9/10: The Night Before: Ten stories that take place the night before America was changed forever.

by ROB SANTANA

Do YOU remember where you were, or what you were doing, on September 10, 2001, the day or evening BEFORE the 9/11 attacks? What plans did you make for the next day? Obviously, those plans were not met. Who could have possibly known what lay ahead? Only in hindsight would details of an ordinary day seem so remarkable. The ten chilling stories here are a hybrid of fiction and actual social events that happened the Monday before. Some of the stories are based on real A date that goes wrong during Michael Jackson's concert at Madison Square Garden, A U.S. Army Private who deserts his post near the Pentagon, A resident of Shanksville, Pa. whose plans to own property will go up in smoke the next day; a rained-out game at Yankee Stadium that leads to racial conflict over Barry Bonds, parents who suspect their son is gay, a young woman obsessed with Chandra Levy, a celebrity who boards a fateful flight. Humor, pathos, and lost dreams make up the clueless characters in this short story collection.

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 22, 2015

About the author

Author/Filmmaker.

Some of my short stories have been "traditionally" published.

Two of my feature films have screened at various festivals. (Bomber Jackets and Heysoos)

I love talking to other writers, especially about their work. Got something? Bring it on.

Reviews

[Wulfwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting look at the night before 9/11! This book shows us snippets of everyday life for ten people. It is amazing how ordinary life takes on so much more meaning when you change your perspective. The stories in this book are all different. The people in them are not tied to one another. We don't know how the stories really end. Did the people go to work on 9/11? Were they on board the plane? (We do know that was a yes for a living person though the story was fictional). How the people left behind were affected we do not know. All we have are the snippets of ordinary life made extraordinary by the horrific event known as 9/11. Those these stories are fictional any one of them could be true. So many people were taken from us, each with their own night before. This book drives home the point that we should never take life for granted, not our own nor anyone else's. Say I love you. Forgive when needed. Visit and call when you have the opportunity, make one if you have to. Tomorrow is not promised as is shown in these poignant stories. In my opinion, this book is a beautiful tribute to the ordinary people we lost that day. In someone else's eyes they were extraordinary and loved. They all deserve to be remembered.

[C.H. Eryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A day before disaster.

This is a book which contains several stories of ordinary people going about their day with all the normal problems thrown at us in our daily lives. It was very difficult as a reader to know what would happen the next day and the desire to warn them prior to the horrors of 9/11. It was a poignant reminder to all of us that no day is promised, so make each day special.

[Becca Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so beautiful, love the imagination Rob Santana has. The different stories that wound around this pivotal date. Highly recommend.

[Caroline Walken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Rob has proven to be a unique voice in the world of fiction. He has cinched the title in this touching book. This id a must read!

[Lauren Rico · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEFORE and AFTER. I can think of few instances that better illustrate the concept than the events of September 11, 2001. For those of us who are old enough to have witnessed this horrific moment in history, there is a distinct sense of BEFORE and AFTER. Our collective lives, as Americans, was relatively idyllic in that we felt safe and secure in the belief that we were safe on our own soil. And then, on a bright, beautiful Tuesday morning, we were blindsided and sent careening violently and unwillingly into the world of 'AFTER.'

Unlike so many other books, Rob Santana's 9/10 is not a chronicle of the impact of that fateful day–fictional or true. Rather, it is a collection of vignettes- little slices of life- occurring the night BEFORE.... The supervisor trying to seduce his employee who's trying to get her friend a job.... The soldier who has gone AWOL to find his girlfriend..... The two young ladies from the Midwest who have dinner at Windows on the World. We get a very brief sense of who each of these characters is- some more likable than others. No sooner do you have a handle on the situation and its players, then you're on to the next story with very little in the way of resolution. But that is the genius of 9/10.

We all know what happened on the morning of 9/11 and, with that certainty in mind, it's as if we're reading one story and writing another in our minds. You want to say "Don't take the job there!" "Call in sick!" "Don't stay there!" "Don't report to the firehouse!" because you, as the reader, already know all too well what is going to happen to these characters... or, at the very least, what *could* happen to them. You're listening to harsh words that you know will be regretted later and flippant decisions that will, literally, be the difference between life and death.
You can see, long before any of these individuals, the exact instant when each character's fate is sealed, one way or the other.

Rob Santana sets us up with the BEFORE and, like it or not, leaves us to end each story on our own, in the horrible context of the AFTER.

While I found one or two of the stories a little hard to follow, it didn't dimish my appreciation for the work as a whole.
9/10 is a compelling and well-crafted book that will leave you considering the characters and their fates long after you've turned the last page.