NIWA presents stories to chill the heart and warm the soul. An old school sci-fi murder mystery in the vein of Clarke and Asimov; A mousy cubical drone with desperate hidden desires; A servant of evil hell-bent on a bargain to make himself immortal; The wasted land of the future holds more than a girl thought to find; Unannounced visitors push a wounded vet to the edge of sanity; A lonely man and a shopkeeper find faith in the smallest of articles; In war and peace, some scars never fully heal and sometimes the monster in the woods may be your only chance not to become prey. From the coffee stained, microbrew soaked Pacific Northwest comes a collection of speculative fiction from the Northwest Independent Writers Association. NIWA has assembled eight short pieces from up-and-coming local authors, ranging from stories to keep you awake at night, to tales of swords, sorcery, and humanity's far-flung future.