A stunning collaboration from Robert Vaughan and Kathy Fish, two masters of flash fiction, who've blended their work together in a vibrant explosion that is all of these things: evocative, heart wrenching, rare in the wild. The stories in RIFT explore the gamut of human connection and conflict, where emotions run deep beneath the surface. Divided into four sections: Fault, Breach, Tremor, and Cataclysm, writers Fish and Vaughan thread together their tales of strange encounters, mishaps, accidents, and disrepair. The world of RIFT is riven, tumultuous, and haunting. In here, danger lurks and the fallible human heart lay exposed and vulnerable. Fish and Vaughan leave their readers spellbound, mystified, and eager for the next story.
Industry Reviews
"Each vivid piece in Rift, this sharp collection, clutches the reader suddenly -- needing to offer its secret with the urgent elegance of the very best short short fiction." Ron Carlson (Five Skies) "RIFT made me laugh my face off, cry my guts out, and remember why writing matters: stories save us from our idiotic but lovable selves." Lidia Yuknavitch (The Small Backs of Children) "The stories in RIFT are peculiar and exciting and riveting and mournful and veer into places I had't noticed in my peripheral vision. You know, like life." Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket, We Are Pirates) "This is close-up magic, jazz hands, mixed with twin talented samurais slashing through the translucent shoji of a too-close-for-comfort closet. This duet does it. The performance leaves you less than breathless. Hypnotized. Hypoxic. Hyphenated. Hysteric." Michael Martone (Hinesburg, Ohio) "These stories by Kathy Fish and Robert Vaughan are rich, textured, and physical - they smart with tension and possibility. RIFT is peppered with appealing, complex characers and atmospheric details." Megan Mayhew Bergman, (Almost Famous Women) "You can shave with the razor-like fictions in this collection from Kathy Fish and Robert Vaughan. These stories are as sharp as they cut deep, very like the people featured here, who come up and square off against each other in these dangerous, domestic arenas." Robert Lopez (Kamby Bolongo Mean River) "When Robert Vaughan and Kathy Fish, both masters of the form, combine forces, the end result is nothing short of breathtaking." Michael J. Seidlinger (The Strangest) "Reading Fish's and Vaughan's electric collection is like listening to two seasoned singers trading songs in a tunnel: their voices echo, resonate, and harmonize in impossible octaves. RIFT is a book of sublime melodies that sustain and remain." Ryan Ridge (American Homes) "I have been a devoted reader of Kathy Fish's stories for years. Countless times, I have turned to her work for instruction and comfort. And if possible, this collaboration with Robert Vaughan, RIFT, has strengthened my devotion. The stories here are full of precision and heartbreak. This book is an accomplishment, elegant and sparse, and richly imagined, and I loved it." Jensen Beach (Swallowed by the Cold) "These stories made me not sit still. They turned me around and turned me around." xTx (Today I am a Book) "Vaughan and Fish are twin aficionados of flash. Side by side, in RIFT, they captain language catching great tunas (of memory), so this book sails as fleet. Vaughan as name means "little" (he's BIG) and Fish can be "tuna" (prize fish)! The Little Tuna are a specie that rush and dart, reaching speeds of 47 miles an hour (fact)! These flashes are far faster, sleeker, and sharper than that- physical enough to hold gasping in hand." Luke Goebel (Fourteen Stories and None of Them Are Yours)
