Death Takes a Flyer is a mystery set in 1950 in Camp Five, a logging camp attached to the mill town of Kinzua, Oregon. Marge O'Connor's first job after college is teaching the upper four grades of the two-room school. When a young wife and mother goes missing, then her mother-in-law is found dead on a Flexible Flyer sled, Marge finds herself in the maelstrom of murderous events. A snowstorm cuts the little community off from the outside world, narrowing the possible suspects to Marge's friends and neighbors. The murderer knows her every move, putting her in grave danger.

Take a former country star, add a beautiful mining magnate, stir into a tiny town known for its fossil beds and stand back. It is an explosive mixture Wesley Callaghan was a star ten years ago, now he is an itinerant ranch hand. Yelisa MacKenzie has inherited her family's mercury mine and operates it herself. One night at the local bar, they are both in the audience when a small band takes the stand. The leader recognizes Wesley and persuades him to sing a couple of numbers. Yelisa is intrigued and electricity crackles between them. Complications set in when Wesley's current girlfriend...

These are the fifty-three winning and honorable mention essays and stories of the Joyous Publishing Writing Contests of 2007. The authors come from six countries and range in age from pre-teen to past retirement. The settings are as diverse as their writers: a lonely home in New Zealand, a train in India, a motel in Virginia, a prison in Oklahoma, and lands known only to the imagination. The characters make these stories live: the clan that celebrates the life of their patriarch; the boy who is sucked into living paintings; the cat who battles with thunder; the man who wore the jacket with...

There's an old adage that says, "the boy is father to the man." If that's true, then Keith Kovacek was fathered by two boys, himself and his identical twin, Kurt. The boys are about to graduate from high school as the story opens. Life in their small Oregon town is good and their place in the middle class is secure. The boys look eagerly forward to whatever the future has in store for them, confident of their ability to meet any contingency. Disaster strikes when Kurt is killed in an accident as he and his pregnant sweetheart are on their way to be married. Keith is unwilling for his...

Wesley Callaghan was a star ten years ago, now he's an itinerant ranch hand. Yelisa MacKenzie has inherited her family's mercury mine and operates it herself. One night at the local bar, they are both in the audience when a small band takes the stand. The leader recognizes Wesley and persuades him to sing a couple of numbers. Yelisa is intrigued and electricity crackles between them. Complications set in when Wesley's current girlfriend causes ructions. Wesley decides to reactivate his music career and life is very exciting. An unexpected baby girl brings them a hefty dose of reality - she...

It's 1950 and Marge O'Connor is in her first year of teaching. She has the upper four grades in the two-room school at Camp Five, a logging camp attached to the mill town of Kinzua, Oregon. Deciding that she would like to ride horseback in her spare time, Marge takes a trip to Bend to buy an Appaloosa from the Happy Appy Ranch. The ninety-four-year-old owner is murdered and Marge gets caught up in the swirl of events. Someone thinks she has some deadly information and follows her home to launch a Molotov cocktail at her as she sleeps. Things go from bad to worse until Marge figures out who...