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Best of Ohio Short Stories: Volume 1
Best of Ohio Short Stories presents a collection of remarkable short stories by eighteen Ohio authors.
A unique collection of literary and popular fiction, this fantastic anthology will please readers of all types.
Columbus Creative Cooperative solicited short stories from Ohio's most prestigious institutions, and also welcomed work from writers of all skill and experience levels in an open, egalitarian submission process. From hundreds of qualified candidates, the best stories were selected for publication.
This first-of-its-kind anthology features stories from notable Ohio authors, as well as stories from authors making their fiction debut.
Best of Ohio Short Stories features the work of eighteen Ohio authors: David Armstrong, Mark D. Baumgartner, Joseph Downing, Kevin Duffy, Ann Brimacombe Elliot, Scott Geisel, Justin Hanson, Maria Hummer, Brenda Layman, Kelsey Lynne, Alice G. Otto, Brad Pauquette, Brooks Rexroat, Lin Rice, Anna Scotti, Heather Sinclair Shaw, S.E. White and Sara Ross Witt.
From contemplative literary fiction to other-worldly science fiction, and everything in between, every reader will find something to love in this phenomenal book. This anthology truly represents the Best of Ohio Short Stories.
A unique collection of literary and popular fiction, this fantastic anthology will please readers of all types.
Columbus Creative Cooperative solicited short stories from Ohio's most prestigious institutions, and also welcomed work from writers of all skill and experience levels in an open, egalitarian submission process. From hundreds of qualified candidates, the best stories were selected for publication.
This first-of-its-kind anthology features stories from notable Ohio authors, as well as stories from authors making their fiction debut.
Best of Ohio Short Stories features the work of eighteen Ohio authors: David Armstrong, Mark D. Baumgartner, Joseph Downing, Kevin Duffy, Ann Brimacombe Elliot, Scott Geisel, Justin Hanson, Maria Hummer, Brenda Layman, Kelsey Lynne, Alice G. Otto, Brad Pauquette, Brooks Rexroat, Lin Rice, Anna Scotti, Heather Sinclair Shaw, S.E. White and Sara Ross Witt.
From contemplative literary fiction to other-worldly science fiction, and everything in between, every reader will find something to love in this phenomenal book. This anthology truly represents the Best of Ohio Short Stories.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
258 pages, Paperback
First published October 31, 2013
6 people are currently reading
307 people want to read
About the author
Brad Pauquette
18 books48 followersBrad Pauquette is the director of The Company, a community of writers on a mission to change the world.
As a writing mentor and publishing expert, Brad helps authors unlock their potential and make cool stuff.
Brad is a follower of Jesus. He lives in Cambridge, Ohio, with his wife, Melissa, and their six children.
Since 2008, Brad has worked in various capacities in the publishing industry, starting several successful publishig imprints. Brad is also the founder of the Ohio Writers’ Association.
Check out "The Company Podcast with Brad Pauquette" on your favorite app. You can also start your journey with Brad with the 90-Day Novel Challenge.
As a writing mentor and publishing expert, Brad helps authors unlock their potential and make cool stuff.
Brad is a follower of Jesus. He lives in Cambridge, Ohio, with his wife, Melissa, and their six children.
Since 2008, Brad has worked in various capacities in the publishing industry, starting several successful publishig imprints. Brad is also the founder of the Ohio Writers’ Association.
Check out "The Company Podcast with Brad Pauquette" on your favorite app. You can also start your journey with Brad with the 90-Day Novel Challenge.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 10, 2013
Short story anthologies often are classified by genre. It's refreshing to be surprised consistently while reading a collection. These stories shift dramatically in tone and content from one to the next. That kind of freshness invigorates each narrative with the danger of true discovery. I love that feeling.
November 11, 2013
Really a phenomenal anthology. Awesome stories, I enjoyed every one, and the book's presentation and production values are great too.
First-class work from Columbus Creative Cooperative.
First-class work from Columbus Creative Cooperative.
November 4, 2013
An eclectic, stylistically and thematically diverse collection from writers with ties to Ohio that covers a broad range of genres but has at its center quality, enjoyable writing.
December 4, 2013
Great collection of short stories. I read this on break at work. Most of the stories fit into one break. Nice little escape!
November 11, 2013
Great book. Congratulations to the eighteen included authors, this was a solid piece of literature and I really enjoyed it.
Ohio proud!
Ohio proud!
Read
August 26, 2025Not sure how to rate an anthology so I’m just not going to, but there were some bangers in here
November 9, 2013
Really a great book. Plenty of variety, and all 18 stories are very good.
December 31, 2013
Great stories. Very vivid portrayals. Some stories I wished for different endings but wonderful writing,anyway.
May 2, 2014
Here we have a collection of evocative, timely, engaging and memorable short stories from the Columbus (Ohio) Creative Cooperative. Though not all writers of the featured fiction offerings are Ohioans, all these stories fulfill the requirement of a good short: they’re readable in one sitting, they’ll grab you and they’ll change the way you view the world.
Mark Baumgartner’s 'Besancon’,' a tale of separation and tragedy in France sums up a standard trope: ‘there is no place in this great wide world you can’t be found.’ Maria Hummer’s 'Open House' is a tale of a real estate transaction that includes more than just a house. Freshly-minted couple ‘Amy and Todd’ take over Joe and Melanie’s lives—their entire lives—so that couple can move on to something else. Scott Geisel’s 'Cinderbox Road' is that rare story successfully told in second person, a long missive from a man to his wife forgiving her for losing ‘his son.’ Joseph Downing’s 'A Day in the Sun,' puts father and ‘son’ on a Mexican beach, reminiscing about the mother, and the tension between father and son’s conflicting visions of her. Brenda Layman’s 'Late Date' casts a young woman with an older man, driving into a storm that causes a horrific accident which shows the effete, aloof academic becoming ‘a human being for once’ in his life. Sara Ross Witt’s 'Monsters' gets inside the head of a young girl whose father has forsaken her to make another life. Kevin Duffy’s 'Saint Vinny and the Devil’s Brother' resonates with contemporary insight, and jargon from the wolves of Wall Street, with a satisfying comeuppance. Heather Sinclair Shaw’s 'Chrysalis' takes readers north of Wall Street, to another part of Manhattan, an airy-fairy store called The Whole Shebang where ‘David’ ‘spews enlightenment like a leaky faucet.’ S.E. White’s 'Fallen Timbers' makes the metaphor of trees as fathers do a lot of hard work, a heartrending tale of rape and family implosion, but from whole different perspective. Lin Rice brings us 'Off The Record,' a Sci-Fi/ alien abduction tale rendered with chilling detail that will raise the tiny hairs on any reader’s neck. Guaranteed. Anna Scotti’s 'Faster Than I Could Follow' shows just how deeply and quickly a seven-year old girl can fall in love, regardless of who her object of adoration happens to be. Brad Pauquette’s 'On Wilson' takes his character, an otherwise model human being, on a violent rampage. It’s a place many of us know we’re capable of going, and that knowledge should be chilling, let’s hope. Kelsey Lynn’s 'Resetting' explores the anger and humiliation we feel when someone dies, and the upset caused when people stop dying. David Armstrong’s 'Let Me Know' takes readers inside the mind of frightened and newly pregnant girl with a scheduled abortion, and the inner dialogue she begins with her potential child. Anna Brimacombe Elliot’s 'Harvest' is a contrast between city and domestic life, and country ‘red in tooth and claw,’ as Tennyson said. Justin Hanson’s 'Twilight of the Revolution' tracks the progress and flavor of the LGBT rights movement from the perspective of ‘Herb,’ a sixty-year old gay man who has lived through the years of discrimination, AIDS, halting progress, and recent elevation of the civil rights issue of our time. Brooks Rexroat’s 'Blood Off Rusted Steel' uses a recent Ohio event, the killing of a man’s wild animals, who have recently killed him, to explore small town ennui, and the sometimes bestial nature of people who find themselves caged in those small towns. Alice G. Otto’s 'A Test of Faith' is the Mary and Joseph ‘no room at the inn’ story with a fascinating twist. Call it Rosemary’s Baby in rural Kentucky.
These eighteen stories have something for everyone—family drama, science fiction, contemporary issues, fresh perspectives and memorable characters.
This reviewer wondered why writers who live elsewhere are included in The Best Of Ohio, but geography seems not to have been a factor in the selections. The editing is first rate, though it seems in the Kentucky tale that there should have been snow ‘drifts’ not ‘drafts,’ and the ending of Off The Record did seem a bit predictable.
All in all a highly readable, well assembled collection of truly well crafted short stories.
Byron Edgington, author of The Sky Behind Me: A Memoir of Flying & Life
Mark Baumgartner’s 'Besancon’,' a tale of separation and tragedy in France sums up a standard trope: ‘there is no place in this great wide world you can’t be found.’ Maria Hummer’s 'Open House' is a tale of a real estate transaction that includes more than just a house. Freshly-minted couple ‘Amy and Todd’ take over Joe and Melanie’s lives—their entire lives—so that couple can move on to something else. Scott Geisel’s 'Cinderbox Road' is that rare story successfully told in second person, a long missive from a man to his wife forgiving her for losing ‘his son.’ Joseph Downing’s 'A Day in the Sun,' puts father and ‘son’ on a Mexican beach, reminiscing about the mother, and the tension between father and son’s conflicting visions of her. Brenda Layman’s 'Late Date' casts a young woman with an older man, driving into a storm that causes a horrific accident which shows the effete, aloof academic becoming ‘a human being for once’ in his life. Sara Ross Witt’s 'Monsters' gets inside the head of a young girl whose father has forsaken her to make another life. Kevin Duffy’s 'Saint Vinny and the Devil’s Brother' resonates with contemporary insight, and jargon from the wolves of Wall Street, with a satisfying comeuppance. Heather Sinclair Shaw’s 'Chrysalis' takes readers north of Wall Street, to another part of Manhattan, an airy-fairy store called The Whole Shebang where ‘David’ ‘spews enlightenment like a leaky faucet.’ S.E. White’s 'Fallen Timbers' makes the metaphor of trees as fathers do a lot of hard work, a heartrending tale of rape and family implosion, but from whole different perspective. Lin Rice brings us 'Off The Record,' a Sci-Fi/ alien abduction tale rendered with chilling detail that will raise the tiny hairs on any reader’s neck. Guaranteed. Anna Scotti’s 'Faster Than I Could Follow' shows just how deeply and quickly a seven-year old girl can fall in love, regardless of who her object of adoration happens to be. Brad Pauquette’s 'On Wilson' takes his character, an otherwise model human being, on a violent rampage. It’s a place many of us know we’re capable of going, and that knowledge should be chilling, let’s hope. Kelsey Lynn’s 'Resetting' explores the anger and humiliation we feel when someone dies, and the upset caused when people stop dying. David Armstrong’s 'Let Me Know' takes readers inside the mind of frightened and newly pregnant girl with a scheduled abortion, and the inner dialogue she begins with her potential child. Anna Brimacombe Elliot’s 'Harvest' is a contrast between city and domestic life, and country ‘red in tooth and claw,’ as Tennyson said. Justin Hanson’s 'Twilight of the Revolution' tracks the progress and flavor of the LGBT rights movement from the perspective of ‘Herb,’ a sixty-year old gay man who has lived through the years of discrimination, AIDS, halting progress, and recent elevation of the civil rights issue of our time. Brooks Rexroat’s 'Blood Off Rusted Steel' uses a recent Ohio event, the killing of a man’s wild animals, who have recently killed him, to explore small town ennui, and the sometimes bestial nature of people who find themselves caged in those small towns. Alice G. Otto’s 'A Test of Faith' is the Mary and Joseph ‘no room at the inn’ story with a fascinating twist. Call it Rosemary’s Baby in rural Kentucky.
These eighteen stories have something for everyone—family drama, science fiction, contemporary issues, fresh perspectives and memorable characters.
This reviewer wondered why writers who live elsewhere are included in The Best Of Ohio, but geography seems not to have been a factor in the selections. The editing is first rate, though it seems in the Kentucky tale that there should have been snow ‘drifts’ not ‘drafts,’ and the ending of Off The Record did seem a bit predictable.
All in all a highly readable, well assembled collection of truly well crafted short stories.
Byron Edgington, author of The Sky Behind Me: A Memoir of Flying & Life
February 21, 2017
Highly variable quality, overall worth it.
February 26, 2016
Wow - I really enjoyed this book! I read one story a night before bedtime and this was the perfect way to approach the readings. Some of the stories will stick with you for a long time. In my case, "Open House" still haunts me with unanswered questions a month after I read it. Just don't expect all sunshine and lollipops; some of these stories address some truly painful situations - and do so in page-turning compelling manner.
I received this book through a free giveaway from Goodreads.
I received this book through a free giveaway from Goodreads.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews