Mark Teppo

Four times around the sun we go, and still this cat has lives to spare. This collection contains stories about space and cats, as well as tales with neither cats nor space. It is totally out of this world. This volume features works by Erik Grove, Jessie Kwak, Andrew McCollough, Remy Nakamura, Kate Ristau, Jeb R. Sherrill, Mark Teppo, and Wendy N. Wagner.

The Night Office never sleeps. For more than a hundred and fifty years, the Night Office has worked in the shadows, keeping all manners of tentacled beasties, gibbering madnesses, and slavering six-eyed goats from devouring you, your neighbor, and your neighbor's dog. And now, the Night Office needs you. This Advanced Psychological Strategies assessment is meant for field operatives who have just returned from a mission. It will validate your mental integrity, verifying that you have not been breached by space jellies or other malignant entities. Successful completion of an APS assessment will demonstrate a field operative's readiness to continue the perpetual battle against the Great Old Ones. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: - How to construct a therapeutic personality which can verify your mental integrity. - How to navigate the Dark Labyrinth. - How to acknowledge lingering psychic trauma that has prevented you from making friends. - How to convincingly lie to yourself.

It's been almost a hundred years since the first occult expedition to Antarctica. Others followed, and many of them did not make it back. Recently, a privately-owned research station has gone dark, and strange signals are being broadcast from the desolate Antarctic Plateau.For this Advanced Psychological Strategies assessment, you will take on the role of a Closer, part of the second team which has been sent to investigate mysterious transmissions coming from MacReady Station. Once your team lands, you will be cut off from all external resources. You will only have your wits, your coat of many pockets, and your Personal Therapeutic Construct. Will they be enough for you to survive the Cold Empty?WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: - Self-reliance, aka "Are you sure you haven't lost your mind?"- How to deal to with trans-dimensional entities that require an unwitting human subject to create a link between realms.- How to overcome crushing isolation and utter despair.- How to discern what is real from what is intruding from another dimension.

The frontier continues to move west, and what was a booming railroad town less than a year ago is little more than a dying company town now. In the desperate town of Citrine Springs, Elmore Stonebrook and Judge Willard Vernon Wallace encounter the Longspur Mining Company, which keeps the town alive by moving dirt from one hole in the ground to another.This is the sort of fool's effort that always hides corruption and malfeasance, and the Judge is eager to discover the true purpose of the mine.What he finds is prophecy and blood sacrifice . . .

The Brethren of Perpetual Silence were a monastic order who sought to build a sanctuary within the Sprawl. A place where people could escape from the noise and chaos that was life in the city. Until death came to their sanctuary and killed them. All but one, who was transformed into an unholy instrument. Now, Mistral, an ex-cop who wanders the shadows of the Sprawl, must find their killers, and learn why some fear silence so much that they must destroy those who embrace it.

It's a strange time, and who knows who is watching what, across all those screens . . . Six stories set in the future you didn't expect. This is The Zoom Situation.This volume of the on-going Space Cocaine project features works by Erik Grove, Jessie Kwak, Andrew McCollough, Kate Ristau, Jeb R. Sherrill, and Mark Teppo.

Reading is a vital part of a Night Office operative's education, but you must protect yourself from undue influence. Some of these books will try to warp your mind. Some may even try to convince you to open portals that shouldn't be opened, thereby granting space jellies (and worse ) access to this plane. Protect yourself with a Night Office Survival Protocol & Educational Lexicon Log book. Read safely. Stay sane.

1872: The shattered South is struggling under the yoke of Reconstruction; the North has turned its attention to lands west of the mighty Mississippi. The United States is haunted by the blood that has been spilled, and only a few are ready to stand against the coming darkness. During the War, Elmore Stonebrook was a celebrated Sharpshooter for the Army of the Potomac. Known as God's Finger for the deadly accuracy of his rifle, Stonebrook fought for freedom for all men, but lost his way in the process. Judge Willard Vernon Wallace once sat on the high bench in Louisiana. He loved the law; he served the law; but the law betrayed him. Now, his gavel is the butt of his revolver and his courtroom is anywhere he can sling a rope over a tree branch. In the small Missouri town of Bitter, they run into an old friend of the Judge's, Isadora Van Horn, whose ranch is threatened by a greedy landowner. He wants everything--her land, her cattle, her body--and he's willing to do anything to get what he wants. Including making a deal with the Devil himself, a deal that includes a wolf that walks on two legs . . .

- Learn how books write themselves - Discover secrets for making words - Find out what happens when you have a decent idea and apply a plot to it It's all here, in this handy guide to jumpstarting your novel. It doesn't matter if you've just started thinking about writing a novel or have done a dozen of them, getting started on a new project is always the hardest part. That's where this book saves the day. Inside, you'll discover all sorts of techniques and tips, including how to outline an entire novel in less than two hours. That's less time that it takes to sit through a movie (with previews), get across town in rush hour traffic, or vacuum your cat What are you waiting for? If you can bake a cake, you can write a book. It's all in the directions, and Mark Teppo gives very good directions. So now is a good time to start that book you've always been meaning to write. Jumpstart your novel today

The Potemkin Mosaic is the dream journal of a man who is losing his mind. Black market dream doctor Harry Potemkin edits people's memories for a living, and when he suspects that his own memories are being edited, he starts writing down his dreams. As Harry deconstructs his dreams, he discovers that he--Harry Potemkin--may not be a real person. His entire life might be nothing more than a persona adopted by someone else as a way of coping with mental trauma. As Harry falls farther and farther into the dream world, he discovers both a secret history of dreams and a covert conspiracy run by a pharmaceutical corporation who has been testing mind-altering drugs on unknown patients for decades. The Potemkin Mosaic turns traditional narrative problems on their heads. Harry's investigation into his identity is a surreal, self-devouring tour de force into the associative dreamscapes of contemporary consciousness. Who are we? may be the ultimate question we all face, but Harry takes it one step further and wonders: Who are we when we dream, and is that our true identity?

This riveting second installment in Stephenson and company’s epic tale focuses on the aftermath of the world-shattering Mongolian invasion of 1241 and the difficult paths undertaken by its most resilient survivors. The Shield Brethren, an order of warrior monks, search for a way to overthrow the horde, even as the invaders take its members hostage. Forced to fight in the Mongols’ Circus of Swords, Haakon must prove his mettle or lose his life in the ring. His bravery may impress the enemy, but freedom remains a distant dream. Father Rodrigo receives a prophecy from God and believes it’s his mission to deliver the message to Rome. Though a peaceful man, he resigns himself to take up arms in the name of his Lord. Joining his fight to save Christendom are the hunter Ferenc, orphan Ocyrhoe, healer Raphael, and alchemist Yasper, each searching for his place in history. Deftly blending fact and fantasy, The Mongoliad: Book Two captures the indomitable will to survive against immense odds.

The first novel to be released in The Foreworld Saga, The Mongoliad: Book One, is an epic-within-an-epic, taking place in 13th century. In it, a small band of warriors and mystics raise their swords to save Europe from a bloodthirsty Mongol invasion. Inspired by their leader (an elder of an order of warrior monks), they embark on a perilous journey and uncover the history of hidden knowledge and conflict among powerful secret societies that had been shaping world events for millennia. But the saga reaches the modern world via a circuitous route. In the late 19th century, Sir Richard F. Burton, an expert on exotic languages and historical swordsmanship, is approached by a mysterious group of English martial arts aficionados about translating a collection of long-lost manuscripts. Burton dies before his work is finished, and his efforts were thought lost until recently rediscovered by a team of amateur archaeologists in the ruins of a mansion in Trieste, Italy. From this collection of arcana, the incredible tale of The Mongoliad was recreated. Full of high adventure, unforgettable characters, and unflinching battle scenes, The Mongoliad ignites a dangerous quest where willpower and blades are tested and the scope of world-building is redefined. A note on this edition: The Mongoliad began as a social media experiment, combining serial story-telling with a unique level of interaction between authors and audience during the creative process. Since its original iteration, The Mongoliad has been restructured, edited, and rewritten under the supervision of its authors to create a more cohesive reading experience and will be published as a trilogy of novels. This edition is the definitive edition and is the authors’ preferred text.

Five is the number of fingers on one hand, and that is five more fingers than a flamingo has. Once again, our stalwart writers wrestle with the perplexing contradictions of the natural world.This volume of Space Cocaine contains the following stories: - "Cat and Crow" by Remy Nakamura- "HOA" by Jeb R. Sherrill- "Foreverland" by Andrew W. McCollough-"The Contendings" by Lara Messersmith-Glavin- "Flood" by Cody T Luff- "When" by Kate Ristau- "Gerald in the Mirror" by Erik Grove- "Hook & Land" by Mark Teppo

It's a strange time, and who knows who is watching what, across all those screens . . . Six stories set in the future you didn't expect. This is The Zoom Situation. This volume of the on-going Space Cocaine project features works by Erik Grove, Jessie Kwak, Andrew McCollough, Kate Ristau, Jeb R. Sherrill, and Mark Teppo.

For more than a hundred and fifty years, the Night Office has stayed up late, fighting off all sorts of whistling horrors, shrieking monstrosities, and drooling frog monsters. One of the secrets to their success is lots and lots of coffee. This Education Assessment Exercise is meant to introduce you to the perils of working for the Night Office. Instead of throwing you into the field, where all kinds of terrible things could happen to you, the Night Office wants to know if you can manage to order a cup of coffee. Naturally, tentacled face-suckers from another dimension are always lurking nearby, waiting for their chance. Can you survive a seemingly ordinary visit to the coffee shop? WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: - How to quickly assess a group of people, and discern credible threats.- How to deal with aggressive personalities who might interfere with a Night Office field operation. - How to think outside the realms of possibility. - How to decisively order coffee.

Do you dream of saving the universe from space jellies, tentacled monsters from outside time and space, and horn-headed cultists with a taste for human flesh? If so, then this Night Office training manual might be for you. WARNING: A Night Office Asset Resource Management psychological assessment exercise is not for the faint of heart. You will probably fail. You will most certainly die in a horrible manner. Good thing it's just a test, right? These monsters don't really exist, do they?Don't you want to be sure? Don't you want to be ready? The Night Office needs you. Take their psychological assessment exercise now, and find out if you have what it takes to stand against eldritch horrors and unspeakable monstrosities.