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The Coffee Diary This is a story of Veronica who grows up in Guatemala on a coffee farm. As a teen she rebels against her father and the culture and leaves the country hoping never to return. When her father is murdered by extortionists he leaves her the farm. The corrupt mayor of the town of Moyuta has been calling her in California wanting to buy the farm. She returns to Guatemala to decide whether to sell Las Marias or to continue running it, and she finds a diary that she had written at 14. She relives that year and discovers that her father's died to preserve the farm for her.

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"When Two Trails Become One" has a western flair that takes place in 1972, with flashbacks to 1940, and mainly centers on Jessie and Clayton as they essentially find each other again after about three decades. A "loveless marriage" and a less than fulfilling "relationship" start Jessie looking back on her past, which begins to virtually overlap with the present. In numerous twists and turns, the story explores the complexities of human nature, highlighting qualities relating to identity, beliefs, and love in various forms. The story opens with Jessie feeling "annoyed that her seclusion is in danger of being interrupted by 'some city slicker' on horseback who wouldn't have the foggiest notion of how to find his way back down the mountain after dark." Her feelings about Jace Edwards, her live-in lover, take something of a turn, and saying "I'll be back in two weeks," she heads out for a ride up on Cry Baby Mountain to the cabin she and Clayton had discovered all those years ago. Over the last thirty-one years thoughts of Clayton had surfaced at random and usually at the most inconvenient times. Her father viewed Clayton as a 'worthless drifter' and had told Jessie she was never to lay eyes on him again, and Clayton felt Jessie didn't stand up for him. As the narrative moves back and forth in time marking certain experiences that may lead to a reunion of sorts, Jessie and Clayton strive to reconcile their individual motivations and responses. When she seemingly goes missing, a rescue team takes action and the sheriff commences an investigation into 'who attacked Jessie up on Cry Baby Mountain.' In the concluding pages of the story, the sheriff focuses a degree of attention toward Dakota Jay, a longtime friend of both Jessie and Clayton. A journal entry from Clayton furnishes some potentially unexpected information, and Jessie ponders whether or not, in her overzealous quest to find Clayton, maybe she had overlooked some important details. With elements of suspense and emotion, this offering is designed to capture the imagination as well as to provoke thought. The possibility of a sequel is left open with Jessie heading down "a dirt road with Clayton's blue hand-painted truck just ahead" and thinking to herself, "sometimes love isn't so much about what you give as it is what you don't give."

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This is a tough one. I think I may have bitten off more than I should be chewing considering this series is supposed to be jaunty motorcycle fare. Death, and its threat, has been featured quite a bit though and people have been focussing on the speed more than I intend. In this piece, I am quoting references from all over the map and trying to distill a bit of urban lifestyle philosophy into the motorcyle milleu. I am not sure it works. It is all pressed through my patented whalehead filter (TM), but I'm not convinced this belongs in the series. I don't think it;s bad, I am not sure that it is clear. Commentary, please, will be much appreaciated. Thumbs up or thumbs down? Shoule this live or be buried? Thanks in advance and Happy Independence Day.

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This is a story about an alcoholic who desperately seeks answers to how her father died. She experiences many set backs during this trial. She finds a connection with him she cannot seem to break, and lies and decption rule her decisions. After some soul-searching, I decided to re-submit this.

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Sam Tabor is a bright child with a promising future, but when her alcoholic mother gets a new boyfriend, her world starts to fall apart piece by piece. Sam hits the streets and stumbles into The Mercury Diner, where she’s told by a kind waitress to seek out a man by the name of Bruno, who can be found in The Jungle. After years in The Jungle, Bruno’s business partner calls in a debt. Sam’s world crumbles again, but a man with multiple identities intercedes on her behalf, and believes the young girl will be safeguarded in a maximum security prison. Out of jail, Sam is offered a safe place to live, but is she really freed from her past, and danger?

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Set in 1953 post-hurricane Puerto Rico, David Brandt, a mining geologist, arrives in the coffee region of the Cordillera Central to purchase property for copper excavation. The owner is away at a political rally, and the wife, knowing nothing of her husband’s intention to sell, mistakes Brandt for Red Cross. Brandt goes along with this idea so as not to stir up trouble. But, the deeper Brandt becomes immersed in the lives of the people, the culture, the land, the more conflicted he is about his role. But, things aren’t what they seem, and in the end, it is Brandt who is deceived.

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When Ethan Elliot, the prodigal son with a poet’s heart, crosses paths with the eccentric Jules, their trajectories align, hurtling them far from the boroughs of New York City, on a life-changing, cross-country, roller-coaster ride into the bowels of Middle America. After a hap chance meeting on a subway in Manhattan, Ethan and Jules are forever bound by a single self-portrait. However, it’s only after we are introduced to the worldly, mystery drifter, Wolfgang, that their true colors begin to show. The three “lost souls…nbsp; take off in a Chevy Chevelle bound for Boonville, Missouri expecting to find themselves, the world they once knew, and their shared divination. What they don’t expect is to be taken hostage by a family member that they have never met. "Freaks of Nature" is a coming of age story about forgiveness, providence, and our redemption as a human race. It takes the reader through Ethan’s slapdash, and often times frightening, view of today’s America, demanding us to face our gluttonous zeitgeist and nudging us back towards our intended humanity. But more than simply a story about a character’s growth into fruition; at approximately 90,000 words, it’s a commentary on the anomaly, or “freaks†, we’ve become as a society. First round draft. Looking for any advice: creative, technical, what have you.

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This is an experiment. I want to see if I can write a story and post it without overthinking. I wrote this in a marathon two hours, and I would normally keep it to myself and whittle and perfect it until I got squeamish and deleted it. But I want to try letting go and see what happens. All feedback is appreciated.

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Another dysfunctional family story. A sister tries for the last time before dying to communicate with her brother. Does the beginning work or should I start later on in the story. Should I use more tags? I'm open and grateful for all comments regarding content and line editing. Thanks Sorry if the formatting is off, I'm using a Mac and can't seem to work out the proper way to submit without having to reformat every time. I any one has a suggestion, would appreciate the help.

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Okay, I have overhauled my entry, taking into consideration some very good advice. I hope I have made it better. Please let me know what you think.

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Entering a new world at five thirty in the morning!

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This piece is about an unusual teenage test of "true love". Thanks to the helpful comments of previous reviewers, this re-posted version reads much clearer - I hope. I sense there are other 'things' (which I can't identify, dammit!) which would improve it. Does it need deepening? Some backstory? What do you think? Don't hold back, as I'm not afraid of criticism. If you can give examples from the story of what does and doesn't work that would be so helpful. Cheers. Ali

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Oh happy days!

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All I ask is that you read and enjoy.

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I was listening to Neil Young's song and wondered about the the kind of man who would need a maid, "just someone to keep my house clean, cook my meals, and go away." So I came up with my version of this man's story. This is how I think it went down.

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This was just something that came to me when I could not sleep last night. never having written a short extract I would be grateful for all feed back I am sure my tenses are not right perhaps someone can help

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Short novel in which a substitute teacher is haunted by visions of children who have become ruined by life. The novel is the second with the same characters, the first taking place in a restaurant around 1990, the second around 2000.

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