A small collection of short stories coupled with three book excerpts. BLUE FLAGS tells the story of an old woman living along the Arizona-Mexico border. A FRAIL SANCTUARY follows a meth-addled young man back home. FORTUNE LENDS ATTRACTION is about...

Lazarus Dale can teach you how to reach your full potential through his Learning to Listen Well seminars. You, too, can have a beautiful wife, a successful career, a stylish mansion -- all you have to do is follow his instructions for a perfect life.

Is knowledge bitter or sweet? Fourteen year old Irene's parents spent a lifetime building a paradise which sheltered her and her siblings from the harsh realities of the world. A mix of love and deception kept her feeling secure and in control u...

Frustrated novelist Tim Chase just thought of the best plot idea he has had in three years. The problem is he's dead. Now he's stuck in the afterlife as an unassigned soul with two goals in mind: getting his last and greatest novel published and ...

When Francis DeLucia returns home at the end of WWII, he encounters a job and housing market crowded with other returning veterans. Desperate to support his growing family, Francis accepts a job from a suspected Mob boss. Katie, his young Irish w...

Aging actress Sondra Lane hasn't had a good break since the disco era. Now past sixty, all she has to show for her years in Hollywood are a B-movie credit and a vintage red convertible. With no love and no audience, where is the Charmed Life she o...

Milo Crosby is a retiree with too much time and too many women on his hands. He's the thorn in a zoo volunteer's side, an easy mark in an aging actress's sights, and the co-conspirator in his doting granddaughter's life. When all four paths inters...

When an old woman and her dog go on a routine errand along the Arizona-Mexico border, they encounter an unexpected complication.

Originally published as part of a regional magazine in 2007, this short prize-winning essay is a true account of an event that has shaped my life.