At the top of a winding mountain road in upstate New York is a series of small hamlets grouped together into an area affectionately referred to as the Mountaintop.
This is where I grew up. My parents owned 20 acres of mostly wooded land where we kept chickens and horses, made maple syrup and grew vegetables. Such a secluded environment attracts plenty of eccentric types, characters who influenced many of those in my collection of short stories, “Tales from the Mountaintop.”
I wrote these short stories over the course of a year while I was taking creative writing workshops with Susan Daitch at Hunter College. Originally, they were not connected at all, and took place in different locales across the United States. However, I realized that these three short stories were all linked to my experiences growing up and people I knew in my hometown, so I might as well make it true to life. After some extensive editing, I put together what is now available on Amazon as a free e-book.
Yes, free. Starting tomorrow that is, and lasting the entirety of Halloween weekend, “Tales from the Mountaintop” will be free. Come meet Father David Balanzano, Snakes O’Malley and the Carpenter Boys. Come see what happens when a platonic dating service for Catholic priests goes awry, or a drunk redneck’s plan to get the one-up on the lumber company doesn’t go according to plan. Most importantly, come see the world I saw as I child, the place that made me the man I am today. Come visit the Mountaintop. You might even stay awhile.
Jared Rinaldi 