Devon Layne

There's a dark side to Jett's artistic talent. People who look at his drawings and paintings connect on a primal level. People-even his models-are somehow changed by the paint he wields: sometimes permanently, sometimes terminally. As this digital native struggles against what he sees as a hopeless world, against financial hardship, against harsh instructors, and against his own libido, he attracts a small group of women who adhere as much to each other as to Jett. They face college committed to each other and willing to explore what the new experience can offer. They gain friends and lose lovers, struggle to make ends meet, and find out more about each other than they imagined. But when it's all said and done, are any of them better off than they'd been a year before?

Fed up with being a 98-pound weakling, Paul sets out on a course to become 'big and strong' as a gymnast, so guys will stop picking on him and girls will sit up and take notice. But even when he becomes strong, he finds popularity and social acceptance elusive. Then partially paralyzed acrobatic gymnast Tara tracks him down as a potential mixed pairs partner.Tara believes her intimacy with her former partner was what caused her accident and agrees to date Paul, but she has rules about their relationship. Their closeness as partners, his partnership in her physical rehabilitation, and pressure from friends, family, and other performers drive the two closer and closer as they approach the grand performance that will re-establish Tara as a gymnast.But when Paul's gymnastics world begins to fall apart, his girlfriend leaves him, his new partner becomes abusive, and his dream of becoming an Olympic gymnast begins to fade, he must dig deep inside to discover the true meaning of strength and find a purpose for his life.

1955 The Great Stone Circle and The City of the Gods Doc discovers a path to the legendary City of the Gods, their abandoned home on Mount Olympus. He enlists musicologist Wesley Allen to return and interpret the strange musical notations at the site. Wesley's fianc e, Rebecca, goes to the University of Edinburgh to complete her thesis on matriarchal thealogy. She meets Mrs. Weed and is initiated into the ancient Coven Carles. But Doc's one-time prot g , 'The Blade', dogs Rebecca's footsteps, attempting to locate Doc's dig. His intent: to find and claim the lost goddess hidden behind the ivory veil. Myth, magic, and mayhem nearly destroy the coven and place an impenetrable curtain between Rebecca and Wesley.

1969 Drugs. Sex. Rock & Roll. Shakespeare. Witches. Love. When Wayne Hamel falls asleep in his anthropology class he is just a normal, exhausted, theatre student at Indianapolis City College. When he wakes up, he's the unwitting center of a power struggle in one of the world's oldest occult societies. It's a little much for a technical director and props master in training to take in. All he wants to do is make some really cool stuff for the stage and make love to Judith. But when his girlfriend discovers the power he puts into his 'cool stuff', she realizes he is not just a theatre technician. Wayne Hamel is a toolmaker. In the ensuing months, Judith, Professor Rebecca Allen, doughnut lady Lissa, and Wayne's Uncle Bert all attempt to assist in Wayne's training, concealing their efforts from each other and leaving Wayne vulnerable to the evil high priest, The Barber. When the theatre troupe is invited to perform in the Lake District of England, the ghosts of the region overwhelm the vagabond priest and he wanders the countryside until he reaches the stone circle of Carles Castlerigg. Here he discovers the only way to safety and understanding is through perfect love and perfect trust.

The youngest of the Bell family siblings, Phile and Caitlin add a new twist to time travel. They are in both times simultaneously. For kids growing up on a ranch in Wyoming, it is confusing and disorienting, causing them to go wild and become antisocial. As Cheyenne in the 1860s it is almost fatal.What saves the kids from utter insanity is the gift that the old owl, Yelloweye, has given them. They are to learn to ride in the minds of the animals. Some of those minds, like their horses', are calm and peaceful. Reaching for the mind of a rattlesnake, however, is reaching into nothingness. When they attempt the wolves, they are overwhelmed by the hunger and bloodlust. It is only when Creator Wolf steps between them and the pack that they are saved. Creator Wolf claims them and becomes their spirit guide.But the Old Ones have a task for the siblings and Mandy Stevens, a classmate who becomes their friend and then their lover, is key to it. They must lead the revolt of the animal kingdom against the corporate scorpion poised to sting Mother Earth in her most vulnerable place-the backbone of the Rocky Mountains.They must truly be three spirits in five bodies forming one fist to smash the scorpion.

Cole tells his kids, Ramie and Kyle, about time traveling, and they both think he's gone crazy. An interesting idea, but you have to have sex? No way. Besides, Ramie is more interested in starting a horse ranch with her half-brother and the wolves are becoming a problem. Then best-friend Aubrey becomes their girlfriend. Raven calls. First Ramie and then Kyle find themselves in 1865 with hosts who constantly fight them for control. Pa never said it would be like this. He never said they'd have to kill to protect their hosts. He never said they'd have to deal with wolves in two centuries. And he never mentioned their hosts might fall in love with each other. When their hosts die and Aubrey leaves them, Ramie and Kyle have only each other to fall back on. If only he could stop being her brother.

The myth of Pygmalion, the artist who fell in love with a statue he carved, has been a theme for countless authors, singers, and artists over the years. In this volume, author Devon Layne compiles six stories, each with a different take on the ancient myth. The first is a simple retelling of the myth with "a little meat on its bones" and told in contemporary language. The second, "Lost Wax", tells the story of a sculptor working with bronze castings whose clay molds begin to shape the model he is working with. "Whittled Away" is the story of an old man who converses with his long-dead wife as he whittles at a block of wood in his cabin and remembers. When two artists meet at a Renaissance Fair but have different media for their art, we are left to ask what durable art is in "Iron Alchemy". What if it were the other way around and the art fell in love with the artist? This is the question asked in "Mixed Media". And finally, an advertising copywriter describes his ideal mate in "A Thousand Words". Each story presents a different aspect, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always with a touch of romance and erotica.

It started with an epiphany. I'm a writer. I could do this from anywhere. So why am I doing it from a basement in Seattle? Six months later, I was on the road with a pickup truck and travel trailer, letting the highways and byways of America take me wherever and to whomever they would. There was no destination, only the journey. And eventually, Alice convinced me that I should tell the "real" story of my life on the road.

Life has improved for Tony Ames as he nears the end of his freshman year at the prestigious Pacific College of the Arts and Design. Why would he be depressed? He has two beautiful girlfriends and new-found notoriety as an artist after painting just a section of a huge mural at the school. But the first day after finishing his stunning mural, he discovers he is even further behind in his school work, and his girlfriend/coach Lissa Grant is so upset about her nude figure in the mural that she wants to break up with Tony and their mutual girlfriend, Melody Anderson. Add the stress of his first college racquetball tournament, injury, more girls who make it perfectly clear they want to 'model' for him, Lissa's two little boys, and Melody's parents' 'off the wall' reaction to his painting, and Tony is back to fighting for his sanity and the women he loves. Into this mix walks shy and innocent Kate Holsinger, a girl they might all three come to love. And also, someone who might just be a better artist than Tony is. Freshman year isn't over yet

Freshman year is over and Tony survived. Art critic, Bob Bowers, is reviewing his new masterwork at the PCAD gala and everything seems right with the world. Until four little words throw everything into chaos. "Mommy, I feel sick." When Damon and Drew are hit with the bug, it changes Tony's plans for the national racquetball tournament and the entire summer. All the parents are supposed to meet each other at the tournament and get to know the trio. The change puts Tony in the same hotel room as Allison Perkins, the racquetball-playing diva from Kansas State. And Tony has his girlfriends' permission to enjoy her many charms ...after he finishes the tournament. It's okay, but is it right? Tony and his lovers can only find the true answer when he puts paint on the canvas.

Sixteen-year-old Cole Bell's life is interrupted at the least opportune moment when he is jerked out of his body and planted in the mind of a youth in the 1889 wilderness near Laramie, Wyoming. Just as he starts to adjust to life on the frontier, he's jerked back into his 2oth century body. And so it goes for five years as he is seemingly randomly jumping from one body to the other. But trouble is brewing in both centuries and Cole finds the answer to his 20th century ranch's problems in the arms of his great-great-grandmother. With two bodies and half a dozen lovers spread out over 100 years, Cole has his work cut out for him and the love of his life is waiting. Waiting for the cry of the redtail hawk.