The reason I wanted to publish Girlfriending, my short story collection, is to get some stories out of my computer before I die (no worries, I’m fine–just acknowledging the inevitable).
The fourth story in the collection is “Sunoco Nights,” a favorite of mine I have never been able to place in a literary magazine. Its length may have something to do with it–the story runs almost 7,000 words.

Jake teaches and has the summer off. His wife Gayle doesn’t. She encourages Jake to find a summer job, and Benny, the owner of the gas station where Jake fuels up offers him the overnight shift. Jake takes it, but the first night he’s at work, the attendant at another station is robbed, kidnapped, and found dead in rural field. Now Gayle wants Jake to quit, but they have only been married for a couple years, and Jake sees this as a pivotal issue that could set the tone for the rest of their marriage. Robbery/murders continue, and the discord increases exponentially. A great read if I do say so myself.