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...

In this short story, Jim wakes up one morning into a day of silence. The hustle and bustle of the city is gone - and so are the electricity and motor vehicles that run the world.How does he respond? How will the world react when everything has to be done by hand and in-person? Does it have to be a dystopia? Jim's first days in this new reality could set the tone for years to come.

The public library was going to be closed Christmas Day. The church shelter nearby was closed as well for Christmas Eve and Christmas night. With no day or evening shelter available for the street people in this small town nestled near the Rocky Mountains, the librarian hoped for a miracle.This gentle crime story with a touch of magic is the perfect read on a cozy winter night.This story was originally published in the book Magic and Mistletoe: A Dragon Soul Press Anthology, ...

Children face many dangers in the world, some old and some new. How do we protect them and ourselves? And most importantly, teach them to protect themselves?This story centers around an event in the Mt. Massive Wilderness of Colorado. The details are from a real-life experience I had with my mother while camping, and we still talk about it to this day.

These are a mix of stories about childhood reverie, gentle crime, and winter weather - but all are centered around the Christmas holiday.Winter can be a wonderful season, but I think these stories are best read inside, next to a warm fire or candles, with a warm drink of tea or cocoa beside you.

In Mountain Trout, a young woman is lake fishing in the Arkansas River headwaters in Colorado, and remembering all that she had learned about the sport, and about life, from her beloved uncle who has recently passed.This short story is a reflection on a place and the beauty of the surrounding mountain valley and placed third in The LAURA Short Fiction Awards for 2021.

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.

In the dusty and hot parking lot of a local tavern, a young woman is overcome with a memory from her childhood that causes her to reconsider her relationship and her future in a small town in Colorado.

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...

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.