It was a nice change to tackle a collection of short stories like those written by W. Royce Adams in Scar Songs: Stories. Once I finished reading these nine tales featuring male protagonists, each one of whom engaged me psychologically and moved me emotionally, I...

Sculpting Fables: An Ancient Cinderella Time Travel Retelling by Rachel Huffmire introduces Rhodopis, who is a slave. She is bullied by the daughters of her Greek master and dreams of freedom so that she can help others by easing their burdens. When Bleue, a time...

Stingy Jack and the Seven Spirits of Halloween by A.R. Cook is a short Halloween story. Stingy Jack was banished from both heaven and hell and has spent the last 300 years wandering the earth. His only company is a lantern that he carries which...

Still Doing It: The Con is On, Again by Jill Vance is an intriguing novella reminiscent of Oceans 11. Written from a first-person perspective, we are introduced to our female lead, a con artist itching to pull off her next scam. Unfortunately, her team needs...

Stopping The Planes: Story One: 1988 by Tyler Barrus is about Drake, a young boy with a passion for flying, who is also a bit of a nerd. When Drake stumbles upon an MP3 player, he thinks he has found something he can tinker with...

Some Thing by Lori R. Lopez is an entertaining horror short story that keeps you hooked till the end. The author has used the major environmental issue of water contamination at the US-Mexican border as the main theme and cleverly sculpted it into an intriguing...

Silhouettes of Time is a collection of short stories by Dr. Maya Mitra Das with a foreword by Janice De Jesus. There are eleven stories, though the longest is divided into five parts. Most of the stories hearken to Dr. Das’s homeland and include reminiscences...

Stumbling Through Adulthood: Linked Stories by award-winning author John Sheirer is a unique collection of short stories which are subtly linked. There are thirty-one short stories in this anthology with characters that reappear in different stages of their lives. One of my favorites is Are...

Small Smile's Sunday Buddy and other South Brooklyn Tales by J.A. McNally is an anthology of short stories centered around a man's life with Brooklyn as the backdrop. After a sixteen-hour shift, a nurse begins to wonder about the dreams of her unconscious patient. That...

Someone’s Kid by Patti Carpenter opens with Jesse in the throes of an overdose. The description is as real as it gets. Patti knows what she is talking about. I would be surprised if the first few pages do not grab you. From the opening...