The diverse array of philosophical, moral and political issues addressed in these short stories traverse both cultural and historical frontiers. Arthur Van Damme, the narrator in all the works, reflects on the decisions, challenges, perceptions and tragedies that many of us deal with in our daily lives, if not within our lifetime.

These stories are a work of fiction and I created all the characters with exception of Arthur Van Damme. The places where the stories take place, like Somalia, New Mexico, California and Texas are, of course, genuine.

I relied on memories, personal experiences and the diaries of Arthur Van Damme to create the following works: An Unpleasant Job, The Afgoi Dunal Colony, and The Stampeding Donkey of the Honorable Hotpepper. California and Texas are the settings for A Dog Named Onassis and Kill Before Sundown. If We Bleed or Die It Doesn't Matter, is mostly set in the Pecos region of New Mexico including Mountain View Ranch (the ranch no longer exists).

I Can Always Sleep Tomorrow is a short story collection based on actual events experienced by the author. Settings include multiple locations in the United States and Canada as well as In Asia, Europe, and Africa. There are stories of adventure, romance, war, criminality, and more.

The author's short stories have appeared in many magazines and short story collections. The stories in this book have been featured in "The Villager"; "True Love"; "Heroes from Hackland"; "Aim, America's Intercultural Magazine"; "Vermont Ink"; "The Kit-Cat Review"; and "Potomac Review."

No.1 - Mischief on Campus (Dieppe revisited): The word "Dieppe" recalls the horror of that disaster - 900 killed and 1500 taken prisoner - and makes us think of the effect that carnage had on those who came back to tell the story. Many, such as Dylan Magee returned to university or entered as a freshman. The challenge was daunting; the sudden change from uniform to civies, from guns to books, did not heal all wounds.

No. 2 - Pamela's Potted Ferns: This lighter piece, tells of a young, naïve volunteer's introduction to the world of volunteerism. He offers to serve lunch to the elderly and the poor. He listens to their stories but gets carried away by their clever little follies.

No. 3 - The Little Eagle, (the Aiglon), a member of the French Résistance, and a national hero, becomes a hit-man in disguise, when the government fails to grant him the Légion d'honneur for his outstanding war-time services. A specialist in plastic explosives, he makes a contract with Anatole, a wealthy young scion, to "wipe his family slate clean" by eliminating his late father's mistress and her bastard child.

No. 4 - David and Goliath: Here we meet a big bully in a Paris High School who gets his comeuppance. The bully is brought down by a smaller, younger boy, who applies certain basic elements of pugilistic science - and becomes the school hero.

No. 5 - A Dazzling Discovery: Paul, a young architect, seeks a restful escape after a great personal tragedy. He goes to the U.K. on a quiet package tour. No sooner is he settled in his hotel room when he finds himself in the crossfire of a criminal investigation dating back ten years. He learns that Sebastian, one of a group of diamond thieves - involved in a £3,000,000 diamond heist - is trying to take over his hotel room. Chief Inspector Spencer places a guard in the hall for Paul's protection. Thanks to a series of insights, Paul finds the diamonds, but tells no one. He decides to disappear into the shady enclaves of the black market, hoping to emerge a wealthy man.

No. 6 - Birth of a Portrait: A sensitive young artist prepares his charcoal sketch for a portrait to be entered in an international contest. His subject is a strikingly handsome boy with remarkable features. Since the boy is a pianist, the artist takes his time to find the right pose at the piano. He emphasizes the boy's hands as well as his strong, handsome face. Will he be able to capture on canvas the youthful beauty of his subject and win the prize?

No. 7 - An Angel's Touch: A terrible car accident takes place in New York. The driver dies in the emergency ward. Three other passengers are spared. Suddenly they are all spirited away in a passing taxi before the police or the ambulance arrives. The police are baffled. No trace of the victims can be found in the hospital or in their wrecked, rental car. The case is written off as thw work of the Mafia. Years later, John Steele (one of the survivors) receives a midnight phone call from the hospital asking him to visit Charles Fleming, a missionary whose death he had witnessed forty years ago!

No. 8 - Mint-Fresh Canadian: An amusing and disturbing contrast between the thoughts and attitudes of a brand-new Canadian and a regular Canadian who takes his citizenship for granted.

No. 9 - A Naughty Affair: The scene is Paris. A sudden and unexpected flirtation evolves between a struggling young artist and a wealthy widow twice his age. An excellent dinner, preceded by too many apéritifs and followed by too many glasses of champagne, sets the stage for this encounter - prolonged beyond measure - by his warm, eager, and passionate entreaty to paint her portrait.

No. 10 - Phantom Lake: The story takes place in Flin Flon, Manitoba, a small mining town. Young love teaches the elders a leasson when family strife, money, and mystery try to block its path. A story of youthful determination, wit, ingenuity, and an unfailing sense of purpose.

Winston Churchill: Hardly a story, in the strict sense, but a youthful tribute. The author so admired the great statesman's oratory and magnificent prose that he wrote and published a poem in his honour while preparing his Grade XI by correspondence.

Sandy's writing is very much stream of consciousness in that she writes as she thinks. This offers a very personal touch to her writing. Often you will feel like you are reading your journey, not hers, as you relate personally to what she shares. Sandy offers reflection questions at the end off each section for those who want to look at their journey a little deeper. Sandy hopes that this book will become a friend that you will pick up many times during your life for encouragement and comfort, to feel good about who you are and who you are becoming, always reminding you that life is a gift to be celebrated.

Short Stories is an anthology of short fiction not based on any one particular theme. Dorothy Walker uses the short story format to describe various settings, characters and subject matter. Each story is wonderfully enticing and all link together to form an admirable representation of Australian short fiction.

War is so damn insane, and most views of war focus on the front line action. These 17 short stories provide a glimpse into the minds and lives of people who are part of the broader organization as well as those on the "enemy" side - their mind set and motivation for actions deemed beyond comprehension.

To My Readers:

"These stories are historical fiction.

"The setting for the first story is at the Palace Bar in Prescott, Arizona in 1889. The story brings back to life Arizona Charlie. He was a famous, cowboy, gambler, and miner, and once performed in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show.

"The second story is a murder mystery. The story takes place between Mayer and Flagstaff, Arizona in the middle 1930's. The investigation involves a local detective from Phoenix. He and his brother-in-law, who is the sheriff of Flagstaff, solve the crime. It is a good look at life in Arizona during that time period.

"The third story takes place in and around Castle Hot Springs. A famous resort known for its healing hot sulfur pools. It was frequented by the rich and famous of that time period. A gang of robbers is working in the area. They hide in a mine in close proximity to the resort and they befriend a couple from New York, who are guests at the resort."

Zeke Crandall

Escaped convicts invade a riverside campsite....

A ring of prestigious businessmen carry out a massive estate swindle in the state capital....

Shipwreck survivors sheltered at a Low Country fishing village have much, much to hide....

And the president of the United States turns to a small-city journalist to intercept a damaging piece of diplomatic correspondence.

Harper, nonconforming and nonpareil crime reporter for the fledgling Challenge, finds himself in the thick of these and other dramas in the post-Reconstruction South. Through intuition, deduction, focused research and on-the-scene investigation, Harper probes to the heart of each affair. In the process, he often uncovers facts and circumstances he can never publish-and enters the hazy borderland between observer and participant.

The Law of the Paiute and Other Stories is about interesting people and events which are exciting, adventurous, real, life-changing, and original. It was written by an author who had lived much of what he wrote about during his 97 years.

Four short stories about smashing things and rearranging the pieces and maintaining good friendships, often with fish. Like the characters in the book, one learns to build a private world out of things others have abandoned and quantify wisdom and strength through the accumulation of scars and wounds. It could likely be done with free energy equations and thermodynamic cycles, but here is it done with lots of illustrations and tales of life on the fringe... a testament to the destructiveness inherent to the creative process.

A colorful cast of misfits - work, play and con their way through a series of adventures that will see them triumph or become undone under the tropical heat.

Foreword

Ever since the completion of Across the Great Divide, a novel set on the fictitious island of St. Georges, I have been hounded by several characters who never got an airing. They teased me during times of contemplation, and followed me upstairs to my computer popping up in my imagination like the unwanted "pop-ups" that stalk computer screens. They would not let go until some vignette into their lives was committed to ink. Cracked Conch, is a collection of stories that lets these characters loose – out of my imagination – and now perhaps into yours!

Enjoy!

Welcome to Cedar Springs, where you'll meet barbers and bootleggers, preachers and poachers, farmers and charmers, undertakers, lawyers, liars and laborers, jackers, hackers, wits and waitresses, young and bold men, wise and old men, women of class and brass and perhaps even a witch or two. Shed a tear or enjoy a belly laugh as you get acquainted with the people of Cedar Springs.