TESSERAE is a masterful collection of short stories, most of which are set in southern Colorado. Its theme of isolation; a longing for home; a longing to belong, is accentuated by the setting of isolated, wind-swept high desert. From the misguided romantic hopes of a cowboy, to the poignant tale of a misfit orphan coming to terms with her losses and the unwelcome-but-longed-for grace that settles over her life, this book is filled with relationally quirky, flawed, and authentic characters. Gritty, real, humorous.