Corvairs & Horny Toads, a short story collection
Follow me to some places in my mind and memory. Passions and quirks. Pets and peeves. I’ve reached the “third act” of my life, and I have a lot to say, with more clarity and less filtering than ever.
All the short stories in my recent collection “Corvairs and Horny Toads” will be available here. Set in a fictional High Plains town over the last century, they explore how this unique part of the world instills grit, determination, acceptance and forgiveness. I’ve painted vivid pictures of a town that—despite being built on a harsh, isolated, windblown landscape—is home to a surprisingly diverse and vibrant population.
I’m sharing these stories with you in my own voice, complete with the accent I’ve stubbornly clung to. My twang is as much a part of me as the Native roots on my daddy’s side and the tough homesteaders who clawed out a living in half-dugouts on my mama’s side. So, you’ll hear me read my stories in my native Native voice. Or you can read them yourself; it’s your choice.
The longer I live, the surer I am that our undeniable connection to the people we spring from sets us on our path in life. And what we become is forged from opportunities taken, diversions embraced, griefs borne, goals set, goals abandoned, disasters suffered, disasters averted, kindnesses shown. It’s the chance meetings, the timing, the serendipity. It’s when you choose to raise your hand that makes all the difference.
Between stories, I may go off on tangents—no, I will go off on tangents—and I hope you’ll hang on and go with me when I get started on animals and how important they are to me and should be to everyone, the environment, the importance of compassion and empathy and kindness. The necessity of art, the beauty of nature. Then swinging off to clothes I like, a pair of shoes that can send me floating on a cloud of joy, my mother and father and what amazing people they were, jobs I loved or hated, the joy of food (healthy and otherwise), how to make a good chicken-fried steak and cream gravy (then how to work it off), exercise, coffee, Dr. Peppers, sugar-free sweetener…the list goes on.
Join me, won’t you? Comment, share your thoughts. Let’s spend some time together and do our best to keep passions and quirks and chance meetings and hand-raising alive.