Kisses from Strangers...

At some point in our adult lives, hopefully we have kissed a stranger, someone we'd only just met, and more often than not, someone we might not ever see again.

Maybe it was at a concert, or a poetry reading, or a drinking spot with a mahogany bar, or in a hotel in another part of the world, where for one brief moment in time, a beautiful connection occurred.

I read a quote recently by a well-known author which read "Short stories are like kisses in the dark from a stranger." Beautiful description and quite appropriate. I'm not going to mention the author's name because he doesn't need a plug from me. Lol. His words though, that sums it up wonderfully.

A short story moves along fast, no overly descriptive or boring spots. Some of the greatest short stories have fewer than 2,000 words, delivering a great story in the amount of time it takes to make a sandwich. "For sale; Baby shoes, never worn." That's a six word short story by Hemingway which makes the imagination churn because it's a whole story.

I love short stories. The good or great ones leave an impression in our minds, similar to a brief intermingling of mouths in a moment in time. Ha. Most writers don't necessarily set out to write a short story. We tend to have an idea which needs to be written, and it has the potential to be a short story, a novella, or a novel. We go where the story takes us. Just as we do with a kiss...

I've had strangers send messages about certain short stories of mine, and it's both fulfilling and humbling to hear someone say a story by me changed their lives. Wow. 'Daddy's Boy,' 'Waiting for Calita,' 'Burnt Candle,' 'The King of Karaoke,' and dozens of others are referenced by readers. Thank you all. I appreciate it.

Often we don't have the time to sit down and read a novel. Or maybe our attention span is not all the way there. My suggestion is try reading a short story collection. Enjoy a brief fling with a stranger, and the kisses are just as sweet...

I know a guy...