A Michael Crichton Christmas 2009

Marla Warren sent me this poem, which she published on her Michael Crichton blog, and has given me permission to repost it here. I hope you enjoy it.

A Michael Crichton Christmas 2009

(Sung to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas)
By Marla Warren

On the first day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
A T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the second day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the third day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Three Rising Suns
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the fourth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Four Timelines
Three Rising Suns
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the fifth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Five Pirate Latitudes
Four Timelines
Three Rising Suns
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the sixth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Pirate Latitudes
Four Timelines
Three Rising Suns
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the seventh day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Pirate Latitudes
Four Timelines
Three Rising Suns
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the eighth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Eight Airframes crashing
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Pirate Latitudes
Four Timelines
Three Rising Suns
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the ninth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Nine E.R.s in peril
Eight Airframes crashing
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Pirate Latitudes
Four Timelines
Three Rising Suns
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the tenth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Ten Great Trains Robbing
Nine E.R.s in peril
Eight Airframes crashing
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Pirate Latitudes
Four Timelines
Three Rising Suns
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the eleventh day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Eleven Congos drumming
Ten Great Trains Robbing
Nine E.R.s in peril
Eight Airframes crashing
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Pirate Latitudes
Four Timelines
Three Rising Suns
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the Next day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Twelve Spheres a-humming
Eleven Congos drumming
Ten Great Trains Robbing
Nine E.R.s in peril
Eight Airframes crashing
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Pirate Latitudes
Four Timelines
Three Rising Suns
Two Lost Worlds
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

Author's Note
I wrote the original version of this on December 22, 2007 for my message board. I intended it to be a fun treat for the holidays. Now with Michael Crichton's untimely death, it's poignant to think about what he gave us.

12 Days of Free Romance - Day 8

It's the eighth day of All Romance's 12 Days of Christmas giveaways:

Just Between Friends, by Dakota Trace. The price shows as $4.99, but when you click on Buy Now, you should see the discount for the 12 Days of Christmas sale. Available as several formats:Adobe Acrobat, Palm DOC/iSolo, Microsoft Reader, Hiebook, HTML, Mobipocket, Rocket, Epub.

This one has a "heat index" of 4 and the genre is erotica.

Book Description
Seth Anderson and Isabella Carnetti have been best friends since grade school. They live and work next to each other and are content with the status quo until the day that Seth realizes that Isabella is a desirable woman. She is leery of a relationship with him especially when she finds out he’s into tying up his lovers. He won’t rest until he has her in his bed. Then his ex shows up wanting to win him back. Can Seth and Bella have a relationship or will Seth’s ex be enough to tear them apart?

12 Days of Free Romance - Day 7

It's the seventh day of All Romance's 12 Days of Christmas giveaways:

Bastards And Pretty Boys, by K.Z. Snow. The price shows as $5.50, but when you click on Buy Now, you should see the discount for the 12 Days of Christmas sale. Available as several formats: Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket, Rocket, Epub.

This one has a "heat index" of 4 and the genre is gay erotica.

Book Description
Charles Larkin is finally happy with his life…for the most part. He’s happy with his new summer getaway—a rustic cottage he just bought on a small Wisconsin lake. He’s happy that his ex-wife, whom he divorced because he couldn’t play straight anymore, has become one of his best friends. He’s happy he can breathe again.

It’s only Kenneth, Charlie’s boyfriend of five months, who makes this new life less than completely satisfying. Charlie feels they’ve never been quite right for each other, and Kenneth cements that conviction when he makes a disturbing confession. Charlie knows their time together is quickly coming to an end. Problem is, Kenneth doesn’t know it. And he tends to be rather possessive.

Planning to spend a quiet, relaxing two or three weeks at Cloud Lake—fixing up his place, reading, even attempting to overcome his fear of water—Charlie is less than thrilled to discover his next-door neighbor is one hell of a looker. He doesn’t need that kind of distraction, especially since his issues with Kenneth haven’t yet been resolved. But there’s a ninety percent chance the neighbor is straight, has a wife or girlfriend, and could be leaving the next day. Charlie clings to those probabilities.

Only, Booker isn’t going anywhere, and he isn’t that easily ignored. And neither is his unexpected, none-too-savory baggage. And neither, for that matter, is Charlie's. But when two people care enough about each other, they figure out how to help carry each other's baggage…or cast it aside.

Game Download - Ricochet Lost Worlds

Amazon's Video Game of the Day is a $1.49 download of Ricochet Lost Worlds. This one has no reviews yet, but there are for related games in the series. Ricochet Lost Worlds: Recharged ($6.99) was on special in May and Richochet Extreme ($6.99), was on special last month; I've played both quite a bit and enjoyed them. Lost Worlds: Recharged has only 5 and 4 star reviews, while another in the series, Ricochet Infinity ($4.99), has all five star reviews.

Game Description

• 160 Incredible Levels.
• 4 Stunning Environments.
• Innovative Ring Puzzle Gameplay.
• Pulse Pounding Soundtrack.

With its stunning visuals and sound effects, gripping soundtrack and compelling level design, Ricochet Lost Worlds could quite possibly be the most addictive game ever made. This remarkable breakout action game will entertain your whole family for hours on end! Throw into the mix a slew of innovative power-ups, a new "Ring Game" and a level editor where you can make your own levels and you have an unbeatable combination. You just have to download this brick-busting game... it's a blast!

12 Days of Free Romance - Day 6

It's the sixth day of All Romance's 12 Days of Christmas giveaways:

The Object of my Obsession, by Cara North. The price shows as $4.99, but when you click on Buy Now, you should see the discount for the 12 Days of Christmas sale (even if you don't get it the first day it is featured in the sale; I've tested a couple of them a day or two later and the discount was still active). Available as two formats and will have to be converted for the Kindle: Adobe Acrobat, Epub.

This one has a "heat index" of 5 and the genre is erotica (the book description and the cover serves as it's own content warning).

Book Description
To the public they are All-American actors; one in film, the other on a popular cable television series. To Sonja Love, sex columnist extraordinaire, they are her lovers. Together they do things in private that no one can ever know about. Ever.

Sonja Love PhD. Writes an advice column for the Cali Chronicle, a popular print and online magazine. Her main goal; to get an interview with the object of her obsession, one Mr. Jacob Brandon, hot new Hollywood hunk dejour. Thanks to a highly controversial film, in which he stars, she is able to get to the press junket and finally meet the man she masturbates to regularly. The first time they meet is on an elevator during a thunderstorm and the power goes out. Taking advantage of the situation she treats him to what she learned in a research class about oral sex. When the power returns she leaves him breathless and wanting. Once they meet again he fears she was just trying to cause a scandal. She fears he may try to get her fired. Standing her ground she assures him that she did it for herself, not for the world and stomps out without and interview.

Jacob finds her at the hotel and convinces her to let him in. Once inside it takes moments for her to forgive him, and minutes for her to get him naked again. Jacob does things to her she had only researched and wrote about. Leaving with a kiss and a smile, taking her business card, and her anal virginity with him she thinks it is over.

Jacob calls her; he comes to visit her in her secluded home in Kentucky. Wanting respite from the world, a sanctuary where he can hide out, he finds more than sex appealing about Sonja.

When Jacob invites his best friend and fellow actor, Henry Dare, to hide out a week or so with them, things heat up in a new direction. Sonja can feel the heat between the two actors as much as she can feel their attraction to her. A triangle forms, toys are tested, boundaries broken and three people find freedom at last.

However, things are not always as good as they seem.

Author Spotlight: Nora Roberts

Several of Nora Robert's books are currently marked down in the Kindle store.

Montana Sky ($2.01)

Book Description
When Jack Mercy died, he left behind a ranch worth nearly twenty million dollars. Now his three daughters--each born of a different marriage, and each unknown by the others--are gathered to hear the reading of the will. But the women are shocked to learn that before any of them can inherit, they must live together on the ranch for one year. They are sisters and strangers. Now they face a challenge: to put their bitterness aside and live like family. To protect each other from danger--and unite against an enemy who threatens to destroy them all?

The Pagan Stone ($3.94). This is book three in the Sign of Seven Trilogy.

Book Description
The conclusion to the electrifying trilogy, following Blood Brothers and The Hollow, of three men and three women who join forces—and hearts—to battle the ultimate evil.

Daring to Dream ($3.99). This is book one of the Dream Trilogy.

Book Description
Margo, Kate and Laura were brought up like sisters amidst the peerless grandeur of Templeton House. But it was Margo whose dreams first took her far away . . . Margo Sullivan had everything a young woman could ask for. But while growing up along the rocky cliffs of Monterey, she couldn't help but dream of bigger things. The daughter of the Templeton's stern Irish housekeeper, Margo had been treated like a member of the family. Deep down, she knew that money could not but the thing she craved most -- her mother's acceptance. Maybe things would be different if she could be sweet like Laura -- or had Kate's shrewd head for business. But all Margo knew how to do was be Margo, and that meant doing things her own way -- no matter what the consequences . . .

Finding the Dream ($3.99). This is the final book of the Dream Trilogy (book two, Holding the Dream, is still $6.39).

Book Description
Laura Templeton had always known comfort, privilege, and security. But by the time she turns thirty, her storybook marriage has been destroyed by her husband’s infidelity and their divorce leaves her both emotionally and financially devastated—but determined to rebuild her life without the Templeton fortune.

A Little Magic ($3.99). This one is an anthology of short stories.

Book Description
Love blossoms like the luscious petals of spring’s very first rose in these four stories by Nora Roberts, Jill Gregory, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Marianne Willman.

Spellbound ($2.39)

Book Description
While world-famous photographer Calin Farrell enjoys a much-needed vacation in Ireland, he becomes bewitched by the ravishingly beautiful Bryna Torrence. In fact, so bewitched that he refuses to believe in the spell that has brought them together—and could destroy them both.

Free 2 Day Shipping for Kindle, but DX Sold Out for XMAS

Today was the last day you could use SuperSaver shipping and be reasonably certain you could get delivery by Christmas. This evening, Amazon announced that you will now get free 2-day shipping (in the US) on the Kindle (Global/International), so you can guarantee getting the package, even if ordered as late as December 22. Of course, there is always the possibility that they'll run out of stock on these as well (after all, they are now practically the only eInk device left in stock, as well as the most popular one with buyers and readers). If you were looking forward to a Kindle DX in your stocking (and what a large stocking that must be!), you are out of luck - shipping estimates are currently 4 to 6 weeks out (then again, if it's a DX you want, you might want to reserve your place in line, as waiting a month may mean even longer delays (then again, a month from now, they may have their supply lines caught up and orders may start shipping right away again -- they definitely have that more under control this year than in the past and are handing holiday orders better than their top two competitors).

If you were considering a refurbished Kindle, most of your $40 savings may be eaten up in shipping costs to get delivery in time for the holidays. You are also out of luck on a refurbished Original Kindle or Kindle DX, for now -- if refurbs of either one show up in the store, they disappear almost instantly and both are currently out of stock.

12 Days of Free Romance - Day 5

It's the fifth day of All Romance's 12 Days of Christmas giveaways:

A Regency Christmas, by Lyn Stone, Carla Kelly & Gail Ranstrom; this one is an anthology published by Harlequin Free Reads. Available as many formats: Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket, Epub; you can purchase more than one.

This one has a "heat index" of 2

Book Description
Scarlet Ribbons by Lyn Stone

Captain Alexander Napier is battle scarred-from war and from life. For him, yuletide is just a reminder of all that he's lost. Can enchanting Amalie Harlowe restore light into the festive season...and reignite the passion in his heart?

Christmas Promise by Carla Kelly

Now that peace has broken out, Captain Jeremiah Faulk is at odds over what to do this Christmas, let alone with his life. Until a simple act of charity reunites him with his lost love-Ianthe Mears.

A Little Christmas by Gail Ranstrom Tending to a houseful of grieving relatives isn't Viscount Selwick's idea of a merry Christmas. But one stolen kiss under the mistletoe with spirited Sophia Pettibone is about to change everything!

12 Days of Free Romance - Day 4

It's the fourth day of All Romance's 12 Days of Christmas giveaways:

Tales of the Darkworld Book 1: Shifting Winds, by Lex Valentine. The price shows as $3.50, but when you click on Buy Now, you should see the discount for the 12 Days of Christmas sale. Available as many formats: Epub, Mobipocket, HTML, Microsoft Reader, Adobe Acrobat; you can purchase more than one and get the discount each time.

This one has a "heat index" of 5

Book Description

Vampire Elysia Granville gets more than she bargained for when she attends the Undertaker's Ball on Halloween. She's looking for a one night stand, but the man she chooses is Declan Antaeus, a home and hearth black dragon who has had a secret crush on her for years. Can the powerful dragon make the commitment shy vampire extend one night into forever?

Free Audiobook - My Soul to Lose

My Soul to Lose ($0.00 Kindle), by Rachel Vincent, has been free from Audible.com for quite some time, but I keep forgetting to post it.

Book Description
It was supposed to be a fun day, shopping at the mall with her best friend. Then the panic attack started and Kaylee Cavanaugh finds herself screaming, unable to stop. Her secret fears are exposed and it's the worst day of her life.

Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit.

She tries to convince everyone she's fine--despite the shadows she sees forming around another patient and the urge to scream which comes burbling up again and again. Everyone thinks she's crazy. Everyone except Lydia, that is. Another patient with some special abilities....

An eBook exclusive prequel to Rachel Vincent's SOUL SCREAMERS series.

Click HERE to get the free audiobook.

Free Book from Kobo - Death Message

Death Message ($13.99 Kindle), by Mark Billingham, is another brand new release from Harper Collins with several positive reviews in the Kindle store and a digital list price of $25 (the Hardcover is over $17). Click HERE to get Death Message for free in EPUB format (sorry, no Kindle compatibility).

Book Description
Thorne looked at the picture, feeling the pulse quicken at the side of his neck. There were times when he couldn't see what was staring him in the face, but this, for better or worse, was his area of expertise. Thorne knew a dead man when he saw him.Delivering the "death message." That's what cops call those harrowing moments when they must tell someone that a loved one has been killed. Now Detective Investigator Tom Thorne is receiving messages of his own: photographs of murder victims sent to his cell phone.Who are the victims? Who is sending the photographs? And why is he sending them to Tom Thorne? The answer lies in the detective investigator's past, with a man he had once sent to prison for life. But even behind bars, the most dangerous psychopath Thorne has ever faced is still a master at manipulating others to do his dirty work for him. And Thorne must act fast because the photos keep on coming, and the killer's next target is someone the detective investigator knows very well. . . .

Free Books from Kobo - Sway and Midnight Fugue

Sway, by Jennifer Gibson, is free in EPUB format and as an online read (at least for now) at Kobo. I don't see the book for sale anywhere else and can't find any info on the author, but I suspect it is self-published, as I am seeing several other books at Kobo that are sourced from Smashwords (although I don't see this one there).

Book Description
“There was something different about Jessie, she struggled to fit in at school, seemingly surrounded by a web of lies and deceit, until she met Ethan.” Based on a true story, the novel “Sway” is about a teenager named Jessie, who stands out from the crowd. She tries her best to blend in, but has a tendency to stick out like a sore thumb. Even though she looks like every else around her, there is one obvious difference, she is hard of hearing. She struggles from the onslaught of her classmate’s ruthless pranks and shocking events at school. Jessie is determined to be strong, but there are times when she feels her strength dwindling, slipping through her fingers, until a handsome stranger crosses her path and her life is changed forever. They can’t help but feel the irresistible pull towards each other. Ethan remains by her side through a brutal attack and helps her regain her confidence.

Midnight Fugue ($9.99 Kindle), by Reginald Hill, is a brand new release from Harper Collins, has several positive reviews in the Kindle store and has a digital list price of $25 (the Hardcover is over $17). Click HERE to get Midnight Fugue for free in EPUB format (sorry, no Kindle compatibility).

Book Description
It starts with a phone call to Superintendent Dalziel from an old friend asking for help. But where it ends is a very different story. Gina Wolfe has come to mid Yorkshire in search of her missing husband, believed dead. Her fiance, Commander Mick Purdy of the Met, thinks Dalziel should be able to take care of the job. What none of them realize is how events set in motion decades ago will come to a violent head on this otherwise ordinary summer's day. A Welsh tabloid journalist senses the story he's been chasing for years may have finally landed in his lap. A Tory MP's secretary suspects her boss's father has an unsavory history that could taint his son's prime ministerial ambitions. The ruthless entrepreneur in question sends two henchmen out to make sure the past stays in the past. And the lethal pair dispatched have some awkward secrets of their own. Four stories, two mismatched detectives trying to figure it all out, and twenty-four hours in which to do it: Dalziel and Pascoe are about to learn the hard way just how much difference a day makes.

Sookie Stackhouse "8-Copy Boxed Set" in EPUB

Shortcovers has changed their name to kobo, but is continuing their 24 days of Christmas sale.

Sookie Stackhouse "8-Copy Boxed Set", by Charlaine Harris, is available for $26.85, today only ($29.50 Kindle), in EPUB format (also can be read on the web, but I'm not sure why anyone would bother). It is DRM'd, so not suitable for the Kindle, but should work with the Sony and nook readers. Either store is offering a good deal, for those who don't yet have this series, at $3.36 or $3.68/book)

Book Description
Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is no typical Southern belle. She can read minds. And she’s got a thing for vampires. Which, in a town like Bon Temps, Louisiana, means she’ll have to watch her back—and neck… Includes: Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, Definitely Dead, All Together Dead & From Dead to Worse

12 Days of Free Romance - Day 3

It's the third day of All Romance's 12 Days of Christmas giveaways:

Cowboy, by J.M. Snyder. The price shows as $5.99, but when you click on Buy Now, you should see the discount for the 12 Days of Christmas sale. Available as many formats: Mobipocket, Microsoft Reader, HTML, Adobe Acrobat, Epub; you can purchase more than one and get the discount each time.

This one has a "heat index" of 4 and the genre is gay (M/M ) cowboy erotica.

Book Description

Marcus was just passing through Texas when he met Kent. In his cowboy hat, low-riding jeans, and black boots, Kent looks like the type of guy Marcus desperately wants to love.

But two years later, he’s discovered Kent is cold and distant, the quintessential American cowboy, and spends more time drunk than sober. Marcus can never predict his mood and blames himself for the flailing relationship.

Then, one day when Kent rides into town, Marcus finds a young runaway hiding in their barn. Luke is warm, loving, and quick to please… everything Kent is not. Though the answer seems obvious, Marcus finds himself torn between the boy who demands his love and the man whose love he craves.

If you sign up for the Wildfire newsletter when you create your account, you'll get an email each day to remind you about the free book of the day.

Free Audiobook - The Book of the Shepherd

The Book of the Shepherd, by Joann Davis & narrated by Kirby Heyborne & Joann Davis is free (for a limited time) from Audible.com

Book Description
The Story of One Simple Prayer, and How It Changed the World

Stone the builder who erects a house that falls on its occupants. Sever the hands of the criminal who pilfers livestock or grain or another's garment. Whip the child who defies an elder. For such is the law and the law must be obeyed.

For generations, these ironclad rules had governed the people. Nobody questioned whether it was right to humiliate a child or execute a murderer. An eye for an eye was the way of the world. But was there another way?

When an antiquarian book is discovered in the disheveled study of an old Vermont farm-house, the house's new owner has the volume translated. The result is The Book of the Shepherd, a timeless story full of life lessons for us all.

Set in a mythical time, in an unnamed land, The Book of the Shepherd tells the tale of a shepherd, Joshua, who is troubled by the harsh code of "an eye for an eye" that governs his world. Called by a dream, the shepherd sets off on a journey to find "the new way".

Accompanied by Elizabeth, a former slave who is kind and generous, and David, a boy who must learn to walk in new shoes, the shepherd knows that "an age of miracles" will come when the new way is found. But the journey is not without incident. En route to a cave near the Great Inland Sea, the travelers meet a cast of extraordinary characters, including the Storyteller, the Apothecary, the Blind Man, and the Stranger. Each imparts an important lesson that pushes the travelers toward their destiny.

At the cave, Joshua must see if he can bring forth secrets long buried. But he, Elizabeth, and David will also discover that sometimes what we have been searching for has been inside us all along.

12 Days of Free Romance - Day 2

All Romance is having a different free book every day for the twelve days leading up to Christmas. Today is the second day and the free book is:

Her Hungers, by Mary Winter. The price shows as $5.70, but when you click on Buy Now, you should see the discount for the 12 Days of Christmas sale. Available as many formats: Mobipocket, Microsoft Reader, HTML, Adobe Acrobat, Epub; you can purchase more than one and get the discount each time.

As with all of All Romance's books, I'd guess it is fairly explicit, given the "heat index" of 5 for this one, and the content warning below.

Book Description

Lilah knew werewolves. Growing up as a human in the Northwoods Pack territory, Lilah also knew Roarke Connelly. But a human would never be good enough to love a werewolf, and broken-hearted, Lilah left the Northwoods vowing never to come back.

And she kept her promise, until a vampire turned her and she needed, one more time, to see her home. A brutal attack there left her wounded and infected with lycanthropy. She became a werepyre, both vampire and werewolf and hated by both species.

Under the protection of Adrian Fitzreal, brother to the vampire who turned her, Lilah knows he’ll never be the Alpha, her wolf, and she, craves. But she accepts, because with Adrian’s help, she’s staying alive, which is all a werepyre can ask for.

Until Roarke shows up. He’s got trouble at home. A rogue group of werewolves known as the Dark Moon Dogs wants to take over his pack. But when he finds out Lilah was attacked in his territory, he goes to find out why.

And discovers that she’s no longer the teenage girl who hero-worshipped him. She’s a grown woman, with a woman’s needs and two beasts raging inside her. And right now, they hunger for her Alpha, and for her vampire.

Warning: This book contains scenes of M/F/M sex and sex while in shifted form.

If you sign up for the Wildfire newsletter when you create your account, you'll get an email each day to remind you about the free book of the day.

Auto/Biographies and Memoirs Under Two Bucks

You can pick up Here's Johnny!: My Memories of Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and 46 Years of Friendship, by Ed McMahon, for a mere $0.91 in the Kindle store (or the Paperback for $1.01). If you want to read Ed's story, it's a bit more: For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good Times ($5.59), by David Fisher & Ed McMahon, but that would still be two books for seven bucks.

Book Description
For 30 years, Johnny Carson entertained millions of The Tonight Show viewers, creating a landmark of television. Now, Carson's irreplaceable partner and straight man Ed McMahon tells the touching, turbulent, and laugh-out-loud funny story of his personal, professional, and public relationship with one of the most beloved icons in entertainment history.

Coretta: The Story of Coretta Scott King ($0.79; Paperback $0.79), by Octavia Vivian

Book Description
In this first biography of Coretta Scott King, written by her friend Octavia Vivian, the reader meets a determined young girl who grew up in Alabama and worked her way through Antioch College only to discover that she was not allowed to teach in the white schools in Ohio. She pursued a musical career in Boston, where she met Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 brought Dr. King and his wife into national prominence. Since then the nation has seen the beauty and composure of Coretta Scott King as she has continued to speak and act on behalf of civil rights.

First published in 1970 by Fortress Press, this commemorative edition has been thoroughly updated, includes a black and white photo gallery, and is full of warmth and human interest, telling the story of Coretta Scott King from her childhood to her death in February 2006.

What a Party!: My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators and Other Wild Animals ($0.82; Paperback $0.82), by Terry McAuliffe

Book Description
For more than twenty-five years, Terry McAuliffe has been at the epicenter of American politics. Just out of Catholic University in Washington, Terry took a position with the Carter-Mondale campaign and quickly became one of the campaign's chief fund-raisers - and hasn't looked back since. The list of Terry's former mentors, friends, and close associates in the nation's capital reads like a who's who of legendary Democrats: Tip O'Neill. Jimmy Carter. Dick Gephardt. Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton. Al Gore. The list goes on and on. Terry has fought hard for the Democratic Party his entire life and, as Bill Clinton reveals here for the first time, he was the first one in the party to see opportunity in the Republican gains in the 1994 Congressional elections.

Without question the most successful fund-raiser in political history, Terry established himself as a heavyweight Democratic strategist and leader who was George W. Bush's most vocal and persistent critic during the first four years of the Bush 43 presidency. He earned rave reviews even from former critics for his groundbreaking work as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005, pulling the DNC out of debt for the first time in its history. Terry has served as a confidant and adviser to President Clinton and countless presidential candidates, a mediator among party leaders, the chairman of a national convention and presidential inaugural, and a forceful spokesman for the party - all without losing his reputation as a colorful, fun-loving character liked and respected even by his Republican adversaries.

What a Party! is a fascinating, hilarious, and provocative look at the life of one of Washington's legendary figures. From wrestling an alligator to running the Democratic National Committee to his friendship with President Clinton, Terry McAuliffe's wonderful memoir covers it all and is, without doubt, the political book of the year.

Comrade Rockstar ($1.63; Paperback $1.63), by Reggie Nadelson

Book Description
Dean Reed had one of the strangest careers in the history of popular culture. Failing to gain recognition for his music in his native United States, he achieved celebrity in South America in the early 1960s and then, unbelievably, became the biggest rock star in the Soviet Union, where he was awarded the Lenin Prize and his icons were sold alongside those of Josef Stalin. His albums went gold from Bulgaria to Berlin. He made highly successful movies and, naively earnest, was an unwitting acolyte for socialism; everywhere he went, he was mobbed by his fans. And then, in 1986, at the height of his fame, right after 60 Minutes had devoted a segment to him, finally giving him the recognition he had never attained at home, he drowned in mysterious circumstances in East Berlin. Drawn magnetically to his story, Reggie Nadelson pursued the mystery of Dean Reed's life and death across America and Eastern rope, her own journey mirroring his. As she traveled, the Berlin Wall came down, the Soviet Union crumbled, and Reed became an increasingly alluring figure, his life an unrepeatable tale of the Cold War world. Encountering the characters - musicians and DJs, politicians and public figures, lovers and wives - who peopled Reed's life, Nadelson was drawn further and further into a seedy, often hilarious subculture of sex, politics, and rock-n-roll. Part biography, part memoir and personal journey, Comrade Rockstar is an unforgettable chronicle of an utterly improbable life.

Embedded: Confessions of a TV Sex Journalist ($1.90; Paperback $1.90), by Ross Dale

Book Description
ROSS DALE is a Wesleyan graduate serenely sailing through post-college life when he gets the offer he can't refuse. For double his pay, Playboy TV wants him to produce their show Sexcetera, an explicit experience in journalism billed as "true stories from the sexual frontier."

A prep student from a sheltered home, Dale finds himself everywhere he never imagined he'd go: shooting gang bangs with the West Coast Gang Bangers, attending the annual Nudes-A-Popping Festival at an Indiana nudist resort, brothels in Amsterdam, swinger parties and more.

Behind Dale's initial shock, a fascination grows for the characters in front of the camera: some funny, some gross, all facing the pressure of trying to balance humdrum, day-to-day existence with outrageous sex lives. Plus one of his leading ladies, a gorgeous and naked soft-core movie queen, just might have a thing for him. Dale's odd job becomes a life-changing adventure, and he's enjoying the ride.

By turns hilarious, wry, and deliciously erotic, Dale evokes the bizarre world of pornography and the people who inhabit it, and gives readers a story about finding love in the least likely of places.

From Power to Purpose ($1.92; Hardcover $1.92), by Sen. Sam Brownback

Book Description
The book Sam Brownback will write will not be a memoir; it will not be a policy manual; it will not be a book of self-promotion designed merely to propel the Senator into the White House in the forthcoming election season. It will be the record of a remarkable journey of faith and compassion, and the story of what can happen when one man is utterly sold out to his Lord and conspicuously placed to make a difference in the world.

Senator Brownback's story is the personal narrative of a man with a sense of mission for America and a heart for God. It will also be the story of a spiritual awakening that came through adversity, and what one aide has called his "cancer epiphany." How that change came about, and how the Senator is today going about implementing that vision in his life and work is the subject of this book.

Heroes, Hacks, and Fools: Memories from the Political Inside ($1.42; Hardcover $1.42), by Ted Van Dyke

Book Description
Ted Van Dyk, a shrewd veteran of countless national political and policy fights, casts fresh light on many of the leading personalities and watershed events of American politics since JFK. He was a Pentagon intelligence analyst during the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and an aide to Jean Monnet and other leaders of the European movement before serving at the Johnson White House as Vice President Humphrey's senior advisor and alter ego. He was involved in that administration's Great Society triumphs and its Vietnam tragedy.

In the late 1960s, Van Dyk moved to Columbia University as vice president to help quell campus disorders which threatened the university. Over a period of 35 years he was a senior advisor to presidential candidates Humphrey, McGovern, Carter, Ted Kennedy, Mondale, Hart, and Tsongas; contributed regular essays to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, and other national publications; and led two national think tanks. In 2001 the Bellingham, Washington, native returned to the Northwest to write a regular editorial-page column for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Van Dyk's memoirs contain many previously untold stories from an historic period of national politics, portray brilliant and not-so-brilliant leaders and ideas, and also illuminate politics' darker side. They bring to life the flawed realities and enduring opportunities of public policymaking in our time.

McCain: The Myth of a Maverick ($1.58; Hardcover $1.76), by Matt Welch. This is one of the many political memoirs written for the 2008 Presidential campaign.

Book Description
John McCain is one of the most familiar, sympathetic, and overexposed figures in American politics, yet his concrete governing philosophy and actual track record have been left curiously unexamined, mostly because of the massive distractions in his official biography, but also because of his ingenious strategy of talking ad infinitum to each and every access-craving media person who happens by. The more he has spouted, the less journalists have bothered trying to see through the fog.

McCain gives the voting public what it wants but can't find -- a flesh-and-bones political portrait of a man onto whom people are forever projecting their own ideological fantasies. It is a psychological key for decoding his allegedly "maverick" actions, and the first realistic assessment of what a John McCain presidency may look like. McCain will quickly lay out in overlapping detail the root cause of the senator's worldview: his personal transformation from underachieving punk to war hawk uber-patriot, in which he used the "higher power" of American nationalism to save his life and soul.

As McCain wrenches himself inside-out in pursuit of the prize that eluded him in 2000, McCain will look behind the war hero, behind the maverick reformer. Journalist and pundit Matt Welch brings to this project an investigative eye and a coolly analytical mindset to provide Republicans, Democrats and Independents a picture of the man in full before they enter the voting booth in 2008.

Free Audiobook - A Christmas Carol

Tim Curry fans won't want to miss A Christmas Carol: An Original Performance by Tim Curry, by Charles Dickens, especially since it is currently a free download at Audible. This is an unabridged version and runs 3-1/2 hours.

Book Description
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens' timeless tale, has never been out of print since its original publication in 1849 and has been adapted for stage, television, film, and opera. It has often been credited with returning the jovial and festive atmosphere to the holiday season in Britain and North America, following a period of sobriety and somberness that emerged during the Industrial Revolution.

The story opens on a bleak and cold Christmas Eve as Ebenezer Scrooge is closing up his office for the day. That evening, he is visited by the ghost of his old business partner, Jacob Marley, who warns of a terrible fate for the miserly Scrooge if he does not change his ways.

As the story progresses and Christmas morning approaches, Scrooge encounters the unforgettable characters that make this story a classic: Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and of course the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

12 Days of Free Romance - Day 1

All Romance is having a different free book every day for the twelve days leading up to Christmas. Today is the first day and the free book is:

Holiday Affair, by Yvette Hines. As with all of All Romance's books, I'd guess it is fairly explicit, given the "heat index" of 4.

Available as a PDF or in EPUB format (convert the EPUB using Calibre or the PDF via Amazon); if you want both, just purchase it twice.

Book Description
Chanel Davidson is about to embark on a holiday vacation that will change her life. The man of her dreams has spent a year teasing her with love notes, trinkets and thoughtful gifts, doing everything but ask her out. Well, she is prepared to grab the reindeer by the antlers this season. A week off from work, a lone man in a cabin is going to give her just the opportunity she needs to set things in a sensual motion. Only one problem, it’s the right cabin, but the wrong man.

Aidan Carmichael is expecting a quite week in a friends cabin. The season has never meant much to him over the years and he is ready to relax in his time away from work. What he is not expecting is a caramel skinned goddess to come shimmying down his chimney. Aidan has had his eyes and heart set on Chanel since he first joined the accounting firm. Now, to both of their surprise she comes dancing into his holiday haven. Chanel is trapped for a week with a grey eyed temptation. With freezing temperatures outside and things heating up on the inside, Aidan tries to prove to Chanel that they can be more than just a holiday affair. Ho, ho…oh, what a Christmas.

If you sign up for the Wildfire newsletter when you create your account, you'll get an email each day to remind you about the free book of the day.

Author Spotlight: Stephen King

A few of Stephen King's titles have been on the bargain list for some time (see this post for Riding the Bullet ($2.00), UR ($2.99) and Colorado Kid ($3.99) ), but there are some new titles marked down today. The first two, The Running Man (1982) and Thinner (1984) were written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, while the last two Cujo (1981) and Misery (1987) are classic Stephen King. All four are currently marked at $3.99.

Thinner

Book Description
When an old gypsy man curses Billy Halleck for sideswiping his daughter, six weeks later he's ninety-three pounds lighter. Now Billy is terrified. And desperate enough for one last gamble...that will lead him to a nightmare showdown with the forces of evil melting his flesh away.

The Running Man

Book Description
The year is 2025. The Running Man is America's favorite television game show. Ben Richards is the program's latest contestant-and the Hunters' latest target in a rigged game of death.

Every night the whole nation watched the ultimate live game show on TV, as the contestants tried to beat annihilation at the hands of the hunters in order to win the billion dollar jackpot. And now there was a new contestant, the latest Running Man, staking his life while a nation watched.

Misery

Book Description
After an automobile accident, novelist Paul Sheldon meets his biggest fan. Annie Wilkes is his nurse-and captor. Now, she wants Paul to write his greatest work-just for her. She has a lot of ways to spur him on. One is a needle. Another is an ax. And if they don't work, she can get really nasty...

Cujo

Book Description
Acute family dog turns into a vicious family killer in King's canine classic.

Free Audiobook - Ringworld

Ringworld by Larry Niven & narrated by Tom Parker, is free at Audible.com. This is an unabridged version and runs 11-1/4 hours.

Book Description
Welcome to Ringworld, an intermediate step between Dyson Spheres and planets. It is 93 million miles in radius - the equivalent of one Earth orbit or 600 miles long - 1,000 meters thick, and much sturdier than a Dyson sphere. What other advantages are there to this world? The gravitational force created by a rotation on its axis of 770 miles per second means no need for a roof. Walls 1,000 miles high at each rim will let in the sun and prevent much air from escaping.

Larry Niven's novel Ringworld won the 1970 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 1970 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1972 Ditmars, an Australian award for Best International Science Fiction.