I’m not a huge fan of short stories in general. They always seem too short. Which, I guess, is the point. But just as I’m getting into the plot, getting to know the characters and feeling comfortable in the setting, they abruptly end. And since they’re usually one-offs, there’s no going back. That’s it.

And for my own part, writing short stories has always felt a little like a distraction from working on my novel. When I get going into a little story, it totally consumes my writing for as long as it takes me to complete it. And usually the ideas which prompt a short story are too specific, too focused to craft an entire story from. I might envision a certain conversation, or locale that I want to depict, maybe even just one scene that stands out vividly in my mind. But once I’ve written that part, I find that I’ve exhausted the creative spark and I’ve nowhere left to go. So the stories just sort of peter out.

Occasionally though I do write them, and finish them, and sometimes even get them published. Here are a couple of the stories I’ve done both with, which I’m rather proud of, and I hope will create some facsimile of my abilities as a writer. Enjoy!