A short memoir of lessons learned in the kitchen and garden of the author's grandmother. The influence of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl is seen in lessons of work, food and generosity.

A Heartwarming Holiday Short Story Collection About Home, Kindness, and Second ChancesStep into the quiet magic of the holiday season with this beautifully written collection of short stories that celebrate the moments that matter most.Set against snowy nights, glowing windows, and familiar winter rituals, these stories explore the many ways the holidays shape our lives. Within these pages, you’ll meet characters facing reconciliation after years apart, chi...

Professional photographer Rowan O'Donnell doesn't want to find dead bodies, but for the second time she has stumbled across one. With her boyfriend, Rob, and Twist, her loyal dog, Rowan becomes involved in a murder case in the mountains of Colorado in order to help out a friend, but soon finds that this is much more than it seems. Her investigations lead her to knowledge that an entire community is in danger, not to mention her own life.

A young woman in France in 1964 has a dream of being a clothing designer. During the day, she works as a seamstress in the atelier of a large fashion house. At night, she works at making her dreams come true.

In this short story that takes place during the 2020 pandemic, a young boy discovers a mysterious power hidden within his sidewalk chalk drawings. The power's terrible consequences force him to make a decision that could destroy his life, or set him free.

I grew up in a neighborhood where there were several houses believed to be haunted by the children who roamed the area. This is probably true of many areas where homes are old and family histories have morphed over time. Half-heard gossip can fuel the imagination.In this short story, rumors of a home haunted by ghosts gives way to very real family drama. This is a coming-of-age story where the imaginings of childhood are overridden by reality.

Marcus lives in the high mountain country of Colorado. In this short story he makes a decision that results in death and reflections on what it means to be an honorable man in the Rocky Mountain West.

Imagine painting the same subject day after day for years. Would the artist come to be tired of it? Would it grow stale? Or would the artist see the challenge in making each painting unique?Manuel is a gallery owner who discovers an artist who has painted the same church for years. And each painting is unique and expressive of the man's love for the church. Can others be made to see the artist's genius?

This is a collection of short stories about contemporary women living and working in the western United States. They each face challenges - poverty, violence, grief, discrimination - and handle them in their own way, but usually with a spirit of grit and determination. Three of these stories have never before been published, and one was a 2021 finalist in The LAURA Short Story contest for members of Women Writing the West.

This short story first appeared in the collection Her West. A woman decides to leave her home in the middle of the night with no destination. Just aimlessly driving until her car runs out of gas and she finds herself alone and isolated in the dessert.Trigger warning: This story ending can be interpreted as a suicide.

The art of making perfumes has long fascinated writers and the public. Just the very act of smelling another person can be intimate and profound.Scientists have long said that our sense of smell can trigger intense memories long after the scent is first encountered. It is a primal force that can trigger fear, desire, longing, hunger, or even a sense of safety. Being able to manipulate this force has long been the goal of perfume makers.In this story, the perfume maker has ano...

Previously published in the short story collection, Her West, this is a story about a young woman's history project that results in a grisly and sorrowful discovery. Not all old and abandoned houses hold horrific secrets - but some of them do.