A Good Day to Start: Short Stories

A GOOD DAY TO START is a collection of twenty literary short stories bursting with chaos, plot complications, humor, and hope. From repentant prison inmates, to hotshot scientists, frustrated Wall Streeters, and a grieving park ranger, these characters, who are nearing the end of their ropes, need to change course. And while settings, styles, and viewpoints contrast sharply, they cope with shifting circumstances in similar ways. They pretend, disengage, and resist until an unexpected spark tests their courage.

Transitions can be rough, but these complementary stories mark the way, reminding readers that renewal is an universal struggle. We’re scared, so we find angles and short-cuts, or we settle for changes around the edges. But across demographics, we’re all rooting for a second chance. These ideas of compassion, aspiration, angst, and vulnerability are here for readers to contemplate.

Carter Schwonke’s fiction has appeared in several journals including Gravel, Fiction Fix, Blueline, Pif Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, Stirring, and Evening Street Review. These stories are set in places she worked, lived, or volunteered, places where transitions can be especially difficult, including State and County Prisons and Silicon Valley start-ups. She is a graduate of Syracuse University and University College London. Her eco-fiction, food, science novel is in process.