A collection of Flash Fiction and serial fiction by Kathleen Maher, author of Diary of a Heretic. . . .
Rowena has a mother: “This is my life, Mom. Not a Jane Austen novel. Not—” “Listen to me, Miss Independence. He’s a nice young man, but men expect things. Even nice ones, sometimes. He’s going to think that you’re inviting him to do . . . married people things.” Rowena tried to interrupt, but when she opened her mouth nothing came . . .
Being lonely is a bitch. Rupert has been divorced for over a year and can’t seem to manage the dating scene. His daughter pushes him into investigating a Russian Mail-Order Bride site and to his surprise, he is soon busy arranging for the visit of one of the woman he meets online. The story soon develops into a confrontation . . .
Love Drug follows Ada, a commerce student, and Everett, a business developer as they work for a pharmaceutical company developing and marketing a drug designed to help people with a disease the company has invented, Relational-Social Depressive Disorder or RSDD. Ada feels the internship is her only way out of her anxiety-ridden life in Winnipeg, and Everett sees marketing the . . .
Sixteen-year-old Eliza has just been picked up by police, placed in the foster care system and deposited in Hope House, a group home for troubled teens. Her comrades are drug addicts, truants, and juvenile delinquents but blue-haired Dean shows her that she isn’t so different from the rest of the teens she lives with. When Dean asks her to run . . .
This serial tale will chronicle the lives of three women who form an unlikely, but certainly unforgettable, bond of friendship, love, and forgiveness. Lost, alone, or starting-over, their paths cross—and the story actually begins—in the small (made-up) town of Whestleigh, Connecticut. Here, together, they find themselves . . . by finding one another. In essence, North of Happenstance can best be summed up . . .
The following story is true- except for the parts I totally made up. The names have been changed to protect the people I loved and to protect me from the people I hated. . . .
Aug 31, 2014: If you’re a flash-fiction fan and you haven’t yet checked out any of the Pure Fiction pieces on her site, you should drop what you’re doing and head over there immediately to get lost, for at least a few minutes apiece, in the lives of others.
Kathleen Maher does a fabulous job of giving you a taste of many different worlds, from many different points of view. You can read about young and old people, the innocent and criminals, and even [more . . .]
Dec 2, 2014: While I wouldn’t call it a comedy, NoH has a friendly and light tone to it. The good news: it’s got a steady pace that carries the story along well enough to keep your finger scrolling. The bad: scenes can drag and feel a little like filler, and the writing is weakened by its need for another round proofreading.
Welcome to Whestleigh (which I think is pronounced like ‘Westley’), a quiet town where Kate has moved for a fresh start. We [more . . .]