Eleven Roses And Other Stories is a collection of short pieces with interesting characters. Meet Donna Lane, whose struggle as a single mother has driven her to a desperate situation. Meet Frank Vodwell, an apparently healthy and sane grandfather with a secret literally in his closet. Meet Mickey Stouthead, about to star an affair with a married woman only to find out there are consequences. Meet Larry Johnson, CPA, whose boring life is about to end the moment he picks up a fishing pole and heads to a hidden pond in the Pennsylvania woods. FROM THE BOOK: Frank put the head on the bed and carefully brought the suit out of the closet. It felt heavy, as though it had gained weight in its old age. He held it against his chest and stroked it, coughing as dust floated off the suit.
"Frank!" Alice shouted, throwing open the bedroom door and standing in the doorway. "Don't you even think about it! You know what happens when you put the suit on."
Frank tightened his grip on the suit, which puffed dust like a broken vacuum cleaner bag. "No, Alice," he said. "I can't let you destroy it! I can't!" He began fumbling with the zipper.
"Stop!" Alice shouted. "Don't put it on! I'll let you keep it, if you'll just put it back! I'll even let you touch it once a month!"
"It won't work, Alice. You're just trying to trick me until you get a chance to burn it." Frank's eyes blazed with the urgency of a junkie grasping at his fix. With a shaking hand, he pulled the zipper halfway down until it stuck. "Damned Beaver Hair!" he groaned.
David Wood was born in Manassas, Virginia in 1957. He grew up in Pittsburgh, graduating from Baldwin High School in 1975 and later getting a Bachelors of Arts from the University of South Florida in 1979. Later he studied comparative literature and comparative religion at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. He began writing at the age of twelve, but never published anything until he got to college. He joined "The Seminar," a writing group in Eugene run by R. Gaines Smith, and had two stories published in the anthology, Popular Fiction by Oregon Authors. He has been editor or associate editor of a half dozen small press publications and newsletters. He continued writing and publishing stories, poems and short pieces about his life. His first book, Inside, Outside, was a collection of anecdotes and vignettes of his life experiences. He now lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he still writes and works. He has a dog named Rex and a car named Furthur.
