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5/20/2019

25% OFF SALE
UNTIL THE END OF MAY

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Bondage Night

$15.00

A savage, unreasonable love story for savage, unreasonable times.

Bondage Night chronicles the vicious climax of a chaotic, intense, compulsion-driven love affair between two unhappy, delusional people.

Gabriel Ricard's debut novel shows what brought them together in the first place.

Then comes the surreal, exhausted aftermath.

Through it all, the protagonists persevere.

But by the time it finally ends, Leo and Laura may never be the same.

*Bondage Night will be available on Valentine's Day and will ship a few days after that.

AMAZON PAGE

Crumbling Utopian Pipedream

$12.00

Scott Wozniak's "Crumbling Utopian Pipedream," is a book of poems born of the streets. It unflinchingly celebrates gritty realism while detailing some of life's hard won battles, and continually urges the reader to face the obstacles life puts in our way, and to realize that we have the strength to overcome any and all hardships.

AMAZON PAGE

Love and Quarters

$15.00 $12.00

Gabriel Ricard’s 2nd poetry book is about coming to terms with the good, the bad, and the reliably hideous. The world is a badly run 1890s-style asylum, but at least there’s a lot of good stuff on TV. Love and Quarters goes deep into love, depression, high adventures in the great outdoors, and whatever the hell else may happen while in transit.

Cloudy Days, Still Nights

$15.00 $12.00

Cloudy Days, Still Nights is the first poetry collection from Austin Davis. These coming of age poems deal with falling in love and finding out what this life is all about. At the heart of Cloudy Days, Still Nights is an exploration of youth and love and not overlooking the small beautiful moments in life.

Ella

$15.00 $6.00

Meet Ella Thomas.

A beautiful 20-year-old writer haunted by a traumatic past. Trapped in a small-town where everyone knows her secrets, she flees on a road-trip across America in search of adventure and to find the man that holds the key to understanding the violent days of her childhood.

Two mysterious men stalk Ella on the odyssey from Massachusetts to Las Vegas - an FBI agent named Marcus that suspects her of being a serial killer and an assassin called Mr. Brown with a familiar face she can't quite remember.

At the core of her journey of self-discovery is the search for Ray Holden. Everyone tells her he is dead, but she refuses to believe it and her insistence on finding him sets off a chain of events that culminates in a shocking final turn.

Follow her journey to learn the answers to the burning questions. Who is Ray Holden? And more importantly...

Is the FBI correct? Is Ella Thomas a serial killer?

One reader described Ella as "Dexter meets Lolita". Read this fast-paced thriller to discover the truth about Ella Thomas.

Book of Birds

$15.00

***Hollywood Book Festival Award Winner General Fiction - Runner Up (2017)***

In post-war Canada during the late 1940s, Elly McGuinty and her younger sister, Dot, are newly orphaned. The girls are sent to live with their grandparents in a small prairie town. Still grieving the loss of her parents, Elly chafes at the responsibility of helping care for Dot and struggles to find a place for herself in her new life. When a travelling circus comes to town, Elly’s desire for new experiences leads her, Dot, and new friend Stammer - a shy boy mocked for his halting voice - down a path where lives are altered forever.

Memoirs in Fragments

$10.00

Twenty poems of love and trauma spanning ten years of the poet's life. #NJPoet

The Mourning After

$12.00 $8.00

The Mourning After traces the fractured narrative of the writer's life. From his childhood in the aftermath of America's Vietnam War, to his academic years in the shadow of 9/11, the portrait that emerges from this arresting collection is one of devastating loss, deep love, and unique introspection on what it means to be an American.

Storming Jericho

$8.00

For eight long years, Jericho Kelly has awaited justice in the death of her older brother, only to discover his murder has been relegated to the cold case files. Killed in the line of duty, he was a good cop who deserved better, and come hell or high water, she won’t rest until he gets it.

Only three obstacles stand in her way: a ruthless mob boss determined to shut her down, an undercover operation that could blow up in her face, and Rourke Simmons, the bane of her existence. Six feet plus of swagger and sin, Simmons is the only man who ever rejected her—the only man she ever loved.

Server

$15.00 $10.00

“If the lady at table twenty-four asks me for another side of ranch dressing, I’m going to stab her in the neck with a fork ...”

Scott Holden lives two lives. In one, he waits tables, enduring an unending siege of abuse from customers, co-workers, and bosses. Invisible to them, he also feels like there’s a target on his back.

In the other, Scott is a writer during furloughs from his working-class nightmare. But the line between his work identity and his artistic one is blurring under the strain.

Is his life filling his fiction with violent daydreams or is his writing fueling the real-life desperation and darkness in his soul?

The Terrorist of Providence Street

$10.00 $8.00

Inside one writer's mind exists a hall of mirrors. Is he the creator-or a character? Is his work fiction-or a manifesto? And who set off the bomb in the middle of the city?

Take a journey into the thoughts of a madman that snaps on society.

Scott Holden.

The Terrorist of Providence Street.

Blood Chill

$16.00 $14.00

REVIEW OF BLOOD CHILL

BLOOD CHILL by L. M. Bryski

The 21st century is midway through, and the world has survived the Aging Virus epidemic. In the cold of winter, top researchers at the Janus City Virology Institute are still seeking a cure. But Dr. Karin Bhaima, a scientist given a second chance, wants to know why is talentless hack Graham Mogden one of them?

A corpse has been found frozen under a bridge, another missing and murdered woman, and the people of Janus City are demanding answers. Detective Sonny Merrick wants in on the case and relief from his own guilty secret.

When teen orphan Marble Glass becomes the latest missing victim, can a detective with a painful past and a disgraced scientist find her alive and solve the mystery of the murdered women of Janus City?

1 2

#Fiction - The War on Women

5/19/2019

THE WAR ON WOMEN
AN ELLA STORY

They say there is a war on women. And I laugh. Every time I hear it I giggle. A war on women? How cute and where the fuck have you been? The war on women started in year one and goes on without end. I say we need a war on men.

I finish reading the journal selection and look towards the bed, trying to catch his reaction. Dark brown eyes seethe at me and I smile, hoping he will speak before I question him. I wait, seconds disappearing, listening to his teeth grind.

“Are you fucking nuts?” he asks, spittle stuck to his lip.
“Yes.”

He strains against the bonds, flexing biceps ripping a piece of duct tape, but he can’t break the endless layers.

“What do you want from me?” he asks, finally ending his war with rope and tape.

Grabbing a file from my desk, I approach the bed holding the folder for the man to see.

“Is this your prison file?”

He nods affirmative and watches as I open the folder.

“You plead guilty to rape. Is this correct?”

My eyes find the figures and for a moment I read his case file. Closing it, I retrace my steps to the desk, in need of coffee. Adding cream and topping my cup with fresh coffee, I sip and remain next to the desk, running over the lines I’ve been practicing inside my head.

I stride towards the bed, my heels digging into the carpet.

“You served less than three years for a violent rape. Do you believe justice was served?”
“No,” he answers without hesitation.

Opening the top drawer of the nightstand, I wrap my hand around my knife.

“Be careful how you answer my next question,’ I say, sitting on the bed next to him. “Do you believe your life should be forfeit for your crime?”

His eyes show no hint of emotion, “Yes.”

I pause, for I feel a bit of shock at his blunt agreement. Really, I prepared for more of an interrogation. Placing the knife against his neck, I shrug my shoulders.

“Do you have any last words before I end your time here on earth?”
“I can be of use to you. Enact your agenda and perform unsavory tasks.”

This is different. I’ve never heard a man make this offer. I’m going to cut his neck and he asks for a job? The arrogance of this man intrigues me.

“Go on,” I say.
“I am a man with the right skill set for you. No soul.”

I laugh and wish for something stronger than coffee, but push the thought from my mind. At present, I must decide this man’s fate.

“What is your name?”
“My code name is Saul.”

Saul. A man of dark eyes, a history of violence and tactical training. What to make of you?

“Perhaps I can use your talents,” I say, leaning closer to him. “Catch you later.”

I leave the room, bolting the door behind me.

GET A SIGNED COPY OF ELLA
UPGRADE TO A CUSTOM EDITION

Custom Edition Ella or Server

$15.00 - $25.00

Get a Custom Special Edition of SERVER OR ELLA for $15 with the short story of choice from the website handwritten in the blank pages of the paperback. Email StephenJohnMoran@gmail.com with choice of story for your CUSTOM one-of-a-kind edition. $25 can get you Custom editions of BOTH Server and Ella.

Ella

$15.00 $6.00

Meet Ella Thomas.

A beautiful 20-year-old writer haunted by a traumatic past. Trapped in a small-town where everyone knows her secrets, she flees on a road-trip across America in search of adventure and to find the man that holds the key to understanding the violent days of her childhood.

Two mysterious men stalk Ella on the odyssey from Massachusetts to Las Vegas - an FBI agent named Marcus that suspects her of being a serial killer and an assassin called Mr. Brown with a familiar face she can't quite remember.

At the core of her journey of self-discovery is the search for Ray Holden. Everyone tells her he is dead, but she refuses to believe it and her insistence on finding him sets off a chain of events that culminates in a shocking final turn.

Follow her journey to learn the answers to the burning questions. Who is Ray Holden? And more importantly...

Is the FBI correct? Is Ella Thomas a serial killer?

One reader described Ella as "Dexter meets Lolita". Read this fast-paced thriller to discover the truth about Ella Thomas.

Three-Pack of Signed Paperbacks by Stephen Moran

$30.00 $20.00

Get three signed Paperbacks by Stephen Moran

ELLA - a psychological thriller about a young woman finding her way in a man’s world. Followed by the FBI and stalked by an assassin, Ella seeks a man from her past - going on a cross-country journey to from Massachusetts to Las Vegas, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.

ORIGIN - the stories of Ella Thomas - go into the mind of killer. Don’t believe the lies of the FBI, hear the story in her words.

SERVER - a collection of stories that forms a complete narrative unlike anything else you’ve ever read. Scott Holden is a waiter and writer - those two worlds clash with increasing frequency as the mental state of the narrator slides towards violence.

Create a Custom Short Story Book from Moran Press

5/14/2019

CREATE A CUSTOM BOOK OF SHORT STORIES
SELECT FROM THE LIST

I've teased Custom Story Books for a few months now and I'm ready to attempt the first round of books. I'm looking for a few volunteers from the crowd. If you've been reading along with the stories posted to Moran Press OR you'll read through the list below and are interested in a CUSTOM Story Book, comment on this post or contact Stephen Moran via social media.

This is a feature in progress so thank you to all for patience while I work out the kinks!

The Custom Book costs $25 (Including Shipping to a US Address. $10 Extra for Canada, UK. Inquire for other countries.

Reader gets to select 10 stories from the list. Read through them. Let me know your selections.

I will add a bonus mystery story to each book.

LIST OF SHORT STORIES

The Meeting - A Ray Holden Story
A Ghost and a Dragon
Beware the Ducks
Parable
The Trial
Baby Blue Meets Stranger
92nd Street Y
Valentine
Psycho Newletter
Darkness
Dead Sunday Afternoons
A Dream - Original Version
A Dream - Alternate Version
The Kiss
The Bank
Routine
The Butcher and the Republican
The Phantom of Vegas
Day Adventure with Monkey
A Moment and Forever
Karl Marx: A Refutation (from Server)
Edmund
My Pet Dragon
Transitory (from Server)
At the Airport
Tan, with Brown Eyes

If reading through the stories interests you in a custom book - let me know!!!

Custom Book of Short Stories by Stephen Moran

$25.00

Create a Custom one-of-a-kind book of short stories by Stephen Moran

Select up to 10 stories from the list, including stories from Server.

Name of choice/Dedication printed inside the book.

Each cover will be custom made per each order

https://www.moranpress.com/moran-press/create-a-custom-short-story-book-from-moran-press

Patron of Moran Press

$25.00

Become a Patron of Moran Press.

Support small business and receive a stack of Arthouse Paperbacks in the mail.

Your name will be listed as a Patron of Moran Press on the website (if desired)

If you have questions or want to donate an amount greater than $25 - email MoranPressGroup@gmail.com

Three-Pack of Signed Paperbacks by Stephen Moran

$30.00 $20.00

Get three signed Paperbacks by Stephen Moran

ELLA - a psychological thriller about a young woman finding her way in a man’s world. Followed by the FBI and stalked by an assassin, Ella seeks a man from her past - going on a cross-country journey to from Massachusetts to Las Vegas, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.

ORIGIN - the stories of Ella Thomas - go into the mind of killer. Don’t believe the lies of the FBI, hear the story in her words.

SERVER - a collection of stories that forms a complete narrative unlike anything else you’ve ever read. Scott Holden is a waiter and writer - those two worlds clash with increasing frequency as the mental state of the narrator slides towards violence.

WANT TO SUPPORT MORAN PRESS
BECOME A PATRON OF THE ARTS
$25 GETS YOU A STACK OF BOOKS

#fiction - cold

5/13/2019

fiction
cold
excerpt from
ella's journal

Dreams of father wake me, images of his body pocked with knife wounds float in the darkness of the bedroom. My heart pounds and races, cold sweat clings to my temples. The same dream for so many years as father turns zombie and rises from death to laugh, assuring me it will never end. His manic laughter echoes in the silence of early morning, the first shards of light prying holes in the blinds.

My bedroom doubles as sarcophagus, sealing me from the threats of outside world. Each morning I wait for George to disengage the security measures, freeing me from the self-made prison of my dreams.

I count the minutes, feeling the time near rather than checking the clock ticking madness on the wall. Each click of the second hand pounds inside my brain, life moves on and on towards certain death while fear from the dream subsides and melts into anger. Father wears a shroud in the afterlife, his eyes boring up into my mind from hell through slits in the cloth.

“Keep me company these endless years, Ella. Come home.”

A light blinks green above the door and George enters in silence. He approaches the bed and wipes sweat from my forehead with a handkerchief, whispering something I can’t understand. My eyes close and I drift back into the dream, FBI men flood into the space surrounding father’s lifeless body. The world is full of sirens while hands grip me, probe me, faceless lobotomized men escorting me from the blood soaked tomb.

“Take this.” George places a pill on my tongue and a glass of water to my lips. “He’s gone, Ella, dead these many years.”

The pill tastes of chalk and I force my eyes open, finding George near me. Placing a bare foot on the hardwood floor, I steady myself on his shoulder. “I want to stay in my room today.”

“As you wish. I can bring books from the library if you want to work on your story.”
“My story…” I walk to my desk and run a hand over my notebook. “And what’s that George? Who am I?”

His head tilts to the side, but he doesn’t answer, instead approaching the mini-bar built into the wall. Busying himself with making coffee, he steals a glance at me.

“You’re the master of Holden Farms, Ella.”

The Master of Holden Farms. Try as I might, I can’t make sense of it and I shiver in the cold morning air. I realize I’m naked and George watches me, arms behind his back, as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

“Bring my clothes, George.”
“Very well. Do you wish to go into the city today? I can make arrangements.”

While I ponder the question, George places a cup of coffee on my desk. The steam warms my face and I sip the coffee while he displays an outfit for my approval.

“No, not that one. It won’t do. Select a shorter skirt that matches the green heels. I’m going to make a story today.”
“Shall I run a bath for you?”

I nod and sip my coffee. A bath sounds like just the thing I need to clear away the dreams and the cold and memories of father. I’ll make a new chapter today. You can’t re-write the past, but perhaps you can color over the images enough to forget.

GET YOUR ELLA FIX
MINI-ELLA STORE

Ella/The Terrorist of Providence Street Combo

$15.00 $12.00

Ella

Meet Ella Thomas.

A beautiful 20-year-old writer haunted by a traumatic past. Trapped in a small-town where everyone knows her secrets, she flees on a road-trip across America in search of adventure and to find the man that holds the key to understanding the violent days of her childhood.

Two mysterious men stalk Ella on the odyssey from Massachusetts to Las Vegas - an FBI agent named Marcus that suspects her of being a serial killer and an assassin called Mr. Brown with a familiar face she can't quite remember.

At the core of her journey of self-discovery is the search for Ray Holden. Everyone tells her he is dead, but she refuses to believe it and her insistence on finding him sets off a chain of events that culminates in a shocking final turn.

Follow her journey to learn the answers to the burning questions. Who is Ray Holden? And more importantly...

Is the FBI correct? Is Ella Thomas a serial killer?

One reader described Ella as "Dexter meets Lolita". Read this fast-paced thriller to discover the truth about Ella Thomas.

The Terrorist of Providence Street

”Scott Holden lives two lives. In one, he waits tables, enduring an unending siege of abuse from customers, co-workers, and bosses. Invisible to them, he also feels like there’s a target on his back.In the other, Scott is a writer during furloughs from his working-class nightmare. But the line between his work identity and his artistic one is blurring under the strain. Is his life filling his fiction with violent daydreams or is his writing fueling the real-life desperation and darkness in his soul?"

Ella

$15.00 $6.00

Meet Ella Thomas.

A beautiful 20-year-old writer haunted by a traumatic past. Trapped in a small-town where everyone knows her secrets, she flees on a road-trip across America in search of adventure and to find the man that holds the key to understanding the violent days of her childhood.

Two mysterious men stalk Ella on the odyssey from Massachusetts to Las Vegas - an FBI agent named Marcus that suspects her of being a serial killer and an assassin called Mr. Brown with a familiar face she can't quite remember.

At the core of her journey of self-discovery is the search for Ray Holden. Everyone tells her he is dead, but she refuses to believe it and her insistence on finding him sets off a chain of events that culminates in a shocking final turn.

Follow her journey to learn the answers to the burning questions. Who is Ray Holden? And more importantly...

Is the FBI correct? Is Ella Thomas a serial killer?

One reader described Ella as "Dexter meets Lolita". Read this fast-paced thriller to discover the truth about Ella Thomas.

Custom Edition Ella or Server

$15.00 - $25.00

Get a Custom Special Edition of SERVER OR ELLA for $15 with the short story of choice from the website handwritten in the blank pages of the paperback. Email StephenJohnMoran@gmail.com with choice of story for your CUSTOM one-of-a-kind edition. $25 can get you Custom editions of BOTH Server and Ella.

#fiction - THE JUDGE #BrockTurner

5/1/2019

THE JUDGE

My eyes watch the monitor next to the podium. I observe a man waiting at the entrance to the theater. He's on the other side of the door and I can feel his anxiety, hands balling into fists and relaxing in repetition, again and again. Tapping my palm against the microphone on the podium to ensure I have sound, I scan the crowd. Women stare back at me, some leaning forward in the seats.

The man raps on the door from the outside and I raise my arm.

"Open the doors for the prisoner.”

Saul swings the massive oak doors open and steps aside. Alone in the entryway, the man stares and blinks at the crowd of women rising to greet him. A murmur passes over the audience and I tap the microphone once more.

"The prisoner shall take his place in the box," I say, pointing to wooden structure built into the base of the stage. The man pauses, glancing about the theater. Silence greets him and all wait for him to make the journey. Taking a few steps forward, he approaches the box and moves to the side when Saul swings the gate open to allow him access. Placing his leg into the structure, he steps up onto the prisoner podium, flinching when Saul slams the gate shut.

“What is the meaning of this? Do you know who I am? I’m a fucking judge.” A chorus of boos from the crowd answers his tirade and I smile.

“Not anymore. Today you will stand trial.” A loud cheer erupts from the audience, causing the prisoner to flinch yet again.

“Trial?” He faces the women in the audience. “What are the charges?”

Leaning into the microphone, I wait for him to turn towards me before speaking. “You are charged with crimes against humanity.”

The prisoner begins to speak, but the roar from the crowd drowns his words in a sea of chants. Execute him! The chants swell into echoes and I close my eyes to enjoy the wall of energy emanating from the crowd. After several moments, I raise my arm and wait for silence.

“How does the prisoner plead to the charges?”

The man stammers attempting to respond, but I can’t hear the response. Pounding the podium, I repeat the question.

“I committed no crimes against humanity,” he says. “I'm not…”

“Are you not the judge that sentenced a rapist to a mere three months in jail to protect his athletic career?” I ask, interrupting him.

His hands ball into fists once more and he scans the room again. Is he plotting an escape attempt?

“I was the judge in that case.”

“Very well, you admit your guilt. The prisoner has been found guilty of crimes against humanity. Do you have anything to say before I announce your sentence?”

“What? I said I was not guilty.”

His statement is met by laughter from the crowd.

“And I said you are. I’ll repeat the question once more. Do you have anything to say before I announce your sentence?”

He begins to answer, but falls silent and I pound the gavel on the podium. “Since you do not have any final words, I’ll read the sentence.”

The women move towards the stage, crowding round the prisoner box. He spins in one direction and the next, eyes darting about in fear. I wait for him to turn towards me once more before speaking.

“I sentence you to death by firing squad.”

Ella

$15.00 $6.00

Meet Ella Thomas.

A beautiful 20-year-old writer haunted by a traumatic past. Trapped in a small-town where everyone knows her secrets, she flees on a road-trip across America in search of adventure and to find the man that holds the key to understanding the violent days of her childhood.

Two mysterious men stalk Ella on the odyssey from Massachusetts to Las Vegas - an FBI agent named Marcus that suspects her of being a serial killer and an assassin called Mr. Brown with a familiar face she can't quite remember.

At the core of her journey of self-discovery is the search for Ray Holden. Everyone tells her he is dead, but she refuses to believe it and her insistence on finding him sets off a chain of events that culminates in a shocking final turn.

Follow her journey to learn the answers to the burning questions. Who is Ray Holden? And more importantly...

Is the FBI correct? Is Ella Thomas a serial killer?

One reader described Ella as "Dexter meets Lolita". Read this fast-paced thriller to discover the truth about Ella Thomas.

Patron of Moran Press

$25.00

Become a Patron of Moran Press.

Support small business and receive a stack of Arthouse Paperbacks in the mail.

Your name will be listed as a Patron of Moran Press on the website (if desired)

If you have questions or want to donate an amount greater than $25 - email MoranPressGroup@gmail.com

Three-Pack of Signed Paperbacks by Stephen Moran

$30.00 $20.00

Get three signed Paperbacks by Stephen Moran

ELLA - a psychological thriller about a young woman finding her way in a man’s world. Followed by the FBI and stalked by an assassin, Ella seeks a man from her past - going on a cross-country journey to from Massachusetts to Las Vegas, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.

ORIGIN - the stories of Ella Thomas - go into the mind of killer. Don’t believe the lies of the FBI, hear the story in her words.

SERVER - a collection of stories that forms a complete narrative unlike anything else you’ve ever read. Scott Holden is a waiter and writer - those two worlds clash with increasing frequency as the mental state of the narrator slides towards violence.

STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO
FIRST LIGHT

GET A SIGNED COPY OF ELLA

#Fiction - A Dream - Original Version

4/22/2019

FICTION
A DREAM
ORIGINAL EDITION

Sergio walked along the shoreline, filled with happiness, the feeling of Sarah’s hand in his own, warm and tender. In that hour before nightfall, the two made for the lighthouse, which sat atop a scattering of rocks at the end of the beach. Sergio remained silent, content to be there with her, watching her out of the corner of his eyes, loving the way the fading light danced with her hair. She caught his gaze and smiled, giving his fingers a delicate squeeze.

“It’s beautiful.”

Sergio nodded agreement and stopped. He turned to watch the sunset, all the while the sounds of the ocean licked quietly and insistently in his ears. He looked at the sky streaked with reds and browns and yellows, spotted with puffed darkening clouds in the distance and sighed.

“I don’t want this moment to end.”

He pulled her against him, pressing her to his chest and kissed her forehead. Her skin glowed cream lovely in the fading light and he heard words in his mind, words he’d not dared to say.

“Sarah?”

“Yes.” She looked up at him, smiling, her eyes sparkled dark and shining.

“I love you. I want you to know that I’ve always loved you.” His voiced failed him and the last words came out in a whisper. He closed his eyes, a sense of relief mixed with fear. Sarah remained silent for a moment and he grew nervous. ‘Answer.’ He said to himself.

“I’ve always known.” She answered, still smiling, eyes still shining. Sergio pulled her face close and kissed her. His knees felt weak and he knew in his soul he never wanted the moment to end.

They continued walking, aimless but constant for the lighthouse. Clouds rolled in waves over their heads and seagulls made mad dashes into sand dunes. In the distance, the lighthouse seemed to bend in the awkward reddish light of sunset and it appeared people in the tower looked down upon them. His mind raced and spun for a moment, fighting the vision. He closed his eyes to center himself, doubting his senses. He opened his eyes once more to see lighthouse, immobile and wind worn, as if nothing had occurred.

He turned to Sarah, who failed to notice the tricks of the night. She remained in her own thoughts, her eyes downward.

“What are you thinking?” He asked.

She shook her head, as if to signify she thought nothing, but he knew her and did not press her.

“This is the best day of my life.” She looked over at him, tears in her eyes as they walked.

Sergio felt his throat tighten, his mind searching and not finding words. He hugged her once again, wondering why it took so long to tell her.

“We are both far too stubborn for our own good,” he said, looking over her shoulder at the sky, which seemed to grow darker with each passing moment. Before she responded, night fell in a rush and the air became cold. A wind rose and made goose bumps against his flesh.

“This is the Police!” He heard someone yell in the distance. He spun his head in all directions, looking into the black. He saw nothing.

“Did you hear that?” He asked her.

She looked at him in confusion. She took a step away from him, fear on her face, making tired lines in her brow.

“I heard nothing you dirty old man.”

“What?” He asked. Breath and strength failed him and he wondered if he were about to fall.

“I said I heard nothing.”

Panic filled in his stomach and sweat ran down his arms. Sirens ripped into the blackness accompanied by the approach of dogs, barking and barking.

“Let’s get to the lighthouse.”

They ran, the sounds of barking growing louder behind them. His legs felt stiff under him and failed to obey and he made his way best he could over the rocks leading to the lighthouse. He spun round, but could not see anything, nothing save pitch black night.

He led the final few steps to the door. She leaned over, breathing with difficulty and shaking her head in displeasure.

“Why are we running?”

“I don’t know.”

He tried the door, which resisted his attempt. He cursed as the sounds of sirens and dogs and voices grew louder in his brain.

“What did I do?” He screamed into the night.

Sarah did not answer and indeed, seemed to have become frozen. He tried to shake her, but she remained immobile, as if he didn’t exist.

Suddenly, he saw them. He turned to see what seemed to be thousands of police cars on the sand, lights flashing and sirens blazing. A team of dogs barked menacingly and snarled viciously from the bottom of the rocks, held back by imaginary leashes.

“Sarah!” He shook her again, without looking.

“Sergio, you should have left well enough alone.”

He spun to face her.

She seemed a different person, her face covered with bruises and her hair sprayed wild upon her head. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she huddled against the lighthouse, backing away from him.

“He did this to me!” She screamed, blouse ripped and splattered with blood.

Above him, high in the lighthouse, a phone began to ring. He tried the door again and this time it opened.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

“I have to answer the phone.”

He bounded up the stairs, the dogs hard upon his heels, his only thought was to answer the phone before they caught him.

It's my only hope. He hurtled the last few stairs in a single leap. The phone sat upon a ledge, some few feet away from him. He approached the window as a dog leaped into his path. Trying to evade the snapping jaws of a German Shepard that was all teeth and no legs, he jumped for the phone, but missed and exited the lighthouse through a window, the sounds of the sea becoming closer as he fell.

Sergio woke to hear the phone ringing. He wiped sleep from his eyes and looked around, seeing beer bottles and cans and ashtrays full with cigarettes. He sighed reality and reached over to answer the phone.

“I’m not here.”

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#FICTION - Truth Before Breakfast - An Ella Fiction - Alternate Ending

3/26/2019

TRUTH BEFORE BREAKFAST

I can feel his eyes on me, but I do my best to ignore the irritation and concentrate on the story. However, it’s not working. A wall prevents me from entering the world and I can’t hear the characters running around in my mind. The cold seat against my bare legs further distracts and I glance at the bed, locking eyes with Saul.

“Can’t write?” he asks. I don’t think he is trying to anger me. His concern seems genuine, but I just don’t care right now.

“Don’t.” I’m not in the mood.

“Why can’t you talk to me about your writing? We share a bed…” he starts, but I don’t let him finish.

“I’m writing a letter to Ray if you must know.”

His eyebrows lift and a low chuckle escapes his lips, sending a ripple of heat into my cheeks. “Writing letters to imaginary husbands?”

Putting my pen on the desk, I roll the seat towards the bed and crash into his leg hanging over the side.

“Ow,” he screeches.

“Imaginary?”

“Ella, I’m tired of walking on eggshells. I never know when it’s story and when it’s real life. Answer me for once: when is the last time you saw Ray? No story, no lies.”

Closing my eyes, I trace in my memory for a picture of him, waiting as years fall away in my mind. I can see him standing outside the convenience store waving goodbye to me the night before my 13th birthday.

“The day I killed my father.”

I hope he understands this explanation will be the totality of what I give him. Pushing the chair to the desk, I take the pen in hand once again. I read the short beginning out loud to myself, almost trying to will Saul’s presence out of the room.

“You haven’t seen him since you were 13?” he asks.

“I will not explain basic math, Saul.”

Laughing, he sits upright on the bed and pushes his big gorilla feet into slippers. I grind my teeth in expectation of needless drama.

“What I give…” he says before stopping to consider his words. “…you can’t get from an imaginary husband.”

“Is that a fact?” I say. Crossing my legs, I lean on my elbow and wait for him to continue.

“I give you what you need.”

I fight to suppress a yawn. Men always think this way. Yes, boys, all I dream of is getting rapey rough fucked all day. I don’t want orgasms.

“Need? Come back to me when you learn to use your fingers and tongue properly.”

That wipes the smile off his face. It’s my turn to laugh. Men never want to hear the real truth.

“Yes, I have to finger-fuck myself thinking about an imaginary husband because you’re such an inadequate lover. Now get out of my room before I slice your throat.”

To my surprise he rises in an instant and walks from the room without even grabbing his clothes, striding down the hallway naked. In anger I grab the remote and turn on music. I feel the need to play a different song.

I’m just a girl.
Take a good look at me
Just your typical prototype

When will all these men understand that what I want most has nothing to do with fucking. I want to watch you die. When I close my eyes and let my mind wander, I imagine your blood soaking the bed as I laugh and laugh in the last moments of your life. But you keep thinking about fucking, poor little animal. That’s all your good for anyway.

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CRUMBLING UTOPIAN PIPEDREAM: A Review by Anthony Dragonetti

3/10/2019

CRUMBLING UTOPIAN PIPEDREAM: A REVIEW
ANTHONY DRAGONETTI

9th March 2019

No book I've read fucks around less than Crumbling Utopian Pipedream by Scott Wozniak. You want a blurb, there's your blurb.

These poems are hollow point bullets. They are meant to cause maximum damage in a compact shell. By the end of these 55 pages, you'll have gone through hell. If you're an addict, especially one in recovery, you'll be familiar with this particular corner of it. As a society, we have a tendency to glamorize junkies. Well, the young and skinny ones who lead exciting lives in the big city, anyway. No one particularly romanticizes the Oxy addicts in your small to mid-sized town, though. That's too real, too common.

Wozniak's poetry is a few things at once. It's a bitter eulogy for the dozens of people he (or his narrator) lost to diseases of sorrow. The ghosts of pill heads, heroin addicts, and alcoholics haunt these pages. It's also an acknowledgment that the person who has lived these poems somehow got lucky enough to not be included in that body count. I hesitate to call it a celebration. There are traces of guilt about still being alive, though the struggle to survive was certainly hard fought.

What, then, do you do with this new lease on life? Post-jail, post-rehab, what's an ex-addict to do with this new sobriety and second chance to make things right? You want to watch the world burn, naturally. Yes, in a desire for chaos (the only thing that makes sense), but also to burn the world clean like a wound. No one falls into the cycle of drugs, incarceration, and death because they're thrilled with the state of things. Wozniak has a vision and it's one of blood and flames.

There is also a hard-nosed defiance to some of these poems. They acknowledge the journey has been imperfect, but there's a real effort to take the rage, the sadness, and the disappointment, and do something positive with it. Like write a book of tough as nails poetry.

Stylistically, this is minimalism taken about as far as it can go without turning into the performance art gimmickry of Aram Saroyan. Every single word counts. Not a letter on the page is extra. The MO of each poem is get in and get out. It fits the theme of the pieces perfectly. Flowery language would have killed this project. Music would have killed it, too. There isn't any music here. There are the words and the venom behind them. That's enough.

At first glance, you'd be excused for thinking this is another Bukowski trip. Excused, but wrong. Bukowski never went here. He was never this raw. Behind all the hubris, there was a sensitivity, despite the vulgarity. It felt like a put on, sometimes. Wozniak doesn't come across here as playing a part. This is the real shit. Take it or leave it. I'm telling you to take it.

You can buy Crumbling Utopian Pipedream from Moran Press

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#Fiction - A DREAM - Excerpt from Preface to a Suicide - A Literary Clue

3/9/2019

A DREAM
EXCERPT FROM PREFACE TO A SUICIDE
BY STEPHEN MORAN

Sirens rip the afternoon sky, forcing me to cover my ears. The beautiful fall afternoon turns into a zoo of residents running and screaming, pushing and shoving each other to escape the detonation near the bus station. Smoke billows from a RIPTA bus and I watch the driver stagger from the door, falling into a bloody heap on the pavement. Rushing forward against the grain of seething humanity, I scan the twisted wreckage for sign of her, but can’t see anything in the black plumes.

A hand grips my arm, a policeman attempting to keep me from the scene. Fighting to pull my arm free, I scream her name.

“Rose!”

“You mean, terrorist!” The cop responds, slapping cuffs on my wrists. “You have the right to remain silent and go to jail for the rest of your life.”

My brother exits the bus carrying a body and I can see the blood stains streaking blonde hair in the sunlight. Ryan approaches us and the cop laughs and laughs.

“You did this to her,” Ryan says.

The cop pulls me towards a cruiser and locks me in the back seat. When the door shuts, Ryan appears next to me, wounds covering his upper torso.

“What happened? How did the bomb detonate?” I ask, but I know before Ryan answers.

“I pushed the button, Ray. You always knew it would end this way.”

The cop presses the accelerator and careens out of Kennedy Plaza at breakneck speed, striking several screaming citizens attempting to escape the carnage.

“No!” I scream. “Stop the car. I didn’t do it.”

Looking from the cop to my side once more, Ryan is no longer beside me. I am alone and within moments the cop screeches the car to a stop outside police headquarters.

“No!” I scream again.

The Terrorist of Providence Street

$10.00 $8.00

Inside one writer's mind exists a hall of mirrors. Is he the creator-or a character? Is his work fiction-or a manifesto? And who set off the bomb in the middle of the city?

Take a journey into the thoughts of a madman that snaps on society.

Scott Holden.

The Terrorist of Providence Street.

Ella/The Terrorist of Providence Street Combo

$15.00 $12.00

Ella

Meet Ella Thomas.

A beautiful 20-year-old writer haunted by a traumatic past. Trapped in a small-town where everyone knows her secrets, she flees on a road-trip across America in search of adventure and to find the man that holds the key to understanding the violent days of her childhood.

Two mysterious men stalk Ella on the odyssey from Massachusetts to Las Vegas - an FBI agent named Marcus that suspects her of being a serial killer and an assassin called Mr. Brown with a familiar face she can't quite remember.

At the core of her journey of self-discovery is the search for Ray Holden. Everyone tells her he is dead, but she refuses to believe it and her insistence on finding him sets off a chain of events that culminates in a shocking final turn.

Follow her journey to learn the answers to the burning questions. Who is Ray Holden? And more importantly...

Is the FBI correct? Is Ella Thomas a serial killer?

One reader described Ella as "Dexter meets Lolita". Read this fast-paced thriller to discover the truth about Ella Thomas.

The Terrorist of Providence Street

”Scott Holden lives two lives. In one, he waits tables, enduring an unending siege of abuse from customers, co-workers, and bosses. Invisible to them, he also feels like there’s a target on his back.In the other, Scott is a writer during furloughs from his working-class nightmare. But the line between his work identity and his artistic one is blurring under the strain. Is his life filling his fiction with violent daydreams or is his writing fueling the real-life desperation and darkness in his soul?"

Server

$15.00 $10.00

“If the lady at table twenty-four asks me for another side of ranch dressing, I’m going to stab her in the neck with a fork ...”

Scott Holden lives two lives. In one, he waits tables, enduring an unending siege of abuse from customers, co-workers, and bosses. Invisible to them, he also feels like there’s a target on his back.

In the other, Scott is a writer during furloughs from his working-class nightmare. But the line between his work identity and his artistic one is blurring under the strain.

Is his life filling his fiction with violent daydreams or is his writing fueling the real-life desperation and darkness in his soul?

THE TERRORIST OF PROVIDENCE STREET

This short micro fiction is a clue to solve a riddle included in the bonus content of The Terrorist of Providence Street and that's all I'm going to say about that - no spoilers.

#Breaking - BLOOD CHILL Hits #3 on McNally Robinson #Winnipeg Bestsellers List

3/8/2019

BLOOD CHILL
Hits #3
McNally Robinson #Winnipeg Bestsellers List

Congrats to L. M. Bryski for hitting the Winnipeg bestsellers list with Blood Chill. And much thanks to the great folk at McNally Robinson for stocking the book! To all those in Canada, please grab a copy of Blood Chill or Book of Birds at McNally Robinson. For everyone else - click the cover image to purchase at Amazon.