Atticus Books

Afternoons Mason fishes from the crest of Meadow Haven. By three he has completed his school work, said his afternoon prayers, done his part to advance the mission by e-mailing potential converts from the database. He can enjoy some rest and relaxation. As far as he knows, God is not opposed to bass fishing. Mason [...]

They only went down to the basement when the sirens forced them to. Even then Billy complained. “I don’t care if this house blows away,” he said. Renee, his sister, shook her head. “I don’t care either,” she said. “But my bed is right by a window and I don’t want to get cut up [...]

You had a girlfriend back in New York. You meet her at the Bowery Poetry Club when she spills a drink in your lap and wipes it up with a beret belonging to a complete stranger. She writes songs for television shows. She is best known for a song called “Fart in Your Face” where [...]

Gloria calls from New York and leaves a message on your office phone, something about an indie film company thinking about optioning your book. You know this is a lie; she hasn’t given you a real piece of good news about your writing in five years now, ever since you moved out here. She has [...]

Escape Goat is in your office again. You secretly call her that because the thesis on her first draft was: In “Sense n’ Sensibility” by Jane Austin, chivalry is just an escape goat for the problems of society. You imagine a goat with big goggles and a parachute strapped to its back, standing courageously by [...]

When exactly did doctors become younger than me, wondered Pete. Pete could accept that almost every professional associated with his children’s lives was younger than him, the teachers, the speech therapists, the nurses at the pediatrician’s office, not to mention the pediatrician herself. But his doctor too, when had he become his dad? It wasn’t [...]

At that point things had been rough for a couple of months and I would’ve done anything to ease the tension. I set an alarm for half an hour earlier than usual. I thought if I had some breakfast going when Cathy got up she’d have to see that I cared. After all, cooking wasn’t [...]

Before Edward could chew his first bit of lasagna, Kathy Cannon’s voice, via portable microphone, shattered whatever serenity his dining room afforded him. Testing. Can everyone hear me? Should I turn it up? Raise your hands in the back if you can hear me. “What is that?” he coughed, reaching for a glass of ice [...]