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  The Leather Funnel - From their...

  Arthur Conan Doyle

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  Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 22nd May 1859.  His childhood was blighted by his father’s heavy drinking which for some years broke up the family. Fortunately, wealthy uncles were willing to support them by paying for education and clothing.  
  He was accepted at the University of Edinburgh to study medicine and also began to write short stories the first, ‘The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe’, was published in Blackwood’s Magazine.  Despite several other stories and some articles in the British Medical Journal his medical studies took priority. 
  When these finished he was appointed as Doctor on the Greenland whaler ‘Hope of Peterhead’ in 1880 and then, after graduation, as ship’s surgeon on the SS Mayumba on its voyage to West Africa. 
  1882 saw a move to Plymouth and his own independent practice. With few patients he resumed writing and completed his first novel, ‘The Mystery of Cloomber’, although most of his output was short stories based on his experiences at sea.  
  He married Louisa Hawkins in 1885. However, two years later he met and fell in love with Jean Elizabeth Leckie, though they remained platonic out of respect for, and loyalty to, his wife. 
  His literary career suddenly burst into life in November 1886 with ‘A Study In Scarlet’, the first of the fabulously successful Sherlock Holmes stories.  
  With two children to support he now revisited his haphazard commercial arrangements and curtailed everything save for commissions from the Strand Magazine.  
  As a sportsman he was remarkably proficient. He was goalkeeper for Portsmouth Association Football Club and played ten first-class cricket matches for the Marylebone Cricket Club as well as captain of the Crowborough Beacon Golf Club in East Sussex.  
  In 1891 tired of writing Holmes stories, he began a series of historical novels and even went so far as to apparently kill off Holmes in a lethal brawl with his arch-nemesis Moriarty. 
  Despite heavy and sustained criticism he continued to write in support of the Boer War, a fact he thought contributed to his knighthood in 1902.  The following year to great relief and acclaim he brought Sherlock Holmes back from the dead in his first outing for a decade. 
  Sadly, his wife Louisa died from TB in 1906 and, a year later, he at last married Jean.  
  During the War and for several years after family deaths had left him depressed. In a search for solace and answers he alighted upon spiritualism and, such was his interest, that he wrote several books on the subject. 
  On 7th July 1930 Conan Doyle was discovered in the hall of Windlesham Manor, his house in East Sussex, clutching his chest dying of a heart attack.  He was 71.

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  Bodega Botanica Tales: Jose

  Maria Rodriguez Bross

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  Eleven-year-old Jose has always felt invisible, but when a mysterious bracelet from the local bodega man leads him to a magical world with the power to grant one wish, he must live with the consequences of whether this newfound chance will bring future happiness—or regret. 
  This clean, enchanting short story is the first in a six-part series, each book standing alone as a unique tale of magic, childhood trauma, resilience, and the challenges of growing up. Perfect for teenagers and adults alike, this multicultural coming-of-age journey explores the power of wishes and the prices we pay for them. 
  Look for the next five captivating installments, all set to be published by 2026.

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  Mnemonic Phantasms

  AvA SiLiCa

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  Buckle Up for a Deliriously Uncanny Literary Ride 
  Have you ever wondered about the deep-sea depths of unorthodox, unclassifiable stories that most ghostwriters take to their graves unseen? The kind of tales that straddle realities and make you second-guess the line between fact and fabulist fiction? 
  If so, "Mnemonic Phantasms" is the deliciously twisted tell-all you've been waiting for. In this daring anthology, an anonymous ghostwriter exposes some of the most bizarre, mind-bending client requests they've encountered over decades of sculpting prose in the shadows. 
  From crafting alien abduction memoirs and decoding subterranean civilisation epics to channelling celebrity afterlife autobiographies and exorcising cult leader manifestos - no paranormal subject, interdimensional whisper, or eccentric megalomania is off limits. 
  With dizzying narrative dexterity and a masterful command of speculative psychosphere violation, "Ava Silica" (a soigné nom de plume) brings readers along for a wild ride. It's a no-holds-barred immersion into the most uncharted, unchartable territories where few ghostwriters dare to tread. 
  Part memoir, part uncategorisable omnibus, this one-of-a-kind volume boldly unveils every ghostwriter's darkest secret—that the most unbelievable assignments are also often the most demanding. Thanks to Silica's decision to shatter the civility cloaks of confidentiality, you, the reader, get to experience the delicious, disturbing psilocybin trip of sheer WTF?! First-hand.

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  Horrid Henry: Brotherly Love

  Lucinda Whiteley

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  Brotherly Love or brotherly rivalry? Either way you're going to love this fantastic collection of 11 Horrid Henrysuper stories performed by the show's full cast. Featuring Henry and Peter in some of their most iconic adventures, as Henry turns stamp collector for the day, tries to win a turf war and discovers the value of silence. So let's turn up the Horrid and enjoy these classic stories with "Purple Penny Dragon", "Chief Secretary", "Purple Hand Business", "Mi Casa Es Tu Casa", "Merry Magician", "Silence Is Golden", "Planet of the Grapes", "Marvellous Mind Reader", "White Puffin", "Jumper Jinx" and "May The Truth Be With You". Horridly Brilliant or Brilliantly Horrid? You decide!!

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  Enemies of the State - A Steven...

  Jeff Altabef

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  Steven Cabbott is fighting some serious personal demons, and with America on the brink of civil war, knowing whom to trust is almost impossible. Especially when the person he trusts least of all is himself. 
  After joining a special operations unit at a young age, the government turned Steven into a killer, and worse—someone who enjoys killing. He tells himself that was a different version of him, and he has changed. Yet one simple question haunts him: does he really want to change? 
  As civil war threatens to rip America apart, he yearns only for redemption and a good night's rest. Two young dissident leaders may hold the key to Steven's absolution, and to peace, but the government is poised to abduct them. 
  Faced with near impossible odds, Steven must extract the dissidents, but he encounters treachery at every turn, and he's running out of time. Can he keep his personal demons in check long enough to save the rebels, or will the government claim them all as Enemies of the State? 
  EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a 10,000-word short story featuring Steven Cabbott, a memorable character from the award-winning suspense thriller series "A Point Thriller."

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  Save Me Stranger - Stories

  Erika Krouse

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  From EDGAR-AWARD WINNING author Erika Krouse, a VISCERAL, DAZZLING collection of stories set across the globe about characters desperate for salvation“Comparative audiobook newbies Baker and Ewer already know how to aurally enhance Krouse’s marvelously provocative fiction debut.”—Booklist (Starred Review)“Far-ranging and visionary collection...A dozen little masterpieces of heart and longing and surprise.” —ADAM JOHNSON“Save Me, Stranger is a book of parables—supernal and sinister. Disturbing but comforting. Read these stories with a buddy, because someone will have to scrape you off the floor.” —LOUISE ERDRICHErika Krouse's debut memoir, Tell Me Everything, was hailed by the New York Times Book Review as “lyrical, jarring, propulsive,” and the Washington Post as “mesmerizing on every page.” Now, with an electrifying new collection of stories, Save Me, Stranger, she further cements her reputation as an essential voice.From the coldest town on earth to a sex shop in Bangkok to a haunted bed-and-breakfast in the Rockies, we meet characters at hinge moments. A runaway fights for her future while driving an ice-cream truck in gang territory; a cleaning woman investigates the teenager who died in her stead; a terminal patient in Alaska discovers new life in helping others die. This collection explores the borderlands between humor and hurt, community and self, and hope and despair, redefining what it means to survive.Scalpel-sharp, unsparingly funny, and achingly wise, Krouse's expansive stories build to unforgettable emotional catharses, as these men and women must decide how far they are willing to go to save one another—and themselves.A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

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