A Shortness of Breath: A Collection of Little Stories

From author D. B. Patterson:

"A pair of friendly transients, a dead Santa Claus, a torn sack of presents, and an alley on Christmas Eve. An urban odd couple of religious zealots hopped up on cocaine and hellbent on revenge. Two lovers and a tearful final goodbye. A man’s descent into hell and his attempt to save the woman he loves. A hurricane, an albino infant, a desperate country woman, a hoodoo midwife, a Grand Wizard of the KKK, and a man named Justice. A father still mourning the loss of his son spends the night on the Hollywood Walk of Fame when the Santa Ana winds blow. A post-apocalyptic world, a young man’s lucid dream, and the doctor who falls for him. And a chilling tale of two brothers at constant odds until a moment of anger changes their relationship.

"Dystopian, contemporary, romantic, Southern, dramatic, gothic, fantastic, strange: all words that best summarize the short fiction collected here. Each piece represents a creative milestone, which is why it exists in this anthology. I’m sure there’s a deeper unifying theme, but I haven’t figured it out at this point. A third of what I do is purely instinctive, so pinpointing specifics isn’t always so cut and dry. I often roll with certain decisions until a reason to do otherwise presents itself. The result here is less about an obvious cohesive trait and more about a study of moods. Yes, the genres and styles vary, but they do connect. Because I don’t mind sharing sketches or interesting ideas, I’ve included a monologue from a stage play I’m writing and a concept piece for a sci-fi novel I haven’t finished developing. By my own standards, the quality of the work in this collection lies somewhere between not bad and pretty good. Those originally published by literary magazines are labeled so. Those published exclusively in this short fiction collection also are labeled so."