Change and Other Choices. (Original writing)

Just as Rimbaud said that a poem is never finished, only abandoned, there is no such thing as a "finished story." But at some point all authors must let go of their works and let them stand on their own, a process parents go through when they realize their children are no longer their children but unique individuals. In this collection of stories, choice and change are the predominant themes. In each narrative there is a critical moment, often in the face of death and other natural disasters, when the main characters are forced to go through some kind of decisive transformation, after which nothing is the same. Change is the only constant here, and the catalysts take the form of earthquakes, fires, funerals, violence and love. I have taken these stories as far as I can for the time being, and now I must let them go--stand or fall, they're on their own.