Otto Frank Miller

The Six Things We Share is a collection of six short stories centered on themes of happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise. These themes were not randomly chosen; rather, they represent the six emotions that are common to all people around the world, regardless of of culture, history or language. The stories found here were written to elicit these emotions from you, the reader. In this book you will find tales of sordid vengeance, unrequited love, blind rage, cowardice and greed. You will also find stories of young love, friendship, sisterhood, justice and redemption. Some of the characters are psychopaths, others are well-meaning but misunderstood, one of them tries to pull off the perfect caper, and another takes a journey into darkness. One common thread woven through all six stories is the character of Nora Lynn Donovan. In each story, she may be featured or she may only play an indirect role, but she will be mentioned. Pay attention to Nora, as her experience will run the gamut of emotions.

The Limbo Stories is an interwoven tale centered on the life events of Nick Kraus. Nick suffers an untimely death and finds himself in Purgatory, the state of Limbo that some folks are taught is a featureless netherworld of indefinite judgement. Nick's purpose while stuck in Limbo is to retell his life's stories to the souls he meets there. Likewise, the individuals he meets are there to share their stories with him and each other. Nick and the others, whether they know it or not, are there to solve the riddles of this life, with the only lessons in their possession being the lessons they learn from each other. Some stories are inspirational, some stories are tales of woe, and still others are cryptic parables. It is up to Nick and you, the reader, to decide what lesson he is to take from each encounter.When the time is right, and without notice, Nick will be plucked from Purgatory and sent back to live a part of his life anew. He will have no recollection of his time in Limbo, however, the lessons he learns will fortify his moral fabric and, ideally, lead him to make better decisions as he relives the events of his life. Unfortunately, most students of life need more than one sitting to pass the exam, and Nick will pay more than one visit back to Limbo to meet new folks and hear new tales.The coterie of characters that Nick meets runs the gamut from puritan to puerile to putrid; not every encounter is a happy one. But whether he meets a hedonistic smuggler or an Amish schoolboy, Nick's objective is the same: find the lesson and use it to change his life. The resulting collection, the Limbo Stories, is an intricately woven set of stories with Nick's life experience comprising the core thread.