WILLIAM ARTHUR HOLMES

The Lazy Pug Cafe

The Lazy Pug Café was a dilapi­dated old farm­house aban­doned years ago. A massive, ancient oak tree, Ol' Lightnin', lurked out back while the house itself served as a sad but char­m­ing re­minder of days gone by. Locals were grate­ful someone was final­ly bring­ing the old girl back to life. Come meet pugs Daisy, Chandler and Joey! There are cats and humans, too, but it's all about the pugs! Pugs rule!

first paragraph or so...

Opening Day

As recently as a few months ago, the Lazy Pug Café was nothing more than a dilapidated old two-story farmhouse. Set back just forty yards from the road, there was a beautiful old weeping willow in front and a massive ancient oak tree out back. Abandoned years ago, the old estate's only purpose lately had been to serve as a sad but charming reminder of days gone by. Locals witnessing its resurrection were grateful so...

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Operation Detour

A beautiful young black ops agent on her first assign­ment tries to turn a complete stranger into an asset, just to prove she can. When he loses both his job and girl­friend, she thinks he's all hers. Then he decides to go out with a bang, and she's afraid she's over­played her hand.

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Riva

Riva's gray eyes reach out and grab anyone careless enough to look directly at her. Her flawless skin glows in contrast to her long black hair.

She knows the effect she has on men and is not afraid to use it... most days. Not today. Her hair is a tangled mess. Eyes bloodshot. Skin a sickly pallor from whatever ailment has befallen her as she holes up in this 4-star high-rise hotel on LA's west side. She hates waiting...

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Temporary Insanity

Long before win­ning the lottery and run­ning for presi­dent, Benny was living in L.A. work­ing as a word pro­ces­sing temp. He thought his latest assign­ment was just another gig, never antici­pating Venelia and the Dynamos. The what?

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The Elevator

Benny was on the elevator of a building he'd never been in before. It was climbing fast. Too fast. "It didn't stop on those floors," he said, looking at the numbers as it sped upward.

When no one replied, he looked to see if anyone heard him. Apparently not.

To his right stood an attractive blonde woman, thirtyish, in a blue blazer, matching skirt and white silk blouse. She turned away and clutched he...

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Another Way

Anti-corp­orate crusader Dobie Pokorny wants to save the world from oligarchs like Colonel Charon­ne.  On his speaking-truth-to-power tour, he meets and falls in love with Kaylie while enduring attacks at every turn.  They each think the other is out of their league, but there's a con­nection. Can they outrun Charon­ne and his minions?  And, what's up with Semmy, the little blue alien?

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On Tour

Dobie Pokorny was on tour in support of his manifesto, Another Way: Beyond the Status Quo, an anti-corporate diatribe born of a lifetime of people-watching and corporate employment. He never had a career. Just employment. One job after the other, never quite fitting in anywhere. Never believing in the company he worked for.

The manifesto was something he believed in completely. Spouting off for a living was his new...

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Dub's Dilemma

Dub was a mid-level IT guy who liked to keep things simple, not get involved, stay out of trouble. Darla had other ideas when he showed up at her lab, the only one left to fix her problem. Come along for the ride as they try to stay one step ahead of their employer, bioweapons maker LeHavre Research.

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LeHavre

I had to leave everyone and everything behind. My life is a lie, a fake ID. All because I stumbled onto LeHavre's secret lab.

They listed their own whistleblower number, but I never trusted corporations. The larger ones don't mess around. Government security pales in comparison to that of corporations involved in certain kinds of research.

They're not openly called hit men, but they designate a few of their sec...

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Lottery President

For most people, win­ning $300 mil­lion in the lottery would be enough. They would retire, buy a big house and travel the world. Not Benny. He took the money and ran... for presi­dent. The house he had in mind was the White House. He didn't want to travel the world so much as save it from politicians. Retire? "I'll retire when I'm dead!" he said, not know­ing so many people had that exact retire­ment plan in mind for him.

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Good Luck

Benny sat alone by the door in a recently opened Asian restaurant. The laminated menu offered Mongolian, Chinese and Japanese dishes, with each written in its native language and alphabet. He had to flip it over for the English version on the back.

He was taking his therapist's advice, "throwing caution to the wind" and "letting the chips fall where they may." A sex ...

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Last Train Out

Clay and his adopted daught­er Jenna look forward to their up­coming "home­land tour" to Russia. His intent­ions are pure. Hers, not so much. When she goes mis­s­ing, he goes looking, only to find she is not the innocent little girl he thought she was. Not even close. His only hope is to get her on the Last Train Out.

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Zenya

Fifteen years ago

Zenya was two-and-a-half when two very strange people came to visit her orphanage. They talked funny, as if almost able to speak properly, but with such horrible accents it was difficult to understand them. She assumed they were stupid. Gloopy, in Russian. They were there to see her, though – just her! – so she let it go.

She was devastated when they stopped coming after just one wee...

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