An update on "Kiss Shot"

My short story collection, Kiss Shot, is now with my editor. Whew! If you follow the blog regularly, I had originally planned to have the book ready last Christmas. Two of the stories needed more extensive work than I thought and since I am self-publishing Kiss Shot as an eBook, I decided to extend my self-imposed deadline. That's one of the beauties of self-pub and eBooks – you aren't under any external pressure or expectations other than the ones you set for yourself. My goal now is to have the eBook available in September.

The book contains four very different stories, which are thematically linked by their setting: the fictional town of Cottonwood, Georgia. Here's a brief synopsis: A devoted maid recalls her employer's death from a brain tumor in How Fanny Got Her House, while a teenage boy comes to terms with his sexuality during an unexpected game of pool in the title story, Kiss Shot. A woman escaping an abusive relationship arrives in New Orleans during a rain storm and wanders into the Clover Grill, which pays homage to Tennessee Williams' This Property Is Condemned. The fourth story, I've Got A Name, takes its title from the Jim Croce song and follows the trials and tribulations of an overweight woman looking for love while volunteering at a community theater company.

At least one of these stories is 20 years old, which boggles my mind. The other three were written in the mid-90s, before Conquering Venus and Remain In Light, so they have a decidedly different tone. I am, after all, a product of the South, so this is me tapping into that deep vein of Southern Gothic. I can't wait for you to meet the inhabitants of Cottonwood.