Stephen Jon Schares

The River: A Collection of Short Stories Stephen Jon Schares

What is a story, if not a telling of the truth in one form or another? Fiction, maybe. Half-truths, possibly. Life is fact and fiction. Where do you draw the line?

Truth, fact, fiction - it all comes from that same place. That part of us, willing or unwilling, that finds a way out - that compels us to express in words our thoughts, feelings, experiences - for all the world to judge...or maybe just a few.

Whether the words, the stories, struggle to the surface, gasping for air, or take flight from our pens with barely an effort, we all start out the same - a blank piece of paper, an empty computer screen. And the gall to write it down - to type it - to press save.

This collection of stories starts in one place, and ends up in another. In between are splices of what our lives are - humor, pathos, irony, sarcasm, insight, the brevity of life - all sides of the same coin. The things that bind us, just as often divide us. It's up to the writer to connect the dots.