Susan Knier – författare

An overworked CPA becomes exponentially smarter and more efficient after consuming homemade salsa from a local Mexican restaurant but with disastrous results. Something sinister may be going on in the background of a jovial housewarming party. The owner of a diner in the remote desert shows mercy in different ways to both his irascible long-time employee and to a mysterious new trainee. Terror reigns on a trip to the grocery store in post-apocalyptic South Dakota. A death row inmate contemplates the little things on his way to the execution chamber. A lonely elderly lady also faces death many decades after being forcibly taken from her family. A bereaved young woman continues to experience support and protection from her mother from beyond the grave. These stories, poems and dreams will take you on a journey along the spectrum of human existence. Kindness and mercy coexist with bullying, malice and even darker evil. Let us explore together the mystery of what it means to be human.

An antique radio may hold the key to saving a life. A father teaches his son a valuable lesson on the horrific consequences of bullying. A man overhears menacing conversations between his renters...or does he? A lonely woman finds magical solace after hiring a mysterious laborer on her farmette for the summer. A cardiac surgeon has a nightmarish encounter with an unexpected patient on the eve of surgery. Friends plan a breathlessly-paced "e;bucket list"e; weekend for a young man starting an all-consuming new job. More than expert Charleston dancing may be going on at a charity benefit. These stories, poems and dreams explore universal human hopes and longings. This book is designed to spur questions: Is forgiveness absolutely essential to living our best lives? Would you give everything for a cause? What would you do to have a few more hours with a departed loved one? Is our time on earth really linear from birth to death or can we take detours?

This volume also features essays on perennial life topics such as the daunting task of self-forgiveness, appreciation of the natural world, the meaning of hospitality, giving, the loneliness pandemic and the strangeness of estrangement.