“All and Then None of You” from Cowboy Jamboree Press, a full-length short story collection.
Take a road trip across California’s rural locales and well known landmarks with a cast of misfits in All and Then None of You, the debut short story collection from writer Melissa Flores Anderson (author of A Body in Motion and Roadkill). From a run down motel in Lake County to a fast food parking lot off I-5 just north of Los Angeles to a stopover for Monarch butterflies on the California Coast, these stories showcase the beauty and isolation that inhabit the quiet corners of the state, and each story is filled with yearning, heartache and moments of delight.
“So Heavy a Weight,” an anthology of Creative Writers on Women’s Reproductive Health from Fulcrum Books.
SO HEAVY A WEIGHT: CREATIVE WRITERS ON WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH is a powerful anthology that shatters the silence surrounding women’s reproductive healthcare experiences. Through a compelling collection of essays and hybrid nonfiction, this book is a kaleidoscope of perspectives on a topic shrouded in stigma despite the political conversation it initiates.
From the raw vulnerability of miscarriage to the realities of menstruation, SO HEAVY A WEIGHT delves into the full spectrum of women’s reproductive health care. Unflinchingly personal essays by a variety of exceptional writers explore the complexities of abortion, navigating a constantly changing body, and the journey from sexual assault to sexual advocacy. This tapestry of stories is woven with courage and resiliency, fostering understanding and belonging and empowering readers to reclaim their own reproductive health narratives.
Contributors include Abigail Thomas, Emma Bolden, Melissa Anderson, Jill Talbot, Marcia Aldrich, Chloe Caldwell, Sonya Huber, and many more.
“A Body in Motion” from JAKE the Anti-Literary Magazine, a CNF chapbook
In A Body in Motion, Melissa Flores Anderson explores questions of identity, health and family while challenging the traditional form of narrative nonfiction.
Advance Praise for “A Body in Motion”
“Melissa Flores Anderson’s A Body in Motion grips the heart as well as the mind. For all those who have ever lost sight of their own body as they’ve traversed the worst of the medical industry or rolled with the ups and downs of having a crush, this book is for you. And for those who’ve then stubbornly regained confidence in their body after such misadventures, this book is doubly for you. Absorbing, soft, and incisive, it’s a great read.”
-Maud Lavin, author of CUT WITH THE KITCHEN KNIFE–a New York Times Notable Book, CLEAN NEW WORLD, and PUSH COMES TO SHOVE
“In her debut chapbook, Melissa Flores Anderson defines her own literary physics with nine pieces of creative non-fiction that are always in motion. Patients push back. Pain pushes in and out. Family histories weave their way throughout. Anderson’s characters’ lives move forward and backward as they try, succeed and fail, defy expectations, and life, perhaps even physics. These are journeys of moving cross country, across continents, to and from colleges, away and to jobs. Each narrative becomes its own equation punctuated with numbers; the counting of prescriptions, degrees, days, prescriptions, diagnosis, homes, pregnancies, losses, family, alternative lives that might have been, and each movement marked in words. These are wholly Anderson’s words, but there’s also a universality on each page as readers take in her stories of movement and see elements of their own lives too. Her memoir is moving in every sense – emotionally, through each word, character and place, and ultimately, the lives lived off the page.”
-Amy Barnes, author of CHILD CRAFT
A review of “A Body in Motion” in Bending Genres by François Bereaud
Interview in Speaking of Marvels blog with William Woolfitt
“Roadkill” from ELJ Editions, a novelette
Steven has one year left of college when he returns to his small New Hampshire hometown for the summer. He says he is home to help his friend John, whose mother is dying, but he just might be escaping the uncertainty of his future. While he’s home, Steven finds himself drawn to the mysterious Catherine, an out-of-towner who drives around with a shovel in the back of her truck. Through alternating first-person POV and flashbacks, Steven’s present insecurities and Catherine’s heart-breaking past are revealed. The two must decide if they can trust each other – and themselves when a natural disaster is sparked nearby.
Available from Amazon (ebook or print)
Advance Praise for “Roadkill”
“Set in rural, smalltown America, Roadkill grapples with grief and loss in the uncertain, transitory, and liminal space of young adulthood. Told in crisp, elegant prose, this co-written novelette moves through time and space with purpose and subtle grace. Roadkill is a coming-of-age tale reminiscent of Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories—it rings true.”
–JD Clapp, author of Five Things That Happened in Bars
“A bittersweet but beautifully hopeful romp through the landscapes of fires that burn in us all.”
–Zephaniah Sole, author of A Crime in the Land of 7000 Islands
“Visceral, suspenseful, and inventive, Roadkill kept me guessing until the end. These writers have built a world rich with history and atmosphere, all while subverting every expectation as to form. There’s something here for every reader.”
–Shannon Sanders, author of Company
“Texas Wind”
An anthology from Cowboy Jamboree Press, edited by Adam Van Winkle
Read Flores Anderson’s “The Edge of the River”
“Tiny Sparks Everywhere”
From National Flash Fiction Day Anthology 2024 and Editor Karen Jones and Sara Hills.
Read Flores Anderson’s, “My Son is a Sieve,” a flash fiction story.
“Motel, An Anthology”
From Cowboy Jamboree Press and Editor Barbara Byar, this anthology includes 28 tales of murder, mayhem, melancholy and magic.
Read Flores Anderson’s, “Let it Be at the Wee-Bay,” a love story, a ghost story and a sad story all in one.
Available for purchase online.
“Awakenings: Stories of Body & Consciousness” (Anthology)
From ELJ Editions, edited by Diane Gottlibe with a Foreword by Gayle Brandeis. This collection includes 49 CNF stories from writers, including Melissa Flores Anderson.
Read her story, “Layers,” a CNF about body, trauma and resilience.
Limited copies signed by Melissa Flores Anderson available for $18, plus $2 shipping. Venmo or Paypal accepted. Use contact form below to arrange purchase:
melissa.anderson.writes 