2015 San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention!Flying saucers! Rampaging monsters! Genetically modified super geniuses! Forbidden love between a pop singer and her alien romeo! It's Attack of the Vyperians in thrilling 2-D! When a race of alien octopuses arrives to "befriend with benefits" Earth's women, a motley collection of humans find themselves thrown into a war zone of giant monsters, ancient enemies, and horny interplanetary beings that just can't keep their tentacles to themselves. James "Crash" Jefferson - Cable TV adventure show host. Egomaniac. Emmy award winner. Irresponsible lover. The only person banned from South Africa for choking a giraffe to death during a Make-A-Wish trip, Crash is his own biggest advocate and worst enemy at the same time. Pulled across the planet by forces he doesn't understand, Crash does what Crash does best - swing hard and let others clean up the mess. Jennica! - As a global pop music superstar, Jennica! secretly wishes for nothing more than to wrest control of her own life from those that want only to use her as a pawn to profit from. Unfortunately, the exact opposite happens yet again as she becomes the vessel of choice for the Vyperians' devious plan. Dr. Frank Faraday - Pushed from childhood to be the next super-genius scientist extraordinaire, Frank Faraday recieved his first PhD at age 20 and then subsequently suprised everyone around him by disappearing off the grid. For the first time in his life, Dr. Faraday had a taste of freedom as he left the stresses and pressures of his past life behind him. Until, that is, a secret organization made him an offer he should have refused. A science fiction comedy born from a love of the golden age of ridiculously awesome monster movies, "Attack of the Vyperians" will capture your attention from the first page and keep it all the way to the second. Uh, end. I meant end. How do I go back? How do I edit? Hello?
Set against the bitter frontier strife between Texans and the Comanche, Texas Rangers Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call battle Buffalo Hump, the enigmatic war chief, and Gus' long-time nemesis, Blue Duck.
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin's Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick is the latest—and arguably greatest—sci-fi thriller in the Zoey Ashe Series. In the futuristic city of Tabula Ra$a, Zoey Ashe is like a fish so far out of water that it has achieved orbit. After inheriting a criminal empire, the twenty-three year-old finds herself under threat from all sides as a rogue's gallery of larger-than-life enemies think they smell weakness. On the eve of the world's most lavish and ridiculous Halloween celebration, a steamer trunk-sized box arrives at Zoey's door and she is shocked to find that it contains a disemboweled corpse. She is even more shocked when that corpse, controlled by an unknown party, rises and goes on a rampage through the house. Speaking in an electronic voice, it publicly accuses Zoey of being its murderer. This is the kind of thing that almost never happened at her old job. The city was already a ticking time bomb of publicity-hungry vigilantes with superhuman enhancements and Zoey knows this turn of events is unlikely to improve the situation. Now, she and her team of high-tech tricksters have to solve this bizarre murder while simultaneously keeping Tabula Ra$a from descending into chaos. “Biting humor and blatant digs at modern society overlay a subtly brilliant and thoughtful plot” (Publishers Weekly) in John Dies at the End author Jason Pargin’s first installment of the Zoey Ashe Series, Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits. Now, “one of today’s great satirists” (Nerdist) is back with Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick, the second installment in a “Technicolor tomorrowland.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Best of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts: Wildlife Portraits is jam packed full of 28 extraordinary animal scroll saw projects. These tried and true favorites are plucked from the archives of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts, the foremost periodical on scroll sawing. Join your favorite authors, including Kathy Wise, Gary Browning, Charles Dearing, and Lora Irish, as they scroll handsome projects from the animal kingdom. Scroll saw patterns include birds, pets, sea life, North American wildlife, and African big cats in wood. Here's a selection of the animals you'll find inside: rooster, blue jay, cat, rabbit, crab, turtle, bear, elk, wolf, tiger, and lion.
We're all searching for "the good life." Too often, however, we encounter discouragement, failure, broken relationships, guilt, and dashed dreams, all of which leave us yearning for more. In this book, Tim Savage presents a renewed vision of life by examining the fullest life ever lived: the life of Jesus Christ. Savage invites us to tap into that life—and experience the riches of the joy, satisfaction, and purpose offered to us in Christ.
Christianity has been abolished in America! Churches have been razed. Pastors have been addicted to drugs and alcohol, brainwashed and given new identities and moved far away from family and friends. But one such pastor experiences an awakening to discover twelve years of his life are missing, and he is now a Skid Row drunk. Jeffery Burke begins a long struggle to get back to his home and to the life he lost. That struggle will take him from one end of the country to the other and show him th
Rediscovering the Voice of God Adapted from Discovering the Good Life by Tim Savage By Tim Savage In our world there are thousands of weary souls and troubled hearts, people yearning for satisfaction in life but finding mostly disappointment. But it doesn't have to be that way. Jesus Christ promised life and promised it in abundance. Moreover, he has done everything in his matchless power to fulfill the promise. On the cross, Jesus purged the power of what ruins life--sin. On the cross, he paid the penalty of what ends life--death. In the resurrection, he opened the door to a new way to be human--fullness of life. In the combined work of the cross and the resurrection, he purified hearts and fitted them to be vessels of his life. It is a life overbrimming with love, power, truth, peace, goodness, righteousness, comfort, and joy. Not all Christians know this abundance of life, and perhaps many reading these words feel less than completely full. The problem boils down to this: you are probably unaware of your identity in Christ. You do not understand who you are in Christ. Every day you receive a steady stream of verbal input. Some of it begins in your imagination--as interior dialogues of the mind--and some of it begins in the world--as the external messages of society. Too often it is burdensome input, focusing on life's problems and whispering negative messages such as "You're going to fail," "You'll never be attractive," "You ought to be more successful by now," "You'll never escape the past," "You're destined to be alone," "You'll never amount to anything," "Your goals are beyond reach," "You'll never find happiness." "You lost your job," "You're divorced," "You filed for bankruptcy," "You're hopeless." "Shame on you!" "You're not good enough!" It is vital to discern the voices. Those stoking discouragement, fear, and guilt can be dismissed, because they do not fit the vocabulary of God. They do not originate from him. To whom, then, do we owe dispiriting messages? The apostle Paul tells us. "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). The voice of discouragement belongs to the voice of "this present darkness," hence to the devil. And the goal of Satan is to derail us, to slay us with negativity. He "prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Pet. 5:8). As Christians, we must distinguish the voices. If they condemn us, they are not from God. "There is . . . no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). For fullness of life, we must attune ourselves to the promises of God. For instance, God promises that "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5; see Josh. 1:5). We need not listen to the voice of loneliness, even when we feel desolate and deserted. God promises that he will make us "more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Rom. 8:37). We must not listen to the voice of insecurity, even amidst stinging failure. God promises that "all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). We must not listen to the voice of despair, even when facing difficult trials. God promises that we can "rejoice always" (1 Thess. 5:16; see Phil. 4:4). We need not listen to the voice of sorrow. God promises "peace I leave with you" (John 14:27). We must not listen to the voice of doubt, apprehension, and vulnerability. God promises that he has already "seated us with him in the heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6). We need not listen to the voice of anxiety and the possibility of future losses. God promises that he will "graciously give us all things" (Rom. 8:32; see Matt. 6:33). We need not listen to the voice of want. God promises that he "is for us" (Rom. 8:31). We must not listen to the voice of detractors. God promises that he "will supply every need of [ours] according to his riches in glory" (Phil. 4:19). We need not listen to the voice of worry, even in times of uncertainty. When life-sapping messages such as these assault us--and they do with alarming frequency--we must consider the source. They do not emanate from the life-imparting God. Hence they can be discounted. We must measure the voices of the world against the promises of God. It is sobering to admit that we often spend vast segments of our lives--days, weeks, months, even years--without seeking to hear the voice of God. It is time to amend our ways. God speaks to us through his Son Jesus Christ in the Bible. We must attune ourselves to the words of Christ, listening to him daily, as through headphones inserted into our ears, so that we are reminded continuously of the loving promises of the heavenly Father. Remembering those promises is all we need for life. Perhaps you are reading these words and feeling a gnawing restlessness in your heart. You are still searching for more in life. The good news is that there is more. It will be found not in the things of this world -- not in science or nature or possessions or money or religion or pleasure -- but in Jesus Christ, in listening to the voice of Christ. Nothing else will satisfy your heart. If you are reading this and desire these promises that God gives to those who trust in him, call out to Jesus now by praying something like this: Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son, and that he died on the cross to save me from my sin. I believe that he rose again to life, and that he invites me to live forever with him in heaven as part of your family. Because of what Jesus has done, I ask you to forgive me of my sin and give me eternal life. Please lead me to a Bible-believing church where I can grow in faith with others who love Jesus. Amen.
This book has been written for photographers who want to switch their camera off automatic mode and take control of its image-making potential. With visual examples throughout, it explains how to use the camera's settings and functions to take better and more creative photographs. By introducing new techniques based on concepts already taught, it explains the key principles of camera craft and thereby helps the photographer determine the outcome of the image they take. Many topics are covered including: a guide to photographic equipment; exposure and how to control the shutter, aperture and ISO settings; flash control, metering patterns, focus modes and drive options; colour settings, including white balance, picture styles and colour spaces and digital photographs are explained in terms of histogram, resolution, image size and quality settings. Fully illustrated with 378 colour photographs.
