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The Rose of Desire , Bubbles - Two Fragments from the Shoal Wars, In the Morning, in the Sudden Glow...    are all available for free at Amazon until the 25th. Download now or you will have to pay actual money for them! 

"In the Morning, in the Sudden Glow ..." is now available for free at Smashwords and for 99c at Amazon .

Above is a sneak glimpse of the probable cover for the sequel to Bubbles, called Jasmines. Look for it at the end of this year or early the next.

"The Rose of Desire" and "Bubbles" anthologies are available for free on Amazon right now! You know you want them. Go get them. http://www.amazon.com/The-Rose-of-Desire-ebook/dp/B0060MK1P6/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1 http://www.amazon.com/Bubbles-Fragments-Shoal-Wars-ebook/dp/B0061E1KDU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

A long time ago Men landed on the moon Some said, "What's the point?" But they were too soon To say that those men In their white and gray suits Shouldn't have gone there To stomp around in their big boots No, to complete the mission There is one last thing to do We need to summon our forces AND SEND A GIRL TO THE MOON! She will need the correct toys Buzz Lightyear or such-like She'll need a white space-suit To get around she'll need a bike She'll go to astronaut school Learn science and rocket-ships How to bounce around in zero gee Deal with space-chapped lips Yes, to be a space girl would be Lonely and glorious too To plant a flag and look back At Earth, that little stone of blue

I've uploaded another anthology to Amazon and Smashwords - Bubbles, two stories set in my Shoal Wars universe. Bubbles - after the Earth has been destroyed by enigmatic aliens the remnants of humanity spiral towards civil war. Jasmine – a pre-pubescent astronaut discovers the truth about her mission and vows revenge. Available here .

I've uploaded a short e-anthology to Amazon and Smashwords. Three science fiction stories by Kenneth Burstall Sea of Dreams - a deadly race for a weapon of enormous power aboard a dying starship The Rose of Desire - vignettes of desire and transformation in the near to far future RED - a nightmarish journey across a transformed Europe It's free on Smashwords so I suggest that if you want it (and why wouldn't you?) click here .

There's a hippo in a tree Looking down at you There are cats on legs like buses That want to chase you There are bees like ferrets That can barely buzz around you There's a giant sea dog It wants to grab and eat you But they are afraid Of you, with your green hair Of you, with your red horns Of you, with your sixteen legs Of you, size of the moon With your scary books in your arms

SECTION VII.    Know ye then, O Sons of Science, there are seven bodies, of which gold is the first, the most perfect, the king of them, and their head, which neither the earth can corrupt nor fire devastate, nor the water change, for its complexion is equalised, and its nature regulated with respect to heat, cold, and moisture; nor is there anything in it which is superfluous, therefore the philosophers do buoy up and magnify themselves init saying that this gold, in relation of other bodies. is, as the sun amongst the stars, more splendid in Light; and as, by the power of God, every vegetable and all the fruits of the earth are perfected, so gold by the same power sustainneth all. For as dough without a ferment cannot be fermented so when thou sublimest the body and purifiest it, separating the uncleanness from it, thou wilt then conjoin and mix them together, and put in the ferment confecting the earth and water. Then will the Ixir ferment even as dough d

Summer, Tabby on a star It's very hot, it's very far From Mother Earth, a little blue dot Getting home would cost a lot From there a bus would take years A rocket faster, but then who steers? So Tabby, Summer on a star Collect stardust in a jar Build a house with a huge aircon A big yard, they felt they'd won Look up at night, you'll see them there House of stardust, look close,a stair Of moondust. Go up, be quiet, they may be asleep It's a long way, it's very steep Look, there in a bed, see you must Girls made of stars like diamond dust

Yesterday morning I got an email from the wonderful Phoenix Sullivan , editor of the e-anthology Extinct Doesn't Mean Forever in which my story Connect appeared. As an experiment Phoenix had uploaded Connect as a stand-alone story for free download to the Amazon kindle store. To my astonishment her email informed me that the story was being downloaded like crazy and was at number 600 and something in the free/kindle charts. As of writing this, it is at #228. If you are reading this post as a result of looking up my name after reading Connect, welcome! I've uploaded three more stories to Amazon (see my author page, here ,) at 99c each - however, both RED and The Rose of Desire are available on this blog if you do a quick search (in fact, The Rose of Desire is the post below this one). If you enjoyed Connect (or if you didn't!) feel free to leave a comment or email me at the address below my picture to the right.

When blue was red and orange pink No-one here knew what to think But Summer ran as fast as gray To the King of Colour, she went to say "You silly King, you over-slept, you Better get up, red turned to blue!" Bopped with a balloon he got out of bed Had a shower, demanded to be fed So Summer made an omlette with fuchsia eggs Ran it to the King on orange legs He ate, touched a finger to some toast It turned pink to brown, it was the most Amazing thing Summer had ever seen Until she saw him turn purple back to green Summer saved the day, all was mellow But she kept a piece of sky that still was yellow

Theus v. United States,   611 F.3d 441 , 446 (8th Cir. 2010). "Deficient performance is that which falls below the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases." Id. (quotation omitted).   BASS v. U.S.

SECTION VI. It behoves thee to give thanks to God who has bestowed liberally of his bounty to the wise, who delivers us from misery and poverty. I am tempted and proven with the fullness of his substance and his probable wonders, and humbly pray God that whilst we live we may come to him. Remove thence, O Sons of Science, the unguents which we extract from fats, hair, verdigrease, tragacanth , and bones, which are written in the books of our fathers. But concerning the ointments which contain the tincture coagulate the fugitive, and adorn the sulphurs it behooves us to explain their disposition more at large ! and to unveil the Form, which is buried and hidden from other unguents; which is seen in disposition, but dwells in his own body, as fire in trees and stones, which by the most subtle art and ingenuity it behoves to extract without burning. And know that the Heaven is to be joined mediately with the Earth - but the Form is in a middle nature between tie heav

Rig Name: Rowan Gorilla IV Rig Manager: Rowan Rig Owner: Rowan Competitive Rig: Yes Rig Type: Jackup Jackup Type: Independent Leg Cantilever Rig Design: LeTourneau Class 200-C Gorilla Rated Water Depth: 450 ft Drilling Depth: 30,000 ft

SECTION V. MY SON, that which is born of the crow is the beginning of Art. Behold, how I have obscured matter treated of, by circumlocution, depriving thee of the light. Yet this dissolved, this joined, this nearest and furtherest off I have named to thee. Roast those things, therefore, and boil them in that which comes from the horse's belly for seven, fourteen, or twenty-one days. Then will the Dragon eat his own wings and destroy himself; this being done, let it be put into a fiery furnace, which lute diligently, and observe that none of the spirit may escape. And know that the periods of the earth are in the water, which let it be as long as until thou puttest the same upon it. The matter being thus melted and burned take the brain thereof and triturate it in most sharp vinegar, till it becomes obscured. This done, it lives in the putrefaction, let the dark clouds which were in it before it was killed be converted into its own body. Let this process be re

The GSF Grand Banks is an Aker H3.2 semisubmerisble drill rig currently owned by Transocean (though the GSF refers to GlobalSanteFe ). It was built in 1984 by St. John Shipbuilding , Canada. It was originally known as the Bow Drill 3 (1984-1988), which changed to Maersk Vinlander (1988-1998) and Glomar Grand Banks (1998-2004) before its' current moniker. It has particular importance to the Newfoundland offshore industry, where it drills alongside the Henry Goodridge . It had drilled and located oil in the Hebron field in 1998, and more recently in the White Rose field. Currently, it is drilling for Husky on the North Amethyst project [1]

My story "Connect", originally part of the e-anthology "Extinct Doesn't Mean Forever", is now available on its own for free from Smashwords.

John VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( Greek : Ίωάννης Η' Παλαιολόγος , Iōannēs VIII Palaiologos , 18 December 1392 – 31 October 1448), was the penultimate reigning Byzantine Emperor , ruling from 1425 to 1448. Wikipedia  Repeatedly the court had discussed the question of making their cause a universal one by reuniting their church with the Roman Catholic. Preliminary negotiations had already taken place. Greek ambassadors had appeared at (he Council of Constance. Emperor Manuel had shown a certain zeal in the cause of union, but chiefly from political motives. Now John VIII. (Figs. 88 and 89) returned to the matter with the honest purpose of bringing it to a satisfactory conclusion. The emperor himself and a large retinue of clerics and theologians sailed to Venice, in 1438. Thence they went to Ferrara, where the anti-council of Eugenius IV. was sitting. But here no conclusion was reached. In Florence, however, whither the pope transferred the council on account

  SECTION IV. Understand, then, O Son of Wisdom, what the Stone declares; Protect me, and I will protect thee; increase my strength that I may help thee ! My Sol and my beams are most inward and secretly in me my own Luna, also, my light, exceeding every light, and my good things are better than all other good things. I give freely, and reward the intelligent with joy and gladness, glory, riches, and delights; and them that seek after me I make to know and understand, and to possess divine things. Behold, that which the philosophers has concealed is written with seven letters; for Alpha and Yda follow two; and Sol, in like manner, follows the book; nevertheless, if thou art willing that he should have Dominion, observe the Art, and join the son to the daughter of the water, which, Jupiter and a hidden secret. Auditor, understand, let us use our Reason; consider all with the most accurate investigation, which in the contemplative part I have demonstrated to thee

The HENRY GOODRICH is a Sonat/Mitsui SES 5000 design propulsion assisted semi-submersible drilling unit capable of operating in harsh environments and water depths up to 2,000 ft using 18¾in 15,000 psi BOP and 21in OD marine drilling riser. 

"Imagine a fairy chain stretched from mountain peak to mountain peak, as far as the eye could reach, and paid out until it reached the 'high places' of the earth at a number of ridges, banks, and knowls. Then visualise a mound, circular earthwork, or clump of trees, planted on these high points, and in low points in the valley other mounds ringed around with water to be seen from a distance. Then great standing stones brought to mark the way at intervals, and on a bank leading up to a mountain ridge or down to a ford the track cut deep so as to form a guiding notch on the skyline as you come up.... Here and there, at two ends of the way, a beacon fire used to lay out the track. With ponds dug on the line, or streams banked up into 'flashes' to form reflecting points on the beacon track so that it might be checked when at least once a year the beacon was fired on the traditional day. All these works exactly on the sighting line."

         Places States Engines of Desire   Explanations If I were still there I could explain to you who I really was Fear There's nothing here for me, just the dull roar of the engines winding down at the end of the day Memories Frustrated Love tears over the Twin Turntables spin like rotors rippling Memories Sleep roar Helicopters sound like deep trance of Explanations An oil rig a return from the an escape from the clarity  of work engine the rotors tearing the air and shaking Elemental States me Processes Dominate to sleep and I awake to the sound of fuel being dumped to the watery mountains to the grey light reflecting in the North Sea