This story begins as a parody of a famous trial that took place in the 1990s. However, the travesty develops a life of its own. The spoof takes place in the 1930s in the deep South. It has similar names, and in a number of other ways parallels the 1990 trial. This satiric drama has hardships, fun times, romance, murder, suspense and mystery. It delves into the backgrounds of some of the key players.

The call to the New World in the sixteenth century reaches all countries and every station of the peoples of Europe. The poor and the rich, the adventurous and the desperate, the honorable and the thief make a shared way across the sea. Life is renewed and hope is restored to all who arrive in the colonies. Dangers and struggles of the frontier force the common and the privileged to join. Love is the absolute power that will unite souls that would otherwise be forbidden to meet. Here the princess and the pauper are called forth from unequal societies to unite in lasting romance. Separated by trials, assailed by villains, and abandoned by circumstance to ready temptation the two survive in America by their love and desire to with each other. Hearts will be uplifted. Optimism shall be restored. Youth shall be regained. These are promised.

Here is a collection of tales varying in length, and differing in other ways as well. And with no relation to each other. There is an element of historical truth in each, together with lots of imagination. A few are what I would call poetic-prose mini stories. So I invite you to enjoy reading all of these stories as I have enjoyed creating them.

Rick Moody's novels have earned him a reputation as a "breathtaking" writer (The New York Times) and "a writer of immense gifts" (The San Francisco Examiner). His remarkable short stories have led both the New Yorker and Harpers to single him out as one of the most original and admired voices in a generation. These stories are abundant proof of Rick Moody's grace as a stylist and a shaper of interior lives. He writes with equal force about the blithe energies of youth ("Boys") and the rueful onset of middle age ("Hawaiian Night"), about Midwestern optimists ("Double Zero") and West coast strategists ("Baggage Carousel"), about visionary exhilaration ("Forecast from the Retail Desk") and delusional catharsis ("Surplus Value Books: Catalog Number 13.") The astounding title story, which has already been reprinted in four different anthologies, is a masterpiece of remembrance and thwarted love. Full of deep feeling and stunningly beautiful language, the stories in Demonology offer the deepest pleasures that fiction can afford.

This book is an intriguing story that enters the lives of many individuals who find themselves drawn into an unexpected world of past events, which continue to disrupt and reshape their future. A touching story of romance that takes you on a journey into the soul of love and sadness only to reveal how lives are drastically affected in the process and how different backgrounds can influence one family in their search for happiness.

A stately mansion sits atop the crest of Hummingbird Hill on the outskirts of Big Spring, Texas. This is the tale of that mansion and the trials and tribulations experienced by its inhabitants over the years, as it goes from the family home of James “Buck” Henderson and his wife, June, to one of the South’s most elegant “sporting” houses, to a home for runaways, and finally, a family home again. It is a tale of love, hate, rape, incest, murder, and intrigue. The story begins with Buck Henderson’s early years in Philadelphia, to his heroism during World War I, his battlefield promotions and medals for bravery, including the Congressional Medal of Honor, his recovery in a Denver hospital, and his marriage to June. After securing an engineering degree at Penn State, Buck and June set out for Big Spring, Texas, where they find success in the oil field supply business and raise a family, but their happiness is followed by rape, murder, and the sale of their beloved mansion.

A disappearance, discovery, chase, and adventure - all arise when the Marshall family of forty spend an extended weekend at the Big House. The four generations have gathered to celebrate the matriarchs ninetieth birthday at a party to be held on Saturday. Daughter Catherine, who lives with her mother in the Big House, has planned an elaborate party, like so many others held over the years at the Big House. Granddaughter Marla, as she drives the family home, reminisces about the idyllic weekend. With eighteen childrenunexpected situations arise which the Marshalls have to face and solve. The reader will become involved in each event that brings tears and laughter in this delightful, warm story of family and friends.