"Methods of Repair" by Michael C. Keith

 Scantic Books is proud to present this collection of micro poems by award-winning author Michael C. Keith. In the tradition of poet laureate Billy Collins’s Musical Tables, Keith’s haiku-like micro poems focus on the irony and folly of human nature. At once compelling and provocative, Methods of Repair takes the reader to places only a vivid and original imagination could and, in the process, inspires smiles and shudders, all leading to increased awareness of who we are as a less than perfect species. “I found the microscopic, microtonal Rumi-nations of Methods of Repair, fiction writer Michael C. Keith’s first venture into verse, instantly engaging and a pleasure to read.” –– Lloyd Schwartz, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Who’s on First: New and Selected Poems.

https://www.amazon.com/Methods-Repair-Micro-Michael-Keith-ebook/dp/B0DXFT1N1V/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pHKoQ3I46nHi9dN6qfRtMZBLvpmce19ALfm5j9DqTP-8ek_NIktUhillzbCoPsTeLYZ6OaGgVST5-tHUMNv2STxsxGr2e0Mb9pv8jKHh5cX-lNVckM8lDqepFubN1-ItIem0EDN_gEqA-Oz22lO7VR-OHY1IOQ_0vc2McsgryzKskSD9_JblYtd_1YhoiGocz421hC734_MPLsmcbY0b4nrDWpUIVf_JOpEzlPnzmLs.90lhj_GdEoM9R_uKrxe0WDterERxipBS15E8rFe9EZg&dib_tag=se&keywords=Michael+C.+Keith&qid=1739980106&sr=8-1
 

"The Loneliness Channel" by Michael C. Keith

 

"The Loneliness Channel" by Michael C. Keith

 

Scantic Books is proud to present "The Loneliness Channel" by acclaimed author Michael C. Keith. (Available in paperback and ebook; proceeds to go to charity supporting loneliness.)

 

The country’s major communication media (networks, magazines, journals, newspapers, and internet) have been reporting what it considers the new global pandemic: loneliness. The reports stem from the research of prominent medical and psychology institutions. While the findings are startling, they have not been a surprise to Michael C. Keith, the author of The Loneliness Channel. A sense of aloneness and isolation were prominent aspects of his life as a child hitchhiking America under the dubious stewardship of his divorced alcoholic parent. Frequently left to his own resources in strange cities while his hapless father took day jobs before hitting the road again to places the elder Keith imbued with endless unrealistic possibilities, his son passed time companionless in gloomy rooming houses. While the pair’s cross-country jaunts possessed moments of distracting adventure, they were inevitably followed by long periods of disappointment and longing. This left an indelible mark on the author even as he grew to be a successful adult, surrounded by loving friends and family. In recent years, those far-gone days have manifested in a myriad of fiction and an acclaimed memoir, including this new collection, which is devoted to the topic of loneliness through the literary devices of irony, humor, and pathos. 

 

“Pithy and profound mini-tales abound in The Loneliness Channel. New perceptions, decisions, regrets, rants, all things possible and impossible on every page. Delights and forebodings. Joys and sorrows. Keith plays with real and potentially real life from every angle in this marvel of a book. Powerful and compelling. Such abundance in compression.” –Tony Press, author of Crossing the Lines

“Two great strains in American culture are vulgarity and loneliness. Michael C. Keith understands one without resorting to the other.” –Luke Salisbury, author of No Common War

“Michael C. Keith’s The Loneliness Channel is a collection of quietly powerful prose poems, or ‘micro-prose,’ as the author describes them, that explore solitude and loss. The work is suffused with a sense of poignancy and regret, but also with touches of dark and subtle humor. One thing that strikes the reader is that this could only be the work of a mature writer, one who realizes that the value of what has been lost reminds us of the value of what remains.” –Charles Coe, author of Purgatory Row

“In this marvelous compendium, Michael C. Keith provides an amazing range of very brief stories about the experience of loneliness, most with a sardonic twist, many with a touching tone. Turns out there are more than a hundred ways to be lonely!” –Lawrence Kessenich, author of Hard Times Require Furious Dancing

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CX88C48R/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&fbclid=IwAR23dNocD6IhPyugidhX6F7VNbqSrDb5LFzwgSUHUdyQ2NkRYyCgzqYMyUI

"The Oldest Male Kindergarten Teacher in America" by John Sheirer

 "The Oldest Male Kindergarten Teacher in America" by John Sheirer

Scantic Books is proud to publish this new novelette by award-winning author John Sheirer. Guy Mann’s last day as a kindergarten teacher is interrupted by a child’s tantrum. As Guy deals with the situation as only he can, he reflects on a career that spans more than five decades and a life filled with purpose, love, family, and unexpected tragedy. With the same deft attention to character development, storytelling, and beautiful language that made Sheirer’s most recent book, Stumbling Through Adulthood: Linked Stories, so compelling, The Oldest Kindergarten Teacher in America will captivate readers from the first sentence to the final word.

 Available now at Amazon.com!  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CCSP9Z99?fbclid=IwAR1JTygbFNhpSp9WGZaAfLTwC-gje06SHMo3AyPhnRE57nbr3ZFfZc7exFs

"Once Upon a Blue Moon" by Jessica Barone

 

NOW AVAILABLE!!!

 

Once Upon a Blue Moon: Stories to Enrapture the Mind, Delight the Senses, and Chill the Soul

 

Scantic Books is proud to present this inspiring story collection by Jessica Barone. A blood-drinker offers protection to the daughter of a drug lord. A guardian is more than he seems. A girl is taken on the ride of her life. The inner beast takes control. Obsession is made into art. Blood is thicker than water. Some things just aren’t worth coming home for. Stuck between fire and water. The end of the world really isn’t. Anything is better than marriage. When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back. Jessica Barone, author of The Shadowlands series, offers this collection of short stories to enrapture the mind, delight the senses, and chill the soul.

 

 Available now at Amazon.com!  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZFJ44LK?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860&fbclid=IwAR2Khjv7YRiJnhraFHfcct79i1TzEhjjUEOndcrbPGv34A4adVdpBa2D6NY

"Master of Arts" by Colleen Alles

Scantic Books is proud to publish a new novel by up-and-coming author Colleen Alles. Recent college graduate Viola Hartman is happy to answer her sister Natalie’s cry for help. After all, Viola has no permanent job, no boyfriend, no place to live, and, really no idea what she’s doing next. Viola moves in with Natalie and Natalie’s husband, a big-deal writer, to care for their two children. And while Viola shows up ready for midnight feedings and dirty diapers, Viola isn’t prepared to learn that her sister has been keeping secrets for years. Slowly, Viola must unravel the truth about perfect, put-together, successful Natalie. And little by little, Viola needs to learn how to tell the secrets she’s been keeping, too. 

“… a well-crafted, relatable yarn about figuring out your life. Alles balances humor and heart while wonderfully capturing those intricate dynamics we must navigate among family, friends, and lovers.” -Adam Schuitema, author of The Things We Do That Make No Sense.

“… absorbing and intimate … A refreshingly honest reflection on sisterhood and friendship; Alles writes with such humor and heart, I couldn’t put it down.” -Meagan Lucas, author of Songbirds and Stray Dogs, and editor of Recon Review.

 

 You can order Master of Arts here:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFVCL9W2?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

"The Green Ray" by Gregory J. Wolos.

 Scantic Books is proud to publish The Green Ray, the new story collection by award-winning author Gregory J. Wolos. Short stories are deceptively simple: characters in situations do things for a limited amount of time. In the hands of short story master Gregory J. Wolos, simplicity leads to a rare depth of literature that holds a reader’s mind well beyond the final line. A grandfather nearly doesn’t make it to a new phase of life. A candle maker waxes on about his complex life. A family reemerges from isolation after an alternative-universe pandemic. An aging musician may be betrayed by his own brain. A teacher puzzles over how to be present for a traumatized young student and his own son. Wolos brings these and other stories to life with suspense, empathy, and the power of a writer whose work will captivate readers for years to come.

“Gregory J Wolos’s work will make you laugh out loud and, in the next moment, transport you to the other side of the mirror. Like Kurt Vonnegut, he shows us life’s dark and heartbreaking absurdity. Wolos captures moments of ordinary life and turns them upside down to uncover their truth.” – Jessica Barcomb, author of Letting Go.

“In The Green Ray and Other Stories, Gregory J. Wolos is at the pinnacle of his conspicuous talent, and that is really saying something because his previous short fiction collections occupy a prominent place in the pantheon of best short fiction. By any measure, he is one of the most original and adept writers at work today, and this new volume is an occasion to celebrate. The literary canon is enriched by Wolos’s formidable imagination and authentic voice. In every one of Wolos's masterful tales, we witness his dedication to the art and craft of storytelling. There is nothing facile here. Hard work has been done to consummate effect, and the reader is lavishly rewarded.” – Michael C. Keith, author of The Late Epiphany of a Low-Key Oracle.

 You can order The Green Ray and Other Stories here:

https://www.amazon.com/Green-Ray-Other-Stories/dp/B0B9R2MBDL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=349TDDV5LEG98&keywords=The+green+ray+and+other+short+stories&qid=1661363111&sprefix=the+green+ray+and+other+short+stories%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-1 

"The Late Epiphany of a Low-Key Oracle" by Michael C. Keith

Scantic Books is proud to publish The Late Epiphany of a Low-Key Oracle, Michael C. Keith’s latest collection of microfiction. This book contains 188 mini-epics, each one beaming with quirky characters, oddball situations, and biting irony.

“Michael C. Keith is a champion of truth, a connoisseur of the absurd, a somewhat bewildered student of human nature, and one of the undisputed masters of short fiction.” – Rob Dinsmoor, author of Toxic Cookout and You’ll Never See it Coming.  

“The Late Epiphany of a Low-Key Oracle by Michael C. Keith is filled with concise, insightful flash fiction that shines a light on our current era of paradoxes and contradiction. Take for example this story: “When Leon declared that no American restaurant could hold a candle to the Kuushuur served at the Khan Buuz Bistro in Ulanbataar, everyone argued the point.” Keith has the background and authority to regale us with tales that zero in like lasers to illuminate our lives. Like Lydia Davis, Keith combines credible dialogue with concrete details and surprising moves that have us by turns laughing and reflecting. The author of more than twenty books, Keith is someone you will want to add to your reading list this year.” – Ed Meek, author of Luck and High Tide.

 You can order The Late Epiphany of a Low-Key Oracle here:

https://www.amazon.com/Late-Epiphany-Low-Key-Oracle/dp/B0B9QWHFNT/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3F5YIVNL2YHAV&keywords=the+late+epiphany+of+a+low-key+oracle&qid=1661362724&sprefix=The+Late+Epi%2Caps%2C429&sr=8-1