Always Chloe and Other Stories may be of interest to fans of my novel Becoming Chloe. It's the first time in my career I've done something along the lines of a sequel. For those (and there were many) who said you wanted to know more about Jordy's and Chloe's journey in life, here's where you get that chance. And it's fine for people who haven't read the original. It will stand alone.

Here's the "jacket" synopsis:

This new short story collection from the author of Don't Let Me Go and Pay It Forward features ALWAYS CHLOE, the long-awaited novella sequel to Catherine Ryan Hyde's award-winning novel, Becoming Chloe. 

Jordy and Chloe are living above a restaurant in Morro Bay, the first place they landed after their trip down the Big Sur Coast. But Jordy has a boyfriend now, an old flame who's come back into his life in a big way. Chloe stretches herself as far as she can go to give them her blessing, but her issues about living--or even sleeping--alone turn this happy reunion into a potential disaster. Chloe stops eating, stops sleeping, stops paddling her beloved and battered blue kayak in the bay. No one knows how to help her. When her friend Old Ben, the man who runs the fuel dock nearby, gives her some advice, his words could either save the day or send her out to sea forever, depending on her unique mind's understanding of them. A heart-wrenching stand-alone novella, and an answer to the many readers who asked for a sequel to Becoming Chloe, ALWAYS CHLOE is ultimately about the struggle to balance others' needs with our own--and exactly how expansive and forgiving the human heart can be. 

Always Chloe is actually about the same length as the original Becoming Chloe. But, as that's short for adult fiction, I'm classifying it as an adult novella and placing it with a handful of my carefully chosen short stories. They are Breakage (which won second place in the Tobias Wolff Award), The Lion Lottery, (which was cited in Best American Short Stories, though it's been retitled since then), Pet Care, Tarot Reading, Maid Service (that's all one title) and Fortunate Son.

Many, many thanks to Leslie Moroney for the fabulous cover image.

(Those who have read Always Chloe will find the image to the right familiar.)