Book excerpt: THIS IS A BOOK THAT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE. IT IS A COMPILATION OF TWENTY YEARS DEVOTED EFFORT FOR A LOCAL WRITERS GROUP. GROUP MEMBERS WERE GIVEN BIWEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS. IN CLASS, THEY WERE EACH GIVEN TIME TO READ THEIR STORY AT WHICH TIME THE INSTRUCTOR AND CLASS MEMBERS WERE ALLOWED TO CRITIQUE AND COMMENT. AFTER A FEW YEARS, CAROL PUBLISHED TWO ARTICLES IN A MAGAZINE. I WAS VERY IMPRESSED. WHEN I ASKED IF SHE WOULD PUBLISH MORE SHE SAID: “NO, I DID THAT ALREADY.” WHEN CAROL PASSED, I GATHERED HER WRITINGS INTO THIS COLLECTION, THEY ARE SHORT, VERY FUNNY, ALWAYS THOUGHT PROVOKING AND JUST WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS IN THESE OFTEN SAD AND SCARY TIMES. YOU WILL ENJOY THE RIDE. EXCERPTS AVAILABLE ON CAROL'S WEBSITE WWW.CAROLRUGGIERO.COM .