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  The Willow Landscape

  Clark Ashton Smith

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  The Willow Landscape - Brought to you by Altrusian Grace Media and narrated by Matthew Schmitz 
  Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne. As a poet, Smith is grouped with the West Coast Romantics alongside Joaquin Miller, Sterling, and Nora May French and remembered as "The Last of the Great Romantics" and "The Bard of Auburn". Smith's work was praised by his contemporaries. H. P. Lovecraft stated that "in sheer daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception, Clark Ashton Smith is perhaps unexcelled", and Ray Bradbury said that Smith "filled my mind with incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures". 
  Smith was one of "the big three of Weird Tales, with Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft", though some readers objected to his morbidness and violation of pulp traditions. The fantasy writer and critic L. Sprague de Camp said of him that "nobody since Poe has so loved a well-rotted corpse".[3] Smith was a member of the Lovecraft circle, and his literary friendship with Lovecraft lasted from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937. His work is marked by an extraordinarily rich and ornate vocabulary, a cosmic perspective and a vein of sardonic and sometimes ribald humor. 
  Of his writing style, Smith stated: "My own conscious ideal has been to delude the reader into accepting an impossibility, or series of impossibilities, by means of a sort of verbal black magic, in the achievement of which I make use of prose-rhythm, metaphor, simile, tone-color, counter-point, and other stylistic resources, like a sort of incantation."

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  The Painter's Girl

  Helen Fripp

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  Paris, 1860s. For Mimi Bisset, survival is everything on the streets of Paris. She tries to forget the pain of losing her daughter Colette, who was born out of wedlock and forcibly given away to a rich family. But Mimi’s world turns upside down after a chance encounter with handsome artist Édouard Manet. Boldly posing for portraits on Manet’s chaise longue, Mimi feels a wild freedom—and as Manet teaches her how to layer the vivid paints on canvas herself, a passion grows between them that breaks all the rules… At Manet’s side, Mimi gets caught up in his world. They dance all night at Paris’s new can-can clubs and drink absinthe at masked balls. But one day, strolling by the Seine on her lover’s arm, Mimi catches a glimpse of familiar green eyes…it’s Colette, with a family who Manet knew all along. Although she’s reeling that the man she loved kept such a secret from her, Mimi is filled with hope she’ll finally get her daughter back. But when a terrible rumor begins to circulate about Mimi, the only place she has to go is back to the slums. Destitute, hungry and alone, can Mimi clear her name? Or will her heart shatter all over again when she loses her daughter for a second, final time? Fans of Marie Benedict and Chocolat and anyone who dreams of springtime in Paris will adore this utterly captivating novel inspired by true stories of a group of radical painters who changed the art world forever—and the forgotten women who were their muses.

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  The Golden Mermaid

  Andrew Lang

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  A tale of bravery, betrayal, and true love, The Golden Mermaid follows the youngest son of a powerful king as he sets out to uncover the thief of his father's golden apples. Mocked as the “foolish” son, he wins the help of a magical wolf and embarks on a journey across kingdoms, facing enchanted birds, golden horses, and a mysterious mermaid who may hold the key to his destiny. Through acts of kindness and courage, he overcomes deadly trials, betrayal by his own brothers, and even death itself in a richly woven fairy tale filled with magic, romance, and redemption. Narrated with warmth and wonder by Veronica Saretsky, this classic adventure from Andrew Lang’s The Yellow Fairy Book is a timeless journey into the heart of heroism.

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  Condemned by Fate

  VL McBeath

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  Finding the girl of his dreams should have been a blessing. But people were watching . . . prepared to do anything to keep them apart. 
   
   
   
  Farm laborer Charles Jackson doesn't expect much from life. For the price of a few pints of ale and enough food on the table, he's happy to take work where he can get it. Until he finds himself at Chadwick's farm . . . 
   
   
   
  Falling in love with the farmer's daughter wasn't part of his plans. But when they're found in an intimate embrace, his troubles are only just beginning . . . 
   
   
   
  Inspired by real events, Condemned by Fate is a standalone, short story prequel to the Ambition & Destiny series, an epic family saga set in Victorian-era England. 
   
   
   
  If you like love stories that are more than just a romance, then you'll love the prequel to VL McBeath's engaging series.

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  The Plattner Story

  H. G. Wells

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  The mundane world fractures as Gottfried Plattner experiences an unexplainable event in a chemistry classroom. Thrust into a surreal, mirror-like dimension, he witnesses strange beings and surreal landscapes, returning altered—literally and metaphorically. Wells masterfully weaves mystery with cosmic wonder, challenging perceptions of reality and the hidden mysteries lurking beyond our sight.

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  The Monsters Came by Night -...

  Robert Silverberg

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  First published in Super-Science Fiction magazine in October 1959, “The Monsters Came by Night” blends psychological unease with otherworldly menace in a way that only the mid-century masters of science fiction could. It begins with a quiet, almost domestic mystery before unfolding into a haunting story of alien intrusion and human fear. What starts as an ordinary evening soon becomes a terrifying exploration of what happens when reality is invaded by something far beyond human understanding. Every page reflects that eerie tension between the known and the unimaginable — the hallmark of 1950s speculative storytelling. 
  Robert Silverberg wrote this tale early in his career, but even then his talent for atmosphere and pacing was unmistakable. His prose moves with precision — deliberate, sharp, and deeply human — revealing how isolation and imagination can twist into horror. Beneath the surface of monsters and nightmares lies something much more intimate: the fear of being watched, misunderstood, or overtaken by forces we cannot control. 
  Born in Brooklyn in 1935, Robert Silverberg became one of the most prolific and respected authors in modern science fiction. Over a career spanning more than seven decades, he has written hundreds of short stories and novels, earning multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards. Silverberg’s work evolved from fast-paced pulp adventures to deeply philosophical explorations of identity, time, and transformation. Notable works like Nightwings, Dying Inside, and The Book of Skulls showcase his range and his ability to blend emotional depth with speculative brilliance. 
  Beyond his fiction, Silverberg has been a scholar and editor, shaping how later generations would view the Golden Age of science fiction.

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