STORY SAMPLES
~ From the award-winning novel: "Reichold Street"...
It was late August, 1962, when I first saw Albert Parker. After all this time I still remember the year quite distinctly. It was my second teenage summer, part of life's first great transition, and I had been waiting months for something special to happen, something magical. Something like having Marilyn Monroe show up on my doorstep, wearing that flouncy white dress she wore over the subway grate in "The Seven Year Itch."
In my dreams she would ask me, in her breathless whisper, to "take her." At the time, I wasn't even sure what that meant. Hell, it didn't matter. Just having her show up would have been enough, as long as the rest of the gang saw her. Of course, Marilyn never came to 722 Reichold Street in Brickdale.
Albert did.
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Pages: Approx. 280
~ From the 5-STAR novel: "One Way Street"...
Some of the men I stood in the ranks with were the meanest, nastiest, dumbest and craziest people I ever knew. Many, I came to find out, had been given the choice of military service or prison, just like Albert Parker. Some, unlike Albert, probably really deserved it.
I remember looking around at the bunch of them and recalling one of the droll sayings my grandfather had been particularly fond of..."Mixing the good with the bad was like mixing shit with ice cream...it doesn't help the shit any, but it sure screws up the ice cream."
It was late August, 1962, when I first saw Albert Parker. After all this time I still remember the year quite distinctly. It was my second teenage summer, part of life's first great transition, and I had been waiting months for something special to happen, something magical. Something like having Marilyn Monroe show up on my doorstep, wearing that flouncy white dress she wore over the subway grate in "The Seven Year Itch."
In my dreams she would ask me, in her breathless whisper, to "take her." At the time, I wasn't even sure what that meant. Hell, it didn't matter. Just having her show up would have been enough, as long as the rest of the gang saw her. Of course, Marilyn never came to 722 Reichold Street in Brickdale.
Albert did.
Start the adventure today - Buy "REICHOLD STREET" at one of these retail sites:
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Pages: Approx. 280
~ From the 5-STAR novel: "One Way Street"...
Some of the men I stood in the ranks with were the meanest, nastiest, dumbest and craziest people I ever knew. Many, I came to find out, had been given the choice of military service or prison, just like Albert Parker. Some, unlike Albert, probably really deserved it.
I remember looking around at the bunch of them and recalling one of the droll sayings my grandfather had been particularly fond of..."Mixing the good with the bad was like mixing shit with ice cream...it doesn't help the shit any, but it sure screws up the ice cream."
Start the adventure today - Buy "ONE WAY STREET" at one of these retail sites:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Amazon UK
Pages: Approx. 280
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Amazon UK
Pages: Approx. 280
~ From the short story: "The Devil & Charlie Barrow"...
available in the Readers' Favorite Silver Medal collection: "Zebulon"
It was widely accepted that Charlie, if you let him, could sell anything to anyone. Freezers to Eskimos and oil to the Arabs, that kind of thing. But it was also a generally held conviction that it was hardly a reason to condemn him. People should be held responsible for their own foolishness, after all.
When he stepped into the bar that cold night in December, Charlie acted as if Flanagan's was definitely not the first stop he had made. If anyone had asked, everyone, and I do mean everyone, from me to Mayor O'Reilly, would have said Charlie looked like he had been partying since noon. Still, he somehow maintained the dignified presence that seemed to follow him wherever he went.
As Charlie smiled and wobbled his way slowly through the tables, I shook my head in wordless wonder. Charlie ignored many empty seats and finally plunked himself down at the bar.
He took the stool right next to old Beelzebub....
available in the Readers' Favorite Silver Medal collection: "Zebulon"
It was widely accepted that Charlie, if you let him, could sell anything to anyone. Freezers to Eskimos and oil to the Arabs, that kind of thing. But it was also a generally held conviction that it was hardly a reason to condemn him. People should be held responsible for their own foolishness, after all.
When he stepped into the bar that cold night in December, Charlie acted as if Flanagan's was definitely not the first stop he had made. If anyone had asked, everyone, and I do mean everyone, from me to Mayor O'Reilly, would have said Charlie looked like he had been partying since noon. Still, he somehow maintained the dignified presence that seemed to follow him wherever he went.
As Charlie smiled and wobbled his way slowly through the tables, I shook my head in wordless wonder. Charlie ignored many empty seats and finally plunked himself down at the bar.
He took the stool right next to old Beelzebub....
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Pages: Approx. 155
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Amazon UK
Pages: Approx. 155
~ From the short story: "Sharon Ann"...
available in the collection: "Tinker"
The barn stood on a high, rocky rise, and was visible over the gnarled old apple trees to the north of the old farmhouse. While the basic structure was almost as run-down as the house, the hayloft in it was fairly new, with fresh-hewn flooring and a new outer door. I liked it in the loft. With little effort, I could see north as far as Sam Prichard's fish pond and south all the way to Newt Pearson's General Store.
I looked south now, and strained my eyes to see in the waning light. There were a lot of cars at Pearson's. That was not unusual. Many men, mostly those I never saw at the New Bethlehem Church on a Sunday morning, gathered regularly at the store. They arrived from various directions on the old gravel road and plunked themselves down on produce-crate chairs.
Soon, a thick, blue haze of tobacco smoke floated in an endless galactic swirl, while lanky young forms waited a turn on the tattered pool table that graced the center of the room....
available in the collection: "Tinker"
The barn stood on a high, rocky rise, and was visible over the gnarled old apple trees to the north of the old farmhouse. While the basic structure was almost as run-down as the house, the hayloft in it was fairly new, with fresh-hewn flooring and a new outer door. I liked it in the loft. With little effort, I could see north as far as Sam Prichard's fish pond and south all the way to Newt Pearson's General Store.
I looked south now, and strained my eyes to see in the waning light. There were a lot of cars at Pearson's. That was not unusual. Many men, mostly those I never saw at the New Bethlehem Church on a Sunday morning, gathered regularly at the store. They arrived from various directions on the old gravel road and plunked themselves down on produce-crate chairs.
Soon, a thick, blue haze of tobacco smoke floated in an endless galactic swirl, while lanky young forms waited a turn on the tattered pool table that graced the center of the room....
Start the adventure today - Buy "TINKER" at one of these retail sites:
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Pages: Approx. 170
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Amazon UK
Pages: Approx. 170
~ From 5-STAR novel "Street Light" ...
Janice and I had been out together every weekend since our return from Paulie's place in California. Most of our get-togethers we spent doing innocuous, simple things. We went to the movies often, where I stole happy glances at her while we were alone in the dark. Sometimes the light from the projected movie lit her face so it stood out in the shadows. Looking at her profile when it did took my breath away.
I wondered, many times, what she saw in me.
Janice and I had been out together every weekend since our return from Paulie's place in California. Most of our get-togethers we spent doing innocuous, simple things. We went to the movies often, where I stole happy glances at her while we were alone in the dark. Sometimes the light from the projected movie lit her face so it stood out in the shadows. Looking at her profile when it did took my breath away.
I wondered, many times, what she saw in me.
Start the adventure today - Buy "STREET LIGHT" at one of these retail sites:
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Pages: Approx. 266
Amazon, AmazonUK, Barnes & Noble
Pages: Approx. 266
~ From the award-winning novel: "Blood Lake"
"You really don't know, do ya, City Boy?" Luther said.
"Why don't ya tell him?" Earl cackled, "He deserves to know afore the damn banshees get 'im."
"I'll tell him," said Noah, "I'm the one who invited him down here, after all."
"Tell me what?"
Harold and Noah looked at Luther, as if expecting him to answer for them.
"About the curse, of course," Luther said.
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Pages: Approx. 209
Amazon, AmazonUK, Barnes & Noble
Pages: Approx. 209
~ From the 5-STAR NOVEL: "Dead End Street"
Just as I began to think everything was going to be okay, the wind shrieked louder than ever and something seemed to slam into the plane. It felt like it had hit us just behind the prop and right under my seat. The whole plane shuddered.
Oh shit...this doesn't feel right.
"Dammit!" Mango shouted, and the tremor in his voice echoed the fear that had my heart hammering, as the plane's nose rose sharply and the left wing seemed to spin up to the clouds in the sky.
Start the adventure today - Buy "DEAD END STREET" at one of these retail sites:
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Pages: Approx. 200
Amazon, AmazonUK, Barnes & Noble
Pages: Approx. 200