“A life inside yourself isn’t a life.”
Seventeen stories laced with humor and heart crisscross America where ordinary men and women search for identity and order. A retired colonel investigates a cloaked figure at a naval station. Struggling with PTSD, a sister makes a request of her brother. After success at work, a man’s stress outlet creates problems on a family vacation. Old flames cross paths and tour a cave. A former athlete weighs an invitation to a ceremony honoring his team’s achievements. On the day of the winter solstice, a trail guide takes a stranger to a vista. During the last day of filming, a reality show’s contestant wrestles with his goal. And a grandfather distracts his granddaughter with the outdoors while her parents figure out their marriage. From the coasts to the lands in between, these and other characters seek connection and meaning amid expectations, responsibilities, and chaos.
Thanks to the following publications where versions of stories in Cloudbreak first appeared:
“A Circle of Men,” Origins
“Cloudbreak,” Crab Orchard Review
“Confluence,” Sequestrum
“Estuary,” District Lit
“Indirect Light,” Bicentennial Celebration of North American Review
“Little Things” (as “Good Morning Good Morning”), SunStruck Magazine
“Long Past Due” (as “A Place to Turn Around”), Cahoodaloodaling
“One Day’s Worth,” Solstice
“Pacific Time” (as “A Sweet Taste under the Skin”), Rum Punch Press
“Pinto” (as “Out There in the Sunlight”), Red Earth Review
“Retire to the Netherlands,” Panoplyzine
“Solstice” (as “Tread”), Saturday Night Reader
244 pages
ISBN (print): 9798986092782
ISBN (ebook): 9798986092799
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