This is a collection of short stories centered in upstate New York, hence the title Upstate Tales. But the stories reflect universal human experience, invoking family, friends, lovers, history, and geography. While the author focuses upon upstate New York, the writing will resonate with readers everywhere who have the gift of introspection and reflection.
Simona
“In the enchanting allure of Rome, Simona’s life takes an unexpected turn when she encounters Carlo in her office. Unprepared for the whirlwind of passion and intrigue, she discovers a profound connection that awakens a new sense of self. As she navigates the captivating yet dangerous game of hide and seek with mysterious observers, Simona is drawn into a thrilling dance of romance and suspense, set against the backdrop of Italy’s breathtaking capital.”
Second time around
Sometimes the end is just the beginning.
After her divorce, Grace never expected to feel anything again – until a stranger’s kindness sparks a new beginning. When her ex’s wedding brings her to Verona, fate introduces her to Federico... and a chance to reclaim the life she thought she’d lost.
A heartfelt journey through love, loss, and second chances. Three cities. One chance to start over.
Azure nights
Sunshine, secrets... and one life-changing summer.
On a summer holiday in Saint-Tropez, Marina finally reaches her breaking point with her narcissistic partner. When a chance meeting with a man who sees through her defences ignites unexpected passion, Marina must decide whether she’s ready to live life on her own terms.
A sharp, sensual, and emotionally charged story of love, liberation, and starting over.
From Rome to Verona to Saint-Tropez, these sensual, sun-drenched stories follow women on the brink of change, each daring to leave behind what no longer serves them and leap into the unknown.
These tales speak of hope, love sometimes turned sour and the astounding powers of the human psyche.
Common wisdom says the price of love is pain. Ida, an artist’s model and a joyful wench who is swept off her feet by sexy Sergei, couldn’t agree more. Fortunately, she is resourceful, has a way with animals and will not be the one to bear the brunt of the pain. (The Price of Love)
You will not, however, be confined to the here-and-now but carried back in time (The Embroiderer’s Tale) or sent spinning into the distant future (The Darkness, Beware the Sandman).
In these thirteen remarkable stories, Paul Maxton delves deep into the human condition, exploring both its tenderness and brutality while exposing the fragility of the mind. Set against the backdrop of Scotland’s islands and cities, misfits and miscreants have a tenuous grip on reality, resorting to strange, often extreme, behaviour to express their hopes and desires.
A man grapples with his anger management, leading to destructive consequences.
A burnt-out soldier takes revenge on a friend during a goose-hunting trip.
An alcoholic nurse, on her final warning, is consumed by news of an earthquake.
A workaholic manager finds a Triumph Bonneville irresistible during a drug-fueled binge.
A boy’s fierce imagination draws him toward a mother he both loathes and longs for.
Bursting with originality and dark humour, Maxton’s stories are unnerving, inventive, and sharply attuned to the nuances of speech. This powerful, uncompromising debut collection delivers punch after punch, creating a world of love, loss, and longing that irresistibly draws the reader in.
Imaginative stories for casual reading by busy people, ranging from micro-stories to more conventional reads, covering historical facts reappraised, ordinary things reperceived, mind-stretching fantasy, and the downright fantastical.
From a brief moment of modern angst, Jeans embarks on a journey into the complications and adventures of today. It questions the importance of time, replacing life’s justifications with philosophy and balancing complexity with the simplicity of clarity.
Its focus is largely on removing time, allowing experience simply to exist and unfold. It establishes an augmentation that welcomes a library of interpretation and closes with a sense of spontaneity and fantasy, like a glass head reflecting facets of personality.
Are you worried? Have you ever thought someone was behind you? Were you rigid and unable to turn around? Could you feel breath on your cheek or hear your name softly called? Do you believe in angels or small children with wings? Well, do you? Or do you feel the bogeyman? Well, are you worried now? He’ll be back; just wait and see. Oooo-oo, this sounds like MOTHER.
– “Dear God, help us please.”
November is the month of remembrance. The quint of October, when warm days still seeped through, is gone. The landscape on the horizon is growing dark; the light from the sun seems to go dim wherever it goes.
Playing on the streets where the fiery leaves clung on under terraces of houses, coal smoke plumed up firmaments upon the skyline, illuminating the mysterious horizon beyond. At the top of Hampton Cove hill, nightfall began to settle with the ambient orange streetlights clicking light into a day now gone. I was alone with him for the first time in my life. The game was on, in light to dark. Manhunt was in play, and our other friends playing had cheated the streets.
At the top of Hampton Cove hill below the last lingering leaves on the trees. Lost with each other without purpose. We had lost the game of manhunt. This was the first time we were alone together, separated from our friends.
Awkward as we hung around. We loitered about, tired and worn out, in the futile pursuit. He spotted a Coke can on the road and went over. I felt very puzzled as he forced his foot in between the center of the can. After his foot was lodged in, he took the can and clink-clanked along the road. The sound was familiar to me before he had said it, ‘I AM ROBO-COP.’
I burst out laughing, like never before, with a peer together. A friendship began.
Once again, S.P. Peredo draws from both personal experiences and his imagination to present a collection of engaging stories: During a visit to a museum in Alaska, Judy sees the photograph of a woman with an uncanny resemblance to her and sets out to solve the mystery behind it; During a camping trip, a man who nearly drowns has a near-death vision that alters how he thinks about his own mortality; the life story of a young Mexican man who perishes in his attempt to enter the United States Illegally shows the gentle, human side of migrants seeking a better life; A sensitive young man is moved by the paranormal experiences centred around his mother’s death; a fantastical allegory of human society as seen through the lives of ectoparasites that live and thrive on human skin; A comical, yet sad, street musician in Mexico City finds an opportunity for success through a chance encounter with two boys on their way to school; An old man, through an amazing dream and his love for a young woman, finds a glimpse of eternity; an audacious man who never thinks twice about consequences In his quest for adventure.
These heartfelt, beautifully written stories, full of vivid imagery, are evocative in their range of themes that lead intriguing characters to encounter the spectrum of human emotions, including friendship, betrayal, hope, despair and love.
John Lewis has spent his life doing many different things, but the passion that has stayed closest to his heart is the care and training of dogs. After time spent in the army and the corporate world of business, Lewis began to focus on his love for dogs and his seemingly natural ability to train them. Shaggy Dog Memoirs explores his work alongside these four-legged friends in a personally humorous way.
Throughout these entertaining memoirs John paints a picture of his love and connection with dogs, creating a collection of stories that share much wisdom as well as allow the reader to get to know the writer himself.
A grandfather involved in money laundering, a bureaucrat with short stature and of no importance, and neighbors who place their bets on roulette. These are merely a handful of the numerous uplifting narratives that emerge from the richly woven tapestry of human existence.
Most of us have at the back of our minds or memories our “Oh yes, I remember whens.” These are things from our past, which we have long since forgotten, until someone or something acts as a stimulus to bring them to our minds, whether welcome or possibly even hurtful. Situations which, until something or someone brings them to our mind, come alive at the stimulus, ” You remember it as a comment from a friend or even a particular sound or smell. “Oh yes,” you say! “I had totally forgotten about that, but now that you mention it, I remember being there and recall when so-and-so said such-and-such…”
“How many times have we said to ourselves, ‘If only I had recorded and kept a diary of what happened that afternoon!’” If I had done so, I could have written a book on it. But so many of us haven’t kept sufficient details to write our magnum opus. But we can try! Instead of trying to write a 100% accurate detail of what transpired, we can include the relevant experiences in a fictional version of what happened. Yes, it all happened, but not strictly as described in this book.
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