Best Selling Books by S. Walker

Mathematics and Music: Composition, Perception, and Performance, Second Edition includes many new sections and more consistent expectations of a student’s experience. The new edition of this popular text is more accessible for students with limited musical backgrounds and only high school mathematics is required. The new edition includes more illustrations than the previous one and the added sections deal with the XronoMorph rhythm generator, musical composition, and analyzing personal performance. The text teaches the basics of reading music, explaining how various patterns in music can be described with mathematics, providing mathematical explanations for musical scales, harmony, and rhythm. The book gives students a deeper appreciation showing how music is informed by both its mathematical and aesthetic structures. Highlights of the Second Edition: Now updated for more consistent expectations of students’ backgrounds More accessible for students with limited musical backgrounds Full-color presentation Includes more thorough coverage of spectrograms for analyzing recorded music Provides a basic introduction to reading music Features new coverage of building and evaluating rhythms

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Contains nearly 32,500 entries that provide a bibliography of interpretations that have appeared since 1900 of short stories published since 1800.

The inspiring story of Reginald Lewis: lawyer, Wall Street wizard, philanthropist--and the wealthiest black man in American history. Based on Lewis''s unfinished autobiography, along with scores of interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, this book cuts through the myth and hype to reveal the man behind the legend.

More Tales Alive in Turkey is a sequel to Tales Alive in Turkey, the two volumes providing a survey of the wide range of Turkish oral narrative. Materials for both are drawn entirely from the Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative at Texas Tech University. Whereas the tales in the earlier volume were collected between 1961 and 1964, most of those in More Tales Alive in Turkey were taped in Turkey in the 1970s and 1980s.

Preface In the past three decades, businesses have made staggering investments in technology to increase their productivity and efficiency. The technological infrastructure of these companies has become increasingly sophisticated and complex. Most companies today are extremely dependent on their technological infrastructure. Operating without it is like trying to run a business without a telephone or electricity. Businesses depend on their technology at least as much as, perhaps more than, any other utility. However, unlike the telephone and electric industries, technology has not had the benefit of 100 + years to mature under the control of a handful of companies. Thousands of companies contribute to technology, each doing whatever they think will sell the best. Extreme and rapid innovation is the rule, not the exception. Change is the rule, not the exception. The resulting complexity has posed a new challenge for companies: how to realize the potential and anticipated benefits of the investments in an environment of constant change. Businesses are so reliant on technology that they need it to operate as reliably, consistently, and universally as the telephone and electricity. We are a long way from achieving that level of service. Businesses face rising costs because of constant failures that result in lost productivity. It is very difficult and expensive to find the resources with the expertise to manage and repair their infrastructures. It is extremely difficult and expensive to keep those resources trained to manage a constantly evolving environment. But guess what. There is no choice but to invest in technology, because it has to be done. Business cannot stop investing in technology or they will be crushed by the competition. So what have they done? They have standardized to limit the diversity, the expertise required, and the problems associated with diversity. They have striven to make the infrastructure as reliable as the telephone and to keep employees productive. And they have created a team that has the skills, the facilities, and the charter to fix existing problems and reduce future problems. That team is the service center, and this book shares how the best of those teams are doing just that. Technology impacts more than just a business''s internal operations. What about the company''s customers? They often need support, as well. More companies are realizing the value of providing quality service to its customers. Some studies have indicated that keeping a customer costs one-tenth the price of getting a new one, while the return business from satisfied customers count for substantially more than one-tenth of a company''s revenue. It makes good economic sense to spend money on keeping existing clients satisfied. For many companies, that means providing customers with quality support for the products and services they purchase. So who in the company provides that service? You guessed it—the service center. What is a service center? It is an organization whose charter and mission are to provide support services to internal or external customers, or to both. It is a concentration of expertise, processes, and tools dedicated to taking customers'' requests and fulfilling them in a timely and cost-effective manner, leaving the customer delighted with the experience. A service center has a defined range of service offerings, from fixing problems to providing value-added services, and everything in between. This book is intended to help a company set up that service center and deliver those services cost effectively. The book focuses on structuring the organization and building the processes to move service requests efficiently and effectively through the organization to deliver quality service to the customer. It discusses the pitfalls that afflict many service centers and offers techniques and solutions to avoid those pitfalls. The book discusses the tools available to help a service center manage its business and deliver high quality cost-effective services to customers. The traditional help desk is still around, but many have evolved into service centers. As more businesses are faced with increasing technology costsand increasing pressure to be productive and efficient internally—while delighting external customers—many more help desks will be forced to evolve. For a well-run help desk, the evolutionis natural and not overly difficult. Most help desks were originally designed to provide one type of service, technical support. Help desks traditionally helped customers by fixing their problems and answering their questions. The help desk concentrated technical expertise, problem management processes, and tools to track and resolve customer problems, answer customer questions, and deliver that support as cost effectively as possible. Many help desks have done this quite successfully, and many have not. As their companies reengineer and look to streamline operations, many company executives have asked the simple question, "Today, you provide one type of service—technical support. How hard would it be to add additional services?" It''s a fair question, because the help desk already takes service requests, tracks them, makes delivery commitments to customers, delivers the services, and charges the customers. The organization, the processes, the tools are in place. The evolution usually starts small, with simple, technology-related, value-added services, such as ordering PCs. You need a PC, contact the help desk. They''ll figure out what you need, order it, track the order, install it when it arrives, and then support you if you have any questions. Voila, the help desk is now providing value-added services. Since you are ordering the equipment and maintaining and fixing it all the time, how about keeping track of it? No one else does. Again, voila, you''re providing a value-added asset management service. Since you have all of that valuable information, can you report on it quarterly to the insurance and risk anagement department and the finance and accounting group? Yep, another—value added service. Hey, you guys are pretty good at this stuff. We need computer training. Can you make arrangements for that and then handle the scheduling? Its happened. You are no longer just a help desk—you are a service center, offering both traditional help desk support and value-added services to your customers. This goes along for a while, and you tweak the processes and improve your delivery capability. Then, someone in the company gets the idea that a single point of contact for many internal services would be handy, and since you''re already capable of handling value-added servicesand you do it so well, you should consider handling many more. That certainly sounds reasonable. For example, how about a service for new employees. Instead of the HR department contacting the telecom department, the help desk, and the facilities department every time a new employee is hired, why don''t they just contact the service center and let them coordinate the rest. Like magic, you''ve added a service called New Employee Setup, or maybe even better, Amaze the New Employee. You gather the vital information—her name, who she works for, when she starts, what budget to charge, where she''ll be sitting. You order her PC, you contact telecom to set up her phone and voice mailbox, and you contact facilities to set up her workspace. Then, you notify security and set up her appointment to get a badge, you schedule her into the next orientation class, and you schedule her in the next "PC and Networking in Our Company" class. Finally, you generate the standard welcome-on-board letter that tells her the classes she is scheduled for and where they are located. You have standard attachments that explain how to use the phone and how to log on to the PC, and most importantly, how to reach the service center. You email the package to HR, who is merely awaiting her arrival, secure in the knowledge that all is well, everything is ready, and that the new employee will be duly impressed with her new company. Just as you do with the problems you handle, you follow up on this service to make sure the work is done on time. Now your follow-up includes telecom and facilities, who essentially act like any other tier 2 group. Instead of generating a trouble ticket, you generate a tracking ticket, which is associated with another new type of ticket, a work order. One work order is sent to telecom and another to facilities. The new tracking ticket looks amazingly similar to a trouble ticket. It has the same contact information—the customer name and location, the desired delivery date, the name of the agent who took the order, when the order was placed, the current status, and who else is involved. Work order tickets really aren''t much different than a traditional trouble ticket to dispatch, for example, a hardware support technician that includes information on where to go, what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, who is handling it, its current status and priority, and so on. The work order ticket even goes into a queue, just like a problem ticket dispatched to any tier 2 support group. And just as with trouble tickets, you have processes and tools in place to escalate the tracking and work order tickets, and to send notifications if there is a problem or if more work to be done. The entire process is, logically, very similar to managing problems. The information must be tracked, people are assigned to do the work, the work is prioritized, time commitments are in place, processes are in place to handle work that can''t be done in the agreed upon time frame, additional levels of expertise are available to handle difficulties. Perhaps most importantly, it is all initiated, tracked, and closed centrally. Many help desks resist this evolution. If their house is not in order and they are struggling to handle technical support, they should resist. Get the technical support in order first. Work on your problem management processes and take advantage of your existing tools. When your problem management processes are working, they''ll work just as well for other value-added services. That is the secret. If you can make and meet time commitmentsfor technical support to customers, you can easily add new value-added services to your repertoire. Value-added services are like the simplest, most common, recurring problems your customers call about. They''re easy because the request is common, so everyone is familiar with it. The solution is known; its predefined. Processes to deliver the solution are already in place. Processes to deal with unexpected complications are already defined and in use. Simple. You have the tools, the people, the processes, the organization, and the experience. Overview This book was written because problem management is one of the most important processes for any IT organization. Yet, of the hundreds of companies we have worked with, it is most often not done well. It seems that many companies consider problem management only as an afterthought, a necessary evil, overhead, or worse, all of the above. So what is problem management? Problem management is a formal set of processes designed and implemented to quickly and efficiently resolve problems and questions. Those problems and questions come from customers, both internal and external. Why is problem management important? Because how well you do at resolving those problems and questions determines how your customers perceive you. Further, how you provide those services can make an enormous difference in your overall costs—not only your costs, but also the costs your customers incur. Do a poor job on your problem management processes and your customers will think ill of you. Internal customers can be the most vicious, because they know who to complain to. They also complain to each other, and before you know it, the entire company believes you to be incompetent, at least as far as problem management goes. Worse, that attitude can easily fail over to the entire IT department. Let''s face it—most of the IT department''s exposure is through the problem management function (the help desk) and that is where your reputation will be made or broken. It isn''t hard to justify spending to improve problem management when you calculate the number of hours of internal downtime and the average cost per hour the company absorbs for that downtime. Run the numbers and see for yourself. External customers can be less vicious on a personal level, but from the business perspective, their impression is even more important. If they don''t like the way you handle problems, they may complain, but worse, they will most certainly vote with their dollar by taking it elsewhere—and will probably tell everyone they know to do the same. Your company worked hard and spent significant dollars to win that customer. To lose them because you provided poor service is an enormous waste. What will it cost you to win them back? Can you win them back? Can you ever win their friends and associates? Many studies have found that it is much cheaper to keep a customer than to win a new one. If your company hasn''t seen this light yet, you need to convince them. This book was written to tell you what you can and should consider doing to improve your problem management processes. It is based on experience gained at many different sites and focuses on improving service delivery and efficiency. It''s true—you can do it better and cheaper. You may have to spend some capital up front, but a standard project cost/benefit analysis will show that you can recoup those costs quickly, and in some cases, can generate significant dollars. This book was written for CIOs, vice presidents, help desk and service center managers, and the senior-level internal customers of the problem management department—anyone who can influence the problem management function and wants to understand more about what can and should be done to improve performance. I appreciate any feedback you wish to provide. You can reach me at [email protected]@hotmail.com. Best of luck to you, Gary Walker

WHEN THE HORSE JUMPS OVER THE MOON is a compelling, lovable Americana story with a ‘green’ twist. This charming fantasy horse tale entwines Vaudeville humour and wit in its fun, whimsical tale through the Southwest’s Land of Enchantment. A hard-luck thoroughbred rancher, Silky Sullivan, rides on sheer hope to keep his ranch afloat, despite a looming foreclosure. This intriguing short story hopes to inspire the youth to prepare for a greener future for all through this whimsical tale about Jan Spirit Walker Bluebird. Jan Spirit Walker is unable to afford not one horse of her own, but she seeks her love for the horse as a ‘strapper’ or horsehand at Silky Sullivan’s Wild Creek Ranch. Miss Bluebird struggles against all odds after being seriously kicked and injured by one of the ranch’s thoroughbreds. WHEN THE HORSE JUMPS OVER THE MOON invites the young reader to discover earth-friendly ways through Jan Spirit Walker’s Middle Earth ventures into the Dream World during her personal recovery while hospitalized in the 1990s. Hold on to your hats! It is like taking a wild, zany Southwest ride along the Land of Enchantment’s old Route 66. This is an enchanting and inspiring whimsical tale for all ages to read during these earth-shattering times. WHEN THE HORSE JUMPS OVER THE MOON is for any young dreamer at heart!

I HAVE more than 25 years of political, non-profi t fund raising experience.. Preston Walker brings a riveting and innovative focus to the fundraising world. Prestons book captures the ideal fundraising enthusiast.Making fundraising fun and exciting. Sure up your funds is on the cutting edge of raising capital. Love it.. Jeff rey Walker, MBA/HCM Dir. of Quality & System Improvement, American Heart Association

A teen girl fears her family’s reputation will label her for life. Her mother wants her to follow in her footsteps and learn witchcraft. Can she become a witch on her own terms? Brie knows two things about the witches in her family. Her grandmother almost destroyed their hometown with magic. Her mother saved it. But the upheaval from their fight has caused problems for twenty years. Now witchcraft is subjected to strict laws and everyone knows the McAddams family is to blame. When Brie is old enough to study witchcraft under the new laws, her mother, Rosa, assumes that she’ll attend the school where she teaches. But everyone would put Brie under a microscope to see if she’ll turn out to be a hero like her mother or a villain like her grandmother. She wants to hide in anonymity. Then her second mother suggests that she try a different school—one where people won’t know her family name. Brie would have to be accepted under her own merit. The MATs—Magical Aptitude Tests—will score her ability to learn magic. But if she succeeds, Brie might find a more welcoming home at Santa Cruz Witch Academy. She just has to pass the entrance exams. Third Generation Witch is a prequel to the upper YA urban fantasy academy trilogy, Santa Cruz Witch Academy. The series takes place twenty years after the Fae of Calaveras trilogy, but does not require prior reading. If you like teen witches, magical schools, and queer families, you’ll enjoy Kristen S. Walker’s story about the struggle to be accepted. Preorder today! Rated PG-13 for mild profanity and sexual references.

A young prophet still learning her powers. A single city standing against the might of the empire. Can the dream of the rebellion last? Fifteen-year-old Riwenne never considered herself a prophet, but when she rescued Lyndamon City from destruction, people called her a miracle worker. Now the city she saved is under an even greater threat. When they declared their independence, the rest of the empire prepared their airships for an attack. Lyndamon is still defenseless from the last battle and they don’t have resources to rebuild. In a desperate bid to protect her fragile home, Riwenne must find more divine warriors to fight for her cause—but not everyone with a god’s power is on her side. When mysterious warriors attack, she must persuade them to join her team or she must defeat them. Still haunted by her last kill, Riwenne is reluctant to use lethal force again. Between negotiating with gods and her new relationship, Riwenne barely has time to rest. Her sleep is haunted by nightmares of what she’s done and visions of what could happen if she fails. The fate of the gods hangs in the balance. Riwenne & the Airship Gambit is the third book in a steampunk fantasy series for teens. If you like magical girls, giant airships, and fast-paced adventure, then you’ll enjoy Kristen S. Walker’s series of guns and gears. Buy it today! Rated PG for mild violence and death. Contains no sex or swearing. LGBTQ+ characters and relationships.

A teen witch escaped her mother’s spell, but her sister was trapped. They disappeared without a trace. The hunt for her mother starts now. Rosa tried to protect her family from her mother’s magic, but her sister was trapped in the web of lies and manipulation. Now her mother is a fugitive from the law of the Seelie Court, holding her sister captive. When the faeries fail to track down the dangerous witch, Rosa decides to take matters into her own hands. Desperate for clues, Rosa turns to the Unseelie, magical rebels who helped her mother’s illegal witchcraft. To gain their trust, she has to break the rules, like stealing information from the Seelie. Her friends worry that she’s getting in too deep, and her boyfriend worries that she’s pulling away from him. But for the chance to confront her mother and save her sister, Rosa might have to sacrifice everything—even the things she believes in the most. Witch Hunt is the second book in an urban fantasy series for teens. If you like teen witches, sarcastic Fae, and family drama, then you’ll enjoy Kristen S. Walker’s stories of fantasy that takes flight.

A young witch who is tired of playing by the rules. A half-wolf shifter who wants to be accepted by the other witches. Can they find the spy before their enemies strike again? Brie survived to her senior year at Santa Cruz Witch Academy and just wants to graduate so she can go to art college. But her new roommate is a transfer student who is not the average witch-in-training. Willow is part wolf shifter and struggling to control her abilities. Shy Brie knows what it''s like to be the odd one out and she wants to help her new friend fit in. But Brie is still being targeted by a hostile Fae and her minions in the human world. Her enemies must have a spy inside the school. One of her fellow students is reporting her every move. Is it the mean girl bully? Someone in her magic classes? Or even one of her friends? As Brie tries to keep her grades up and stay out of trouble, she needs help from Willow and her other friends to investigate the threat inside the school. What she learns will challenge her beliefs and force her to make tough choices. The enemy seems to have no morals at all and they''ve killed before. What is Brie willing to do to stop them? The Daring Witch is the final book in a YA urban fantasy academy trilogy. The series takes place twenty years after the Fae of Calaveras trilogy, but does not require prior reading. If you like teen witches, magical schools, and mean girls, you’ll enjoy Kristen S. Walker’s latest novel. Buy the complete series today! Rated PG-13 for mild profanity and sexual references.

The daughter of an infamous witch family wants to find her own path, but even when she goes to a distant school, her past can always find her. Brie doesn''t want to be like her mother, but she can''t run from her family''s past. The Witchgate tragedy transformed the world and how it views witches. In order to use her powers, she must follow the strict rules of the academy. She will be tempted into breaking the rules by mermaids, vampires, and werewolf shifters, but the true threat to Brie is something more sinister and closer to home. The Fae aren''t finished with these witches. Brie must discover the danger before it''s too late. Including: “Third Generation Witch: Applications,” the prequel novella The Reluctant Witch: Year One The Salty Witch: Summer School The Daring Witch: Year Two Santa Cruz Witch Academy is an urban fantasy academy series for teens. It features the daughter of Rosa from the Fae of Calaveras trilogy, but it takes place twenty years after the original series and does not require prior reading. If you like teen witches, magical schools, and introverts who find true friends, you’ll enjoy Kristen S. Walker''s series of friendship and romance. Buy the complete series today!

A young witch who has been bitten by love before. A drop-dead gorgeous vampire who likes to live wild. Could a summer fling help them get over their hangups about love? Brie has to make up for all the classes that she missed when she was sneaking off to meet her mermaid girlfriend, so she’s stuck in summer school. But after homework is done, she should be allowed to have a little fun. What better place to hang out than the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk? With a seasonal pass, she can go on roller coasters and watch free concerts on the beach every night. The vampires at the Boardwalk are harmless because it’s illegal for them to feed on people. It’s still a bad idea to date one, but Brie wants a little fun on the rebound. Lucinda says she doesn’t want anything serious. A casual summer romance could be just the thing for both of them. Then bodies start showing up on the beach, drained of blood. People are quick to blame the vampires. But Brie sees clues that don’t add up, and Lucinda insists that the vampires are innocent. Together, they could find the truth about what’s really going on… or Brie could be heading into another trap. Can she trust her new girlfriend or did Brie make another deadly dating mistake? The Salty Witch is the second book in aYA urban fantasy academy trilogy. It takes place twenty years after the Fae of Calaveras trilogy, but does not require prior reading. If you like teen witches, magical schools, and lesbian vampires, you’ll enjoy Kristen S. Walker’s latest novel. Buy today! Rated PG-13 for mild profanity and sexual references.

Have you ever wished you could fall into the magical libraries of Harry Potter, Beauty and the Beast, or Sorcery of Thorns? We have, too! Join us inside the enchanting pages of Ink & Incantation, a young adult anthology featuring sixteen sci-fi and fantasy short stories. All celebrating the magic of books and libraries! Inside these enchanting pages you will find stories of love, adventure, and extraordinary magic. Starcrossed lovers meet in the world''s last remaining print library. A girl is claimed by a sword. Thieves race to find a powerful book. Best friends seek an audience with the dead. Twin witches learn one must die. Can they escape their fates? It won''t be easy with dragons, pirates, and the underworld itself standing in their way. But with a book in their hands, anything is possible… Authors Featured in Ink & Incantation E. V. Everest, Allison Rose, Ben Green, C.L. Cannon, Jamie Dalton, Jessa Lucas, Joy Lewis, K. R. S. McEntire, Kristen S. Walker, Maria Vermisoglou, Nicole Zoltack, R. L. Medina, R.L. Perez, S. R. Breaker, Sudha Kuruganti, Tricia Copeland ★♥★ Keywords: young adult, ya, teen, coming of age, fantasy, scifi, science fiction, dystopian, dystopian romance, ya scifi, ya dystopian, ya dystopian romance, ya fantasy, teen scifi, teen dystopian, teen dystopian romance, teen fantasy, magic, magical book, magical library, strong female lead, strong heroine, found family, sweet romance, royal, anthology, ya anthology, anthology for teens, academy, boarding school, free book, free, free ya anthology, free ya fantasy, free ya book, free books to read and download, free novel Perfect for fans of J.K. Rowling, Margaret Rogerson, Genevieve Cogman, Elise Kova, Rachel Caine, Naomi Novik, John Bierce, and Sylvia Mercedes.

Years ago, Sheriff William Finch crossed the line and killed a man many would say richly deserved it. Now a cop himself, William''s son Wade is haunted by what his father did—and by the question of what he''ll do himself when faced with the same choice.

Do you have a child currently playing youth football? Are you a parent with a child wanting to play football? Are you needing or wanting to learn the basics of youth football? Are you wanting to coach children’s football? Are you just curious of what goes on in youth football? If the answer isYES to any of these questions, then this book is for you. Unlike many other books on football, this book was written to help parents and new coaches on understanding the basics of youth football. It contains all of the basic parts of youth football, starting with offensive concepts, detailed plays, defensive concepts, and special teams. All of the information within the book was written at a level for kids, parents, and coaches to understand and not overly complicated as many football books are at the professional level. The information is explained in a very simplistic form making it easy to learn.

Circle Home West is an old-fashioned cowboy and Indian tale set in the New West. A contemporary Western novel, the book is the story of Clinton Anderson, a long-haul truck driver, the last of the American cowboys. Like the cowboys who saddled horses and followed the cattle trails of the Old West, the modern cowboy outfits his truck and rides the interstate highways of the New West. The radio serenades him with romantic song and fast talk, seducing him like a barroom whore in a Saturday-night saloon. Marianne, Clinton Anderson’s wife of fourteen years, believed that Clint’s truck had become his home and his mistress. On a cool Pacific Northwest autumn morning, after leaving his marital bed, Clint Anderson walked out of his small Puget Sound bungalow not knowing what lay ahead. To him, it was another workaday, mundane Monday morning. But fate would have it different. He would head out from Seattle on a routine long-haul run to Denver, only to find himself hijacked and deadheading headlong into the new Wild West!

A cunning pickpocket, a tough-as-nails detective chasing counterfeiters, and Thanksgiving -- who could ask for more in a mystery?

Dynamic Analysis of Offshore Structures appraises offshore structures, particularly the major sources of uncertainty in the design process. The book explains the fundamentals of probabilistic processes, the theory or analysis of sea states, and the random-vibration approach to structural response. The text describes the hydrodynamics of water waves, wave forecasting, and the statistical parameters associated with sea-states. The investigator can use Morison''s equation to calculate the impact of wave forces acting on slender members such as on lattice-type structures. Or he can employ the diffraction theory to calculate wave forces acting on large-diameter bodies such as concrete gravity-type structures. Other environmental forces he should be concerned with are the effects of currents and winds. The book examines the theory of vibration (including the spectral approach), the theory of vibration on multi-degree-of-freedom structures, matrix analysis of structural response, problems of fatigue, and soil-structure interaction. The book notes the importance of the method of analysis used, with emphasis on the following: dynamic analysis, frequency domain, and linearization of drag. Two types of analysis follow linearization of drag: deterministic analysis (applied in a series of design waves which uses the long-term exceedance diagram for fatigue); or probabilistic analysis (used to study the behavior of the structure during the extreme design storm and its long term behavior for a range of sea states). The book can prove useful for structural, civil, or maritime engineers, as well as for students in one-year courses in offshore structure analysis at the postgraduate or final-year undergraduate level.

Travis and Andre are on the run from an armored car heist gone wrong. They still have a chance to get away with the cash—but they’re about to pick the worst place in the world to stop for gas.

What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate, Matthew 19:6 Good communication openly and honestly is ideal when it comes to dating and marriage. Many women aspire to share a covenant relationship with the opposite sex, and really don''t bargain for being labeled as girlfriend #2, friend, baby momma, or any other label or title that is given to them other than wife or fianc . As young girls and young adults most aspire to be married, have a family, and be in a one-on-one committed relationship. A relationship is like any living plant that requires sunlight, nurturing, and water. If you don''t water it and provide it with enough sunlight, water and care, it dries up and dies. This holds true for any relationship between a man and a woman. Love makes the world go round. When cultivating a healthy and fruitful relationship, the relationship should be a win-win for both parties involved. It is important to begin a relationship with honesty, integrity, respect and trust. Ask God daily to lead, guide, and advise you so that you can make sound decisions when it comes to dating and marriage. He always give us signs when things are not right so pay attention to the things that are going on around you and in your life. Take time to do some soul searching and get in tuned with yourself and start asking yourself some very important questions. What truly makes you happy? And what is the real defi nition of love and what does it mean to you? Remember, you cannot make someone else happy if you''re not happy with yourself. Live for you and do what makes you feel the happiest whether your family and friends agree or disagree. At the end of the day whatever choice or decision you make, you are the one who have to live with it.

A teen girl in a test for magical powers. A dangerous encounter in the woods. What will she risk to become a witch? Rosa always dreamed of becoming a witch, and on her thirteenth birthday, she finally has her chance. The Seelie Court sets a test: follow a trail up the mountain to the castle. If she can make it on her own, she’ll be granted magic. The Fae promised her the test wouldn’t be dangerous, so she’s prepared to face anything. As she hikes through the woods, a mysterious old woman offers her powers without the test, and she won’t take no for an answer. She threatens Rosa by summoning deadly beasts—and Rosa has no way to defend herself. Will Rosa accept the stranger’s help and forfeit the test, or face death in the jaws of a mountain lion? Witch Test is a prequel short story to the Fae of Calaveras trilogy, and can be enjoyed at any point in the series. If you like teen witches, sarcastic Fae, and magical hijinks, then you’ll enjoy Kristen S. Walker’s stories of fantasy that takes flight.

Rich color illustrations and a scholarly text characterize this catalogue of a landmark exhibition of Mughal carpets held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, November 1997-March 1998. Though exquisite, Indian carpets are little known even to carpet experts. This volume (and the exhibition) focus on the 16th to the 18th century, a peak period for stunning works. The text surveys the era in terms of history, the role of commerce, technical characteristics, and the carpets themselves, which exemplify the broad range of imperial and provincial production during the "classical" period of Indian carpet weaving. Carpets are organized by style and pattern and include a group from Kyoto. Three appendices analyze animal fibers and dyes. Oversize (9.50x12.25"). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

A ghost appears in a pregnant woman’s room on Winter Solstice Eve. Is it a warning for her future or revealing secrets of the past? Mercenary-turned-duchess Korinna is about to publicly announce her new pregnancy on the Winter Solstice. But a ghost appears in her bedroom the night before, making her fear for the unborn child’s life. When she asks her husband for help, both are surprised to find out the truth about the spirit. Dedicated to those who have served in the military and paid the ultimate sacrifice. “The Ghost on Winter Solstice” is a holiday story of Wyld Magic, the epic fantasy series. This takes place during the middle of the events of book two, A Pride of Gryphons, but it can be read as a stand-alone. Look for the Wyld Magic series: A Flight of Marewings A Pride of Gryphons Also try the spin-off novel, The Voyage of the Miscreation. Related stories: The Duke’s Daughter Together We Will Fly The Ghost on Winter Solstice

“Amena’s Rise to Stardom: The Youngest Singer on Star Search Wins It All!” The truth about the pop singer’s dark past. Fifteen-year-old Amena is a spy and thief for the rebellion, but she dreams of being a singer. Fame seems impossible when she lives in a hidden village in a remote part of the empire. But when she gets arrested on an easy recon mission, a magical doorway appears and offers her a way out. When the goddess of the rainforest offers Amena a chance at her dreams, she chooses to risk it all. Leaving behind the rebellion, her mother, and everything she’s ever known, she can finally start her singing career. But the goddess’s magic comes with hidden costs. Joining the big competition, Star Search, Amena tries to balance her music with training as a divine warrior. She must serve the whims of the goddess and avoid her criminal record. A rival singer takes her breath away—but she’s hiding her own secrets. Her new life is more dangerous than the spy game she left behind. Is the price of fame too high when death is on the line? Amena’s Rise to Stardom is a prequel novella in the Divine Warriors, a steampunk fantasy series for teens. It can be read as a standalone or at any point in the series. If you like magical girls, pop concerts, and fast-paced adventure, then you’ll love Kristen S. Walker’s series of guns and gears. Rated PG for mild violence and death. No sex or swearing. Contains LGBTQ+ characters and relationships.

3 books. Over 700 pages of steampunk adventure! A clumsy schoolgirl transforms into a divine warrior with the magic of a goddess. Riwenne is chronically late, bad at school, and lost in a daydream, but she wants to become a priestess with her best friend. When her floating city home is attacked by mechanical beasts, she''s granted the power to fight back and protect her friends. Serving a goddess is not as easy as it seems. As Riwenne is drawn into an ancient rivalry between powerful deities, she''ll be tested in every way. Putting her life and her heart on the line, she must find other warriors and learn about her new powers. With teamwork, these teens could save the world--but if they fail, their very souls will be destroyed. This set includes the first three books in the series: -Riwenne & the Mechanical Beasts -Riwenne & the Bionic Witches -Riwenne & the Airship Gambit The Divine Warriors is a steampunk fantasy series for teens. If you like magical girls, monstrous machines, and high-flying adventures, then you’ll love Kristen S. Walker’s series of guns and gears.

A ship with a motley crew of monster hunters. A scholar mage searching for the secrets of Wyld Magic. Can they overcome their differences to capture dangerous monsters? Captain Mynta and the crew of the Miscreation have fallen on hard times. To save her ship, she agrees to escort Mage Ameyron and his team of researchers to capture Seirenia’s deadliest monsters. They have to work together—but everyone on board has something to hide, and one has a secret that could doom them all. When the mage insists on catching his subjects alive, the monster-killing crew is forced to go against years of experience. Tensions rise as the passengers clash with the captain. And the monsters hold their own surprises. As the missions get more dangerous, the seafaring group can’t get distracted by personal relationships. But Mynta can’t hide her love for a certain woman forever, and the close quarters of the ship spark new romances between passengers and crew. The bonds they forge may be the thing that saves them—or tears them apart. One mistake and the monsters win. The Voyage of the Miscreation is an episodic novel in six parts, spinning off the main storyline from the Wyld Magic series. A character-driven epic fantasy adventure romance with an ensemble cast, featuring gay and straight relationships as well as gender nonconforming characters. If you like magic, monsters, and browncoat-wearing captains, then you’ll enjoy this tale on the high seas.

Treasure Island meets The Little Mermaid with lesbian cats. Calico Jack is the captain of a pirate ship, but she’s tired of living on the run. All she needs is one big score and she can retire in comfort. Treasure maps usually lead nowhere, but her whiskers tell her that this chart of a hidden island could bring her to the riches of her dreams. Until she gets distracted by a mysterious cat in a storm and ends up swept overboard. Nerissa longs to see the world outside of the merkitties’ secret lagoon. She knows the land cats are dangerous, but when she sees a beautiful calico fall into the ocean, she can’t bear to let her drown. She doesn’t know if she can trust Jackie even as she’s drawn closer to her. Will the two of them see past their differences to stop the violence when the pirate cats and the merkitties fight over the treasure? “The Pirate Cat and the Merkitty” is a short story of feline romance and adventure on the high seas. If you like pirates, cats, mermaids, and lesbians, then you''ll enjoy this light-hearted tale from fantasy author Kristen S. Walker.