A collection of twelve 21st Century tales, rich in character, dialogue, and irony, out of the head of a Mark Twain International Writing Competition finalist. Humor, irony, and surprise play starring roles in these contemporary stories that both provoke and entertain. Grounded in the complexities of modern culture, they feature parents; kids; convicts; hustlers; lawyers; mobsters; politicians; and other undesirables. The stories are driven by complex characters who find themselves up against one thing or another. Take five:
• A recently divorced father sharing custody of his young son learns about parenting in an unlikely place–Death Row.
• A girls’ softball team rebels and instructs parents and coaches in the value of competition.
• A top-dollar attorney complains about the bill and unwittingly becomes his plumber’s Zen pupil.
• Two brothers try to make sense of their lives after their domineering mother’s death.
• An eighty-three-year-old former cowgirl resorts to drugs, kidnapping, and interstate flight to escape the nursing home and reclaim her life.