Other Fiction

The first three books listed here are collections of general fiction. Find all three collections as well as all of my nonfiction titles) at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/HStanbrough:

Six Years in May: Thirteen Stories from a Very Odd Mind—These tales range from the almost normal to the fantastic, from the tragic to the comedic, from dark to light and from dark tale to fairytale. Included are “Crossing a Blue Carpet Every Day,” “Same Ol’ Bull, Same Ol’ Rodeo,” “Giacomo, 2080,” “On Bullies & Gods,” “Interference,” “Beholder,” “Concerning Mama’s Taste in Men,” “Ground Rules,” “The Oldest Debt,” “Crushin’ Bugs,” “The Well,” “Six Years in May” and “The Magic Cakes.” As a bonus, interspersed among thse tales in the style of Papa Hemingway’s Finca Vigia edition are thirteen vignettes marked in Parts and not indicated in the table of contents.

The Well: a collection of five stories—Reality, psychological suspense, terror, fantasy, action-adventure — these five stories have it all. These tales range from the merely odd to the fantastic, from the tragic to the magical. In the title story you’ll accompany a Cajun man on a single-minded mission into the backwoods of Louisiana in a deep, humid night. In others you’ll watch a storm chaser in Oklahoma remember he’s actually an alien, watch an elderly poet struggle to write a eulogy for his lifelong friend, spend a frantic time spitting mud and ducking bullets with a Marine Corps unit in Vietnam, and witness the life or death struggle between a fifteen year old boy and the mean drunk who’s been his oppressor for years.

Vignettes from a C-130—Some things are much larger and more important than the individual, as a rural New Mexico boy learns when he joins the Marine Corps. These thirty vignettes, each a slice of life, a snapshot, are stories, recollections, histories and confessions. They are truth and fiction, reality and fantasy. I’ll let you choose which is which.
The next two stories are the first two in a forthcoming collection of seven titled Evenings at 7 in the Parish Hall:

Anonymity can hide any number of faults. Married to an uncaring, workaholic husband, Shylia Allred walks to alleviate stress and to consider her divorce. Typical of many abused spouses, she dreams of escape but always comes up with a reason to thwart her own plans. Then, as she’s walking past the local parish hall just as an AA meeting is letting out, she literally bumps into Randall Sly. As they get to know each other, she comes to trust him completely. He’s the one man who can bring a huge change to her life. But change isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be.

Would being a cannibal qualify for having an eating disorder? While under armed guard and being tended to in an ER, accused cannibal and murderer John Searcy, AKA Randall Sly, escapes custody and takes a nurse, Susan, hostage. Does he want her for her excellent body… or does he want her for the excellent tone of her body? In the piney woods near a railroad track, Searcy meets up with his brother Wayne and a new acquaintance known only as Jackson. Twists and turns abound. Susan escapes, after a fashion, but to what end?

The other books listed here are general fiction short stories in various genres and are as yet uncollected:

When ten year old Johnny was diagnosed with leukemia, most of his friends and acquaintances abandoned him. Only Wes, his best friend, understood the true meaning of friendship. Follow along with these two young boys in the mountains of New Mexico as they spend a wonderful day shooting their .22s, enjoying green apples in an ancient Indian corral, and learning about life and death. One will never grow up, and one is forced to grow up much more quickly than he should. This is a warm tale of friendship that takes a turn down a dark path.

Just shy of his fifteenth birthday, in an attempt to defend himself and his mother, Harold Silt kills their tormentor. Thanks to a turncoat whom he thought was his best friend, he is charged with first-degree murder, tried as an adult, found guilty and sent away to a “facility” where he can get help. But Harold, convinced he is the reincarnation of a king, never lets go of his dream. He sees his “rite of passage” through to the bloody, difficult end and is rewarded, as well he should be.

Thanks for your patience as I continue to construct this new website! If you enjoy good magic realism, I hope you’ll pop over to CantinaTales and visit with Juan-Carlos Salazár, the storyteller and owner of the cantina in Agua Rocosa. If you’re a poet or a student of poetry, you might find some things you like on my Poetry page. And if you’re interested in the craft of writing, I hope you’ll visit my Writing Books page. Also, feel free to contact me at h_stanbrough@yahoo.com with constructive comments or questions.