If you like to read novels but feel pressed for time, a rather new story form, dubbed “novel-in-stories,” may be the answer. This form is described as a group of loosely connected stories with some or all of the characters appearing in more than one of the stories. Reading the resulting stories is a little like eating an Appalachian applesauce stack cake. You may enjoy just one layer and save the rest for another time or you may savor one huge slice.

              If “connected stories” with a magical bent sound intriguing to you, a West Virginia award-winning author, Belinda Anderson, has perfected the style in three connected collections: The Well Ain’t Dry Yet, The Bingo Cheaters, Buckle Up, Buttercup.

             Her latest, Buckle Up, Buttercup, contains twenty-one stories set in her imaginary Hope County, West Virginia. The collection is a tangible example of independent but connected stories with a strong sense of a rural place.

            The stories are inhabited by ordinary folks (some living, some not) and occasionally a pet. Even the much loved three-legged mutt Beagle Bailey has an off-beat sense of humor and a story to tell.

             Noted for her wit, Anderson writes humorously as well as compassionately and her stories revolve around contemporary issues while blending the realistic with the imaginative: young love, loss of a loved one, Alzheimer’s disease, marriage, religion, family relationships, rearing children, class reunions, and the like. 

             Reading Buckle Up, Buttercup is a positive way to suspend disbelief for an hour or an evening while eavesdropping, so to speak, on Anderson’s Hope County and its colorful cast of characters.

About the Author

Belinda Anderson writes from her log home that sits atop a knoll in a meadow in the mountains of West Virginia. Her literary work was selected for inclusion on the first official literary map of West Virginia, published by Fairmont State University. Belinda also leads creative writing workshops and makes presentations to children and adults in classrooms and at retreats and conferences. “We are enriched by the creative acts of reading and writing,” she says.

The Well Ain’t Dry Yet, The Bingo Cheaters and Buckle Up, Buttercup are available at The Open Book in downtown Lewisburg, at Tamarack in Beckley, and online through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and publisher Mountain State Press. Or call Mountain State Press at (304) 357-4767. For links and other information, visit the author’s web site at www.BelindaAnderson.com