The algorithm knows you better than you know yourself. And it uses that knowledge for one singular, driving purpose: to sell you more, more, more. Until a rogue programmer rewrites the algorithm to show you not what you're most likely to buy, but what will make you happiest. All over the world, people are smiling on the street. Quitting their jobs. Finding love. The world is a happier place now, and what could be wrong with that? But some people's desires are darker than others... This short story is 7200 words long. It is also available in Digital Soul, a science fiction short story collection.

Allie doesn't need family. She doesn't need friends. She doesn't need a job, or a home, or a plan for her future. She has her lover, and that's enough for her.Because her lover is Gaia, the spirit of the earth itself. And Gaia will always take care of her. Until Gaia leaves her for someone else. This short story is 14,000 words long. It is also available in the short story collection Love Is Strange.

Every year at the North Pole, it's the same story. Santa makes his list. He checks it twice. The nice children wake up on Christmas morning to a pile of presents. The naughty children get a lump of coal. But don't the naughty children deserve a little Christmas joy too? One elf thinks so. He thinks it's time Santa's workshop did things a little differently. Even if he has to take matters into his own hands. This short story is 2700 words long. It is also available in Santa's Rejects, a collection of offbeat Christmas stories.

Fat. Ugly. Stupid. At her high school, Jeanette is the target of every insult and the butt of every joke. But when she finds a magical artifact in the old junkyard, she knows this is her chance to be more. Behind her superheroine mask, she saves lives and takes on supervillains. She even has friends... as long as she never lets them see under her mask. But it will take more than superpowers to teach her to know her own worth. This short story is 9800 words long. It is also available in The Fire Inside, a fantasy short story collection.

Annika hasn't been the same since her accident. She's missing memories. Losing time. Remembering things that never happened. She's lucky to have her devoted husband Hugh to take care of her. So lucky. Sure, he keeps threatening to replace her with one of those new companion bots. But it's just a joke. He loves her too much to trade her in for a cold, soulless robot, who would never have a thought of its own and never question him. And he definitely wasn't involved in her accident—how could she even think such a thing? If she's noticed him acting strangely, it's because her brain is still damaged from the accident. And Hugh is there to help her get better. He's always right there... This short story is 9800 words long. It is also available in Digital Soul, a science fiction short story collection.

When a lonely tech genius built herself the perfect man, she knew he would never leave her. What she didn't know was that she would love him too much to let him stay. This short story is 15,000 words long. It is also available in the short story collection Love Is Strange.

For the past six years, Justine has never left her twin sister Gwen's side. She can't afford to. When she was twelve, she woke up with deadly powers, and only Gwen can keep them in check. But now Gwen is missing. And no one else is worried. Justine will have to track her down alone, as her powers spiral out of control. And Gwen may not want to be found. This short story is 8000 words long. It is also available in The Fire Inside, a fantasy short story collection.

Two hundred years ago, Iris uploaded her consciousness into her ship's computer and fled a dying Earth with a handful of survivors. Now she keeps the ship on course and running smoothly as a bodiless artificial intelligence, knowing that nothing less than the survival of the human race is at stake. Danna remembers being Iris. She remembers planning her mission, and uploading her mind to the very ship she's a lowly worker in now. But she's learned some things since then. And she knows that two hundred years ago, she made a terrible mistake. Now all she has to do is make the ship's AI—her former self—believe her. This short story is 3900 words long. It is also available in Digital Soul, a science fiction short story collection.

Fritha would have been doomed to a quiet life of obscurity in her tiny village if not for her lover: the great hero of prophecy, destined to wrest the throne from the Usurper Queen.And he's never let her forget it.If only he would let her get a word in edgewise. Like when she tells him his grasp of military strategy is shaky at best. Or that his cowardice in battle just might become a problem if he plans to go to war. Or, for that matter, that he's not as talented a lover as he thinks he is.When the Usurper abducts her, she expects to be forced to choose whether to remain loyal to him or save her own life... and to be honest, it's not much of a choice. What she doesn't expect is a strategic mind to match her own—or the Usurper's captivating blue eyes.This short story is 5,500 words long. It is also available in Queerdark, a dark queer fantasy collection.

Instead of settling down and marrying the baker's boy, Meryn ran off to have grand adventures in the land of the dragons. But grand adventures get lonely when there are no other humans to talk to. It's time to come home and get a real job. Lucky for Meryn, the local dragon farm is hiring. But can she adjust to caring for domesticated dragons after years of living with the real thing? These dragons can't even talk! And when a fellow worker on the farm needs her help, have her adventures prepared her to handle purely human problems? This short story is 13,000 words long. It is also available in The Fire Inside, a fantasy short story collection.

They have more power than they know... An unknown goddess living in her famous sister's shadow. A teenage superheroine who can take down a supervillain but can't stand up to her school bullies. A vampire hunter turned vampire who must embrace his bloodlust if he wants to survive. The characters in these six short stories have spent their lives trying to be what other people wanted. Now, with the help of a little magic, it's time for them to discover how powerful they really are when they let themselves become who they were meant to be. This collection contains the following stories:Goddess of NothingStar PowerUncontainedThe Purest DarknessInhibitionDragonhearted

These angels aren't your grandmother's chubby-cheeked cherubs. Be not afraid... A deserter from heaven's wars, flipping burgers on earth to stay incognito. A demon who can only save his angelic lover's life by ripping him away from heaven's light forever. A guardian angel who makes a deal with the devil to end the life of his human charge. Winged messengers, divine protectors, heavenly warriors... angels can wear many faces, and not all those faces are friendly. In these six standalone urban fantasy stories, heaven's emissaries serve the light by holding the darkness at bay—and find both light and darkness within themselves.

They tried to be Strong Female Characters. It didn't work out. The plucky tomboy who disguises herself as a man to rescue the beautiful princess. The headstrong girl who flees an arranged marriage to find her own path as a mercenary. The ruthless assassin tamed by love. You know the stories. So do these women. They tried their best to be the spirited heroines we all know and love. But sometimes the plucky tomboy finds out the beautiful princess is kind of a wimp.Sometimes the mercenary's meek sister is the truly dangerous one.Sometimes the assassin loves her work too much to give it up. Sometimes a heroine has to make her own story. This collection contains the following stories:Why Cinderella Skipped the BallBlack RosesA Mere WifeShips, Sheep, and Happy EndingsBetter Than MeUgly Girls

A decade ago, Courtney and her friends survived an attack so shocking it made the national news. Their classmate Olivia Kendall's obsession with them, which had grown as her mental health declined, culminated in a scene of brutal violence.At least that's the story they told. And with Olivia locked away in a mental institution, who is there to question them?Until Courtney sits down with a reporter for a ten-year retrospective. Because the longer the interview goes on, the more Courtney suspects the reporter knows more than she's saying...This short story is 7900 words long. It can also be found in With Friends Like These, a psychological thriller short story collection.

Every day, Heather visits the burned-down house. Every day, she finds it cold and empty. Her family, her life, her guilty secrets... all gone. But the flames didn't destroy everything. There's something left in there, something the voice in her head wants very much. She doesn't remember what it is. She just knows she can't let the voice have it. She'll burn it all down again if she has to. And her own mind along with it. Every day, Heather visits the burned-down house. This short story is 4400 words long. It is also available in Digital Soul, a science fiction short story collection.