The fourteen standalone stories in Winter’s Dreams range in length from vignettes (“Appointment in Samarkand”) to novellas (“In the Wind”).

In the near future America of “Song from a Forgotten Hill,” the nations’ tragic racial history replays itself in an all too familiar form.

“The Seventh Fool” recounts the comic misadventures of a con man who outsmarts both his target—and himself.

“The Waiting Sea” encapsulates the life history of a navy veteran haunted by the sea—and by the faceless voices only he can hear.

In “Ponce,” a poverty stricken St. Louis family encounters a mysterious blue-eyed dog—a dog that serves as a conduit to the undisclosed secrets of the universe.

“The Recruiter” presents a portrait of an ultra-violent future and asks the question: How far will a man go in order to survive?