Fiction Music

Two new Appalachian stories from the author of the award winning Listening for the Crack of Dawn; an ideal introduction to contemporary storytelling for adults. Both stories are based upon real people. In the first, a disastrous birthday enables a child to learn more than an adult possibly could. In the second, two unusual people live their conviction that people are more important than things.

After defeating the terrifying Necromuse and his mysterious orchestra, all Amelia Jones hopes for is a return to normal. But to her surprise, her class is sent to Europe for a month of study abroad. This seems like the perfect escape from all her problems, but not long after they land in Salzburg, Austria, danger haunts their steps. A street musician claims there is something wrong with Amelia’s magic, odd visions of the past appear around the city, and Amelia finds a strange message preserved in a museum—a message she fears was left by the Necromuse.

Amelia Jones has always dreamed of attending the Mystwick School of Musicraft, where the world’s most promising musicians learn to create musical magic. Unfortunately, Amelia botches her audition and her dream comes crashing down—until the school agrees to give her a second chance. Amelia vows to do whatever it takes to make her dream come true.

It’s two months before Amelia’s big audition for the Mystwick School of Musicraft. If she gets in, she will learn to spin music into powerful magic - but her Gran has one last-ditch plan to persuade her out of it: sports camp. A week of softball, sprinting, and sweaty socks isn't exactly Amelia’s idea of a good time - in fact, she's deeply, appallingly unathletic. By the end of day one, she’s puked her guts out in track, gotten a black eye in no-contact flag football, and firmly established herself as the Least Valuable Player at camp.

Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson. Before they were household names, these budding legends called Sue’s Nashville apartment—lovingly dubbed the “Boar’s Nest”—home. Sue’s place was an intimate staging ground where a new breed of singer-songwriters—wounded souls, wayward upstarts—would spur each other on to tap into something bigger, realer.

Things are finally looking up for Amelia Jones: She's officially a Mystwick student, and she even has a teacher to help her learn how to use her rare Composing magic. When Mystwick enters an international magic competition, it’s Amelia's chance to Compose something that will help them win the day. The only problem is that she still doesn’t understand how her powers work. But then she hears about a super exclusive Midnight Orchestra - half performance, half magical black market. But the Midnight Orchestra is far more sinister than it initially appears.

Viva Durant, New Orleans’ youngest detective, is on a quest to solve a jazzy mystery. Every summer, Viva heads to New Orleans to spend time with her loving but stern Grandmother, known as Gram. After Gram reads Viva an article in the local paper about a missing treasure related to the world-famous song, “Miss Mary Mack”, Viva heads through the Crescent City on an epic adventure to track down the treasure. The clues lead Viva to the French Quarter, a jazz club, a creepy cemetery, and even the circus.

In the second installment of Laurie Berkner’s Song and Story Kitchen, young listeners ages four to eight can join Laurie with her buddies Thelonious and Rosetta Pig, as she whips up yummy food, songs, and stories, helping young listeners work through some of life’s challenges. Each chapter of this delightful Audible Original features a different recipe and tells a new story set in the magical world of Juniper Fields with Laurie's friends: Newcomer Harry Munkin the chipmunk, and old friends Oscar Beebee the bumblebee, Layla Meeska the mouse, Tallulah Jones the dinosaur.

I left behind my life to start over. My successful career as a country music singer, friends and family, everything. All to get away from my abusive, obsessive ex. So what if I'm lonely? So what if I miss singing and sequins? I'm safe, and that's what matters. But the big biker with the blue eyes has other ideas. He makes me laugh and breathless all at the same time. He makes me want more. But it's not safe. Not for either one of us.

Vergil's innovative experiment restructuring the cells of a common virus becomes a nightmare when, in order to save his research, Vergil injects the entire culture into his bloodstream.

Resisting an irresistible force wears you down and turns you out. I know - I've been doing it for years. I may not have a musical gift of my own, but I've got a nose for talent and an eye for the extraordinary. And Marlon James - Grip to his fans - is nothing short of extraordinary. Years ago, we strung together a few magical nights, but I keep those memories in a locked drawer and I've thrown away the key. All that's left is friendship and work. I manage his career, but I can't seem to manage my heart.

Flint Hopkins finds the perfect tenant to rent the space above his Minneapolis-based law office. All the t's are crossed and i's dotted on Ellen's application. Her references are good. And she's easy on the eyes. Until... Flint discovers Ellen Rodgers plays music. Bongos, guitars, singing - not Beethoven administered through noise-cancelling headphones. The cut-throat attorney serves up an eviction notice to the bubbly, constantly humming redhead who's too sexy for her own good. But luck is on Ellen's side when Flint's autistic son, Harrison, takes an instant liking to her.

Orb is four years old when she first hears the wonderful music of the morning. Gifted with a magic that makes her songs irresistible anytime she sings, she spends her life seeking the source of the mystical music. Orb finally feels she's getting somewhere when she hooks up with the Livin' Sludge, a rock band that could use all the magic they can find. Unfortunately, there's still the pesky little matter of a prophecy to deal with - the prediction that Orb will someday marry Evil, the devil himself.

A fun collection of all-time favorite songs for everyone to enjoy...and join in with! The Wheels on the Bus includes: "The Wheels on the Bus", "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", "If You're Happy and You Know It", "Do Your Ears Hang Low", "Skip to My Lou", "Hickory Dickory Dock", "Itsy Bitsy Spider/Jack and Jill", "I’m a Little Teapot", "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Bingo", "Hush, Little Baby", "Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone", "Old MacDonald", "The Muffin Man", "A Tiskit A Tasket", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", "Row, Row Your Boat", "Oh, Susanna", and more!

In the third entry to the series, Alaska P.I. Cecil Younger is fresh out of rehab, sporting a fresh head wound, with a child custody case from hell, and with the clients to match. Confrontational and obsessed, Priscilla DeAngelo is sure her ex is conspiring with a state senator to wrest her son from her, and thus, hires Cecil Younger to investigate. This is the first time Younger has to deal with lawyers in flashy suits and overused paper shredders. When she storms off to Juneau for a showdown, Younger's custody case swiftly turns into a murder.

Thirty-year-old Holland Strokes was thrust into a lifestyle she had no idea existed after she said the words I do. Her life now is all about glamour, keeping up with the Joneses, and knowing at all times when to stay quiet and submit. The only thing that keeps her focus, besides the allotted time she’s awarded away from her chaotic life, are the pottery lessons she teaches. That’s until a mystery fellow joins her class with the skill and passion of an omega man, but the heart of an alpha. Thirty-six-year-old Flyte Tyme had always lived a lowkey lifestyle. He’s seen before heard and an...

Lawrence Block's 17 Matthew Scudder novels have won the hearts of readers throughout the world - along with a bevy of awards including the Edgar, the Shamus, the Philip Marlowe (Germany), and the Maltese Falcon (Japan). But Scudder has starred in short fiction as well, and it's all here, from a pair of late-'70s novelettes ("Out the Window" and "A Candle for the Bag Lady") through "By the Dawn's Early Light" (Edgar) and "The Merciful Angel of Death" (Shamus), all the way to "One Last Night at Grogan's", a moving and elegiac story never before published.

 It's been said that musicians live for the next new sound. Well, the musicians of Europe were presented with the biggest new sound ever when the Ring of Fire brought the future back to 1631. What will the court musicians think when they hear Bach, Stravinsky, and the Beatles? What will the street and tavern musicians think when faced with Johnny Cash, Metallica, and Nirvana? Things don't go smoothly for Marla Linder and her friends.  

It starts with the body of a Hollywood producer in the trunk of a Rolls-Royce, shot twice in the head at close range - what looks like "trunk music", a Mafia hit. But the LAPD's organized crime unit is curiously uninterested, and when Harry follows a trail of gambling debts to Las Vegas, the case suddenly becomes more complex - and much more personal.

Laurel Canyon was the neighborhood perched above the clubs and record companies of Sunset Strip where Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison, Graham Nash, Cass Elliot, Carole King, Don Henley, and Peter Tork, just to name a few, lived and collaborated to make an indelible mark on our music and our culture.