Check out NC author Jill McCorkle's new book of short stories,
Going Away Shoes, published by Algonquin Books. If you haven't yet read McCorkle, this is a great way to start -- her stories have weight to them and are addictive because the characters are so real, with dark senses of humor and real faults -- like a wife who invites her ex and his new girlfriend for Christmas Eve and then wonders why she ever did such a stupid thing. Then the septic tank goes bust. What could be a better story??