Stories by @williammganas

It’s Not Her

A scream shatters the silence… Courtney Gray’s peaceful vacation turns into a nightmare when she discovers her brother and sister-in-law dead in their lakeside cottage. Her niece Reese is missing. Her nephew Wyatt is asleep upstairs—unharmed. A town full of secrets… As police swarm the quiet resort, dark truths about Courtney’s family—and the town itself—begin to surface. Is Reese a victim… or the killer? A truth no one saw coming… With everyone hiding something, Courtney races to uncover the terrible mystery. But the closer she gets, the harder it is to know who—or what—to trust.

James

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, this begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and Beyond. Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observation that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim’s agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. “James” is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

If the Shoe Fits

After having just graduated with a degree in shoe design, and trying to get her feet on the ground, Cindy is working for her stepmother, who happens to be the executive producer of America's favorite reality, "Before Midnight." When a spot on the show needs filling ASAP, Cindy volunteers, hoping it might jump-start her fashion career, or at least give her something to do while her peers land jobs in the world of high fashion. Turns out being the only plus size woman on a reality dating competition makes a splash, and soon Cindy become a body positivity icon for women everywhere. What she doesn't expect? That she may just find inspiration–and love–in the process. Ultimately, Cindy learns that if the shoe doesn't fit, maybe it's time to design your own.

Go Luck Yourself

Someone has been stealing Christmas’s joy, and there’s only one clue to the culprit: a single shamrock. With Coal bust restructuring Christmas, Kris volunteers to investigate St. Patrick’s Day. His cover: an ambassador from Christmas to foster goodwill. What could go wrong? Everything it seems. Because Lochlann, Crown Prince of St. Patrick’s Day, isn’t happy to host the Christmas prince. Kris tries to be professional, but at every event they’re shoved into across Ireland, Loch is loud, infuriating, obstinate, hot— Wait—hot? Kris might be in trouble. Especially when it turns out Christmas’s missing magic isn’t as simple as a theft—and there’s more at work behind Loch, too. Can a spare Prince unravel this, or will Kris lose something more valuable than his Holiday’s resources … like his heart?

The Duke and I

In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable…but not too amiable. Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen. Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend’s sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar. The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule...

The Pairing

Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, lovers, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on a flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other’s lives. Time apart has done them good. Theo is a bartender and an aspiring sommelier with a long roster of lovers. Kit graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately. It’s not until Theo and Kit board the tour bus that they discover they’ve both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they’re trapped with each other for three weeks of the most romantic sights and sensuous flavors of France, Spain, and Italy. But it’ll be fine, as long as they agree they’re absolutely over each other. So, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is game. In fact, why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition? But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can’t have.

Flopping in a Winter Wonderland

All Aaron wants for Christmas is for his brother Casey to get over his ex, Raquel. He’d prefer not to be at Winter Wonderland, the island north of Alaska that’s home to a year-round Christmas theme park. But Casey loves Christmas, and so, here they are. All Kris wants for Christmas is for his uncle to move back to Winter Wonderland to be the first gay Santa. And so, he needs to win the Race, his grade’s annual competition to see who can get a guest to fall in love with them first. Winning means a trip to New York, where Kris would be able to plead his case for his uncle to the founder of Winter Wonderland himself. Then Aaron and Kris flop into each other during a flash mob and Kris agrees to help Aaron with his plan to keep Casey single. Soon, both can’t stop thinking about kissing the other, and it’s not just because of the mistletoe around every corner. Too bad true love isn’t on either of their Christmas lists… This adorable rom-com from bestselling author Jason June unwraps the healing power of love and the magic of the Christmas season.

Tinderbox: A Dramatization

Gay life in early 1970s America was unimaginably different. Facing the threat of arrest by police, firing by employers, and forced "interventions" by doctors and religious leaders, most homosexuals lived in a closet governed by the fear of exposure. At night, they sought love and companionship in underground societies, away and unseen. The raucous port city of New Orleans offered one such hidden community, and a thriving one at that. The evening of June 24, 1973, promised to be fun for the closeted, blue-collar men–many of them veterans–who thought of the UpStairs Lounge, a gay bar that sometimes doubled as a church, as a home away from home. That Sunday night offered two hours of bottomless beer for a dollar, a piano sing-along, and a special charity event, all drawing a larger-than-usual crowd. The merriment came to a halt when an arsonist emptied a can of accelerant that ignited an inferno. The doorway to the bar flew open to reveal a surging wall of fire that incinerated thirty-two people in what was the largest mass murder of homosexuals in U.S. history until 2016. The aftermath was no less traumatic. Families were ashamed to claim loved ones, the Catholic Church refused proper burial rites, and police never questioned the primary suspect–all reflecting the toxic prejudice of a nation.

10 Things That Never Happened

Sam Becker loves—or, okay, likes—his job. Sure, managing a bed-and-bath retailer isn’t exactly glamorous, but it’s good work and he gets on well with the band of misfits who keep the store running. He could see himself being content here for the long haul. Too bad, then, that the owner is an infuriating git. Jonathan Frost should never have hired Sam. It was a sentimental decision, and Jonathan didn’t get where he is by following his heart. Determined to set things right, Jonathan orders Sam down to London for a difficult talk…only for a panicking Sam to trip, bump his head, and maybe accidentally imply that he doesn’t remember anything? Faking amnesia seemed like a good idea when Sam was afraid he was getting sacked, but now he has to deal with the reality of Jonathan’s guilt—as well as the unsettling fact that his surly boss might have a softer side to him. There’s an unexpected freedom in getting a second shot at a first impression…but as Sam and Jonathan grow closer, can Sam really bring himself to tell the truth, or will their future be built entirely on one impulsive lie?

The Meadowbrook Murders

For Amy and her best friend Sarah, the first week of senior year at Meadowbrook Academy means late-night parties at the boathouse, bike rides through their sleepy Connecticut town, and the crisp beginning of a New England fall. But when Sarah and her boyfriend are brutally murdered one night, the week Amy has been dreaming about for years has turned into a nightmare. Especially when everyone starts to think she’s the culprit. On the other side of campus, Liz, the editor of the school newspaper and social outcast, is determined to uncover the truth about what happened. The more Liz dives into her investigation, the more secrets she unburies, and with a killer still on the loose, she can’t afford to make any mistakes.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas

Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his the father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR facade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make-out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night. But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it. Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand … and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the prince of Halloween. It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.

NYPD Red 3

NYPD Red is the elite, highly trained task force assigned to protect the rich, the famous, and the connected. And Detective Zach Jordan and his partner Kylie MacDonald-the woman who broke his heart at the police academy-are the best of the best, brilliant and tireless investigators who will stop at nothing to deliver justice. Zach and Kylie's New Year's celebrations are cut short when they're called to the home of billionaire businessman Hunter Alden, Jr. after he makes a grisly discovery in his townhouse garage. When Alden's teenage son goes missing soon afterwards, and his father seems oddly reluctant to find him, Zach and Kylie find themselves in the middle of a chilling conspiracy that threatens everyone in its wake-especially their city's most powerful citizens.

Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo

Quinn has just survived yet another bloody run-in with the murderous clown Frendo, but somehow still she knows this won’t be the last. Tired of being hunted and seeing innocent people hurt, Quinn believes the only way to beat the horror is to take justice into her own hands--and stop the Frendo followers herself. Little does she know that this path will take her across cornfields and state lines, to where she will have to face the most dangerous and bloody menace True believers.

NYPD Red 2

When NYPD Red arrive at a crime scene, everyone takes notice. Known as the protectors of the rich, famous, and connected, NYPD Red is the elite task force called in only for New York City’s most high-profile crimes. But even with their top-notch training, Detectives Zach Jordan and Kylie MacDonald aren’t prepared for what they seen when they’re summoned to a crime scene in the heart of Central Park. The victim, a woman of vast wealth and even greater connections, is the forth is a string of shocking murders that have hit the city. As the public pressure mounts, and political and personal secrets of the highest order hang in the balance, Zach and Kylie must find out what’s really behind the murderer’s rampage. But Kylie has been acting strange recently—and Zach knows whatever she’s hiding could threaten the biggest case of their careers.

NYPD Red

Lights. Camera. Execution. It’s the start of the Hollywood on the Hudson festival, and New York City is swept up in the glamour. At red carpet premieres, thousands of fans gather with the paparazzi to glimpse the world’s most famous faces. With this many celebrities in town, special task force NYPD Red is on high alert. Then a world-renowned producer is fatally poisoned, and top NYPD Red Detective Zach Jordan must work with his new partner, Detective Kylie MacDonald, to uncover the killer. Soon other horrifying spectacular crimes send all of New York into chaos—and put NYPD Red on the ropes. With the whole world watching, Zach and Kylie race to stop a psychopath who has scripted his murderous finale down to the last explosive detail.

Sword Catcher

In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, the richest of nobles and the most debauched of criminals have one thing in common: the constant search for wealth, power, and the next hedonistic thrill. Kel is an orphan, stolen from the life he knew to become the Sword Catcher—the body double of a royal heir, Prince Conor Aurelian. He has been raised alongside the prince, trained in every aspect of combat and statecraft. He and Conor are as close as brothers, but Kel knows that his destiny is to die for Conor. No other future is possible. Lin Caster is one of the Ashkar, a small community whose members still possess magical abilities. By law, they must live behind walls within the city, but Lin, a physician, ventures out to tend to the sick and dying of Castellane. Despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend without access to forbidden knowledge. After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, the criminal ruler of Castellane’s underworld. He offers them each what they want most; but as they descend into his world of intrigue and shadow, they discover a conspiracy of corruption that reaches from the darkest gutters of Castellane to the highest tower of its palaces. As long-kept secrets begin to unravel, they must ask themselves: Is knowledge worth the price of betrayal? Can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war—and the world into chaos?

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Mockingjay

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding. It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss. The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost

Catching Fire

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create. Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

The Hunger Games

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love