Showing results by author "Kevin McLaughlin" in All Categories

Diverse and moving, these six outstanding stories are meditations on grief and loss, love, communication and loneliness. Each one will take the reader on a brief yet unforgettable journey into private worlds and unexpected corners of the human heart.

It’s the 22nd century. The galaxy has opened up to humanity as a hyperactive beehive of stargates and new technologies, and we suddenly find ourselves in a vast playground of different races, environments, and cultures. There’s just one catch: We are pretty much at the bottom of the food chain, and there’s only one way for humanity to move up - by becoming mercenaries. In every mercenary’s life, though, there comes a time when things go wrong and even the best laid plans go awry.

Because of the way technology has impacted real estate sales, buyers and sellers have greater access to information and even the ability to direct the sales process. While knowing market information is helpful in real estate sales, most people still lack a key aspect: expertise. By presenting an inside view on sales, McLaughlin provides a guide for maximizing the value of the sale and purchase of homes.

Early jazz and commentary. Substack:kevinmclaughlin.substack.comDonate:https://www.patreon.com/c/AttheJazzBandBall

The Nords have weathered the storm and survived, but Eric knows everything they've faced so far is only the tip of the spear. This time, the threat is coming from outside the world Eric has grown to love as his own. Playing defense will only get you so far, and Eric's about done with taking hits.

Challenged by the greatest dragon swordsman to a duel, Galen once again finds himself over his head and sinking fast! He used Claw, his magical sword, to save the town of Cranbook, and now Galen and Vala are enjoying a little well-earned success for a change. But it seems like tales of his derring-do have exploded far beyond the reality of the story. The greatest dragon swordsman alive wants a piece of Galen, and he's on his way to collect. Three days. Galen has just three days to learn to use his sword effectively, or he's dead meat!

Eric has learned much about the ways of power since arriving in this strange world. Winning a place among the mighty Nords wasn't easy, but his heroics have earned him a seat at their table. As spring comes to the land, Nord thoughts turn from staying warm to raiding. They've invited Eric to come along. But not all is right in the ripe lands the Nords raid every season. Troops are based where there should be none, and their adversaries are building a navy.

Magic is a dangerous tool, but uncontrolled magic can be downright deadly. When the theft of a magical artifact goes wrong, its power opens a rift between our world and the Void which surrounds all planes of existence. The black disk threatens to suck our world into the Void, but Magic Managed is on the scene, ready to save the day. Galen and Vala 'manage' this misadventure well enough—at least at first. But then another portal opens. And another. And another....

The worst day of Eric's life was capped off by him being kicked through a gateway into a universe filled with magic and monsters. To make matters worse, he had to fight for his life the moment he arrived. Nothing could have prepared him for a world where everything either wants to kill him or eat him.

Cast out by dragonkind, threatened by his own family . . . A dragon with nothing left to lose can be a dangerous thing. Unless, of course, that dragon is Galen Stormwing. He's never been very dangerous. He was a failure at school, a failure at gaining powers, and a failure at keeping them.

After millennia of slumber, the goddess-dragon named Tiamat has returned to Earth. Her first move is to consolidate her power by taking down the Dragon Council. Her next? Well, complete world domination seems like it's on the menu. Kylara barely survived her first encounter with Tiamat. Only thanks to her friends and allies did she escape at all

Legend says that all dragons have a mother, a goddess-dragon named Tiamat. But few dragons take those old stories seriously these days. It's been too long since anyone saw Tiamat. Her tale has faded into myth. A cult of her followers still remains, though. These dragons believe that someday, a dragon will rise who is the sum of all dragons, with the powers of every dragon. When that dragon comes, Tiamat will be close behind. Kylara knows nothing of these legends, but she's about to take center stage in a story that began thousands of years ago.

Pixies are disappearing, and not in a good way. The flighty little creatures are made of pure magic, making them both extremely powerful and vulnerable. A mage with the right knowledge can capture and drain them, becoming a wizard of near-godlike power in the process. It's happened before, and it's happening again. But no one will believe the pixies. That same flighty reputation means nobody is taking the abductions seriously - except Kylara Diamantine, the only mage who can transform into a dragon.

Killing Lord Boneclaw once wasn't enough. The deadly elder dragon has returned through a combination of human and dragon magic, and he'll stop at nothing to be avenged on those who wronged him in the past! More than anything else, Boneclaw desires the powers Kylara Diamantine possesses. If he can steal her ability to learn new dragon powers, he'd be truly unstoppable. If Kylara is killed in the process, well, Boneclaw considers that a small price to pay....

Kylara Diamantine has never met another dragon. Raised by her mother apart from the rest of their society without any idea why, she's always been curious about the rest of their species. She wants to get out there, to meet other dragons, to explore! To stretch her wings. Literally. Be careful what you wish for, they say. They're right. After a devastating magical attack on their home leaves Ky's mother missing, she's placed at a special school for her protection.

Samantha has faced incredible odds and climbed past the first two Realms of Valhalla Online in her quest to reach the final Realm - where she can learn the truth about how she came to be in Valhalla in the first place. But now she is alone. Cut off from all support, Sam must struggle to win through this strange new world on her own. With the black archer still on her tail, Sam has to move quickly to win through Vanaheim before he can find a way to put an arrow into her and finish her quest for good.

Get the first two books together in this special Publisher's Pack edition! More than just a game, Valhalla Online was designed as a permanent repository for the uploaded minds of mortals afraid of death. An artificial afterlife. Samantha's world is turned upside-down when she arrives in Valhalla - because as far as she knows, she isn't like the other people uploaded there. She isn't dead. At least...she hopes she isn't. Now Sam must solve the mystery of her own abduction - or murder! - while trapped inside a virtual world, cut off from communication with the outside.

Edited by best-selling authors and universe creators Mark Wandrey and Chris Kennedy, Tales from the Lyon’s Den includes 18 all-new stories in the Four Horsemen universe by a variety of best-selling authors - and some you may not have heard of...yet.

Kylara and her friends are back at the Lumos School, but Cassandra still holds her mother prisoner, and Ky will stop at nothing to rescue her. The school's mission is to help dragons and mages train their magic and learn new powers. But when an experimental trip to the pixie realm goes awry, a student ends up with a new magic that's as powerful as it is disturbing. And when that student loses control, everything is at risk. But Kylara is growing stronger, too. She's gaining new powers.

The mage uprising has been put down, but it wasn't enough. Dragons have become aware that humans can arm themselves with weapons deadly to even dragonkind. Dragons are living in fear of humans for the first time in living memory, and they hate it. The war has arrived. Lord Boneclaw will lead the armies of dragonkind to decimate humanity. Their aim is to slaughter billions, thus bringing the threat back under control. Only one thing stands in their path.