Massive fire-breathing dragons can be terrifying or kind, evil or accomplices of the hero, but they're never supporting characters, and all expert fantasy artists know how to depict them. Now, for the first time ever, a master dragon drawer reveals his secrets for doing this, taking you along for the ride as he meets these breathtaking creatures face-to-face.Inside you'll find: Easy to follow step-by-step instructions for creating realistic drawings of dragons. Dozens of different types of dragons, along with their unique anatomical and personality traits. An exploration of the digital and hand-drawing steps a dragon drawer must know.

The beloved Hollywood star and New York Times bestselling author of Unsinkable continues her intimate chat with fans in this entertaining collection of anecdotes, stories, jokes, and random musings from a woman who has seen it all—and done most of it. From her acclaimed performances to her headline-making divorce from Eddie Fisher, raising a famous daughter to hitting the road with a successful one-woman show, Debbie Reynolds has been in the spotlight for decades. She’s met presidents, performed for the Queen of England, and partied with kings. A show business icon, she continues to sing and dance—and can drop more names than Andy Cohen. In this fabulous personal tour, she recalls wonderful moments with the greats of the entertainment world—Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra, Bette Davis, Phyllis Diller, and many, many more—sharing stories that shed new light on her life and career and the glittering world of Hollywood then and now. Debbie has plenty to tell—and in Make ’Em Laugh, she dishes it in the warm, down-to-earth voice her fans adore. Debbie shares memories of late night pals and some of the greatest comedians of all time, stories from the big screen and small, and tales of marriage, motherhood, and children. Combining her wicked sense of humor and appealing charm, she reveals the personal side of show business and fame in funny, poignant, and delightful reminiscences. Nothing is off limits: Debbie talks about her sex life, her family drama—and even shares a few secret recipes. As irresistible as the woman at its heart, this collection shows the consummate skill of a beloved entertainer who truly knows how to Make ’Em Laugh.

In 1907, Irish immigrant William Mulholland designed and began to build one of the greatest civil engineering feats in history: the aqueduct that carried water 233 miles from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Los Angeles allowing this small, resource-challenged desert city to grow into a modern global metropolis. Drawing on new research, Les Standiford vividly captures the larger-than-life engineer and the breathtaking scope of his six-year, $23 million project that would transform a region, a state, and a nation at the dawn of its greatest century.Mulholland, a penniless Dublin immigrant who made his way west as a stowaway on a passenger ship, personifies the American rags-to-riches tale, working from a position as a ditchdigger to become chief engineer of the Los Angeles Water Company. Confronted with a decade-long drought that threatened his adopted city's future, the self taught Mulholland found the answer in the rushing snow melt from the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, nearly 250 miles away. He proposed to build an aqueduct that would outdo any such ever conceived, one that would carry an entire river from its source to Los Angeles, through mountains, over chasms, and across an alternately freezing and blistering terra incognita, because he believed it was the city's only hope.The project brought a simmering-to-this-day firestorm of protest from residents of California's Owens Valley where the waters would be taken, as well as an all-out onslaught from political opponents and vested interests in Los Angeles, who were fearful of losing their stranglehold on the city's yield. But after nine years of struggle, including the efforts of thousands of workmen many of whom lost their lives and the use of engineering techniques and strategies never previously employed, Mulholland turned the gates and loosed the waters that brought an unprecedented wave of development and prosperity to his city and the region.Though the landmark film Chinatown touched on the subject, Mulholland was characterized there as Hollis Mulwray, a colorless pipsqueak easily dispatched by archvillain and developer Noah Cross (John Houston). In real life, however, Mulholland was every bit the equal of any of his foes, a colorful, brook-no-nonsense man of the people who accomplished a feat like no other and became a hero in the process. Water to the Angels is not only a book that provides insight into the seeds of significant ecological concerns of this day, it is also a stirring story of accomplishment against all odds, all the more captivating for being true.As Robert Towne, author of the screenplay for Chinatown suggests, the subject is timeless. "I found the ubiquity of water in everyone's lives to be compelling. Everybody needs water."At a time when the importance of water is being recognized as never before considered by many experts to be the essential resource of the twenty-first century Water to the Angels brings into focus the vigor of a fabled era, the might of a larger-than-life individual, and the scale of a priceless construction project, and sheds critical light on a past that offers insights for our future.

Evidence of the Afterlife shares the firsthand accounts of people who have died and lived to tell about it. Through their work at the Near Death Experience Research Foundation, radiation oncologist Jeffrey Long and his wife, Jody, have gathered thousands of accounts of near-death experiences (NDEs) from all over the world. In addition to sharing the personal narrative of their experiences, visitors to the website are asked to fill out a one hundred item questionnaire designed to isolate specific elements of the experience and to flag counterfeit accounts.The website has become the largest NDE research database in the world, containing over 1,600 NDE accounts. The people whose stories are captured in the database span all age groups, races, and religious affiliations and come from all over the world, yet the similarities in their stories are as awe-inspiring as they are revealing. Using this treasure trove of data, Dr. Long explains how medical evidence fails to explain these reports and why there is only one plausible explanation that people have survived death and traveled to another dimension.

Compiled for the first time, The Oldest Trick comprises The Iron Ring and Iron and Blood in the Saga of the RedeemedTyvian Reldamar gets betrayed by his longtime partner and left for dead in a freezing river. To add insult to injury, his mysterious rescuer took it upon himself to affix Tyvian with an iron ring that prevents the wearer from any evildoing.Revenge just got complicated.On his quest to get even, Tyvian navigates dark conspiracies, dodges midnight assassins, and uncovers the plans of the ruthless wizard Banric Sahand. Tyvian will need to use every dirty trick in the book to avoid a painful and ignominious end, even as he learns to work with—and rely on—his motley crew of accomplices, including an adolescent pickpocket, an obese secret-monger, and a fearsome gnoll.

No one ever said high school was easy. In this hilarious and heartwarming debut, one high school senior has to ask himself how much he's willing to give up in order to fit in.Kevin seems to have it all: he's popular, good looking, and on his way to scoring a college hockey scholarship. However, he's keeping two big secrets. The first is that he failed an assignment and is now forced to take the most embarrassing course ever--domestic tech. The second is that he is falling for his domestic tech classmate, Claire.As far as Kevin is concerned, Claire does have it all: she's funny, smart, beautiful, and confident. But she's off-limits. Because Kevin knows what happens when someone in his group dares to date a girl who isn't a cheerleader, and there's no way he is going to put himself—or Claire—through that.But steering clear of the girl of his dreams is a lot harder than Kevin thought…especially when a cooking project they are paired together for provides the perfect opportunity for things to heat up between them outside the classroom….Epic Reads Impulse is a digital imprint with new releases each month.

Life has shifted for J. P. Beaumont. After a tragic accident that devastated—and ultimately disbanded—his Special Homicide Investigaton Team, he accepts that he has left homicide detection behind at this point, but he has a lot of unanticipated free time on his hands. He's keeping busy with renovations on the new house that he and his wife, Mel Soames, the newly appointed chief of police in Bellingham, Washington, have bought. But new fixtures and paint palettes can occupy only so much of Beau's daily life, and Mel is encouraging him to return to where he is needed: investigating crimes.In the meantime, she is struggling to gain control of her new situation, cast into a department where some are welcoming—and some are not. It's been a few months, and the tension in the police department is rising, but Beau realizes Mel has to tackle things in her own way, so he refrains from advising. But when Beau shows up one afternoon to survey the construction at their new house and finds Mel's car there but no sign of her, his investigative instincts kick in. Suddenly he's back in the game—except this time, his heart is on the line as well as his professional dignity.

All Involved can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 6 serialized eBook-only parts.This is part 2 of 6, or DAY 2 of 6 days.At 3:15pm on April 29, 1991, a jury acquitted three white Los Angeles Police Department officers charged with using excessive force to subdue a black man named Rodney King, and failed to reach a verdict on the same charges involving a fourth officer. Less than two hours later, the city exploded in violence that lasted six days.A gritty and cinematic work of fiction, All Involved vividly re-creates this turbulent and terrifying time, through seventeen interconnected first-person narratives set in the wake of one of the most notorious and incendiary trials of the 1990s.

All Involved can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 6 serialized eBook-only parts.This is part 3 of 6, or DAY 3 of 6 days.At 3:15pm on April 29, 1991, a jury acquitted three white Los Angeles Police Department officers charged with using excessive force to subdue a black man named Rodney King, and failed to reach a verdict on the same charges involving a fourth officer. Less than two hours later, the city exploded in violence that lasted six days.A gritty and cinematic work of fiction, All Involved vividly re-creates this turbulent and terrifying time, through seventeen interconnected first-person narratives set in the wake of one of the most notorious and incendiary trials of the 1990s.

All Involved can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 6 serialized eBook-only parts.This is part 6 of 6, or DAY 6 of 6 days.At 3:15pm on April 29, 1991, a jury acquitted three white Los Angeles Police Department officers charged with using excessive force to subdue a black man named Rodney King, and failed to reach a verdict on the same charges involving a fourth officer. Less than two hours later, the city exploded in violence that lasted six days.A gritty and cinematic work of fiction, All Involved vividly re-creates this turbulent and terrifying time, through seventeen interconnected first-person narratives set in the wake of one of the most notorious and incendiary trials of the 1990s.

From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Silent Girls comes another unforgettable thriller set in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, featuring Detective Sonja TestEven in a quiet Vermont town, unspeakable acts of the past can destroy the peace of the presentIn the remote, pastoral hamlet of Canaan, Vermont, a high-profile legal case shatters the town's sense of peace and community. Anger simmers. Fear and prejudice awaken. Old friends turn on each other. Violence threatens.So when a young teenage girl is savagely murdered while babysitting at the house of the lead attorney in the case, Detective Sonja Test believes the girl's murder and the divisive case must be linked.However, as the young detective digs deeper into her first murder case, she discovers sordid acts hidden for decades, and learns that behind the town's idyllic fa?ade of pristine snow lurks a capacity in some for great darkness and the betrayal of innocents. And Sonja Test, a mother of two, will do anything to protect the innocent.

Gillian Flynn says, "Karin Slaughter is simply one of the best thriller writers working today."A small Georgia town erupts in panic when a young college professor is found brutally mutilated in the local diner. But it's only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that the full extent of the killer's twisted work becomes clear.Sara's ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, leads the investigation—a trail of terror that grows increasingly macabre when another local woman is found crucified a few days later. But he's got more than a sadistic serial killer on his hands, for the county's sole female detective, Lena Adams—the first victim's sister—want to serve her own justice.But it is Sara who holds the key to finding the killer. A secret from her past could unmask the brilliantly malevolent psychopath .. or mean her death.

More than 200 unique and intriguing recipes for all kinds of Greek dishes.

Elizabeth Evans traces the complex and often painful threads of human relationships in Suicide's Girlfriend, her most inspired work to date. In these richly textured stories, you'll meet:Oyekan, a confused young Nigerian student who wrestles with feelings his U.S. friends cannot understand.Marie, an adolescent who makes a carefully philosophized, end-of-the-rope stab at salvation for herself and her seven abused siblings.Jenny and Heather, two girls whose friendship has suffered from the distractions of adolescence and the cruelty of one moving on while the other must sit idly by and watch.A group of college boys, whose discovery of a dead body on the side of the road leaves one of them changed in ways he never thought possible.Elegant, acute, and engaging, Suicide's Girlfriend will introduce you to these characters and more, their stories, and an incredible new voice in fiction.

Two identical women. Two identical murders. Two lives brutally cut short 108 years apartJune 1904.Aimée Garnier Whitby, a beautiful French artist and wife of one of Maine's richest and most powerful men, is found near death on the Whitby family's private summer island, the letter "A" mysteriously carved into her chest.June 2012.Veronica Aimée Whitby, the eighteen-year-old descendant and virtual double of the first Aimée, becomes the victim of a near perfect copycat murder. With another beautiful, promising young Whitby woman slain, the media begin to swarm and pressure builds for Mike McCabe and Maggie Savage to bring the killer quickly to justice. But the key to solving Aimée's death just might have been buried with her beautiful ancestor.The latest McCabe and Savage thriller from USA Today bestselling author James Hayman is a crackling, twisty novel of suspense, perfect for fans of J.A. Jance and John Sandford.

They said she was armed.They said she was dangerous.They were right.Petty Moshen spent eighteen years of her life as a prisoner in her own home, training with military precision for everything, ready for anything. She can disarm, dismember, and kill—and now, for the first time ever, she is free.Her paranoid father is dead, his extreme dominance and rules a thing of the past, but his influence remains as strong as ever. When his final will reveals a future more terrible than her captive past, Petty knows she must escape—by whatever means necessary.But when Petty learns the truth behind her father's madness—and her own family—the reality is worse than anything she could have imagined. On the road and in over her head, Petty's fight for her life has just begun.Fans of female-powered thrillers will love debut author LS Hawker and her suspenseful tale of a young woman on the run for her future…and from the nightmares of her past.

A former steak-lover himself, Chef Tal struggled for years on a vegan diet that left him filled with cravings for meat and dairy. Frustrated by the limited options available and unwilling to sacrifice the delicious flavors he associated with eating meat, he decided to create vegan meals that could hold their own at the center of the plate.Chef Tal found that by applying traditional French culinary techniques to meatless cuisine, he was able to create delicious meals full of rich flavor and healthy fat—meals that any food-lover, even devoted meat-eaters, would find completely satisfying.Seventy groundbreaking recipes later, Chef Tal is ready to share his magic. The Conscious Cook features vegan versions of tried-and-true dishes such as Oysters Rockefeller, Caesar Salad, Corn Chowder, and Paella, as well as adventurous new cuisine like Lemongrass Consommé with Pea Shoot and Mushroom Dumplings and Peppercorn-Encrusted Portobello Fillets. A full-color photo accompanies each of the recipes. Also included are engaging stories from influential people in the vegan world; a peek into Chef Tal's pantry and kitchen; a guide to eating seasonally; and a selection of dinner party menus.Above all, The Conscious Cook shows readers that avoiding the health risks and ethical dilemmas of eating meat and dairy does not mean sacrificing taste or satisfaction. The starters, soups, sandwiches, entrées, and desserts here offer culinary adventure that will truly revolutionize the way the world experiences meatless food.

Praise for the Alice Quentin series:“A fast-moving, entertaining mix of sex, suspense and serial killings.” –Washington Post“Alice is a vividly realized protagonist whose complex and harrowing history rivals the central crime storyline.” –New York Times bestselling author Sophie HannahJude Shelley, daughter of a prominent cabinet minister, had her whole life ahead of her until she was attacked and left to drown in the Thames. Miraculously, she survived. A year later, her family is now asking psychologist Alice Quentin to re-examine the case.But then a body is found: an elderly priest, attacked in Battersea, washed up at Westminster Pier. An ancient glass bead is tied to his wrist.Alice is certain that Jude and her family are hiding something, but unless she can persuade them to share what they know, more victims will come.Because the Thames has always been a site of sacrifice and death.And Alice is about to learn that some people still believe in it…

Promises bind, but some promises break…From the author of The Stolen and The Forgotten comes a collection of stories between the stories, a glimpse of the American Faerie Tale series characters in a whole new light.For more than fifty years, Elaine has lived the life of an outcast elf, stripped of her rank and title in the fae court. Surrounded by her beloved collection of stolen artwork, we may just learn the secret behind her exile, and the one promise too important to break…It’s the day we’ve all been waiting for—Caitlin and Edward are getting married! But few weddings ever go without a hitch. Old promises were broken, and new vows will be made…In The Stolen, Brendan vowed to help Caitlin rescue her young daughter from the Dusk Court, even if it meant sacrificing himself. Alone and in torment, he has come to accept his fate. Until an unexpected visitor finds her way into his life…Plus, an exclusive bonus story about the mysterious Legion of Solomon.

A thrilling suspense novel that introduces New Scotland Yard's Inspector Jack Oxby of the Art and Antiquities Squad and pits him against a mastermind of art forgery.When an original Leonardo da Vinci folio goes missing from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, Oxby is brought in to investigate. Set in London, New York, and Lake Como, the detective eventually uncovers a daring art forger who blackmails artists into faking Leonardo da Vinci manu*s, including early sketches of the Mona Lisa.

The only tie-in book to the summer family movie about a 16-year-old girl who fought for and won the right for girls everywhere to play competitive soccer, inspired by one family's real story.Set in 1978 in South Orange, New Jersey, Gracie tells the moving story of 16-year-old Gracie Bowen (Carly Schroeder of TV's Lizzie McGuire), whose middle-class family life revolves almost entirely around soccer. Tragedy unexpectedly strikes when Gracie's older brother, star of the high school varsity team and her closest confidant, is killed in a drunk-driving accident. Wracked with grief over her family's loss, Gracie decides to fill the void left on her brother's team by petitioning the local school board to allow her to play in the boys' soccer league.At first, no one can understand what Gracie is up to, not her mom (Elisabeth Shue), her former soccer star dad (Dermot Mulroney), the team or school officials. Everyone warns Gracie that pursuing her dream is a waste of time—that soccer is a sport for boys and boys only. Undeterred, Gracie finds reserves of strength she never knew existed, and persists in changing everyone's beliefs in what she is capable of, including her own.Based on true events in the lives of the Shue family (producer and co-star Andrew Shue, Academy Award?-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue and their family), Gracie is an exciting and emotional sports story that marks the dramatic feature debut of Academy Award?-winning director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth). This young adult novel includes an eight-page color photo section and a Q&A with Andrew Shue and Elisabeth Shue about the real-life story behind the film. 8-page color photo insert.