Freshwater Heritage - A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918

"The stories collected here challenge the orthodoxy of what Canadian fiction can and should do, while continually adding fuel to the eternal flame of literature. These are "tales from tomorrow" in that the future is now -- it's 2010...We need more books like this, Canada. If you're one of those who counts themselves among Darwin's illegitimate children as well, check this one out." -- Broken Pencil

"Canadians who read this book will be proud to see that their imaginative landscape is as wildly bizarre - and honest to the truth - as ever." -- Globe & Mail

Social satire, fabulist tales and darkly humorous dystopian visions by some of Canada's most adventurous and distinguished writers.

The 23 stories in Darwin's Bastards take us on a twisted, wild ride into some future times and parallel universes where characters as diverse as a dead boy, a one-legged international actuarial forensics specialist, a pharmaceutical guinea pig, and a far-sighted fetus engage in their own games of the survival of the fittest.

The collection includes the first new short story by William Gibson to be published since 1997, as well as original, previously unpublished fiction by Lee Henderson, Timothy Taylor, Heather O'Neill, Mark Anthony Jarman, and others.

From recent Trillium Award-winner Pasha Malla's hilarious take on the apocalypse, where Prince is the only man left alive, to newcomer Matthew J. Trafford's brilliant triptych about the fallout from the cloning of Jesus Christ, to iconoclast Sheila Heti's meditative romp about beleaguered physicists and Oracle of Delphi-like BlackBerrys, Darwin's Bastards is a fast-moving, thought-provoking reading extravaganza.

A Dog in a Hat is the remarkable story of Joe Parkin. In 1987, Parkin left the comforts of home to become a bike racer in Belgium, the hardest place in the world to be a bike racer. As one of the first American pros in Europe, Parkin was what the Belgians call “a dog with a hat on” — something familiar, yet decidedly out of place.

Parkin's memoir reads like a novel. In plainspoken and fast-paced prose, Parkin describes the true life of the professional bike racer, putting the reader into the whirlwind of this hardest of athletic educations. A Dog in a Hat begins with Parkin's terrifying first visit to his team doctor, where he is strapped to a table and monitored by humming electrodes as men in white lab coats coldly divine his future as a pro.

Parkin's story is honest. A Dog in a Hat celebrates the glory of bike racing, but Parkin thrillingly tells the hard reality of the life—the drugs, the payoffs, the betrayals by teammates, the battles with team owners for contracts and money, the endless promises that keep you going, and the rider's sheer physical agony of racing day after day.

Despite the pain, despite the suffering, A Dog in a Hat is a beautiful book. It is one American’s story of his love affair with professional cycling, set in the hardest place in the world to be a bike racer. It is a story untold until now, and one that Parkin’s readers will never forget.

SEA BITCH is a collection of four short stories by the acclaimed nautical writer Christine Kling. The women and girls who sail these waters might appear somewhat innocent, but all turn deadly dangerous before these tales are done. Look out guys, if there is one theme among these pages, it is that revenge is sweet.

The first story "The Night Watchman" is the original story wherein Christine created Seychelle Sullivan, the tug and salvage captain who went on to appear in her first four books, and serves as a prequel to the series.

"Dead Storage" first appeared in the popular collection Miami Noir published by Akashic Books.

The collection concludes with bonus excerpts from Christine's new thriller CIRCLE OF BONES and from the first in her Seychelle Sullivan series titled SURFACE TENSION

Praise for Christine Kling:

"Ms. Kling is a rising queen in the suspense genre." – Midwest Book Review

"[Kling] brings authority and authenticity to her novels, putting into lively focus the characteristics and personalities of the colorful people who make a living on the water." – The Miami Herald

"Kling not only makes her readers curious – she sweeps them into the crosscurrent and makes them care." – Mystery Scene Magazine

"Kling writes with crisp assurance, especially about life in South Florida." – Publishers Weekly

"Seychelle Sullivan is a worthy successor to John D. MacDonald's fabled Travis McGee." – The (Cleveland) Plains Dealer

'One of the most charismatic and flamboyant cyclists in recent history' Daily Telegraph

Laurent Fignon is one of the giants of modern cycling. Twice-winner of the Tour de France in the early eighties, Fignon became the star for a new generation. In 1989 he took part in one of the most fiercely-contested Tours of all time. Over the course of 3,285 kilometres he lost out to his American arch-rival, Greg LeMond, by an agonising eight seconds on the final Parisian time trial.

In this forthright and unflinching account the former champion spares neither friends nor opponents, nor even himself. In doing so he gives cycling fans a tantalising glimpse of what really went on behind the scenes of this epic sport - the friendships, the rivalries, the betrayals, the scheming, the parties, the girls, and, of course, the performance-enhancing drugs.

Laurent Fignon lived cycling at its peak. He enjoyed a truly exceptional career, winning over eighty titles from 1982 to 1993. The highs were matched by lows of serious injury, periods of self-doubt, and accusations of cheating.

Fignon's story bestrides a golden age in cycling: a time when the headlines spoke of heroes, not doping, and a time when cyclists were afraid of nothing.