Peter J Stavros

Sadie says we have to leave ... With those few urgent words, the journey begins for this couple-from their chance encounter freshman year awaiting their college dorm assignments, through all of the roadblocks and detours and dead ends, until some thirty years later when they finally understand where they are meant to be. All The Things She Says is a chronicle, recounted in vignettes and episodes, of the course these two take in their relationship, told from the point of view of Sadie's spouse, who witnesses firsthand, and often helplessly, the struggles and travails Sadie endures in trying to find herself with the constant fear that time is slipping away. Yet in the end, they arrive at a plan-the plan Sadie first had in that freshman dorm room. Initially published nonsequentially in literary journals and magazines over a span of more than seven years, these sixteen short stories are now assembled into one complete collection. All The Things She Says is a discourse on life and love and commitment, and shows that while the path may be difficult to follow, the destination is nonetheless worthwhile.

You've spent some time with the quirky and eccentric residents of Birchmont Village-now spend The Complete Year with them in this expanded edition of (Mostly) True Tales From Birchmont Village that contains five new stories further chronicling the near catastrophes and calamities of this close-knit community, where the townsfolk always band together in the end to save the day, and a valuable lesson is learned. The new stories (and, thus, new perceived problems for these folks) are: The Time Ted Canari Took a Beach VacationThe Time the Potato Festival Finally Returned to Birchmont Village Only to Nearly Be Lost AgainThe Time the Black Friday Sale at Lilabelle Durham's Upscale Boutique Got a Little Out of HandThe Time Movie Night Turned Into a Rock ConcertThe Time the Johnson Family Moved(Mostly) True Tales From Birchmont Village, based upon Peter J. Stavros' lighthearted short stories that first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, has been described as "the kind of calm, amusing, feel-good book that people need in time of crisis." Ruth Latta, Compulsive Reader. "If you're a fan of Mayberry or Lake Wobegone, odds are you'll enjoy a visit to Birchmont Village as well." Big Al's Books & Pals. Can't you just feel the palpable sense of exhilaration that charges the air? So come back for another visit to Birchmont Village-and stay for The Complete Year-and see for yourself what all the hubbub is about. And if you're lucky, there'll be a festival or block party, perchance with a bounce house and a snow cone machine, and of course, s'mores, plenty of s'mores

Meet the residents of Birchmont Village, a close-knit community of quirky characters and eccentrics Based upon his lighthearted short stories that first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Peter J. Stavros, with this collection of vignettes, chronicles a year in the lives of these townsfolk as they are faced with one perceived catastrophe and calamity after the other, from the time the Johnsons' house caught fire - and twice in one day - to the time Chubz, their beloved cat, went missing, to the scramble to fill the position of Santa on the eve of the annual Christmas parade. This generally social lot must also come to grips with an order to shelter in place and stay six feet apart when threatened by a dreadful virus. Yet through it all, the neighbors always find a way to join together to help each other. As Peter describes it, "I wanted to create my own version of Lake Wobegon, with maybe a dash of Mayberry thrown in as well, which, I guess, in some way, was reminiscent of my childhood growing up in small town." (Mostly) True Tales From Birchmont Village shows us that despite our differences, and disagreements, and petty annoyances, we can still find common ground to contribute to the greater good - and that we never outgrow the simple delight of s'mores prepared over the warmth of a glowing fire pit.

Dark humor and gritty reality meet in a small, dirty apartment belonging to a man trying to escape his past. In this collection of intertwined, nonlinear short stories, Peter J. Stavros depicts the ups and downs of life and the pain of trying to move on when everything is a reminder of what life once was. With a protagonist that is perfectly flawed in the way any person can be, the journey of this collection is one that leaves an impression as Peter puts us directly into the mind of this down-on-his-luck man.Three in the Morning and You Don't Smoke Anymore is a story that doesn't shy away from embracing the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows, and shows that life doesn't have to be that white picket fence and perfect family to be important and worthwhile.