Time Well Spent

In this wide-ranging collection of short stories, ordinary lives open into unexpected places. Drawn from more than two decades of writing, these stories explore love and loss, aging and memory, teaching and retirement, friendship and family, women’s lives, the bonds we share with animals, and the strange possibilities that exist just beyond the familiar world.

Some stories are tender. Others are funny, surprising, or quietly unsettling. A few venture into the supernatural, while others find the extraordinary hidden within the everyday. There are stories about books, famous people, history, pets, dating, marriage, classrooms, and the inevitable complications of growing older. Together, they form a portrait of life in all its contradictions, messy, poignant, humorous, mysterious, and often unpredictable.

The collection grew from years of participation in an international writers’ group, where stories first emerged from prompts, word limits, and shared exercises. Over time, they were expanded and reshaped into deeply personal narratives. Each story contains something of the author: the cautious scientist, the curious observer, the hopeful dreamer, and the woman who sometimes wonders what might have happened if she had been braver, bolder, or more decisive.

For more than twenty years, these stories have been shared among English professors, colleagues, and book clubs, gathering thoughtful feedback and loyal readers. Now, for the first time, they come together in one collection.