Last week Bloodshot and Bruised, my first collection of crime short stories, was published. There are 16 tales set in the western and southern regions of the United States. You can get copies at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo. I love the short story medium and tried to present my best work over the past few years. The …
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Please find the final Chekhov short story interpreted by the amazing Constance Garrett: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/201.html It is a 7588 long story. Travis review Like the last story, The Bishop, there is a character whose days are limited due to an illness. More than the bishop, I’d venture to say the character Alexandr Timofeitch (aka Sasha) represents Chekhov as he …
Today’s 200th story is 6468 words. You can find it here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/200.html Travis review: This is a very slow, meditative story about the final days of a bishop’s life. It feels like Chekhov is writing about his own mortality in this tale. The doctor and man of letters was slowly succumbing to tuberculosis and perhaps he was wondering …
You can find today’s 16,430 word novelette here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/199.html Travis review: This noirish story feels complete even though it is open ended with life continuing in spite of tragedies and upheavals to a certain family. It is interesting that Chekhov’s kicks off this story with the tale of Ukleevo, the village known for “the deacon ate …
You can find today’s 1884 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/198.html Travis This is a depressing Christmas/News Year themed story. Chekhov writes two scenes illustrating abuse of power. The first is with an illiterate, uneducated mother in the country. Vasilisa thinks constantly about her daughter who went away to Petersburg after her marriage. Saddled with poverty and a …
Find today’s 6381 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/197.html Travis review: I’m not sure why this story is considered one of the best in Chekhov’s canon. It is a good, solid story about a philanderer falling love for the first time with a conquest. Both adulterers are racked with emotions, yet it seems that Anna has more guilt …
Find today’s 6647 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/196.html Travis review: I found today’s story about officials traveling to investigate a suicide and the distractions that follow interesting from the standpoint of naming schemes. There are 3 L prominent names: Loshadin (the village constable), Lesnitsky (the dead insurance agent) and Lyzhin (the examining magistrate who the reader …
Please find today’s 5781 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/195.html Travis review: I liked this story because it got under my skin. It the story of wealthy, well-intentioned people building a house in a small village and dealing with the petty and belligerent peasants. Unlike My Life, which had the peasants acting in selfish and horrible ways to the …
Find today’s 4,956 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/194.html Travis review: Olenka is a woman of empathetic obsession. She is a blank slate with neither desire or even logical thoughts until she meets a man (two husbands, one companion, and a child) from whom she can live vicariously. Chekhov writes Olenka almost a caricature. At first, the empathetic …
Find today’s 4529 word short story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/193.html Travis review: It today’s story Korolyov, a doctor from Moscow, comes out to a small factory town to look at an ailing heiress. He rides into town with extreme prejudice and irritation. He sees the peasant class workers leading drunken, pointless lives. Korolyov hates the factory’s owner’s …