‘Sleepwalkers’, a setting of my own creation. In this case, I give a glimpse of the plight of a newly deceased spirit. Feel free to read these stories before checking out the full collection- Strange Matters- 20 stories and poems of fantasy, myth and magic! These stories contain some mature themes.


Pimping Out My Sister-In-Law*, Volume 1

Pimping Out My Sister-In-Law*, Volume 1

Author: Sheldon Charles

Publisher: Valkyrie Spirit Publishing

Published: 2020-12-19

Total Pages: 111

ISBN-13:

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An anthology of short stories selected to provide you with a brief escape from where you find yourself right now. Each will allow you to leave this reality and take a quick trip into a different one. Have no fear. It’s a nice place. Even better, they know you there. Words Ever Unspoken Years have passed since Carson and Melissa broke up. Even though time has passed, both still dwell on the last time the two were together. Was that night a way of marking the end of their relationship, or was it a desperate attempt on both their parts to prevent their breakup from being permanent? Neither of them said a word during that last time together. Will either of them be able to find the words to express what is going on inside their minds and hearts today? It's a Surreal Thing He was deep into that summer between being a kid and being a teenager. She was the kind of woman that was the building block of a young man’s fantasies. As he sat there alone, she walked up behind him unnoticed and for a brief moment became the center of his universe when she made a simple request… a swig of his Coke. Just Down from Rimpy’s Bait Shop Peter’s grandfather brought him to live on his farm during his most turbulent years. As the man he loves succumbs to the deterioration of age, Peter is increasingly frustrated as he is forced to deal with the aging man’s belligerent and sometimes dangerous behavior. Fertilizing a section of the lawn should be a simple chore, especially when there are explicit directions. But then again, maybe not. A Scents of the Virus A sleepless night filled with the boredom of the COVID19 lockdown, a distracting ad on the Internet, and a credit card leads to the purchase of a Hollywood star’s latest vanity project: A candle with a unique scent. The first time Munro smells it, he begins to recover a memory. It is a memory he suppressed for years of a woman and relationship his heart and body cherished. Now, whenever the aroma surrounds him, he is immersed in a world where she and the relationship still exist.


Performance and Performativity in Contemporary Indian Fiction in English

Performance and Performativity in Contemporary Indian Fiction in English

Author: Maria-Sabina Draga Alexandru

Publisher: Hotei Publishing

Published: 2015-02-04

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 9004292608

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This book starts with a consideration of a 1997 issue of the New Yorker that celebrated fifty years of Indian independence, and goes on to explore the development of a pattern of performance and performativity in contemporary Indian fiction in English (Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Vikram Chandra). Such fiction, which constructs identity through performative acts, is built around a nomadic understanding of the self and implies an evolution of narrative language towards performativity whereby the text itself becomes nomadic. A comparison with theatrical performance (Peter Brook’s Mahabharata and Girish Karnad’s ‘theatre of roots’) serves to support the argument that in both theatre and fiction the concepts of performance and performativity transform classical Indian mythic poetics. In the mythic symbiosis of performance and storytelling in Indian tradition within a cyclical pattern of estrangement from and return to the motherland and/or its traditions, myth becomes a liberating space of consciousness, where rigid categories and boundaries are transcended.


POMSILv2

POMSILv2

Author: Sheldon Charles

Publisher: Valkyrie Spirit Publishing

Published: 2021-08-09

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1733958886

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An anthology of stories selected to provide you with a brief escape from where you find yourself right now. Each will allow you to leave this reality and take a quick trip into someplace completely different. Have no fear. It's a nice place, and whether in the past or another world, it's okay, they know you there. The stories featured in this volume: I Only Slow Dance Rafe, a ninth-grade military brat, finds himself at the first dance of the school year in a new locale. Having made no friends and yearning to belong, he is befriended by fast-talking and slightly flirtatious Renée, who shatters his wall of loneliness, daring him to resist her charm. As the music plays, Rafe finds himself attracted to this siren. Before the last note, they enjoy a first kiss that becomes a lifelong memory, but is the memory of that explosive first kiss one that matters? Beyond AM Radio When Cordeil starts a new job, he discovers an antique car radio he needs to finish restoring his 1947 Cadillac. It might be perfect, but it is stored in a strictly controlled government warehouse, and taking it would be a federal crime. Over time, Cordeil convinces himself that since the radio has been sitting there for half a century untouched, stealing it will do no harm. Unbeknownst to him, he will not realize the true cost of his decision until he powers it up for the first and possibly last time. DD603 His father brought the AK-44 back from Vietnam as a war trophy. Now that his father is gone, he has been taking the rifle to the range, hoping to find Zen in shooting targets. Instead, with every cartridge he loads into the breach and every bullet he sends downrange, he finds himself delving into the history of the complex relationship he and his father shared since the rifle was thrust into their midst. As he fires the last twenty shells, he tries to decide what to do next with the war trophy that has become a painful reminder of their shared past. It's Said, Destiny Awaits Just out of the military, Daniel's life is at a significant turning point. Still, it seems like prospects for his next steps are vaporizing before him until a missed turn presents a possibility. Boarding the riverboat Queen Orleans, he sets sail toward a different future where new acquaintances teach him the skills needed to thrive in the place where he finds himself. When your present has no future, maybe it's time to pull on your boots, reshuffle the deck, and step into the past.


Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts

Author: Prabhat K. Singh

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2015-09-04

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 144388183X

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Random Thoughts is a collection of fifteen essays in literary criticism, some revised, improved and reprinted, and others in print for the first time. These essays are the outcome of the author’s intensive reading and revaluation of a wide variety of Indian, British, African, Singaporean and Pakistani writers and their works in English. Ranging from William Shakespeare to Rabindranath Tagore, from Edward Said to Salman Rushdie, from Chinua Achebe to Edwin Thumboo, from Shiv K. Kumar to K. N. Daruwalla, from Shashi Deshpande to Cyrus Mistry, they are the evidence of exercises in critical intelligence. In addition, there are essays focused on the nature and function of transparency in autobiography, theoretical perceptions about the author-text relationship, Indian feminism, Indian English children’s literature, the Buddhist vision in English literature, and Pakistani poetry in English. The book, thus, addresses the works of different literary genres – poetry, fiction, drama, memoir, and translation – sensitively and with a freshness of approach. Since these writers mostly figure in the university syllabi in India and abroad, the book is a valuable contribution to the body of literary criticism, and is especially useful for students, teachers, researchers and readers with an interest in English literature.