Distant Flickers Anthology: Stories of Identity and Loss Paul Stream Press, October 2022

Loss takes many forms. Divorce, memory lapse, tragedy, long-held secrets, death, identity issues. The new anthology Distant Flickers explores the struggles and aftermaths through a series of curated, emotive stories by several award-winning U.S. and Canadian authors. Author and Associate Director of the New York State Summer Writers Institute Amy Wallen contributed a guest essay to the collection and crafted the forward: “A distant flicker reaches us like a star, a distant flicker of light. A sharp, quick spark. The stories in this anthology shine each at its own speed of light—dimmer, hidden deep in the darkness, or brighter, burning faster…Loss reveals what we are capable of doing to cope, to recover, to heal, and what we can become as a result—good or evil.”

Featured are East Coast authors Elizabeth Gauffreau, Carol LaHines, Jim Metzner, and Donna Koros Stramella; Pacific Northwest authors Keith Madsen and Joyce Yarrow; Canadian author Rita Baker; and Texas poet John Casey. The memorable stories take readers to the streets of New York and San Francisco, to warm east coast beaches, rural Idaho, and Italy, from the early 1900s, through the 1970s, and into present day. A sinister woman accustomed to getting everything she wants. A down-on-his luck cook who stumbles on goodness. A young mother who hides $10 she received from a stranger. The boy who collects secrets. A young woman stuck between youth and adulthood. Children who can’t understand why their mother disappears. The distinct and varied characters in Distant Flickers stand at a juncture. The loss of a spouse, a parent, a child, one’s self. Whether they arrived at this place through self-reflection, unexpected change, or new revelations—each one has a choice.

Contact: Connect through the Paul Stream Press website or by emailing contact@paulstreampress.com Purchase Distant Flickers in print or ebook formats starting in October 2022 through Bookbub, Amazon, and other traditional and independent outlets.