Brad Barkley – författare

Ever since sixteen-year-old Gabe Strickland can remember, his father, Roman, has believed in the sale: that magical moment on the customer's porch, the deal about to close. But with each dizzying success comes an equally memorable failure, and Gabe's mother, Gladys, has grown tired of waiting for a life of financial stability. So in the summer of 1975 she leaves Roman and goes to live with his dependable brother Dutch. Confident he can win Gladys back, Roman pins all his hopes on a barnstorming tour of Southern carnivals, hawking tickets for "Death Cars of Celebrities." Gabe finds his own truth somewhere between Roman's quixotic dreaming and Gladys's newfound stability, and he learns that love is, ultimately, the one thing that can't be bought or sold. Reading group guide included.

From the critically acclaimed authors of Scrambled Eggs at Midnight and Dream Factory comes a poignant story of two sisters.

Chloe and Shana want the same thing?for everything to go back to normal, the way it was before their mom went to the hospital. But both sisters know that things can never be the same. While Chloe wants their mom to come home so they can be a family again, Shana never wants to see their mother. And while Shana is trying to escape her problems by hiding under a new persona, Chloe is left trying to be the responsible one. Then things go from bad to worse, and the sisters are forced to band together and redefine what it means to be a family.

When the Disney World character actors go on strike, teens are hired as replacements. Ella is assigned the role of Cinderella simply because the shoes fit. And every afternoon at three o?clock she gets married to Prince Charming. A perfect dream come true?except Ella doesn?t believe in dreams anymore. Meanwhile, Luke is one of the fur characters (Dale, the chipmunk), and his girlfriend, Cassie, plays his counterpart, Chip. Cassie is perfect in every way, so why does Luke want to be with Cinderella? Then Luke and Ella are brought together during a scavenger hunt, and as they uncover the Magic Kingdom?s hidden treasures, they discover an undeniable magic between them. Perhaps dreams really can come true after all?

A widow in her mid-thirties, Alison has been mourning for two years. Now living in small town West Virginia with her sister Sarah and brother-in-law Bill, Alison is unable to move on with her life. Finally, she promises Sarah and Bill that she will start over—once she restores the abandoned, nearly ruined 1976 Corvette she found rusting in the garage and immediately loved. Unfortunately, Alison doesn’t know the first thing about cars, and the fact that the townspeople (with the exception of a cute demolition man) find a woman messing with automotive parts bewildering doesn’t help. With beautiful frankness and surprising hilarity, Brad Barkley tells of a gutsy woman’s attempts to overcome loss, and fit into a close-knit community, in a triumphant look at grief, love, loss, and moving on.

With his keen ability to evoke characters in the South and Middle America who find themselves in reduced circumstances, Brad Barkley restores our faith in human beings to endure the ravages of time with decency and humor. Out of intense loyalty, Reed feels reluctant to leave his crippled friend when his girlfriend pressures him to move on. Mourning their baby’s death, a couple takes up dancing lessons to recapture their closeness. Two drifters, Bosco and Ray, scheme to murder an old man, steal his diamonds, and pay a doctor to save Bosco’s life.

Brad Barkley’s first collection of short stories centers on the lives of working-class men and women frequently fighting desperation or dissatisfaction, but a few of the thirteen illuminating tales maintain hope, despite the long odds against happiness.