Everybody says that the owner of Sal's Diner is a former Mafioso, but nine-year-old Joanna, whose mom has worked for him as long as she can remember, has a hard time believing he's a Mafia retiree. But one day, when two fat, toothless men who look like the Godfather's brothers show up at the diner, she wonders if maybe the rumor is true. And when Sal is arrested a few days later, Joanna's mother not only runs the diner while he's in jail, she also leads the charge to save him. Can the women who frequent his diner--the League of Women Who Live in Coffee Shops--save Sal from doing hard time in prison? Set against an urban backdrop of seedy motels and dilapidated houses next to industrial buildings and railroad tracks, Stella Pope Duarte's award-winning stories follow characters who make up the city's underbelly. Some strut through the lethal streets, flamboyant and hard to miss--flashy divas, transvestites, and prostitutes, like Valentine, "one of the girls who decorated Van Buren Street like ornaments dangling precariously on a Christmas tree." Others remain hidden, invisible to those who don't seek them out--bag ladies, illegals, and addicts.

U.S. Latino Literature is defined as Latino literature within the United States that embraces the heterogeneous inter-groupings of Latinos. For too long U.S. Latino literature has not been thought of as an integral part of the overall shared American literary landscape, but that is slowly changing. This dictionary aims to rectify some of those misconceptions by proving that Latinos do fundamentally express American issues, concerns and perspectives with a flair in linguistic cadences, familial themes, distinct world views, and cross-cultural voices. The Historical Dictionary of U.S. Latino Literature contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has cross-referenced entries on U.S. Latino/a authors, and terms relevant to the nature of U.S. Latino literature in order to illustrate and corroborate its foundational bearings within the overall American literary experience. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about this subject.

The Best Resource Available for Getting Your Fiction Published For more than 30 years, Novel & Short Story Writer's Market has provided aspiring authors with the most complete and up-to-date information they need on publishing their work. This edition is the best yet, with more than 1,500 listings and more Edited byial content than ever before—with interviews and articles from industry insiders on pertinent topics like the importance of developing your prose style, creating a voice and authentic dialogue appropriate to your genre, strategies for self-publishing, and tips and tools to help you manage the time you spend on perfecting your craft. You also gain access to: • Thorough indexes that make choosing the best potential markets easier • A 1-year subscription to WritersMarket.com's searchable online database of fiction publishers (comes with print version only) • A free digital download of Writer's Yearbook featuring the 100 Best Markets Includes an exclusive 60-minute FREE WEBINAR with the staff of Writer's Digest Books that will teach you how to write query letters that get results "I can't imagine a fiction writer of any stripe not having this in their library." —James Scott Bell, author of The Art of War for Writers and Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure "This invaluable writer's resource is the foundation on which real dreams are built. A wise and necessary investment." —River Jordan, author of The Miracle of Mercy Land

THE LITTLE COFFEE SHOP OF KABUL CAPTURED THE HEARTS OF MILLIONS READERS WORLDWIDE. NOW, THE COFFEE SHOP DOORS WELCOME YOU HOME ONE LAST TIME... Kabul, August 2021 Sunny Tedder is back in her beloved coffee shop. After eight years away, she's thrilled to reunite with her Kabul 'family': Yazmina now runs a pair of women's shelters from the old cafe, and dreams of a bright future for her two young daughters. Her sister Layla has become an outspoken women's rights activist and, thanks to social media, is quite the celebrity. Kat, Sunny's friend from America, is wrapping up her year-long stay in the land of her birth, but is facing some unfinished business. And finally there's elderly den mother Halajan, whose secret new hobby is itself an act of rebellion. Then the US troops begin to withdraw - and the women watch in horror as the Taliban advance on the capital at ferocious speed... Set against the terrifying fall of Kabul in 2021, Deborah Rodriguez concludes her bestselling Little Coffee Shop trilogy with a heart-stopping story of resilience, courage and, most importantly, hope.

Each beautifully told story in this fine collection resonates with a moving depth of emotional understanding. Having won prizes in major national competitions for four of these stories, had several selected for anthologies of significant New Zealand writing, with numerous broadcast on radio and one even translated into Mandarin, Carl Nixon was long overdue for a book of his own, collecting his stories together. So, here they are. Stories that evoke the South Island landscape as well as the New Zealand urban expanse. Stories that take surprising turns as they explore such things as 'saving' a pet parrot, a fruiterer's true love, a return to Crete, an anticipated seduction and the dreams of a suburban mercenary. There are characters to charm and alarm the reader, characters that are startlingly different and characters that are just like us. There are songs of love and tales of loss, there's humour and there's poignancy.

From the author of NIGHT OF THE DRAGON and BLUE TIGER/YELLOW FANG........ come these torrid tales........ jaded, grim, corrupt, moody stories - yet each narrative retains a surge of life that is unforgettable...... Reading this book is like stepping into the lair of a lion.......Angelo Victor Mercure has created passionate and dramatic scenarios......crafted incredible tableaus of savage subterranean worlds inhabited by junkies, speed freaks, alkies, gamblers, robbers, and whores...... No-holds-barred, in-your-face prose. Carlo Popolus Taboo Magazine

From the international bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale, Dancing Girls and Other Stories showcases Margaret Atwood's masterly skill for storytelling. Students, journalists, farmers, birdwatchers, ex-wives, adolescent lovers - and dancing girls. All ordinary people. Or are they? In brilliant flashes of fantasy, humour and unexpected violence, Margaret Atwood reveals the complexities of human relationships and maps the motivations we scarcely know we have within us. Populated with characters who evoke laughter, compassion, terror and recognition, Atwood’s stories show why she remains one of our greatest, most original storytellers. 'A remarkable collection' Sunday Times

A young boy applies lipstick on his lips as his mother looks on and grapples with her son’s sexuality. A wife negotiates with the ‘other woman’ and a love child after her diplomat husband’s violent death. A middle-aged woman ‘disappears’ while answering her inner calling. The Second Wife & Other Stories deals with love, war, caste and class divides. The stories in this collection are contemporary yet timeless. They ask probing questions on gender issues, explore queer relationships, and boldly re-tell the epics. The woman and her story remain the focal point as the author delves deep into women’s lives and raises provocative questions.

A collection of fourteen stories, Nelycinda & other stories, presents a woman's perspective of society thriving on trade and business. Lyrical and poignant, these stories take us to a world infested with the aroma of spices. The world was always opaque and something about the nearness of the sea made it more so. Susa began her day with the smallness of things, sea sand, which appeared as dull as the day, and the colours in the translucent shells, each catching the first light of the morning. How curious that the sand and salt and the ambitions of the sea creatures could create these colours. She walked to the seaside, wishing that the fisher people were about, but they had dived for pearls earlier than was usual that morning because of the impending storm. A great silence filled the ocean that brought to her the occasional screech of birds wheeling, and the whorls of the sea shells which produced their own sounds. Prison was a place which enclosed one and brought the world much closer by what one could imagine. It was where silence was the only companion, where the routines of the day allowed one to build a small world based entirely on ones thoughts. It was the shelter of the moment to work with the grandeur of the unseen. Imprisoned by the minutes, and allowed to fly when the tasks were completed. She looked at the beach, for the inlets were full of birds and moss and climbing purple flowers, and that was where she would go. To the river that, in its sureness of the life of the people, would bring her conversations and the calm of everyday tasks.