Shorts: A Collection

by J.A. Carter-Winward

A Mormon in the White House and intimate relationships with plastic blow-up dolls show the breadth of Carter-Winward's short story telling. So get ready for a pole dancing grandmother and football played using a nativity scene. The stories may be short, but the images and emotions will stay with you.

76 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2013

About the author

J.A. Carter-Winward is an award-winning writer, poet, and visual artist living in the mountains of northern Utah and the author of five poetry books, six novels, two short-story collections, and a stage play.

Her most recent publications include Work in Progress: Dialogues & Poems, and If it Stings...that means it's working - a poetry story, available Limited Edition print hardback and Kindle.

Her latest novel, Wade, won Best Literary Fiction novel of 2021 in that category by IndieReader's Discovery Awards.

She's also co-founded a non-profit organization to help raise awareness for the often-overlooked dangers of over 800+ FDA-approved medications on the market today.

blackboxwarn.org

J.A.'s work can be found in various print and online journals, anthologies, and publications.
Check her official Author Page for upcoming releases coming in 2022.

www.jacarterwinward.com

https://www.facebook.com/jacarterwinw...

Reviews

[Casey Kiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutally captivating short stories, relatable and darkly funny. J.A. swirls many topics into the pudding, as usual. The entire collection is consistent and tightly wound with intensity and wit. My favorites were 'Peter Pan for Girls' and 'Jesus Saves'. You'll get the vibe that the author is quite a force of nature when it comes to storytelling. Highly recommended.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a while since I had a book by JACW to read, I always devour them as soon as I get them, Shorts: A Collection, believe it or not, is a collection of short stories. The collection covers a wide range of topics, involving a varied collection of people and they all spark different emotions in the reader. I kept having the feeling that they had a mini autobiopic feel to them, little stories created to explore moments in the authors life. Whilst reading this collection I have laughed out loud, been shocked by sudden violence and felt a heaviness in my heart at the things some characters go through.

My three favourites here were: “Peter Pan for Girls” where a mother is trying to revisit her youth by taking part in a poetry recital, we get glimpses of her poem as she is torn apart by her anxieties. “Jesus Saves” was a shocker, I didn’t expect this to go the way it did, one single moment of violence changes everything. “Patch Kit” JACW shows her wicked sense of humour, I laughed out loud at the scenes in this story, the brightest moment in the book.

JACW is one of my favourite writers, hugely talented and has never let me down. Highly recommended.

Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2023...

[Kent Winward · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book has a short story that I find even more interesting in light of today's news with Mitt Romney marching in the BLM protest. Over eight years ago, J.A. imagined Mitt in the White House praying over inequality, which makes for a very interesting juxtaposition between reality and fiction.

J.A. addressed the issues of sexual assault in her work long before the #MeToo phenomenon. Listen to one of the stories on Sound Cloud.