An hour before his world exploded like a ripe tomato under a stiletto heel, Myron bit into a fresh pastry that tasted suspiciously like urinal cake.

God allows us to face the tension whether we like it or not.

No matter which way you dice it, self-preservation is selfish.

Anything and everything made her think about him. He was so much a part of her, embedded in her soul. [Mina and Diego]

Your mother is holding your hand too tightly. You whimper and cling to her dress, because you know what will happen next. She stares at you, as if she’s forgotten how to blink. There’s one...

Michelle: It wasn’t my house. It was owned by a brownie couple who owned it and rented out suites. There were a few long-term renters, like me, but it also functioned as a bed and...

—Quería preguntártelo algún día, cuando fuera el momento adecuado, pero hemos comenzado a hablar…[…]—La miró a los ojos mientras le acariciaba la mejilla con los nudillos—. Estoy ante ti sin nada, bella, solo te entrego...

If you can get to be you, why can’t I get to be me?

I know you. Perversity is your aphrodisiac.

I believe that on any trip to heaven, there are always detours through hell.

Distance and time and a whitewashed mind hadn’t kept a child from growing, from existing, from demanding a place on this earth.

The trap I remember forever: how they got out I have long since forgotten.

…We were pulling into the next station, when the woman suddenly got to her feet and made a move to squeeze past me. As her knees made contact with mine, she turned towards me. Her...

No wonder Thanksgiving was my favorite—you can’t buy it, wrap it, or put it under a tree, and even the greeting card companies can’t seem to make a buck off of it. It’s just a...

After a lifetime of wanting to be loved, she didn’t think she could bear it if it finally happened just before she was about to die.

I will not let them harm you. I will protect you ’till my last breath.

The dimples spread across his face again and Megan couldn’t help but melt a little

Extraordinary women who love and heal.

Because he wants her.

She had a hand on his belt, ready to show him exactly what she had in mind for the night, when he lowered to his knees between her legs, his hands spanning her ribs. Nervousness...

We’re here and we prey on you.We target you.We groom you.

Elsa’s mother no longer spoke to her of men and love, but of duty and fate and accepting one’s burden. As far as Elsa could tell, if love really was the inherited female domain, then...

Feel it, deal with it, then throw it away

A young man held a young woman in his arms, her head leaned to one side, her eyes empty and still. He was shadowed, but I saw that the figure was kissing the girl’s neck....

my new website is now live on There are free short stories to download on it. Have fun!

These mega-churches are springing up all over the country—especially in the suburbs of large cities. And they all follow the same formula: A charismatic, self-anointed pastor starts a church by holding services in a home,...

Here’s the thing,” I said. “I’m not going to be the government’s bitch.

Suspense left my life a long time ago, now it has returned. I do not care for it.

Your best kicks ass and takes names,” Jack says, and he punches my shoulder again.

Eric waited all his life for love and, in meeting, Tina thought he had it. What he got wasn’t quite what he’d dreamed about.

The finger in the jar atop the entertainment center served as a reminder: death was far kinder than the fate Juanita could have suffered at the hands of that other man.

Woolrich had a genius for creating types of story perfectly consonant with his world: the noir cop story, the clock race story, the waking nightmare, the oscillation thriller, the headlong through the night story, the...

Jeopardy, Mom! You have got to get on Jeopardy! Seriously! You could marry Alex Trebek! You could be Alex and Alex Trebek! You could be Alex SQUARED!

Not writing is never an option. This is not words of advice. It’s just literally never an option!

Apparently, we’re all in the frame,” I heard Harry murmur somewhere behind me. And I whirled back to him. Innate, irrational anger surged. Then stopped, dead – as I suddenly took in Handsome, Robert and...

Everything is an echo of something I once read.Dream, hope, and celebrate life!Love always comes back in a song.One thing we all have in common is a love for food and drink.Memories never die, and...

You can make a day of any size.

The guilt over his secret was eating him up alive, but hell, the feel of her in his arms threatened to override all of it. This was Maria, the woman he’d fantasized about for almost...

Your eyes betray a sadness that only a worthy man can conjure, but never solve

He took the necklace out of the box and carefully fastened it around her neck. Just like he’d imagined himself doing when he bought it. That might even be why he bought it – so...

This would become a lifelong pattern, sitting in my comfort zone high above the world in some sort of self-imposed exile.

I don’t want you to say anything. I want you to listen. You know, being confident isn’t the same as being right.

A smart woman knows when to listen to her man.”Her man? “He is most definitely not my man. He’s not my type.””Type? If he was any more your type, he’d have you sitting in his...

Habían pasado toda la mañana en la cama. Juntos… Entre caricias, besos, y risas volvieron a hacerse el amor con más lentitud que la primera vez.Los jadeos y los suspiros sustituyeron a las palabras. Las...

Sifting through scattered memories is like sifting through sand. Some remain, some simply slipaway…– TARA

Las mujeres, claro está, deben pensar en ellas mismas.

Shining with craving, his emerald gaze penetrated her soul. “I desire you so much”. His whisper melted her heart. His soft touch set her ablaze.

Robbins had opened Gabby up. Her charred skin was peeled back, and her ribs were removed. She was pink inside, like steak that had been burned on a high heat but remained raw in the...

The missing girl—there had been unceasing news reports, always flashing to that achingly ordinary school portrait of the vanished teen, you know the one, with the rainbow-swirl background, the girl’s hair too straight, her smile...

The reason stories have dramatic tension is because LIFE has dramatic tension.