Sometimes all you have time for is something short & sweet—and sorrowful, sappy, scandalous, and scintillating. That’s where my new book Thirteen Emotions, a collection of short stories and flash fiction, comes into play. Help a self-published indie author out and grab a copy today from my bookstore or from Amazon across the globe.

I realize that on the back of my book, I only really summarize the book as a whole. Although, I do give a few hints: the death of a loved one, missing someone you were once in love with, the sensation of skinny-dipping in the ocean, and catching your spouse in a compromising situation.

However, there is so much more to Thirteen Emotions than just that. As a warning: not all of the stories are happy. In fact, I’d say the majority are not. It’s a book for the girlies who feel. (Not just girlies though, guys and gays will enjoy this book too.) This book is for people who don’t shy away from their emotions. Even if they do, they recognize the power of emotional release and perhaps want to shed a tear or two and let go of something.

From losing a parent to reconnecting with a long-lost love, a range of sentiments are sprinkled throughout. Some might spark moral outrage (A Man in Your Situation) while some may surface pain than you’d tried to push down, if you’ve ever been in a similar situation (Every Last Thing).

This is as raw and real as I’ve ever been in my writing. Not to say that everything in the book is real—it’s not. For the most part, it’s fiction, seasoned with things I’ve done, heard, seen, or wondered about. Divorce, adultery, death, love, lust, greed, sorrow, sex. No topic is off-limits. (Which just made me laugh because when my twins are doing something they shouldn’t, I tell them it’s off-limits.)

Anyway, I could go on and on about these stories. And right now, I have to go and pack lunches for my boys and feed my dog. Plus, pour another coffee.

Here are three-sentence summaries about every short story in Thirteen Emotions.

The Final Goodbye 

Grieving the sudden loss of a loved one. A woman’s father succumbs to his illness after a 6-month battle with glioblastoma. She’s left to reminisce on the past and find her way forward with the burden of grief weighing heavy on her (itchy) sweater-clad shoulders.

Read a preview here. 

What I Miss About You

Missing someone you were once in love with. Have you ever found a photo of a happy memory and found yourself feeling nostalgic for a love or a moment that once was? You know it wasn’t meant to be, but sometimes it’s nice to imagine what could have been, if you were both different people. 

Read a preview here. 

The Perfect Excuse

Set in a simpler time—perhaps 1950s New York—a young wife finds herself confronted with the undesirable desires of her husband. Her mind is a maelstrom of malicious intentions. Will she regret what she’s considering doing or will her husband be the one to regret his actions?

Read a preview here. 

Awake in the Woods

Victoria and her Doberman are startled awake, and deeply exposed, while her husband Andrew continues softly snoring away. Is there someone lurking in the dense forest of blackness beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows? A Christmas vacation at a remote lakefront cabin seemed so tempting until…

Read a preview here. 

Broken Glass Forever 

A wife stumbles upon the most cliché cover-up of all time by her philandering husband. After months of subtle speculation, she’s finally ready to trust her intuition. Will their marriage remain intact or will it prove to be as fragile as a paper-thin champagne coupe?

Read a preview here. 

The Million-Dollar Guilt Trip

Fernanda Rodriguez is a deplorable yet incredibly beautiful woman. Unfortunately, her ex-husband Raymond hadn’t quite comprehended the depths of her depravity when he’d filed for divorce 17 years ago. Now that Fernanda has discovered how much Raymond’s estate is worth, will she repent her actions or continue to thrive in toxic chaos?

The Sting of the Slap

Living with an unpredictable, borderline mother comes to a breaking point for one teenage girl. Will her mother go through with her threats this time? Or will it be like it always is: tumultuous one minute and the next, like nothing ever happened.

Read a preview here. 

A Phosphorus Skinny-Dip

Weighed down by the cherub cheeks of identical twins, a pregnant woman recalls the magic of stripping down and skinny-dipping in the ocean; feeling its briny embrace. Under the glow of the midday sun, the shallows are tempting. However, it’s when the moon dares to dims its brilliance that the enigmatic depths truly come alive.

Read a preview here. 

It’s Not Me, It’s You

As relationships change and evolve, so do the people in them. Are couples always destined to become detached from one another or is it only when someone on the outside tries to break in? What was once strawberries and cream has turned to blue cheese and Brussels sprouts; a most unappetizing combination, even if served on the finest china.

Read a preview here. 

Back at Chestnut Ranch

It’s been a decade since Scarlett Myers saddled up and slung herself over the strong back of a silky-smooth stallion. After an accident sent her sliding across a pebbled stadium floor, breaking her bones and shattering her confidence, she’s been too scared to ride. However, she’s decided that today, dressed for the ranch in Gucci sunglasses and faded breeches, is the day she’ll find her stride again.

Read a preview here. 

Crossed in Love

Marcus Jordan stayed in Brooklyn while Isabelle González jetted off to Paris to work her dream job at Vogue. It broke her heart, but she wasn’t about to let their convoluted past taint her fashionable future. Except… here he is, his jade eyes glistening down at her, in the middle of the Champs-Élysées, asking for another chance.

Read a preview here. 

The Day She Lost Her Soul

Hot meals, hugs, and captivating conversations are all things one young girl has noticed missing from her parents’ lives. When her and her best friend hop into the backseat of her mom’s Toyota Corolla after school, she immediately senses that something is wrong—and it’s not just what her dad describes as “something broken inside mommy’s brain.” She’s scared, not only of losing her best friend, but of what this means for her family as she’s always known it.

Read a preview here. 

A Man in Your Situation

What kind of claim can you have to a man who used to be yours but has since moved on? At least, moved on officially with someone else. No amount of La Perla, five-star hotels, or close calls can prepare one woman for the cold, hard truth—even colder than the beachside showers at a Mexican resort her and said man took together once upon a time.

Read a preview here. 

The Apron Strings

Nothing is more unbreakable than a mother’s love for her only son. Olivia readily admits she wasn’t prepared for the extra baggage her boyfriend brought with him into her apartment, namely the woman who birthed him. However, she’s got her eye on a shiny silver tool that just might be sharp enough to sever the apron strings and their unrelenting grip.

Read a preview here. 

A Bold Woman

Blind dates, apps, pity set-ups—Gabriela Garcia has done it all. And tonight she’s having the worst dinner of her life with a man better suited to live forever alone than with as fabulous a woman as her. Just when she thinks her date can’t get any more vile, it (and he) does and only an espresso martini can help wash the taste from her pouty lips.

Read a preview here. 

The Dream Life

Some women just aren’t meant to work; to slave away their vibrant existence behind a desk in a claustrophobic cubicle. Isn’t life meant to be enjoyed, savoured, sipped one glass of champagne at a time? Farmers market fruit, archive Alexander McQueen, and all-inclusive trips to St Tropez are just a few of the things this woman is longing for.

Read a preview here. 

You Were Ours

Mia and Shay, sisters struggling through a moment of grief, are at the beach on a gloomy September afternoon and the clouds are threatening to pop. If they don’t get their morbid task over with soon, they’ll be drenched—not only in rain, but in sorrow. Mia wants to honour their late mother and struggles to find the right words, which doesn’t happen often.

Every Last Thing

A mournful mother speaks to her unborn daughter about the life she wanted for them. She’s struggled to carry her baby to term, losing her before her belly expanded beyond a bloat. Working through the trauma, she resolves to move forward through her heartache and not give up on her dreams of growing, loving, and nurturing her child.

If you’re interested in Thirteen Emotions, don’t forget to add it to your “want to read” lists and if you’ve already read it, please leave a review on social media, Amazon, or Goodreads! It would help me out so much.

I appreciate you <3

—ᴍᴍᴍ

This post originally appeared on my Substack.