"Read the first line of any Jayne Martin story and I dare you not to keep going. A masterful storyteller, Martin's characters are funny, smart, wounded, and brave. These thirty-eight stories linger and satisfy. . . . A badass writer if ever there was one." --Kathy Fish, author of Wild Life: Collected Works from 2003-2018 If Joy Williams and Raymond Carver had a love child that was often left in the care of Lydia Davis it might grow up to be Jayne Martin. Martin's writing evokes the literary DNA of those who have influenced her most, while in a style and voice that is uniquely her own.In these 38 tiny tales, everyday people do their best to manage the wounds life inflicts on all of us: A six-year-old beauty pageant contestant strives to please her demanding mother; a woman marries a 1985 Buick LeSabre; in a laundromat bored wives fall under the romantic spell of a lobster; a grown woman is still being fat-shamed by her deceased mother via a Ouija board; a widow carries her husband's ashes around in Baggies. With pathos and humor, these and all of the characters in this collection will speak to the reader's own wounded heart. Jayne Martin is a Pushcart, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfictions nominee, and a recipient of Vestal Review’s VERA award. Her debut collection of flash fiction, Tender Cuts, from Vine Leaves Press is available now. She lives in California where she rides horses and drinks copious amounts of fine wines, though not at the same time. Prior to turning her attention to essay and fiction, Jayne Martin was a TV-movie writer whose credits include Big Spender for Animal Planet, and A Child Too Many, Cradle of Conspiracy, and Deceived by Trust for Lifetime. Her book of humor essays, Suitable for Giving: A Collection of Wit with a Side of Wry, is available in paperback and digital formats. Find her at www.jaynemartin-writer.com
