# Against Her Fading Hour



## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

_(Scroll through the thread to see see links to interviews, reviews, etc.)_



"As a whole, the collection is original, well edited and very well written. Sweeney has a genuine talent for writing dialogue and pacing his stories to keep the reader's interest." -- Book Brouhaha (http://bookbrouhaha.blogspot.com)

Three heart-wrenching short stories.

In "Handi-Cure," Elisa is a widow looking for acceptance in the world. She tries to find it in men but, after an unusual experience in a nail salon, she makes personal changes.

"Urine Trouble Now" is about a young couple and their overly anxious cat. The cat pees on the floor, which brings up details about the couple's relationship.

In "Lemonade Nights," after Marco's father dies, he burns down the backyard shed in a fit of rage. Feeling guilty, he decides to rebuild the shed. His wife, Emma, likes having a husband who is good with his hands, but soon feels lonely as Marco spends more and more time on his project.

_--- created KindleBoards ebook link_


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Welcome to KindleBoards, Isaac, and congratulations on your book.

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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

Well, it's been a week or so, and sales have been ok, well, slow. Nobody's left a review on Amazon. But they're short stories, so I'm not bummed. 

I believe in this small collection; there's just something about these short stories that I like. Of course, I'm biased because I wrote them, but I've never felt quite the same about other stories I've written.

Three short stories by author Isaac Sweeney. In "Handi-Cure," Elisa is a widow looking for acceptance in the world. She tries to find it in men but, after an unusual experience in a nail salon, she makes personal changes. 

“Urine Trouble Now” is about a young couple and their overly anxious cat. The cat pees on the floor, which brings up details about the couple's relationship.

In “Lemonade Nights,” after Marco's father dies, he burns down the backyard shed in a fit of rage. Feeling guilty, he decides to rebuild the shed. His wife, Emma, likes having a husband who is good with his hands, but soon feels lonely as Marco spends more and more time on his project.


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

Here's an excerpt from a key exchange in "Handi-Cure," the first story in Against Her Fading Hour

...
The corner store had Handi-Cure flashing in red letters above the doorway. When Elisa entered, an Asian tune greeted her, followed by an Asian woman wearing a black dress and black lipstick.

"Help you?" the woman said. Her voice was loud and abrasive and she seemed to be the only person there.

"A manicure please."

"We do feet. You want feet?"

"No," Elisa answered, "just the hands."

"Whole shebang?" The Asian woman pointed to a sign of prices. The whole shebang cost thirty dollars.

"Why not," Elisa said.

They sat across from one another as the Asian woman prepared a table with nail clippers, cuticle scissors, and various other finger-conditioning instruments.

"What color?"

"Silver," said Elisa.

"Ooh!" said the woman. She pulled out a small silver bottle. "Dis for man?"

"Kind of."

"What his name?"

Elisa didn't answer and looked at the woman filing her nails.

"Ooh! Mystery man. I like." She dipped Elisa's hands into a clear solution too thick to be water. "He good man? Treat you good?"

"Yes."

"He buy you tings, take you places?"

"Sometimes." Sometimes he bought her a drink. Sometimes they went to his place.

"My husband never take me nowhere. Just sit at computer. Work, work, work. All da time." The woman looked over her left shoulder at a small office that Elisa hadn't noticed before. The woman yelled something in her Asian language which sounded like all one, winding word to Elisa.

A pudgy, bald Asian man emerged from the office and yelled something back. They seemed angry, but when the man went back to work, the woman started smiling. "Don't go nowhere," she said. "But he love me. He tell me all da time."

Elisa looked down at her hands. The woman rubbed on a silky lotion.

"You got good man. You love him?"

Elisa just looked at her hands as the Asian woman softly rubbed on the cream. Then the woman guided Elisa to a tiny hand dryer two tables away.

"Sit here," the woman said. "Five minute. All done."

Elisa sat there and watched as the Asian woman disappeared into the back office. Elisa heard their bickering for five minutes. The language of love, she thought. When her time was up, she pulled out her hands.

"You like?" the woman said as she came out to collect the money.

"They're like new," Elisa said. "They look so clean."

"No, still you're same hands. Just look different to you," said the woman. "Not your fault. Sometimes people never really look at hands. Sometimes same ol day after day and hands get dry and wrinkle. Just need clean up."

Elisa walked home and put on the silver dress. As she looked in her mirror, she noticed that, when compared to the fresh color on her hands, the dress appeared dull in her apartment light. Instead of taking a cab to the club like she usually did, Elisa started up her ancient Chevette - a car she rarely drove - and peeled out of her street-side parking space, as if she knew exactly where she was going. The truth was, she only vaguely knew where she was going. She only knew that it was a white house on the corner of Beverly Street&#8230;&#8230;.


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## DaMichaels (Jan 22, 2011)

This sounds interesting, Isaac!  The title's really intriguing.  I also thought that the last paragraph of your sample was really nice.


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

Thanks!


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

Here's my weekly-ish update on this small (but inexpensive  ) collection of short stories. 

Here's some insider info: I used to have a cat with urinary tract problems. The stress that this cat caused revealed a lot about my relationship with my wife. It was the inspiration for the story called "Urine Trouble Now." The cat, Strider (yeah, from Lord of the Rings), has since passed and has been creamated. He is now in a box on a shelf in our living room. 

Or is he? 

We sometimes see visions of him sneaking around the house!


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

Against Her Fading Hour on Kindle in the Wind today, Feb. 20. http://kindleinthewind.blogspot.com/2011/02/against-her-fading-hour-by-isaac.html



_edit: new post merged with existing thread for this title_


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

Can a man write from a woman's perspective? I tried in these three stories.


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

In case you missed it, here's the link to a transcript of my twitterview, where I talk about Against Her Fading Hour and some of my other projects:
http://www.novelpublicity.com/2011/03/isaacsweeney-author-of-against-her-fading-hour/

And here I am talking about short stories: http://bookbrouhaha.blogspot.com/2011/03/against-her-fading-hour-by-isaac.html

And on Kindle in the Wind: http://www.moreebooksplease.com/2011/02/against-her-fading-hour-by-isaac.html


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

Sold a few, but haven't received much feedback. I'd love to hear from some readers.


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

A man writing from the POV of women


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

New places to find out more:

Kindle Author: http://kindle-author.blogspot.com/2011/04/kindle-author-interview-isaac-sweeney.html

Book Brouhaha: http://bookbrouhaha.blogspot.com/2011/04/author-interview-isaac-sweeney.html

Indie eBooks: http://indieebooks.blogspot.com/2011/04/against-her-fading-hour-isaac-sweeney.html


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

The stories from Against Her Fading Hour and Wouldn't Last Forever, along with Hard Creek Bridge, will join three more stories for a collection of nine that will debut later this year.


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

Reviewed today on Book Brouhaha: http://bookbrouhaha.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-of-against-her-fading-hour-by.html

"As a whole, the collection is original, well edited and very well written. Sweeney has a genuine talent for writing dialogue and pacing his stories to keep the reader's interest...."


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

You can read one of the stories from Against Her Fading Hour here: http://bookbrouhaha.blogspot.com/2011/05/urine-trouble-now-by-isaac-sweeney.html

The story is "Urine Trouble Now."


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

New 5-star review here: http://mtater.blogspot.com/2011/07/against-her-fading-hour.html

The stories in this mini-collection are part of Evolvement, a chapbook-length collection of stories (in my sig).


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