This group of stories contains a variety in a style different from other short story collections. The last story is a novella. Some of the stories can bring the reader to tears. One, with a tongue in cheek approach, may cause the reader to smile or even laugh. Others are mysteries and short essays. More than one story shows a great deal of irony. A few are nostalgic. One of the stories pokes fun at a store owner and another at an elementary school teacher. "Brothers" and "Progress" are very close to events that actually took place. The novella also has its basis in fact, but is fictionalized. A couple of these stories have been published in magazines. My Name is Sharon Young, but I was born a McNaney. I live in Chapel Hill, NC and studied writing at Duke University.