Camera Lake

Fleeing her family, a woman finds unexpected solace in an empty hotel. Following a shattering professional failure, a therapist becomes convinced someone is watching his every move. A coach’s disciplinary tactic doesn’t so much backfire as it implodes his players’ lives. Inhabiting a (mostly) midwestern landscape, Alex Pickett’s characters specialize in breaking rules. Believing themselves to be good people, they try to bend their situations to fit their needs or fulfill their desires. The results are rarely completely disastrous or successful, but are tinged with a humor that rides comfortably alongside embarrassment, regret, and longing--and in the process remind us that it is achingly hard to live up to expectations.

Alex Pickett is a Wisconsin-born writer based in London and the author of The Restaurant Inspector. His stories have appeared in numerous publications, including The Southern Review, Subtropics, Passages North, and Green Mountains Review.