Open Wounds, Secret Obsessions - Paperback

by Linda Joyce Ott (Author)

Themes of fractured dreams, poignant memories, and loneliness unite the fourteen short stories in "Open Wounds, Secret Obsessions". In this debut collection, you'll meet a variety of eccentric characters including a young traveller who is duped by a charismatic thief in Rome, a woman who obsessively attends strangers' weddings, a son who gets to really know his father only after he has died, and a woman whose mother's puzzling disappearance has tainted her life.

In each of the stories, a deceptively smooth surface cracks open to reveal ogres and monsters below. The characters mysteriously pass from normalcy into serious obsession, if not madness, with the reader never quite able to say when this happens. The stories show young people providing perceptive insight far beyond their years, while older ones often appear naïve. Many of the characters are broken, badly hurt by life and by the passage of time.

The author's special talent for writing instinctively with enormous gut-feeling gives these poignant stories their amazing power. Her refined sense of understatement, direct style, and a keen eye for the telling detail combine to reveal complete worlds of inner turmoil. Vivid descriptions reveal a writer who is observant, savvy, and possesses a wicked sense of humour. The author tells a good story with dazzling simplicity and the reader will delight in discovering this unique voice in these emotionally intense stories.

Author Biography

Linda Joyce Ott is a writer and a multidisciplinary artist - working in photography, painting, collage and assemblage. Linda lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada - halfway between Toronto and Niagara Falls - with her husband, Günter, and two cats, Scampi and Squeak. "The Naked Law" is her first novel. Her collection of short stories, "Open Wounds, Secret Obsessions," was published in 2013. Linda honed her creative writing over the course of a successful career as a writer, editor and communications consultant. She earned a Certificate in Creative Writing from The Humber School for Writers. Her mentor was Paul Quarrington. Linda also took part in a summer workshop with Isabel Huggan at The Humber School for Writers. Linda has published four photo portfolios through Magcloud.com: "Hard Core: Hornby Island Rocks;" "Mexico Obscura;" "The Earth Laughs in Flowers;" and "Auto Parts." Linda's art has been exhibited in solo and group shows in Hamilton, Toronto and Alberta, including Index G, the Toronto Outdoors Art Exhibition, Hugh's Room and Visual Arts Ontario. Her photographs have been published in Art Focus, Photo Life, and Camera Canada magazines, and in The Hamilton Spectator. Linda received Ontario Arts Council exhibition assistance grants for solo exhibitions at Gallery4, Hamilton Public Library: "Urban Fresh," photographic impressions of the Steel City's natural environment (2013) and "The Earth Laughs in Flowers" (2012). In 2011 "Auto Parts," her photo portfolio of details from classic cars, was nominated for a Hamilton Literary Award. In 2010 she was nominated for a Hamilton Tourism Award for her chrysanthemum photo calendar. In 2010 Linda received an Ontario Arts Council International Residency Grant for a juried, month-long residency at the Vermont Studio Center. In 2007 she was juried into a two-week creative residency program at the Prairie North Creative Residency, Grand Prairie Regional College, in Alberta. Between 2003 and 2006 Linda participated in eight, week-long intensive painting workshops facilitated by artist Harold Klunder in Ontario and Quebec. Over the years Linda has completed numerous art and photography workshops at Central Technical School, Ontario College of Art and Design, Ryerson Polytechnic University, and Mohawk College To see her art and photography, visit her website at www.lindajoyceott.com or her blog at www.optimismofcolor.com