"I'm dying to believe
In the ghost of the goodness
You strangled
So many years ago
And in the thin rattle of hope
That beats like
A newborn butterfly's wings
Inside my fractured heart ..."
—"'Tis of Thee"

FIREWORKS ARE JUST PRETTY BOMBS (& OTHER POEMS) is the debut chapbook from established novelist J. L. Long. From the volatile mix of...

Frank Peterson is dead. 

Maybe. 

His sister Laura certainly thinks so, and she hires over-the-hill former cop Ro Peszke to investigate. Ro is used to cases involving infidelity, not missing persons and potential murder, but can't turn down a damsel in distress. 

The closer Ro gets to the truth, however, the more she realizes just how...

Lonely tween Robbie teams up with exuberant newcomer Stacey to explore the truths of their claustrophobically small town and the varied cast of characters who inhabit it. A national essay-writing contest kicks off their investigations, and their efforts hone in on the rumors surrounding fifteen-year-old Nathan Klein, who may or may not have...

Tea-obsessed pseudophilosophers. Lesbian teen Audrey Hepburn fanatics. X-rated Santa Clauses. The literal Devil. 

All these characters and more you'll meet in The Trees Grow Crooked Here and Other Stories, a collection of thirteen short stories written over the span of nearly two decades. Character-rich stories written in a range of genres...