It’s been a while since Parker Francis has had a new book to announce. Most of my writing time in recent years has been devoted to telling other people’s stories as a biographer and ghostwriter. But my own stories never entirely stopped calling out to me.
Over the years, I accumulated a number of short stories that didn’t fit neatly into any one category. Some were mysteries. Some wandered into speculative territory. Others dealt with loss, memory, and second chances. A few made me laugh. At least one made me wonder where the darker corners of my imagination had been hiding.
Eventually, I realized eight of them belonged together.
The result is Every Living Thing: Eight Stories of Mystery, Loss & Redemption, a new collection coming September 1 in paperback and Kindle editions.
Eight stories. Eight unexpected turns. Nothing is quite what it seems.
One story takes us back to Fernandina Beach, Florida, in the early 1960s, where a young girl befriends a shrimp-boat captain who is convinced he is Ernest Hemingway. Another imagines a young Elvis Presley at a crossroads, listening to the voice of the twin brother he never knew. There’s a Hollywood animal trainer who discovers his chimpanzee can talk, a government agent
chasing a fugitive through alternate realities, and a grieving librarian puzzled by mysterious footprints.
And then there is the title story.
In “Every Living Thing,” a woman who has devoted much of her life to rescuing animals finds an injured creature beside a lonely Florida road. She does what she has always done—she brings it home.
That turns out to be a mistake.
The eight stories range from nostalgic to humorous to unsettling, but as I assembled them, I began to recognize a common thread. Each is about someone arriving at a crossroads. Something has been lost. Something unexpected happens. A choice has to be made. And sometimes there is
a second chance.
That may explain why the title Every Living Thing began to feel right for the entire collection rather than simply one story.
I’ve had a good time returning to fiction and revisiting some characters who have been waiting patiently for their turn in the spotlight. I hope readers will enjoy meeting them as much as I enjoyed bringing them together.
Every Living Thing: Eight Stories of Mystery, Loss & Redemption will be available September 1 in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.
Close your eyes and listen closely. Every living thing has a story.