Alma Alexander

NOT VALHALLA. NOT ODINS GATHERING PLACE FOR GODS AND IMMORTALS. VAL HALL, HOME AND LAST SANCTUARY FOR RETIRED SUPERHEROES, THIRD CLASS. Val Hall, raised by the vision and devotion of one man for others of his kind in the wreckage of the world left behind in the ashes of the conflagration of what they called the Great War. Men and women in whom an extraordinary moment released one singular extraordinary power, gathered under the definition of Superheroes (Third Class), could gather here in the twilight of their lives in search of security, contentment, care, and peace they could come here to find, and take shelter with, others of their kind.From those who could know the unknowable, release gifts trapped in other minds, free ancient memories with a single touch, lead their kin back to the Promised Land, or face down a volcano, their powers are banked until the instant in which they are kindled into something unforgettable. These are ordinary people, living ordinary lives. They could be your grandmother, your brother, your neighbor, your friend. They could be you.Val Hall is here for all who have need of it.These are the stories from the even years of Val Halls century. Look for the companion volume, "Val Hall: The Odd Years" for more stories of valor and grace.

NOT VALHALLA. NOT ODINS GATHERING PLACE FOR GODS AND IMMORTALS.VAL HALL, HOME AND LAST SANCTUARY FOR RETIRED SUPERHEROES, THIRD CLASS.Val Hall, raised by the vision and devotion of one man for others of his kind in the wreckage of the world left behind in the ashes of the conflagration of what they called the Great War. Men and women in whom an extraordinary moment released one singular extraordinary power, gathered under the definition of Superheroes (Third Class), could gather here in the twilight of their lives in search of security, contentment, care, and peace they could come here to find, and take shelter with, others of their kind.From those who can use the power of their voice to make others believe anything they say, or those whose task it was to turn annihilation from their people at any cost, or stand against the storm to protect the ones they love, or walk with the dead and glimpse the world beyond, their powers are banked until the instant in which they are kindled into something unforgettable. These are ordinary people, living ordinary lives. They could be your grandmother, your brother, your neighbor, your friend. They could be you.Val Hall is here for all who have need of it.These are the stories from the odd years of Val Halls century. Look for the companion volume, "Val Hall: The Even Years" for more stories of valor and grace.

An Elemental Mage.Thea Winthrop comes into her own, acknowledged as a very rare Elemental Mage - and is quickly drawn into a web of magical intrigue as her new powers bring her face to face with Nikola Tesla, once known as the New WIzard of the West and the only known quad-Elemental Mage in human history. But he is in trouble, trapped by the treacherous Alphiri, and it is up to Thea and her friends to step in and save both the great mage himself and (once again) their own magical world.Elemental magic is strong, but in the face of tragedy and betrayal it is the power of friendship and willing sacrifice for the greater good that can change Theas world.

These are the stories of a century in a place called Val Hall.Not Valhalla. Not Odins gathering place for gods and immortals.Val Hall, home and last sanctuary for retired Superheroes, Third Class.Val Hall, raised by the vision and devotion of of one man for others of his kind... in the wreckage of the world left behind in the ashes of the conflagration of what they called the Great War.Men and women in whom an extraordinary moment released one singular extraordinary power, gathered under the definition of Superheroes (Third Class), could gather here in the twilight of their lives in search of security, contentment, care, and peace - they could come here to find, and take shelter with,others of their kind.From those who could know the unknowable, release gifts trapped in other minds, free ancient memories with a single touch, lead their kin back to the Promised Land, or face down a volcano; from those who use the power odf their voice to make others believe anything they say, or those whose task it was to turn annihilation from their people at any cost, or stand against the storm to protect the ones they love, or walk with the dead and glimpse the world beyond - or those who can bend time, see the invisible, or save the world from ruin in their own unique ways - their powers are banked... until the instant in which they are kindled into something unforgettable.These are their stories.Welcome to Val Hall.

"Youve Got Mail" In a richly magical world, computers were the only things that were thought to be impervious to magic... or so everyone believed. Until ordinary emails that began by sounding like practical jokes started turning into real working spells, with increasingly perilous consequences. Thea Winthrop, double seventh, child of magic, had thought that her unique ability to access magic through this unexpected medium was something that was hers alone - until she discovers taht there is someone else out there - someone with similar powers, but bent on using them witha wild and dangerous agenda. And Thea, still finding her way through her new magical gifts, is called upon to step up and face a difficult decision, and a task that might break her.

Alma Alexander released a series of "Triads", themed collections of three short stories apiece, over the course of several years. This book, "Weight of Worlds", is a gathering of some of the best of the Triads, a substantial collection of short stories from an accoplished storyteller.

Before the age of the Internet one of these people might never have known the other existed.In the early days of the World Wide Web,tenuous cyber-connections might never have solidified into more than shared electrons.They were separated by oceans lapping shores of different continents, and by an almost unbridgeable gap of years.Impossible, improbable, unlikely... and yet something drew two people together anyway. Call it love. Call it fate. They found one anotheragainst all the odds, they reached out, they touched, they held on. It was strong. It was going to last forever.But forever is shorter than it used to be.

Back to the BeginningWith Thea Winthrop finally taking her rightful place in her society - even if she is the youngest student at the prestigious Amford University and feeling very out of her depth - something once again needs her unique talents to be set right. It begins with small things, easily dismissed, but it quickly becomes apparent that it is the biggest imaginable calamity of all.The very core of human magic has been stolen... and it is up to Thea, the wizard Nikola Tesla, and Corey the Trickster to retrieve the heart and soul of human magic from those who have taken it... and answer many of the mysteries of Theas life in the process.The triumphant conclusion to the Worldweavers series.

"Who knew youd be a true weaver?" Great things were expected. Thea Winthrop, Double Seventh, the seventh child of two seventh children, was the very definition of magic, greatly anticipated, and in whom much potential rested. But something was very wrong. It wasnt that she did magic badly - it was just that she couldnt seem to do any magic at all. The most magical creature alive... turned into the Girl WHo Couldnt. It was not until a last-ditch effort to wake up that absent magic, sent into the past to find a glimmer of a new and unique magical identity, that Theas world begins to change, and she learns that her greatest strength might be the powers that she had yet to discover.

What if all the princesses out of all the fairy tales of your childhood... were refugees? What if they didnt live lives of happily ever after but their true stories involve far greater strength, far greater loss, far greater courage than you ever knew? Here are four of those stories. Sometimes, the greatest fairy tales... are real.

Perfect for fans of "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Empress Orchid" - "The Embers of Heaven" is a magical epic, with delightful characters, an intriguing scenario and a real feeling of place and history. It has a wonderful combination of character, romantic lives, and spiritual quest, set against a credible historical background. In "The Secrets of Jin-Shei", eight women pledge themselves as sisters in the name of jin-shei, the unbreakable bond, the promise that lasts a lifetime. This sisterhood shapes their lives, their country and their world. "The Embers of Heaven" begins four hundred years later. In eighteenth-century Syai, and its capital city of Linh-an, things have changed beyond recognition. On the face of it, women are more equal than they have ever been. But the men run the machines, the factories, and the technology. Women have lost the ability to weave their fates and influence the course of events. The foundation of an empire once rested on jin-shei and its customs. It connected women from every walk of life and formed a bond that empowered every woman who swore the oath.The advancement of printing, the developments of technology and the changes in society seem to have improved the daily lives of the underclass, but women have been stripped of this sacred pact. Amais is heir to her poet-ancestress''s manuscripts and journals. The journals are all in jin-ashu, the women''s tongue, taught sketchily to Amais by her mother. Amais has the clear vision of an outsider looking in. Combined with her deep and instinctive bond to her ancestors and her culture, she determines to reinvent the Women''s Country and bring the jin-shei back. But just as her crusade begins, she and her family are caught up in the whirlwind of the Golden Rising - a people''s revolution that is fated to destroy much that was once valuable, gracious and beautiful.

"Everything I knew about the Were was wrong" A Were of no fixed form, a Random, able to Turn into any warm-blooded creature it sees... A young Random whose failure to Turn forces him into taking his destiny into his own hands, becoming full Lycan in the name of pride and fury, learning things he never thought were possible... A true Shifter, the wild card, Turning into anything he chooses at will... First Jazz Marsh Turns into something unprecedented, throwing her family and the Were authorities into a spin. Then her brother Mal, frustrated beyond reason by his own delayed Turn, takes matters into his own hands and chooses his own destiny, infiltrating the shadowy Lycan clan in order to help expiate his perceived guilt in his older sisters death. Hes helped by his friend, Chalky, a true Shifter who is capable of Turning into anything he pleases unconstrained by the rules of Were kind. Together, they work to turn back a shattering tragedy, solve a conspiracy-shrouded mystery rooted in their own kind, and work to preserve their own existence against a rising tide of superstition and hatred. All they wanted to do, in the end, was save a life. Instead... they started a war.

Welcome to the land where tales are told.There is a path unfolding in front of you, paved with words, leading into secret places -the dangerous, the remembered, the familiar, the unknown. Here, you will find witches and princesses, monsters and familiars,coins made of silver and swords made of shadow,lost girls and traveling troubadours,promises made and broken, loss and laughter. The book you are holding is a key to the gate of that realm. Open the door. Go through.

Alexander, AlmaThey are bound together by a declaration of loyalty that transcends all other vows, even those with the gods, by their own secret language, passed from mother to daughter, by the knowledge that some of them will have to pay the ultimate sacrifice to enable others to fulfil their destiny.The sisterhood we meet run from the Emperor's sister to the street-beggar, from the trainee warrior in the Emperor's Guard to the apprentice healer, from the artist to the traveller-girl, herself an illegitimate daughter of an emperor and seen as a threat to the throne. And as one of them becomes Dragon Empress, her determination to hold power against the sages of the temple, against the marauding forces from other kingdoms, drags the sisterhood into a dangerous world of court intrigue, plot and counterplot, and brings them into conflict with each other from which only the one who remains true to all the vows she made at the very beginning to the dying Princess Empress can rescue them.An amazing and unusual book, based on some historical fact, full of drama, adventure and conflict like a Shakespearean history play, it's a novel about kinship and a society of women, of mysticism, jealousy, fate, destiny, all set in the wonderful, swirling background of medieval China.

IN ANCIENT EGYPTCATS WERE WORSHIPPED AS GODSTHEY HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN THISA dog will lay itself down at your feet and give you its heart, itslife, and its entire existence.A cat... will choose YOU. Or not. Or it will ignore you. Or it willharrass you into giving up your favourite chair. Or get in the way ofyour work. Or vocally demand things that it feels are its due. A catwill leave daitny little paw prints on your soul, and lure you in withsoft fluffy murder mittens right until it shows you its claws.You dont own a cat. A cat owns you, and your entire life becomestheirs the moment they lay claim to you.And you accept that, and you glory in it, and you give the cateverything it asks for , and a bunch of things it didnt, and youcount yourself lucky to be allowed to do it.What the @$%(#$& is it about cats?!

A lifelong reader and a vocational writer invites you on an intimate tour of her home and its multifarious bookshelves, sharing the contents of her library and how all those volumes transmuted her own life from a childhood as a bookish caterpillar bookworm into the adult, full-fledged butterfly ofo a publshed writer in her own right. A luminous guide through the written word, through personal essays, book reviews, anecdotes, and insights. this book is a recipe for a literary elixir consisting of equal parts inspiration, revelation, and transformation; anyone who has ever surreptitiously sidled up to a bookshelf on a first visit to a strangers home, just to see if there were any familiar friends living there, will find a treasured companion in Alchemy of the Wrord".

Alma AlexanderA sweeping epic set in medieval China. A group of women the JinShei sisterhood form a uniquely powerful circle that transcends class and social custom. Their bond? A declaration of loyalty that transcends all other vows even those with the gods; their own secret language passed from mother to daughter; the knowledge that some of them will have to pay the ultimate sacrifice to enable others to fulfil their destiny. Among the sisterhood we meet run are the Emperors sister a streetbeggar a trainee warrior in the Emperors Guard an apprentice healer an artist and the travellergirl illegitimate daughter of an emperor and seen as a threat to the throne. As one of them becomes Dragon Empress her determination to hold power against the temple sages and marauding forces from other kingdoms drags the sisterhood into a dangerous world of court intrigue plot and counterplot. Only one of them remains true to all the vows made to the dying Princess Empress at the very beginning and can rescue them. An amazing and unusual novel based on some historical fact full of drama adventure and conflict. Its about kinship and a society of women of mysticism jealousy fate destiny.

On the eve of the end of the world, 20 December 2012, five friends meet in Spanish Gardens, the cafe where they had celebrated their college graduation twenty years before. Over Irish coffees, they reminisceand reveal long-held and disturbing secrets.Each friend in turn is given a curious set of instructions by an enigmatic bartender named Ariel:"Your life is filled with crossroads and you are free to choose one road or another at any time. Stepping through this door takes away all choices except twothe choice to live a different life, or return to this one...."Each in turn passes through the portal and are faced with new lives and challenges. Their decisions show a new lifeor something far worse. At the end of the world, its a chance for redemption, or a chance to learn something about themselves.International bestselling author, Alma Alexander, mixes a world or possibilities and paths. What if you could change the pastgo right instead of left, fall in love with a different person, change careers or families, or even change your sex. Midnight at Spanish Gardens brings those choices to life.

The Parada had been lost for almost two hundred years before they recovered the ship, drifting in stygian interstellar darkness, and brought her home again.But that was not the miracle.The miracle was that the crew was still alive.That was also the problem.Six crew members went out on the Parada, Earths first starship. All contact was lost, and the ship vanished for almost two centuries. When the Paradas successor found the drifting ship and somehow managed to bring it home, the six crew members were not only still alive but barely older, due to the time dilation effects of near-FTL travel. Their return was a miracle but it could not be revealed to the waiting world. The problem was, six individuals went out to the stars. More than seventy fractured personalities came back.Psychologist Stella Froud and Jesuit Father Philip Carter were recruited as part of the team assembled to investigate the mystery, and to try and help the Paradas crew understand their condition and possibly reverse it. What they discovered was a deepening mystery, and very soon they found themselves forced to take sides in a conflict that nobody could have possibly predicted. Their world would never be the same again."Like its cast of returned starfarers, this rich and continually surprising novel is many things at once: a religiously-inflected first contact novel; an engaging psychological mystery; a glimpse of the future through the eyes of the past; and a moving tale about the difficulties of homecoming. I highly recommend it." - Matt Ruff, author of Set This House in Order and Lovecraft Country

A group of women, the jin-shei sisterhood, form a uniquely powerful circle that transcends class and social custom. They are bound together by a declaration of loyalty that transcends all other vows, even those with the gods, by their own secret language, passed from mother to daughter, by the knowledge that some of them will have to pay the ultimate sacrifice to enable others to fulfill their destiny.The sisterhood we meet run from the Emperors sister to the street-beggar, from the trainee warrior in the Emperors Guard to the apprentice healer, from the artist to the traveller-girl, herself an illegitimate daughter of an emperor and seen as a threat to the throne. And as one of them becomes Dragon Empress, her determination to hold power against the sages of the temple, against the marauding forces from other kingdoms, drags the sisterhood into a dangerous world of court intrigue, plot and counterplot, and brings them into conflict with each other from which only the one who remains true to all the vows she made at the very beginning to the dying Princess Empress can rescue them.An amazing and unusual book, based on some historical fact, full of drama, adventure and conflict like a Shakespearean history play, its a novel about kinship and a society of women, of mysticism, jealousy, fate, destiny, all set in the wonderful, swirling background of Syai, a fantasy kingdom inspired by Imperial China.