R Michael: 954 books

Dragons of the Stars - 2 short stories about the future, where spaceships controlled by superintelligent AI's go renegade, venting their human crews into the vacuum of outer space and become the Dragons of the Stars."Under the Dragon" - The roar of the dragon's thrusters could not...

Two yellowing Polaroids, snapshots of a little girl at the fair. Two different childhoods separated by the death of her father. One childhood she can't remember, ruined by the one she wants to forget. When her boyfriend's "birthday surprise" turns out to be a date at the same fair, Sharon finds herself face to face with both.

A coffin isn't always a final destination. It certainly wasn't for Lacey. Murdered, Lacey spends her days as the unseen occupant of a showroom coffin. At night, though, when the lid is closed, she is once again wrapped in a rug and covered with cement, reliving the horror of her death. Until the night another body is dropped into her coffin. (2500-word short story)

Police respond to an emergency call at the house of known religious fanatic, William Revell, to find the floor, every wall, every window, even the ceiling, splattered and smeared with blood. "He came," Revell says when he's asked what happened. "He came..." (1200 word short short story)

Reviews latest research on zoonoses affecting poultry meat such as Salmonella and Campylobacter as well as methods for their control on the poultry farm and in the slaughterhouse Summarises advances in understanding and optimising poultry quality traits such as flavour, colour, tenderness, shelf life...

Reese Howard used to be an enforcer for the half-devil crime boss known as the Old Man. Now she has nothing. Her lover and partner, Sam, is dead. The Old Man betrayed them. He killed Sam in front of Reese, a blood sacrifice to fuel his latest power play in Hell on Earth. Reese hopes the Old Man made...

Excited for summer, Stevie Buckbee is headed home to the family ranch to be with her father, her brother Blake, and her horses. With Jack Rabbit, her first horse all her own, she plans to compete in every barrel race competition in five states. When she gets to the ranch, though, it doesn’t...

Drunk on mojitos, high on love, and smelling of sex just consummated on the beach, Myra Acevedo went swimming for the last time. When she came out of the clear water of the Yucatan peninsula, she was no longer just Myra. She had become the end of the world. A story of Noah's Ark in the modern day. In reverse.

In 1718, in an England that might have been, the law found Rosalind Bainbridge guilty of witchcraft. In lieu of execution, she became Private Bainbridge of the 101st Pistoleers... A Gunwitch of the King's Coven. Twenty-four years later, dishonorably discharged and working as a scout...

Kenneth is the best gatherer among the survivors. Only a few can gather Strings, the floating, Frayed remnants of what was once the edible vegetation of the world. Which is why there are a lot fewer people now than Kenneth remembers when he was younger. He might be only ten, but even Kenneth knows...

When his zipabout malfunctions, Rala makes a forced landing in Sally's backyard. Sally thinks Rala talks funny, but she wants to help. Rala is more worried about Sally's mother. Because even on this backward planet, children don't get left completely unsupervised. (1300-word short story)

Four linked stories of Hell, and Life, and Life in Hell. "Summer Breeze" - The demon Gykamjarott, who likes to be called Jike, decides he needs a change. "Inferno" - Undead hellcat Canto gets a night out on campus of lust and gluttony and the other deadly sins. "Sweet Tooth" - Donut baker Ted Millet,...

The White Hot Hemisphere Community Theater Company's production of Hamlet is the first since the cataclysm. It will be the last before the end of the world.

People with fairy blood in their veins should be careful when saying, "I wish..." Faye Woods, 11, thinks that would have been good to know *before* she wished she didn't have a brother--and knowing she was part-fairy might have been useful information too. Faye and her little...