"In this collection of stories--ranging in locale from the marshes and pine barrens of East Texas to the row houses of Baltimore, and in time from the Civil War to the present day--Gerald Duff conjures up portraits of people suffering from the condition defined by a character in the prizewinning title story, "Fire Ants." "Does it burn when the fire ants bite?" he says. "Everywhere it stings, a piece of you swells up and rots out"--Jacket flap.

This book is a collection of true stories about real people, family and friends and the influence they had on my life. It is all about the journey that each of us makes through life and how we arrive at our destination.

Exploring widely diverse settingsfrom the wilds of the Australian Outback to urban adventures to biblical landsthis collection of short stories, poems, and other writings celebrates what it is to be Australian. It encompasses love, revenge, debauchery, wonder, loss, and uncertainty, but a common thread of hope emerges from the colourful and eccentric writings of bush author Fairbanks. An elder Aboriginal storyteller regales a group of eager tourists with an ancient story of betrayal, loss, and clever deception by The Old Man in the Mountain. In Tjamiti Ngunytji, an American youth is rescued by a character living in a remote outback Aboriginal community. After the devastating Black Saturday Bushfire destroyed his Victoria home and manuscripts, Fairbanks was inspired to capture the fleeting reflections of such an experience in The Smouldering Stump. Life is, has always been, and will continue to be a complex thing, shaped by friendship and love bonds, ugliness and conflict, anticipation and uncertainty, comedy and joy, tragedy, mystery, and more. Above all, there is hope and beauty for those who look for it. The Old Man in the Mountain and Other Stories celebrates the many threads in the colourful tapestry of life with the quirky, sometimes irreverent Aussie sense of humour.

Quick. What do these characters all have in common? An anguished ghost whose interest in measuring mountains led to his premature death. A retired educator who takes a part-time job inside the cozy confines of Wrigley Field’s manual scoreboard. An obsessive orthodontist known to evangelize his prone patients. A bipolar father whose zany day includes an encounter with the police. And a victim of identity theft, reconsidering his vocation. They’re all pastors, of course. Join storyteller Frank Honeycutt on a roller coaster ride inside the flawed lives and vivid imaginations of sixteen ministers struggling to keep and make sense of their faith. At times humorous, surprising, sad, and even warped, this fictional peek into the private lives of clergy sheds angular light upon the complicated theological motives guiding those called to lead God’s people.

This collection follows a young girl as she comes into her power with the aid of a mysterious River Goddess, a number of helpful animals and non-human others, and a very old friend. Alyssa faces many dangers and overcomes numerous challenges along the way. As she learns how to tap into the magic of everyday life, she gradually develops a deep respect for both human and non-human guides and for herself. This is the “hero’s journey” from a feminine point of view—a journey upon which we are all embarked, male and female alike, as we rediscover our true role: that of fellow travelers with all the beings who share space on the small blue planet we call Earth.

Chauhan's writing is resistance literature. It echoes the harrowing screams of a people long suppressed. Fear and Other Stories is a reminder of the inherent dangers of the Dalit life, a life subjected to unimaginable violence and terror even in its most mundane moments. In this collection of short stories, veteran Gujarati writer Dalpat Chauhan narrates these lived experiences of exasperation and anger with startling vividity. His characters chronicle a deep history of resistance, interrogating historical, mythological and literary legends, foregrounding the perspectives of the disenfranchised. Chauhan deftly wields his prose to counter dominant narratives, pointing out gaps and voicing the silences within. In ?The Payback, for a change, we see famished savarnas begging Dalit families for food that they scorn otherwise. The eponymous Fear follows the heroic but doomed resistance of Dalit youths fighting against savarna men with the 'right' to enter their homes and molest women inside. And the allegorical Cold Blood features a doctor who tries to leave behind his identity with his surname, only to be reminded of it when the savarnas accept his blood, but not water from his hands. Hemang Ashwinkumar's nimble translation introduces the English reader to Chauhan's heart-wrenching stories while unmasking a rural Gujarat unrecognizable from its supposedly vibrant idylls. His introduction to the book not just contextualises Chauhan's work, but is also a touching and thought-provoking commentary on the larger canvas of Dalit literature.

Publisher’s Weekly hailed the “wit and subtlety” in Gerald Duff’s fiction as “simply satisfying as a tall cold one on a hot Gulf Coast afternoon,” and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazetter said “Gerald Duff’s dialogue is among the best being written, and his sense of the absurd is Portis-like.” This new collection of short stories by the author of Coasters (2001) features the Ploughshares Cohen Prize-winning story “Fire Ants.”

""Time Adjusters" reminded me of Vonnegut; Cut Up "The Stolen Scroll" will be of special interest to fans of the Beat Generation"--Jay Mejia, Writer/Poet"A wild memory-frag sci-fi adventure...some of my favorite lines in the title story from an early flashback (referring metaphorically to some baseball cards), 'Sometimes I find them old and faded; other times they are slick and new. You can almost smell the bubblegum. But sometimes I look into the drawer and they are not there at all.' Thanks, Bill."--Mike O'Connor, Writer/Columnist"Fun throughout."--Larry Keenan, Artist/Photographer"Bill Ectric's writing fits neatly into no category; it is funny and serious, heartfelt and intellectually adventurous." - Levi Asher, Creator/CEO, LitKicks"Time Adjusters and Other Stories" is nine high voltage doses of mystery, science fiction, and the bizarre, with alternating currents of vision and satire.

"From the widowed Filipino father raising a son in a migrant work camp to the young veteran haunted by the ghost of war, The Weight of the Sun shows us not only what it is to be human, but how the human spirit can grow when faced with overwhelming adversity."--BOOK JACKET.