Life is quiet in Live Oak, Texas. The year is 1957. The American Dream is in full bloom. Yet there is a dark side no one talks about. It's called The Roadhouse. Sheriff John Stone wants to shut the place down. The county commissioners disagree. The Roadhouse brings in lots of outside money. Some of it goes into their pockets.

When one of the commissioners dies there, Stone starts to dig and finds a buried body. He digs deeper and finds two more, both homicides. He also finds a mob connection. Then two witnesses turn up and the question is whether Stone can keep them alive.

Set in north Texas, Ashes in the Outhouse is a journey into another time, another world. It is a journey into the human heart and the discovery of hope. For the deeper story, running parallel to vice and corruption, is that of a man and woman who find love in the ashes of their lives. By Joel B Reed.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...the spring of hope... the winter of despair...."

Charles Dickens could have been writing about life in Live Oak, Texas, as America drifted into the brave new world of the 'Sixties. There was a dark side to the American Dream rarely seen and never discussed. It was born of anger and jealousy, from high expectations dashed in bitter disappointment, and fueled by the lash of harsh religious conviction. It lurked just below the mask of good manners and took flight in vicious gossip. No one was left untouched.

The Stone family is no exception. Sheriff John Stone and his wife, Milly, are well thought of in the community. Yet it is often pointed out that their first child was born far too soon after their marriage. Nor is it forgotten that they have taken in two 'Meskin' orphans, or that these kids are bright and talented. Or how the Stones took her in when the father and brothers of the village slut were sent to prison.

Even so, Ashes of the Dead is a testament of hope. It is the story of how the Stone family not only survives but thrives in the crucible of rural life in Texas during the 'Sixties. It bears witness to the power of love to overcome adversity and transform human foolishness and despair. By Joel B Reed.

"The whole affair started as a joke, as a flight of fancy fueled by grandiose imagination. The beer may have had something to do with it, too. There were two empty pitchers on the table and what started as a discussion evolved into an argument. It ended with a bet. I could not believe any mature woman in her right mind would even bother to respond to such nonsense. Anne knew her sisters all too well and had her doubts...."

So begins this earthy tale of one man's unintended quest to find his heart's desire in a strange, confusing world. He considers himself happily married, his life is as good as it gets. All he wants is to win a friendly argument with his wife. When it becomes a matter of principle, he makes a bet.

With this simple act, his quest is launched. It will be an odyssey that turns his life upside down as it leads him through the twists and turns of a strange and wonderful world called polyamory. It will lift him to heights he's never known and plunge him into depths of despair. Yet, in the end he will learn the meaning of love and find the greatest gift of all. By Cody Grey Adams.

Where is the line between sanity and mental chaos? Andrew Barrabbas hears voices. Are they figments of his imagination, or the voices of angels? Or are they his personal demons? And the mystic visions he has, are they messages from God or evidence of psychosis? Or is the answer simpler? Are these things due to his alcoholism? Andy Barrabbas doesn't know.

To find out, he takes a remarkable journey into his past to discover what is tearing him apart. On the brink of suicide, Andy admits himself to a mental hospital. There he is put through detox, and once his mental fog begins to clear, he is asked to write his personal history. The doctor in charge quickly realizes Andy is suffering from more than simple alcoholsim. He shows all the symptoms of a combat veteran. The diagnosis is PTSD and the doctor suspects the traumatic stress is from childhood abuse. So he asks Barabbas to write a sexual history.

Yet the doctor is unprepared for the results. Andy's search becomes a spiritual quest and a psychological odyssey, and the good doctor is faced with an unsettling question. Who is the healer and who is in need of healing? By Samuel S. Abinitio.