Take me back to the days when mentoring was a well-respected craft and a highly sought after profession by young people. First-time author Robert Collins delivers a passionate, spell-binding account of his life as an athletics coach and mentor spanning more than two decades of his life. His memoir is chock-full of delightful and compelling stories and experiences both on and off the playing field. Collins' paints vivid pictures of fond memories experienced as well as painful and insightful...

Jim Lane: Scoundrel, Statesman, Kansan is historian Robert Collins's revelatory biography of one of America's most controversial politicians.As the life of US senator James Lane unfolded on the Kansas frontier, so did his saintly and dastardly deeds. Some called him a murderer while others affectionately called him a good politician. Carefully preserving the character of the misunderstood senator, this book tells the untold and largely fo...

Cathal was king of Munster, and Fergal was king of Ulster, with an intense rivalry between them as both wanted to be high king. Fergals sister, Leah, fell in love with Cathal and sent him delicacies. Fergal summoned his wizard and ordered him to perform his mystical practices so that whoever eats them will never again have a days health for the rest of his life.When the apples entered Cathals stomach, they turned into worms, but one large worm consumed all the others. From then on,...

Black Hole with a Heart of Gold is a metaphor that operates on several levels: Burma is a country that has been hermetically sealed to the outside world for many decades, as if it were a black hole on the map. But despite the many years of political and economic turmoil, the Burmese people seem to have found the antidote to the suffering caused by fear, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, in other words, the Black Hole of the human condition. Black Hole with a Heart of Gold will take...

An intimate look at the people of the prairies in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta – who they are, how they live, what makes them a breed apartThe prairies are Robert Collins’s spiritual home. He was born and raised on a Saskatchewan farm, but spent most of his adult life living elsewhere. Now he returns to his homeland to pay homage to the special character of the people who live in this unique region of Canada.Prairie People i...

This book explores the tensions that have arisen in the diaspora as a result of large numbers of Russian migrants entering established overseas parishes following the collapse of the Soviet Union.These tensions, made more fervent by the increasing role of the Church as part of the expression of Russian identity and by the Church’s entry into the global ‘culture wars’, carry with them alternative views of a range of key issues – cosmopolitanism versus reservation, liberalism versus ...

A ragged man visits the houses of the nobility. He entered ODonnels house unknown and asked the musicians to play for him. Then he took the harp from them and played far superior music with the harp between his feet, and he played the music with his toes. He insulted ODonnell and was surrounded by armed men, but he made some of the armed men assume his features, and they were attacked and killed. He restored them to life by getting the doorkeeper to rub their upper palates with an herb.

Have you ever been in a conversation that went sideways on you and you didn't know why. Sure you have, we all have, and it doesn't matter whether it was with your spouse, children, friends, client, boss or employee. You found yourself at a loss because you didn't know what caused the sudden shift in direction.That is what this book is about. "Adult conversations" will give you the tools to redirect the conversation where it belongs or signal you that it is time to shut it down....

**Who Gets to Adapt?The Environmental Elite and the Climate Divide**Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it is a sorting mechanism. Centuries of rigid social institutions have prevented environmental elite decisionmakers and organizations from incorporating blue collar communities in the rapidly evolving growth of climate adaptation. It is not that these groups don't want to, but the social structures do not allow for the recognition of need fo...

John Pare is a convicted thief serving time in prison somewhere in the Cassini Empire. His hope is to serve out his sentence then get back to his profession. Then a jailed rebel comes to him with an offer: lead a heist on another planet that will hurt the Empire.It all seems solid to Pare. It’s one high-paying job, and either he can retire or he’ll get a new boss. Will it be as solid as he thinks? What will he do if something goes wrong?

An isolated community ruled by women captures a young man. Later his lover is taken in. The daughter of the ruler of the community makes friends with the young woman. That friendship will make her take another look at the assumptions her community has lived under.

This collection contains nine short stories featuring Jake Bonner, the hero of Expert Assistance, Haven, and Janitorial Assistance.Jake faces all manner of adventures in these tales. A scientist is claiming evidence of ancient aliens, and Jake has to offer protection. An old friend needs a guard for a wedding on a posh asteroid. An young star needs help dealing with a rival celebrity. Then there’s the woman claiming to be a telepat...