Won’t Be By Your Side, a flash fiction collection published by Alien Buddha Press

“The dissolution in these stories is the kind you want to float in for a while, and Renner’s brilliance is that she lets you. Like all great short fiction, Won’t Be By Your Side employs its deep understanding of voice and detail to immerse us in the fabric of its relationships. You’ll feel every ripple here, every fold, every piece of dust suspended just above the surface.” –Brett Biebel, Author of 48 Blitz

“Won’t Be by Your Side is a collection of stories about obligation versus need, love, loss, and how we heal. There are stories from children’s perspectives, and from children who’ve reached adulthood. And almost each one contains fathers, strict fathers, reluctant fathers, fathers who up and leave without warning and those contemplating running, as well as fathers unknown even to themselves. Renner’s firm grasp of tone and style makes each character and their situation feel somehow familiar, universal. Her skilful storytelling will have you devouring each narrative with increasing hunger and speed. From a story told through bullet points that perfectly illustrates the complexities of memory to the comic tale of a proposal and a chicken, the words in this compact and powerful chapbook promise to reveal a truth that brims just beneath the surface.” –Keely O’Shaughnessy, author of The Swell of Seafoam and Baby is a Thing Best Whispered