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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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, ...

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.

What happens when you don't take charge of your destiny? One young woman tries to survive the challenge of her life when a mountain hike becomes a life and death struggle.

A family learns how intelligent and frighteningly devoted crows can be when a young girl befriends a family of the birds. This short story takes place in Denver, Colorado, where the danger that lurks is not always the expected.

An artist lost to time in the jungles of India, a missing, security guard, and a damaged painting. Le Tigre is a short story about a painting come to life, in a most horrible way.

Meet Rye Gannon, a private detective who knows her craft and doesn't blink, even when she discovers that magic is real - and that she has the unusual ability to find it. Rye is hired by the Harpocrates Society, a secret organization, to use her newly discovered talent to find and secure magical items, and she is drawn into a world of adventure and intrigue she hadn't known was possible.When a magical object is stolen from a curio shop in Omaha, Nebraska, Rye is called in to find th...

Rowan suspects a young neighbor of stealing packages off her and other neighbors' front porches. She's a good kid and Rowan enlists the help of Twist, her loyal dog, to help find out the reason and find a solution - just in time to enjoy Christmas.This story takes place after the novel Ambient Light and we find out how Rowan's relationship with Stone is evolving, along with what challenges she is currently facing with her current work.We also learn that Rowan has a stalker. W...