Wonderful things have been happening here at Engine Books. I’ve you’ve “liked” us on Facebook, you already know the biggest news yet:
Patricia Henley’s Other Heartbreaks will be available from Engine Books this October.
Other Heartbreaks is Henley’s first collection of all new stories since 1992’s The Secret of Cartwheels and her first collection overall since 2000’s new and selected Worship of the Common Heart.
It’s no secret that Patricia has been my teacher, friend, and mentor since I studied fiction writing at Purdue in the mid-90s. Her masterful, heartfelt, moving stories have had a strong influence on my understanding of what stories are, how they work, and how they succeed. (Insert baseball metaphor about getting to bat the player you looked up to as a kid as your cleanup hitter here.)
The stories in this book, which will also feature “Sun Damage,” one of the new stories first published in Worship of the Common Heart, explore the full range of relationships in women’s lives and the bonds and betrayals among them. They are stories of love, loss, grief, and joy; they are smart, beautiful, and evocative to the last page.
Other Heartbreaks presale will open next week right here at Engine Books. Buying direct from Engine Books is the best way to support the book and the press. The more we pre-sell, the more resources we can devote to intense targeted promotion of the work. Please stop by next week and reserve your signed copy of this beautiful book.
Meanwhile, dozens of intriguing queries and a lovely stack of manuscripts have been keeping this editor/publisher busy, busy, busy. There’s another dramatic announcement coming up soon and a whole lot of delicious work lined up behind it. The energy I’ve brought to this press has already come back to me double through the work writers have sent in the last two months. I couldn’t be more grateful and excited.