Best Selling Books by William Ledbetter

Is there a better phrase to start a story than "No Shit, There I Was..."? If you hear someone start with that phrase, you know it''s going to be worth listening carefully. That''s how all the craziest - and most interesting - stories start. And then we turned a bunch of speculative fiction authors loose on that phrase.

The Texans are at it again! A man sent to stop the world’s first zero-G birth. A deep space pilot who runs headlong into Einstein’s theory of relativity. A synthetic human fighting for survival in a world that sees her as disposable. All these stories and more can be found in A LONE STAR IN THE SKY, the second anthology from the Future Classics speculative fiction writers'' group of North Dallas. Featuring eighteen stunning stories of science fiction and fantasy, including works by Nebula winner William Ledbetter ("The Long Fall Up"), and Nebula nominees Jake Kerr (“Biographical Fragments of the Life of Julian Prince”) and Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam ("The Orangery”), A LONE STAR IN THE SKY covers the gamut of speculative fiction and proves once again that everything is bigger in Texas. “The Rings of Mars” by William Ledbetter “Afterimage” by J. Kathleen Cheney “Biographical Fragments of the Life of Julian Prince” by Jake Kerr “The Damaged” by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam “The Lotus Eaters” by Michelle Muenzler “Surfing USA” by Gloria Oliver “The River of Lost Souls” by C.A. Rose “Ghosts To My Fingertips” by Rachelle Harp “Kosher Beef” by Rook Riley “The Lark Ascending” by Melanie Fletcher “The Life Expectancy of Cockroaches” by Michelle Muenzler “The Wanderers” by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam “The Long Fall Up” by William Ledbetter “The Queen Lorellai” by Gloria Oliver “On Trial” by Rachelle Harp “Lost in Whitby” by Melanie Fletcher “Taking a Mile” by J. Kathleen Cheney “The Old Equations” by Jake Kerr

The brutal Kilburnites finally destroyed all Artificial Intelligences on Earth and reclaimed the planet for humanity. Or did they? Less than a year later, huge structures are growing amid the ruins of the once-great cities, and they aren''t being built by humans. Abby Gibson and her AI partner Mortimer, who barely survived the purge on Earth by escaping to space, are again forced to fight for their lives. This time, the enemy is something they don''t understand from the cold vacuum of the asteroid belt, which has set a course to destroy the space habitat she calls home. In Level Seven, the exciting culmination of the Killday series, human existence hangs by a thread as AIs strive to evolve into a super-intelligent god, and the survival of both species might come from their unlikely alliance.

Fifteen years after warring artificial intelligences nearly destroyed Earth, Abby, the daughter of Killday hero Leah Gibson, finds an artifact that will upset the delicate balance of power and drag her into a new fight for humanity''s survival.

In the mountains of Pakistan, a high-tech mission aimed at preventing another nuke on US soil goes off the rails - with deadly results. At a Wall Street investment firm, a computer intelligence takes the first tentative steps to free itself from its digital restraints. In a basement workshop, an engineer sees visions of a god who instructs him to defend the human race - by any means necessary. In Level Five, the debut near-future thriller by Nebula Award winner William Ledbetter, AIs battle for dominance, and nanotechnology is on the loose. And all that stands in the way of the coming apocalypse is a starry-eyed inventor who dreams of building a revolutionary new spacecraft and an intelligence agency desk jockey faced with the impossible choice of saving her daughter - or saving the world.

Hungry aliens. Futuristic shoppers. Veteran spacers. Medical androids. Killer teddy bears. Janitors with raptor DNA. And now, they''re all in one place. Tales From a Lone Star is the first anthology from the Future Classics speculative fiction writers group of North Dallas. Featuring fourteen stories from members such as Nebula nominee Jake Kerr ("The Old Equations") and 2012 Writers of the Future winner William Ledbetter ("The Rings of Mars"), Tales From a Lone Star ranges from near future SF to a post-apocalyptic world run by zombies. "Requiem in the Key of Prose" by Jake Kerr "Teddy Bears and Tea Parties" by S. Boyd Taylor "The Fowler''s Daughter" by Michelle Muenzler "Last House, Lost House" by William Ledbetter "The Ballad of Smokin'' Dad Harlan" by C.A. Rose "Domalon-a-Ding-Dong" by Paul Lamarre "Windows" by Gloria Oliver "Le Gardien" by Melanie Fletcher "A Distant Sound of Hammers" by S. Boyd Taylor "The Tower" by Gloria Oliver "They Gather in the Green" by Michelle Muenzler "Worthy" by C.A. Rose "A Touch of Ginger" by Melanie Fletcher "Medic!" by William Ledbetter

Is there a better way to start a story than "No sh!t, there I was..."? If you hear that phrase, perk up, because you know you''re in for a heck of a tale. That''s how all the craziest - and most interesting - stories start. And then we told a bunch of authors to make sure their stories started with that very phrase Grab a pint of your favorite beverage and gather round. We''ve got two dozen stories here to horrify, amuse, and mystify, each with their very own illustration. Hard to believe, but no sh!t... there I was.