The Monkey's Journal

This collection includes six fantasy (historical, contemporary, urban) short stories featuring female protagonists. Magic of Song and Lightning; Victory Girl; Down to the Heart; The Life of Stuffed Toys; The Songs of Their Lives; and; The Monkey's Journal Travel from 1930s Appalachia to modern day California in this collection of fantasy short stories.  In Magic of Long and Lightning, what if the book women, those intrepid librarians delivering materials to their charges on horseback, brought more than mundane knowledge to their patrons?  Gancanaghs, or love talkers, are a type of Irish fairy whose raison d'être is seduction.
In Victory Girl, tomboy Ruthie realizes what she truly desires.  The Songs of Their Lives was inspired by murder ballads: those tales of deceit, betrayal, and death. But Darla is writing a new ending to those songs.  Who hasn't lost pets over the years? The pain of losing them is the price for the joy they give us. Different people have different ways of remembering their beloved cats and dogs and other creatures (and trust me, as a vet, I've seen a variety of choices).
The Life of Stuffed Toys looks at one (albeit offbeat) way (yes, different methods of pet taxidermy are available).  Down to the Heart is a triathlon fairytale. And though I haven't had quite the same experiences, there's a lot of me in Jennifer. The Monkey's Journal is about books and cats and wishes and guilt: my take on the Monkey's Paw.