Finalist, 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards 

Finalist, 2022 North Street Book Prize

 "Highly Recommended, " 2022 Readers Favorite International Book Awards

THE STORIES

1. GRANDMOTHER SITS

An old woman floats easily between worlds, none of them in as sharp relief as they once were. She spends her last hours on her front porch, resting in her white wicker rocker, sipping lemonade from her favorite glass, the one with the stenciled lemon slices.

2. GRANDMOTHER'S PREDICTIONS

A dissolute young man is brought up short by a vintage automaton he has painstakingly restored. An eerie fortune-telling session drives him into the street naked and stark-raving mad. Who, indeed, is the nurse in the mental hospital?

3. GRANDMOTHER OF GOD

Hannah writes the story of her grandson's life and excruciating death at the hands of occupying Romans, a testament against the lies of foolhardy rebels and zealots that grow ever more fantastic in the retelling.

4. GRANDMOTHER NAKED

A widow finds new meaning in her life as a model for a life drawing class, only to find illicit nude photos and degrading tweets have been posted online. She takes her revenge.

5. GRANDMOTHER'S DEVIL

An otherworldly being watches over a comatose grandmother molested by an unscrupulous nurse. Grandmother's Devil intends to drag the nurse screaming into  hell, but Grandmother has other plans.

6. GRAND-MÈRE LE CIGAR

A cigar-rolling Cuban virgin becomes the matriarch of a Napa Valley dynasty, having seduced a French brandy maker seeking his fortune in America. She shepherds her grandson from humiliating failure to a fairy-tale marriage to his childhood sweetheart

Grandmother's Devil & Other Tempting Tales is a collection of unconventional stories about imaginary grandmothers doing what they do best: caring for their loved ones and trying to keep them out of trouble.  These are not the author's grandmothers. Perhaps they are yours. Perhaps not. It really doesn't matter.  Their stories will capture your imagination. The grandmothers will steal your heart.

Each story is illustrated with a sketch by Napa, California artist Diane Slade .  More of her quick sketches, acrylic paintings,and photographs can be seen at https://www.instagram.com/dianesladeart/

Available from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Bookshop.org