One Paycheck Away
A Short Fiction Anthology
Edited by Bill Wesse
Main Street Rag, 2003
ISBN 1-930907-29-X, 196 pages, $10.Featuring stories by:
Margaret Drummond Allegrucci, James Breeden, Glen Chestnut, Christopher Cunningham, Carlo Danese, Peggy Duffy, Sue Friday, Karon Luddy, Joseph Mattson, Ashley Thomas Memory, Gwendolyn Joyce Mintz, Ruth Moose, Mimi Moriarty, Valerie Nieman, Frank J. Pisano, David Plumb, S. Craig Renfroe, Jr., Steve Silkin, Nancy Simpson, Art Taylor, Gerald R. Wheeler, Jeff Williams.
Review in Creative Loafing, October 29, 2003
Introduction
Since I first learned to read, my favorite literary form has been the short story. So when M. Scott Douglass, my business partner at Main Street Rag proposed that I edit a collection, my enthusiasm was immediate.
At the time, I had only modest experience as a fiction editor, and had little idea what editing a story collection entailed. Nevertheless, I was determined to do a professional job, and learned a considerable amount in the process.
The most important thing I found out was how miserably difficult it is to say ‘no’ to the author of a perfectly good story that just doesn’t fit the vision I had in mind. Saying no was almost as daunting as saying ‘yes’ to one that does. Vision is all about having the conviction that what you like is what the reader likes.
And make no mistake – it’s all about the reader. You see, if there is one literary theory I subscribe to, it’s that a story should draw enough on readers imaginations so that they lose track of the boundary between themselves and the people in the story.
Considerations about style and form must be secondary to whether or not the reader “gets something” from the reading. In my un-humble opinion, that can happen only if the author is telling truth. And that was my second criterion: a litmus test, if you prefer, requiring that the stories told must address a reality about the human condition.
Beyond the title itself, there was little direction provided concerning the focus of One Paycheck Away. Given the economic conditions of the first several years of this new millennium, we figured the topicality of the title would suffice. I think it has. In one way or another, every story in this collection is connected to being one paycheck away from something vital, something life changing.
I would like to thank Scott for providing the title, for his patient counsel and advice, and my wife Lyn for her patience during those long evenings I spent closed off in my home office. I extend my personal thanks to all the authors, with special recognition to those who graciously accepted my change proposals. There were very few changes, and those changes were minimal.
Bill Wesse, Editor