Topher Lydon

I lost ten years to illness, I'm just making up for that lost time. But I have always written quickly, thus the many typos I am slower right now than I used to be. I'm a penpal of Danielle Steele, her advice was amazing in how to write and how to set a pace. I will share one tidbit here: George and Sally don't need to be from an exotic place, make them your neighbours and then see where they take you. As for reading: pick something you find interesting, most of my work is numbered so it's easy to pick up. I am told Carter's Breach is a good place to start the newer Carter books. But I like the Cozy romance stuff, Return of the Sun was my first published novel, it's recently celebrated twenty years of release. The point is, like with all the authors on here. We just want you (the reader) to enjoy yourself.

Ponchos rock!

**Chapter 6: The Gardener's Canvas** The air between them had changed. It wasn't just the humidity, which hung heavy and sweet over the Doily Dungeon, smelling of phlox and wet earth. It was something denser, warmer, a current that hummed just under the skin. It was the feeling of a truce signed in sweat and pond water; the unspoken rules of the game now clear to both players. Alvin sat on the back porch steps, a mug of roasted dandelion root tea in his hand. He still th

Kieran has found himself the most dangerous thing to a Sociopath. Interesting.

whoops shouldn't have mentioned that yet, then, ahem you all read nothing.

The expulsion from University, combined with it. It isn't clear in the earlier chapters why this happened, but his father is clear about what is and what is not his son.

Riley, proving once again that he wins!

# **Chapter Six: The King’s Ransom** Monday morning brought a change in the weather. The heavy, low grey sky that had pressed down on Cradle Grove for weeks finally split open. Not with rain, but with a thin, watery sunlight that felt more like an interrogation lamp than a blessing. It washed over the estate, illuminating every crack in the pavement, every weed choking the gutters, every lurid splash of graffiti with a cruel, clinical clarity. The light didn't warm; it exposed. It als

Thanks for reading my rather unhinged Christmas collection this year Again, I sincerely apologize for K-pop Twinks in Space, they're banished until next Christmas.

Right-Then, time to get Riley a way to protect himself.

I am in tears over that duet, I am laughing so hard.

There's one, that's what I am talking about. Putting the boot into Puss in boots

There are places in this nation where Police just do not go. Lost to this endemic layered poverty and crime.

could you imagine going back to University after living this kind of existence? Back to his parent's house? There is no way back into a box when you've out grown it.

I must admit, I like that Right-Then-Riley has decided he lives with Kieran now, I don't think Kier was given much say in that. Riley is a different kind of soul in Kieran's world, the problem becomes when does the boy go from being a chatty asset, to a walking vulnerability for Kier? There is a split I use, Kieran and Kier as the person he was becomes swallowed by the one he is becoming.

23 Chapters in total. And you are right, things are going to get difficult

I must admit, I have been looking forward to the epic Cat-Jokes that this story would spawn.

The purring comes later... well never before has a more accurate statement been made...

They are VERY much Cats. All we need is one of them to push a cup off a table, because screw cups.

Those two are wound tighter than a watch spring. Sooner or later the teasing will go a step too far and then... well... we'll see

It's the WAVES man... the WAVES

Chapter 5: The Wi-Fi Warlock & The Gardener's Petulance The blue loading bar had been stuck at 98% for twenty-three minutes. Alvin Katz sat at the kitchen table, staring at his laptop screen with the intensity of a bomb disposal expert. He was trying to upload his portfolio to a freelance platform—a desperate, sweating-in-the-middle-of-the-night attempt to prove to himself, and perhaps to the universe, that he was still an employable graphic designer and not just a warden o

Maybe that's what Ben wants. A challenge.