Heard It on the Grapevine

The first collection of short stories is called: “Don’t Get Angry, Get Even”. The common theme is: love, jealousy, revenge and murder. The second collection is about the corporate world, entitled: “Big Corporations for Dummies”.
The first story “Lemon Juice” is about revenge. The setting is a press conference where a film star is presenting her new range of beauty products to the public. Meanwhile, a member of the audience plans to take revenge on her. The conventional saying is: “when life gives you a lemon…. make lemonade”. However, in this story, the woman seeking revenge makes lemon juice and forces the other person to drink it.
The second story is “Kaffee Klatch” (gossip in English). Two elderly women, friends for fifty years, both fall in love with the same man. This puts their relationship under considerable strain. However, their friendship survives the crisis and when it is over the two old dears are ready to make the same mistake all over again.
“Lipstick on the Collar” is about a crook getting his just deserts.
The next four, humorous stories are about divorce, set in America, England, France and Ireland. Divorce, we discover, is much more than simply a failed marriage.
“Writers’ Block” is a story of a writer facing a dry patch as she approaches the end of her career. When she discovers a young, novice writer with talent, she decided to steal her work.
The second set in the collection is called “Big Corporations for Dummies”. Anyone working in a big organization should recognize the situations and the characters involved. Many of the stories are humorous, although, you might find yourself laughing through gritted teeth.
In the first story, “Rules of the Game”, Uncle Al teaches his nephew the unwritten rules of the corporate world. His nephew views him as old and cynical. Uncle Al calls it “reality”. The reader is invited to judge for herself.
The second story “Heard it on the Grapevine” is a portrait of a sociopath manager. Perhaps, you have run across him during your career. Recognize him and avoid him at all costs. The writer proposes that the higher one gets in a company, the higher the proportion of sociopaths one comes across. These people are viewed as “gurus’, “visionaries” and “dynamic”. Don’t be fooled. They are incredibly destructive.