The pieces this month are not only edgy, but explore—shall I say—unusual subject matter.

 
So I thought a good way to begin our selections would be with a brilliant, serene, meditative piece by a skilled and accomplished young writer who has a great literary future.  Fortunately, the work of just such a writer had just arrived in my inbox.  Please allow the endlessly remarkable Brittany Connolly to offer you the caressing balm of “O Night Divine.”

 

Sometimes I find a piece that makes me laugh so unexpectedly hard that I wonder if there’s something wrong with me.  Should I be laughing?  Did the author intend this story to be hilarious?  This was what I was wondering after reading “The Mark He Left,” by June O’Hara.  After I emailed the author to tell her this was one of the funniest true stories I’ve ever read, I was gratified to learn that she indeed considers herself a comic writer.  Whew!  I am so grateful to be able to laugh with a good conscience.

 

Do you believe in witches?  Whether you do or not, you should be aware that witches certainly believe in witches.  This is true of good witches and bad witches.  “The Strega’s Story,” by Joan Vardaro McMillan, which is excerpted from a book of the same name, is an engrossing exploration of the Italian practice of stregheria.  Her account dramatizes what happens when centuries of tradition collide with the realities of dysfunctional family life in modern America.  The results are on the spookiest of all possible levels—the personal level.

 

The intensity continues with Scott Marsh’s “Looking for Breece Pancake.”  It is the story of a good person who, having lost much in life, rejects self-pity and bitterness, choosing instead to help those who are less fortunate.  As he drives across the West Virginia landscape, seeking to learn something from the personal terrain of Breece Pancake, a brilliant young writer who took his own life, Marsh encounters and illuminates not only his own humanity, but our own.

 

Finally, on a personal note, as many of you who follow me on Facebook will know, everything I make from my own writing goes toward keeping my infirm parents living in dignity and freedom in their own home.  Please consider downloading one of my titles from my virtual bookshelf on Amazon here:

If you don’t have a Kindle, you’ll be happy to learn that the Kindle App downloads for free onto a wide variety of devices here:

 

Many of my titles are also available on the Nook from Barnes and Noble here:

 

And the film about my struggles to care for my parents, Someday You, which many of you have been waiting for, is now available from Amazon here.

My family and I thank you for your support!