Product Description
Sometimes the only way to make a living is to stop giving it away. The men of Hard for the Money know all about what a guy has to do to make a buck, and they all know that it's impossible for a rent boy to find love. Right?

In Syd McGinley's A Cheap Racket, Tim figures all he has going for him is his young body and his patience for his older clients. His roommate Cal has a trust fund, and is pretty sure men only want him for his money. Can a rent boy and a trust fund baby find love and trust as they battle a corrupt and abusive nursing home?

Chaos is an uneducated stripper who knows that life deals guys like him a rotten hand. When he meets RJ at a bachelor party, though, he has to re-evaluate his needs. Can he and RJ find common ground? Find out in Kiernan Kelly's A Hard Man is Good to Find.

Finally, in Cops and Robby, by Carol Lynne, brothers and fellow cops Cole and Morgan have always had to hide their love. When they rescue rent boy Robby, though, they find someone they can share themselves with. Robby's got problems of his own, though, problems that might endanger them all.

All of these men have been hard for the money, but can they face their difficulties and find a happy ending? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Enjoyed the collection thanks to Syd McGinley's story
This review may contain SPOILERS.

I enjoyed this m/m collection thanks to Syd McGinley's story, which takes about 1/3 of the book. Admittedly, I'm a fan of this author, but I didn't enjoy all of her works. However, this story stands out, as it deals with a very unusual theme for m/m romance or m/m erotica - an alienation of older people, shuffled into nursery homes, without much care or thought from the rest of society. If it sounds too depressing, don't worry - Syd McGinely is a masterful writer of erotica and excellent plots, and there are numerous light, comedic or erotic situations in this story. And don't forget: the main theme of all three stories included in this anthology is "people selling erotic services", and that's who the main character of Syd McGinley's story is. He's also a BDSM sub, and has a good and supporting friend who unexpectedly turns out to be a passionate dominant lover. Overall, I found the story both erotic (and yes, there are some hot fairly realistic BDSM scenes, but nothing hardcore) and romantic, with a satisfying happy ending. Creating a story which succeeds to be romantic, light yet realistically so while dealing with somewhat soap-opera-ish theme of "Pretty Woman" requires some talent, and kudos to the author.

I found the second story about a stripper finding happiness by Kiernan Kelly to be OK, but not exceptional. What I like about some of the works by this author is that they have a touch of realism and reasonably developed characters. We have all of this in this story, but I felt it was too short and would have liked to see more about the characters and their interactions.

I disliked the last story, by Carol Lynne, as I think it's poorly written, and characters / situations are way too unrealistic to my taste. But if you think that when two cops (twins and committed lovers) save an abused prostitute (without reporting him to police or anything, just taking him home) and bring him on right into their relationship (i.e, create a committed threesome within a day or so) makes an engaging plot, you might like this story. Plus, it has numerous sex scenes.

I didn't love any of the stories, but they're not bad
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

"A Cheap Racket" by Sid McGinley - 6/10

PROS:
- This is one of the most interesting and realistic-seeming call-boy stories I've ever read or seen. McGinley paints a pretty replete picture of Tim's life: it's no walk in the park, but it's not all hardship, either.
- The story takes a turn toward (fairly mild) BDSM about halfway through, but it's not "a BDSM story." (As in, that element isn't primary.)
- There's a nice little feeling of community/family at the end of the story.
CONS:
- Although all of the sex is consensual and much of it is sweet (in a non-romantic way), some of the descriptions of sex, were just a little...ew...for me. Tim sleeps with some men who are 40-50 years older than he is.
- The ending seemed rushed and a little silly as compared to the rest of the story.
- After reading the synopsis on the back of the book, I thought the romance would be between Tim and his roommate. This is not the case--which is not really a bad thing, but I was puzzled when another character entered the story and started shaping up to be Tim's romantic interest.

"A Hard Man Is Good to Find" by Kiernan Kelly - 6/10

PROS:
- On a few occasions I raised an eyebrow at little story elements, but most of them were later explained away with humor. The explanation of Chaos's name was one of them.
- Some of the depictions are really well done and realistic: the description of Chaos's strip act, for example, and the little signs that lead RJ to a realization about the nature of his sister's relationship.
CONS:
- The story isn't all that romantic to me. There's not a whole lot of emotional connection between the characters--they don't do or say very many things that made me believe in an attraction that was more than just sexual. And the sex is a big part of the attraction, yet it's not described in any detail at all.
- I found the ending disappointing. It's not SAD; it's just not very satisfying, either.

"Cops and Robby" by Carol Lynne - 7/10

PROS:
- Lynne gets across the helplessness of Robby and the heroicness of both Cole and Morgan in about 2 pages. Right from the start I could see that the characters were all a good fit for one another.
- The characters are super sweet and the problems are resolved very quickly. Unrealistically so. (This might be a con for some people.) Lynne has a tendency to create vacuum worlds in which unpleasantness OCCURS but doesn't really AFFECT the characters all that much.
CON:
- Cole and Morgan, the brothers, have been together for a while in a pretty solid relationship, and they go from being perfectly happy as a couple to perfectly happy in a threesome with very little thought or discussion. Unless a couple is actively searching out a third or has played with ménages in the past, inviting someone else in seems to me like a huge step that the couple ought to first talk about at length.

Overall comments: I've read other short stories/novellas that I like better. I haven't read anything by Kelly before, so I can't compare "A Hard Man Is Good to Find" to others of the author's works. McGinley's story is decent but isn't as quick-witted as her Dr. Fell series, and Lynne's story seems pretty typical of her writing style: simple stories with flat but likeable characters. ... Read more

Product Description
Classic Ghost Stories is a creepy collection of tales from beyond the grave, ideal for readers of all ages. Notes on the authors and ghoulish illustrations provide a powerful introduction to some of the most fiendish characters in literature. Included are the works of renowned authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving and Bram Stoker. ... Read more

Product Description
"A Better Life After Divorce" is dynamic, inspiring, deeply insightful and provides secret tools and techniques that are required to re-create your life after divorce. Powerfully creating the life that you desire with respect, admiration and value are the main themes covered.You will be shown how to deal with the chaos and confusion, use anger to your advantage, blast out of the black hole of depression, conquer your fears and break through the terror barriers that hold you back in life. You will learn secrets of accelerating your recovery and personal growth with new and effective ways to experience fulfilling relationships that will bring you great joy.Kelly Morrisey shares her knowledge from her personal experience of divorce and her firsthand experience of assisting thousands of divorced people over the past 10+ years in this life-changing book. This book will serve you well! ... Read more

Product Description
Christmas is a time for love, laughter, and wonder. A Christmas Sampler: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales, is a compilation of twenty-three Christmas stories commissioned by the Bethlehem Writers Group to capture all of Christmas's myriad possibilities.
Paul Weidknecht's "Those Things Remembered" is about a long-time mall Santa who realizes he has forgotten a child's name. Courtney Annicchiarico believes against all evidence that she is pregnant in "Mis-conceptions." Hilarity reigns in Headley Hauser's explanation of a bachelor's Christmas traditions in "A Modern Single Holiday." In Carol L. Wright's "You Better Watch Out" a small-town lawyer takes on a mystery when Santa falls from her roof three weeks before Christmas. In "Walter and Stella," by Ralph Hieb, Walter finds himself dead on Christmas Eve, but refuses to leave his beloved alone for the holiday. And in "The Perfect Gift," Emily P. W. Murphy explores that moment in a relationship when one partner is ready for marriage, and the other seems not to notice.
This premier anthology also features stories by Jeff Baird, Carol A. Hanzl Birkas, Cindy Kelly, Jerome W. McFadden, Stanley W. McFarland, Sally Wyman Paradysz, Jo Ann Schaffer, and Will Wright.
These heartwarming, hope-filled, and hilarious tales will delight readers of any age.

The Bethlehem Writers Group is a community of mutually-supportive fiction and nonfiction writers who meet to perfect their craft in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, also known as: "Christmas City, USA." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Brilliant !!
It is brilliant and heartwarming !!

I was completely engaged from the moment I opened it. The stories are light, yet powerful in depicting the same joyous Christmas spirit from a diversity of viewpoints. I especially was moved by Paul W's kindhearted mall Santa who lost his way.
If you truly want a book to touch your heart and make you ponder the many intrinsic gifts the Christmas season brings, then please read this book.
It'll illiicit an array of emotions !!

A Touching Christmas Collection
This book if full of wonderful stories for the holidays.This book was full of moments that made me laugh out loud, as well as many sentimental stories about love, christmas past and the bonds which are created by the ties of the heart.I look forward to reading this book every Christmas season.

Covers Every Genre
Sweet, intriguing, scary or mysterious--these short stories cover it all. Some I laughed at and another, I confess, I cry after every time I read it! The Christmas season ties them all together. I bought an armful of the books for my friends. The dust wrapper is so pretty I was tempted to just stick a bow on it and dispense with the wrapping paper, but I wanted it to be a surprise. A fine holiday collection from the Bethlehem Writers Group. I'll be checking their web site for their next venture.

A Wonderfully Varied Collection
This collection was a lot of fun. It has a great variety of stories so I had no trouble finding something no matter what mood I was in at the time. I especially enjoyed "A Perfect Gift" since it reminded me a lot of how I proposed to my wife. This book is a great debut for the Bethlehem Writers Group and I hope to see more from them in the future. I also purchased a hardcover as a gift but I can't say for whom (since they might read this review).

Great Chrsitmas book
This book of short stories far exceeded my expectatations.Very touching Xmas stories.Definitely a keeper that will be brought out every year. ... Read more

Product Description
In a down-and-out service town to the glittering Hamptons, a shadow falls over a girl's magical childhood.

Shirley seemed to be doomed from the beginning. Founded by a Vaudevillian huckster who touted it as a seaside haven despite the sand bar that blocks access to the shore, the town has been plagued by one disaster after another--a UFO, a childhood cancer cluster, and a mysterious federal nuclear laboratory in nearby Brookhaven that leaked toxic nuclear and chemical waste into the aquifer from which the residents unknowingly drew their well water.

This is Kelly McMasters' account of growing up in a cursed town and loving it anyway, and of a girl's awakening to tragedy and to a sense of mission. Told in a deliciously engaging voice, Welcome to Shirley balances the bitter with the sweet, the funny with the infuriating, in an unforgettable story of working class Long Island. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Welcome to Shirley & Another Look at The Truth
To begin with, I absolutely loved this book.The writing is deeply engaging and elegiac.The characters and anecdotes which populate Kelly McMasters' memoir are pitch-perfect; I can say this with some authority having grown up on Long Island as well.This book filled me with wistful nostalgia for places which are gone now, in a sense, never to be again what they once were.If you grew up as part of a small neighborhood, part of a group of friends who spent day after day in one another's houses, backyards and front stoops, this book will inevitably resonate with you.Layered with the history of that small town, and (most of all) the dark legacy which hovered over that time and place of innocence, the effect of this book is nothing so much as haunting.I want to share this book with friends and family, and I wanted to share my appreciation for this work with other Amazon customers as well.

So, imagine my shock to have logged on here, and encountered so many unfavorable reviews for "Welcome to Shirley"!Clearly, the objections here pertain mostly to factual accuracy regarding the scientific and historical details surrounding the environmental issues and Brookhaven National Laboratory.Being neither a professional historian nor scientist myself, I cannot vouch one way or the other for the veracity of the facts presented here.However, being a writer, I have something to share about the truth of Kelly McMasters' work which transcends facts and figures.What good writing (and art in general) can do is bring us closer to truths which elude historical records.If there are inaccuracies in Kelly McMasters' research, and there may well be some, they don't invalidate the truth of what it means to find oneself, for the first time in one's life, in a place that feels like home.Technical details don't play into the personal reality of watching a best friend's father, the soul of a neighborhood, wither away from cancer.No amount of data can outweigh the sensual perceptions of a living in a seaside town, which Kelly McMasters captures so beautifully.And finally, all the elements in the periodic table cannot change the truth which everyone who has grown up on Long Island in the past half-century knows, that a too-large percentage of our mothers, grandmothers, wives, sisters, aunts, nieces and so forth are breast cancer survivors or victims.Whatever Kelly McMasters' work may have missed in facts, it gets right in feeling.To whatever degree this idea has validity for you, you may be more or less troubled by the things which have bothered other reviewers here.For my part, I feel richer for having spent time in Shirley and its environs with this sensitive, talented author.

agenda-driven
Told in the form of a personal narrative, this book contains a lot of interesting information about Long Island local history, especially the East End.There's also a lot of interesting information about nuclear pollution, which might make anyone question the water they drink.Unfortunately, much of this book also reads as an indictment of Brookhaven National Laboratory, which may or may not be justified.To be fair, McMasters credits BNL for having improved their practices in recent years, but the book still comes across as being agenda-driven and biased, which undercuts the message more than a little bit.

interesting book. I liked it.
I only give it a three but I am harsher than most with my books, I read alot.

More than a memoir
A terrific book.Kelly McMasters weaves the personal and political into an insightful and heart-wrenching tapestry.Great research, as well as a poignant portrait of the author's life, and that that of her hard-scrabble, big-hearted town. At moments disturbing and elegiac, at others uplifting, the book is also a call to action. I love the way McMasters takes the traditional memoir form and broadens it into a political essay. Well done.

Nice concept, but
I also found the inacuracies to be very distracting, and completed the book questioning much of the content.

My grandparents built a home in Mastic Beach approaching 100 years ago.My grandparents and then my parents bought adjacent land and also built homes (we still own two of the three homes).My aunt lived in Shirley on Kent Drive.I had close friends whose parents worked at the Lab (several passing away decades ago of cancer variants). My first wife and two of my best friends went through the William Floyd school system.You would think that with all my memories of the area, the Shirley Property Owners Association dances, and the extent of cancer in my family (my mother, both her sisters and every woman born from them for two generations has had lumpectomies and for some, mastectomies) that I would find more resonance in Ms. McMasters' work.

Perhaps in a new updated, more focussed and corrected addition, I could get past the distractions and resonate with the story. If Ms. McMasters chooses to update and reissue, I along with several of my remaining close friends would be please to provide a more accurate and more historical perspective, gained from families who have lived or summered there for three or four generations.

I realize that this is Ms. McMasters' memoir and not my own, but Shirley and the surrounding towns were both a beautiful and tragic landscape, that deserves to be accurately portrayed. The best of what it was, is still there, hiding behind the facade of decay and abuse.

P.S. It's Cranberry Drive, not Cranberry Street.

... Read more

Product Description
Covers both 3ds Max 2010 and 3ds Max 2010 Design

Hands down, the best book on 3ds Max around

Whether you're a novice eager to get started or a full-fledged animator seeking new ways to dazzle, the new edition of this perennial hot seller is the perfect 3ds Max book for you. It's crammed with the very latest features, professional techniques, and over 150 step-by-step tutorials that will build skills and spark your creativity. Don't miss the colorful insert, which showcases the work of cutting-edge 3D artists and is sure to inspire you.

• Do freeform sculpting with the new Graphite Modeling Tools

• Use the new Material Explorer interface to quick-navigate material hierarchies

• Discover viewport exposure control, ambient occlusion, and soft shadows

• Add multiple sound tracks to your scene with the ProSound features

• Quickly find mesh problems with the xView display options

• Paint directly on models in the new Viewport Canvas mode

What's on the DVD?

You'll find before-and-after example files for every tutorial in the book, as well as:

• Unique models and textures you can customize for your own designs

• A searchable full-color PDF of the book

System Requirements: See the DVD appendix for details and complete system requirements.

Also in the Book

• A 16-page full-color insert highlighting cutting-edge work from 3ds Max artists
• Animate a space scene
• Paint models in the viewport
• View models with soft shadows

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Excellent Book!!
This book has a lot of information and good samples of waht you need to learn in order to get more experience with this program
So I can fully recomend this book!!

A great resource book!
I like this book. I think it does what it sets out to do. I did not know what to expect when I recieved my review copy from the company. Honestly it has been a while since I read one of the books from this 3ds Max 'Bible' series. Ifound, what I feel,a very good text on this premier 3D program. Regardless of what the web site or the back of the book says, this is an good overview of what 3ds Max 2010 is, and what it is capable of doing. In other words, 'this is the name of the tool, and this is what it does." But it does even more than that in a very readable way. This `bible' starts by giving the novice a good tour of the interface and tool sets, then goes on to more advanced concepts. You may not become an expert with this book, but you will understand Max a whole lot better.

Let's face it Max 2010, like its predecessors, is a very flexible, very complicated, very deep program no matter how you look at it. Those of us who get hooked on it want to know how to use it to do our bidding. It is nice to have a book I can keep by my computer to turn to and look up some tool or technique.

So, how does a new user learn Max, and how can a current user keep up with all of these new functions and capabilities? They are being added at an incredible rate. There is a new Max release out before I get a chance to get comfortable with the last release. Don't get me wrong, I welcome great tools added to afamiliar interface. Most of them are truly amazing. Some began life as a plug-in for Max and then became fully integrated features. Like I said - How does a user keep up with all of these functions and capabilities?

If you have been around long enough you learn a procedure in a program and continue to do things that way even when there is a new more efficient way to get the job done introduced in the new version. A person gets comfortable with the way they do things in a program, It's been like this since the dawn of time. I think for most of us we are just unaware how a new function or capability, once learned, can truly increase our productivity. While reading this book I definitely learned a few things, or I have been reminded of a few things that I can now put to use.

So who do I think this book is for? If you are completely new to Max and want a book that you can look up how to do something in Max this book should serve you well. It should not be your only source of training - you should be doing other reading and beginning exercises from other providers. I think of this book as a good place to find the answers to many questions that come up while learning a program like 3ds Max. If you consider yourself an intermediate user and have not read a Max book in a while, you may want to go through some of the topics. It does cover the new bells and whistles fairly well.

Kelly L. Murdock has been at this `Max bible' writing since 2000 when the 1,100 page 3d studio Max R3 Bible was published. He obviously knows Max very well. I happen to like the way the material is presented. More so than what I found in the earlier books on previous releases. The first part of the book is aimed at the beginner with all the basic information presentedin a logical order. The other part of the book is for the more advanced tools in Max 2010. While reading the book I noticed that the legacy components of max were, for the most part, left out. I was going to call the author on that but found I missed something in the preface that addressed this. He had purposely left out the older legacy parts to conserve room for more important topics. I found the Note, Tip, Caution,New Feature, Cross-Ref, and On the DVD tag notes useful for the most part. It's like having someone looking over your shoulder while you are reading and telling you all the points that are important to understandnow, or where they are covered elsewhere in the book or DVD. I like these especially the tips and cross references.

Speaking of the DVD - it's pretty impressive. I had no trouble opening up the files on the DVD. All the chapter files for the fifty-one plus chapters are on here. Two applications, a 3ds Max 2010 Trail 30 day version and Adobe Reader. There is a section with 3D models from both Viewpoint and Zygote. Zygote also provides a man and a woman model. There is an e-book onhere also. The entire book in PDF format as stated on the e-book splash screen `All the text for the book is included on the DVD in PDF format along with Adobe Reader. Using the electronic version of the book, you can search the text. You'll also be able to see the book's figures in color.' We would have benefited with colored figures. For the most part, the B&Ws are fine and serve their purpose. Three bonus chapters are provided here as well. One on installing 3ds Max 2010, one with an extensive list of shortcuts broken down into categories, The third is `Working with NURBS'.The subject ofNURBS does come up in the book a few times, mostly in Chapter 27 on modeling with patches and NURBS. It's nice to have more info on them.

If you are new to Max you will get a good idea of the power of a 3D software like Autodesk's 3ds Max. If your familiar with Max and used it for a while, there is something for you in this book. You will be reminded of some great features that you missed or forgot about. You will get aquainted with the new features of the latest release if you are a new user or a veteran.

Beware - the book's PDF is in Black and White
This book gets zero stars. I have been chasing Wiley (the publisher) for the past month back and forth with major concerns with the PDF file on the CD. If you look on the front cover of the 3ds Max 2010 Bible, it claims the book has a "Color, searchable PDF of the book" on the disc. The PDF is in Black and White. The print quality of the book is already in crappy Black and White so the selling point is that the PDF is in color so that the screenshots and diagrams can be seen more clearly. I'm trying to learn 3ds Max for the first time the fact that the PDF is in Black and White is an extreme disappointment.

This is the response I got from Wiley, "We apologize for the confusion. The cover of the text is in color but the pages just as the printed book are exactly the same in black and white" and "that this was an error in text. The book itself is not 4 color with the exception of 16 pages of color, therefore the PDF should not be 4 color. We apologize for the inconvenience as this will be corrected in the next printing."

One page out of 1300 pages isn't really what I would define as "Searchable, full-color PDF of the book". That's less than 0.1% of the entire book. I bought this book from "Amazon" over a month ago and unfortunately, I have to use it for reference so I'm out of luck for a refund. I also notice the cover for the older 3ds Max 2009 Bible also advertises it comes with a PDF in color. I really wonder how many years the PDF's have been actually in black and white.

By far the best book for 3ds max
This book is very informative concise and to the point.It is like having a person there to help you!

Super fast!
The first thing that I'm glad is most e-shops doesn't ship to my country (Mongolia). But Amazon can ship. The another thing is shipping was very fast, thank you! ... Read more

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• 1000 facts on 100 key topics
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