Traveling Left of Center by Nancy Christie
“[TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER AND OTHER STORIES] is all about the people we are, the people we know, and the keen observations of a talented writer.” --Jeffrey S. Stephens, best-selling author
"Girl," my mama had said to me the minute she entered my hospital room, "on the highway of life, you're always traveling left of center."
Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories details the experiences of characters in life situations for which they are emotionally or mentally unprepared. Unable or unwilling to seize control over their lives, they allow fate to dictate the path they take, while their methods of coping range from the passive and the aggressive to humorous and hopeful.
In each of these eighteen stories, the characters' choices--or non-choices--are their own. But the outcomes may not be what they anticipated or desired.
Will they have time to correct their course or will they crash?
Details
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:978-1-950730-23-0
Publication Date: October 22, 2019
Praise for Nancy Christie
As a creative writing teacher (for over 30 years), a published writer with over 1000 pieces of fiction and nonfiction to my credit, and fiction editor for THE CHAFFIN JOURNAL, I have read more manuscripts than I'd like to remember. In honesty I can say that I enjoyed reading Christie's collection of stories as much as anything I've read in many a year. Her style is fluid, and her use of detail really brings the stories to life.
--Hal Blythe, fiction editor, THE CHAFFIN JOURNAL and Co-Director, Teaching & Learning Center, Eastern Kentucky University
Nancy Christie has mastered the challenging art of short-story fiction.... Christie gives the reader a provocative slice of Americana that is equal parts real and gripping.
--Charles S. Weinblatt, author and book reviewer for New York Journal of Books (U.S.)
Nancy Christie is an excellent writer, using superb language skills to make these characters come alive and incite the reader's appreciation of their thought processes...Ms. Christie's mastery of the short story is remarkable.
--Margaret Gust, Coastal Breeze News (U.S.)
“Each tale found within TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER AND OTHER STORIES certainly lived up to the book’s rather unusual title – and while some were on the very edge of ‘disturbing,’ Christie never crossed the boundary of providing the reader with too much information. If anything, she masterfully wrote these stories in such a manner that the reader’s own imagination will fill in any blanks. TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER AND OTHER STORIES was an insightful, yet chilling read. Christie is a master with the pen, and I’m looking forward to more from her in the future.” Charline Ratcliff, Blogcritics book reviewer (U.S.)