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"The whole house shook." Thus begins the novella, What Just Landed in The Villages? Something very strange, on a golf course, in the middle of the night. How did it get there and where did it come from? Is it hostile or friendly? The world goes agog over the object, but for the 125,000 residents of this Florida retirement community, it's just a huge annoyance. All the attention it brings, not to mention the National Guard, interferes with their lifestyle. They just want it to go away, so they can again move freely around The Villages, visit their numerous clubs without impediment, and not worry about the masses trying to invade their community. In the end, how will it all end? Following the novella are eleven of Martin's short stories, several of them prizewinners in the annual Florida Writers Association's Royal Palm Literary Awards (RPLA) competition. Each story has a twist or surprise ending. Read about: a cancer survivor who says he hit a deer driving home from the doctor's office; a wannabe pianist who makes a deal with The You Know Who; a doctor treating an ordinary patient who turns out to be anything but; a Maestro who is full of himself until he hears a young violinist play part of Vivaldi's Four Seasons; a strange patient being treated in a World War I field hospital; a golfer who gets a little too uppity for the golf gods; Big John and Little John, Confederate army buddies, with a very special relationship hidden from their comrades; a member of a writing critique club who is told that his work is no good and can never be published; a young man confronting a beggar in India; a lung disease patient who promises she'll quit smoking; and, a writer who calls on a most unlikely muse to help finish his novel.Rounding out this volume are the beginning chapters of six of Martin's novels, two of which also won RPLA awards. Liberty Street: A Novel of Late Civil War Savannah won 2nd Place in the category of Published Historical Fiction. The Boy Who Dreamed Mount Everest won 2nd Place in the category of Unpublished Middle-Grade Fiction. All of the novels are available on Amazon.
